The Kick-Butt Girl Sleuth in 2011: A Rare Fictional Creature

I'm a huge fan of mystery novels.  I read my first Nancy Drew in 4th grade; once I had exhausted that all local libraries' supplies of that eternal series, I moved on to Agatha Christie and Martha Grimes.  But while I love these more complex mysteries (with murder and mayhem included), I missed seeing a teenage girl as the investigator.  There were a few short-lived possibilities on television (anyone remember The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo?) but nothing really caught on.  Then Veronica Mars was born.  Although the show struggled to last even three seasons (and the last two seasons hit some bumps), Veronica Mars stands out as one of the few recent attempts to create a true teen girl sleuth for the 21st century.  And I for one was absolutely thrilled.  I loved the show and love Veronica even more.  She was a great female protagonist, complex, conflicted, angry, vulnerable, brave, sexy, and flawed.  And she was a great detective.

In my library's most recent book orders, there have been a few young adult novels that heavily incorporate a mystery and an investigation of that mystery by the female protagonist.  In my constant search for the next literary Veronica Mars, I read each of them--but was generally a little disappointed.

The first mystery that I snagged after cataloguing was Rosebush by Michele Jaffe.  As it's striking cover demonstrates, this particular novel kicks off with a dramatic and mystery image: a few blocks away from a big Memorial Weekend party, popular and pretty Jane is found tangled and unconscious in a rosebush, the apparently the victim of hit and run.  As Jane, lying paralyzed in the hospital, attempts to regain her memories of the accident, she begins to understand that the truth--about that night, her friends, her boyfriend, and her past--is much more complicated than she thought.  And soon it appears that Jane's accident wasn't an accident at all and everyone in her life is a suspect.  Now Jane must unravel the mysteries surrounding her before the killer strikes again.  While this novel had a promising premise and great opening image, it was a disappointing reading experience for me.  The slow revelations of complexities through flashbacks and the inside view of the pretty, popular clique of girls reminded me a bit of Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall and the setting among the seamy underside of the rich and privileged was reminiscent of Veronica Mars. But frankly, Jane is a less interesting character than either Sam or Veronica and the mystery here has almost too many twists and turns to remain believable.  So while I think that Rosebush might be a hit with some of my younger teens who like mysteries featuring the dark side of rich, pretty, and popular cliques, I was left unsatisfied in my quest for a solid teen girl detective.

Next, I snagged our new copy of The Liar Society, a debut novel written by Lisa and Laura Roecker.  When Kate gets an email from her best friend Grace, she's shocked and deeply confused--because Grace died a few months ago in a mysterious fire.  But when the messages begin to imply that Grace's death was not merely a tragic accident but the result of the tangled conspiracy of secrets filling the hallowed halls of their elite private school, Kate plunges into a dangerous investigation with the help of two new allies: her nerdy neighbor and the cute bad boy from school.  Firstly, this novel came much closer to the kind of teen mystery novel I was craving.  Kate is much more likable protagonist than Jane and a more effective detective.  The mystery was exciting and built well as more and more secrets and clues were revealed as the plot progressed.  I'm also a big sucker for secret society tales and this novel fits that bill very nicely.  Overall, it was a well-paced and fun mystery; The Liar Society reminded me a bit of both Veronica Mars and The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, although it didn't quite reach the level of complexity of either.

The last recently release young adult mystery featuring a teen girl sleuth I read this fall was my favorite, although it might be the most challenging to sell initially to teen readers.  The Girl Is Murder is delightful historical mystery by Kathryn Haines Miller set in 1942 New York City featuring plenty of juicy historical details, a solid mystery, and a determined young female detective.  15 year old Iris Anderson never used to lie--not about big things anyway.  Then her mother's suicide and her father's return from war missing a leg changed everything.  Suddenly, Iris has left her comfortable private school life far behind and entered the very different world of the Lower East Side, where she starts at a public school while her Pop struggles to get his private investigation business going again.  Money is tight and Iris knows that Pop could use her help--even if he doesn't know it yet.  So when his newest case involves a boy from Iris's school, she decides to do some investigating of her own.  Suddenly Iris is lying all the time, inventing identities and excuses as she tails her former private school classmates and sneaks out to Harlem club to dance until 3am.  Iris is a stubborn and smart young detective; she makes mistakes of inexperience and arrogance but overall she proves her skills as an beginning investigator.   The historical setting is solidly fleshed out with everything from slang to fashion to cultural tensions.  However, while both the mystery and the characters' developments are clearly tied to the time period, they remain interesting for a modern audience.  Iris is a great candidate to join the ranks of Nancy and Veronica and I hope Kathryn Miller Haines brings her back in at least one sequel so we can watch her investigative skills grow.

Here's hoping that 2012 brings us a new crop of teen mysteries and kick-butt girl sleuths!

A Kitchen Interlude: Sugar Cookie Bars

As a new librarian working with teens, I have been reading constantly to keep up with booktalks, book reviews, and general reader's advisory.  I have also been baking on a nearly weekly basis.  As my blog title and username might indicate, I have both a big sweet tooth and a huge love of baking.  And since I fully believe in the power of baked good bribery, my job has given the ideal opportunity to bake a lot and then get the yummy results out my apartment as quickly as possible (thus saving me from myself).

I run our middle school book club that meets a few times a month and I, of course, provide homemade goodies at each meeting.  We had a meeting scheduled for this Tuesday and since I was traveling all day Sunday, I needed something I could make quickly and easily with minimal shopping Monday evening after work.  Cookie bars immediately sprung to mind and after surfing around on that most beautiful of time-wasters, Foodgawker, I discovered several similar versions of these basic sugar cookie bars.  And they turned out to be the perfect last minute treats!

Sugar Cookie Bars with Basic Buttercream Frosting

Cookie Bars

1 cup butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

5 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

*based on recipes and directions from Une Gamine dans la Cuisine & lisa is cooking 

1.) preheat the oven to 315 degrees F and grease either a 13 x 18 jelly roll pan OR an approximately 10 x 15 cookie sheet with raised edges.  I used a cookie sheet with raised edges and it worked just fine.

2.) In one large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

3.) In a different large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy.  Then add the eggs one at a time, beating the batter after each egg.

4.) Add the vanilla and mix in.

5.) Add the flour mixture into this batter.  I find that it works best to add the flour mixture in small increments (such as a 1/2 cup or so at a time), mixing after each addition.

6.) Spread dough on the pan, making it as even as possible.

7.) Bake for about 10-15 minutes until a toothpick (or knife or cake-taster) come out of the center clean.  If you're not sure, don't be afraid to pop it back in the oven for a few minutes longer; I was worried about the edges burning so I took the tray out a tad earlier and the upper part of the center pieces was a little doughy.

8.) Cool completely before frosting

Basic Buttercream Frosting

1 lb. confectionary sugar

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup unsalted butter
3-4 tbsp. milk

1.) Mix butter, sugar, and vanilla together until well blended.

2.) Add 2 tbsp. of milk and mix.

3.) Add another tbsp. of milk and mix.

4.) Add a fourth tbsp. of milk only if needed texturally.

5.) Dye the frosting with food coloring if you wish!

These cookie bars were both simple to create and delicious to eat, making them an ideal party treat! 

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

I work at an independent girls' school in the library that serves the 7-12 graders and some of the most popular books are exciting fantasy novels with interesting and strong heroines.  This specific sub-category of books encompasses several key authors, such as Tamora Pierce (the Tortall sequences and the Magic Circle series), Kristen Cashore (Graceling, Fire), Garth Nix (the Abhorsen trilogy), Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games trilogy), and Robin McKinley (The Blue Sword, The Hero and the Crown).  Because I have a few very voracious readers who especially love these kinds of books and keep appearing at my desk requesting recommendations,  I am always looking for new fantasies with kick-butt heroines!  When I read the summary for Rae Carson's debut novel, The Girl of Fire and Thorns, I was interested and hopeful that I had found another book to give to lovers of Tamora Pierce's and Kristen Cashore's adventures.  And once I started reading, I was delighted to see that my instincts were right!

Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza is the chosen one--the bearer of the Godstone and marked for special and sacred service.  But Elisa is also the younger, less attractive, and more ignored of two princesses.  She can't imagine ever doing anything remarkable.  Then, on her sixteenth birthday, Elisa becomes the secret wife of a handsome king who is desperate for the political aid and unknown power that Elisa can bring to his tumultuous nation.  Now Elisa, who is more comfortable reading religious texts in the library or snacking on pastries in the kitchen, must enter into a new court as her husband's secret ally.  The kingdom is on the verge of war and leaders on all sides are very interested in the mystical bearer of the sacred Godstone--including a daring young revolutionary convinced that Elisa can save his people.  Soon Elisa has left her sheltered life far behind as she enters into a dangerous adventure full of political intrigue and magical battles.   But in order to save a nation and its people, Elisa must learn to understand and use the power deep within herself, risking her life and her heart in process.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns brings us into a rich, new magical world with fully developed cultures and religion.  Unlike many other fantasy adventures, this world appears to be physically and culturally inspired by Spanish and Mediterraean societies.  Elisa is a wonderful protagonist, whose unique strengths grow and develop visibly as the story enfolds.  She is highly intelligent and is a both a skilled military stratagist and a perceptive religious scholar.  When the novel begins, she lacks a great deal of self-confidence and has spent much of her life doing very little physical activity and eating when upset or nervous.  However, when forced into strenuous physical activity by necessity, Elisa grits her teeth and refuses to give up;  as a result, she gains better health, new survival skills, and a more positive attitude towards her body and her abilities. 

In The Girl of Fire and Thorns, Carson creates an action-packed story filled with three-dimensional characters and uniquely interesting settings.  This novel is definite must-read for fans of Tamora Pierce, Kristin Cashore, and Robin McKinley!

5/5 STARS

Entwined by Heather Dixon

As I've said on before, I'm a huge fan of fairytale retells and reinterpretations.  So when Entwined arrived as part of the September book order, I was immediately intrigued.  The tale of the Twelve Dancing Princesses has not been adapted very often; Jessica Day George's Princess of the Midnight Ball is the only one that stands out immediately.

From the very beginning, Entwined did not feel like many other fairytale retellings I've read; in that way it reminded me of A Curse Dark As Gold.  Although their settings and styles are quite different, both take the skeleton of the original tale and transport it to a very rich and distinct new setting utilizing pieces and aspects of actual (mostly West European) history.  The world Heather Dixon creates is a distinctly foreign and magic-infused world with the feel of late 19th and early 20th century Britain.  In Eathesbury, there are formal balls, a vaguely parliamentary monarchy,  street lamps, distinct social traditions, and bits of leftover magic haunting the palace (such as a rather grumpy silver tea set).

Azalea is the eldest of the eleven princesses of Eathesbury.  She adores her mother, affectionately protects and manages her sisters (even when they're driving her crazy), and absolutely loves to dance.  But when her mother dies giving birth to the twelfth princess, the color seems to drain out of Azalea's world.  As she tries to control her own grief, Azalea works to hold her family together, caring for her sisters and struggling with the strained relationship with their distant father, the King--whose insistance on following all formal mourning traditions bars the princesses from their one source of emotional release and connection with the late mother: dancing.  So when the girls discover a passageway leading down into a secret chamber inside the palace's walls, they enter it eagerly.  Inside Azalea and her sisters meet the strange enchanted man who calls himself the Keeper who offers them a safe place to dance their grief away.  But, the Keeper's intentions are far from pure.  As his web of dark power pulls tighter,  even Azalea's very nimble feet and unwavering determination might not be enough dance her family away from the Keeper's trap.

Entwined is a lovely debut, by turns whimsical, action-packed, and romantic.  Azalea is a greatly appealing protagonist, strong and determined as well as vulnerable and authentic.  She is devoted to her family and very aware of her political and personal responsibilities as the oldest princess.  Also, Dixon (smartly) does not attempt to fully develop each of the twelve princesses equally; Azalea and the second and third oldest sisters are the most three-dimensional of the girls while the others are given a few, less fully explored identifiable characteristics.  Their interactions as a family ring very true and the shifting relationship the princesses have with their distant father develops organically.  The romances are lovely and the Keeper is a delightfully sinister antagonist.  The magical elements work well in a elegant and whimsical fantasy world.  However, Entwined (like all good fantasy novels) is successful because it remains grounded in more universal human emotions and experiences, such as the confusion and pain of grief, the tight bonds between siblings, and the complex relationships between children and parents.

Overall, Heather Dixon's Entwined is a great debut novel and a lovely, enjoyable fantasy story that will appeal to a wide age range.  Definitely pass it off to fans of fairytale retells and romantic fantasy novels!

5/5 STARS

Life and Love After Loss: The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Love triangles of some kind seem to be popping up more and more frequently in young adult fiction--a trend that could be connected to the extreme popularity of a certain series featuring a vampire and a werewolf battling for a single human's love.  In general, I am a bit sick of love triangles; they aren't my favorite romantic cliche.  On the very surface, The Sky is Everywhere had the potential to be yet another love triangle story--albeit one touching on some larger issues of grief and recovery from loss.  Under the title on the front cover of the paperback edition, it reads: "One boy helps her remember.  The other lets her forget."  Delightfully, Jandy Nelson's debut novel is much more than this catchy tagline.

One month ago, Lennie's brilliant sister Bailey died unexpectedly while rehearsing Romeo and Juliet.  Bookish clarinetist Lennie feels completely unmoored and lost.  Although their mother left when Lennie and Bailey were extremely young, they've never truly felt alone or abandoned; raised by their garden guru and artist grandmother and sweet marriage addict Uncle Big, the Walker sisters have never lacked for family.  But now there's only one Walker sister and after a lifetime of being the companion pony to Bailey's racehorse, Lennie has no idea of who she is or what she wants without Bailey.  She's disconnected from her best friend Sarah and from her family but she feels drawn strongly to two very different boys: Bailey's quiet and heartbroken boyfriend Toby and quirky new boy and musical genius Joe.

Lennie is an endearing and sympathetic character; her grief for Bailey is intense and complex, fluctuating between confusion, anger, and despair.  Her attraction to and contrasting interactions with Toby and Joe feel equally believable; Nelson has created a genuine picture of a young woman's confusing and intense emotional and sexual development, demonstrating that the definitions of love, lust, and romance can be much more blurry than we sometimes assume and that human connection can be unexpected and diverse.  Additionally, while the romance plays a large role in the plot, The Sky is Everywhere remains very much about Lennie's larger story as she works to develop a new understanding of her identity and place in the world separate from Bailey.  Also, this novel has a lovely sense of place; the gentle and lyrical atmosphere of the small hippie-rich town of Clover, CA permeates Lennie's story.

Nelson might be trying to pack a bit too much into a single novel (Lennie's romance confusions, Bailey's secrets, the mystery of their mother's disappearance, etc.) and her writing might be a bit too metaphor-rich for some readers.  However, The Sky is Everywhere remains a stand-out debut novel packing a great emotional punch.

4.5/5 STARS  

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

There is no denying that dystopian or speculative fiction are very popular areas of writing and publication right now; since the explosion of The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins over the last year, fiction set in some potential (and usually frightening) future has been filling the bookshelves at a nearly unprecedented rate.  However, since much of this fiction is both thrilling and thought-provoking, I cannot complain!

Wither by debut author Lauren DeStefano may be one of many new entries into this subgenre but it still stands out from the masses of recently published dystopian sagas.  The best speculative fiction usually grounds itself in issues and questions of the present day and Wither is no exception.  For this novel, the potential devastation of the human race comes from our own attempts to improve the world--in this case through medical and scientific engineering and manipulation of human biology. 

About 70 years ago, science at last succeeded in creating perfect children; a generation of babies were born to be nearly indestructable, immune to diseases and with unpredicatably long life spans.  However a development that seemed to be a marvel of genetic research has turned out to be the downfall of the humanity.  Every generation since that first, miraculous one is stricken with an inexplicable flaw; females die of a mysterious virus at age 20 and male die of the same illness at age 25.  Most of the globe has been destroyed by war and the United States has become a nation of desperate people.  While scientists work to discover a cure and orphans flood the country, young women are frequently snatched from the streets and sold into polygomous marriages with weathly men in an attempt to prevent the population from dying out. 

Sixteen year old Rhine Ellery is unlucky enough to be one of these unwilling brides.  Suddenly Rhine finds herself in an unfamiliar world of luxury as one of Linden Ashby's three new wives.  Athough she now wear custom designed gowns and never goes hungry, Rhine remains entirely focused on escaping her beautiful prison and finding her way back to her twin brother.  Even as she connects with her sister wives and begins to feel pity and affection for their equally imprisoned husband, Rhine never fully allows her determination to waver; she will live her last four years in freedom or die trying. 

The premise is intriguing and DeStefano's prose is lovely and evocative; however, the real strength of this novel lies in the characters.  Rhine's conflicting emotions and increasing complex relationships with the people surrounding her are the core of the novel.  Her changing emotional connections with her husband, her sister wives, and the servant Gabriel are fully fleshed out and delicately developed over the course of the plot.  There are no simplistic 'good guys' and 'bad guys'.  The most obvious villain is Rhine's father-in-law, a First Generation scientist whose obsession to find a cure that will save Linden before his twenty-fifth birthday has pushed him into very murky ethical territory.  However, even he is a three dimensional character whose motives remain sympathetic and understandable even as his actions become more and more terrifying.  Wither provides us with a chilling peek at our possible future.  The novel reminds us how easily those in power will dehumanize others in the rush to survive and how quickly the greater good might overpower the rights and freedoms of the individual masses in such a situation.     

5/5 STARS

Book Bites: Keeping Reviews Short and Sweet

Whew! As the infrequent updates here indicate, life became increasingly busy again these last couple months--for very happy reasons!  I began my first grown-up job as a real librarian mid-August and while that means I've been consuming young adult books at an insane pace, it also means I've been busy getting adjusted to my new job and updating our official library blog instead updating this one! So, I am again making use of this little blog feature I call "Book Bites" where I post a bunch short mini reviews for several books I've read recently.  This batch is mix of recent and not so recent releases in a variety of genres.

How To Rock Braces and Glasses by Meg Haston

Aspiring journalist Kacey Simon rules Marquette Middle School based on one idea: she always tells the truth, even when it hurts.  As host of her own show on the school's tv channel, Kacey hands out extremely honest advice to her classmates--without worrying about other people's feelings.  Then she gets an eye infection and falls flat on her face at the roller rink, landing her with thick glasses, braces, and a lisp.  Suddenly Kacey drops from the top of the social pyramid down to the bottom.  But it turns out that life as a loser is a lot more fun than Kacey ever guessed.

 A generally fun story of almost romance, friendship , and growing self-awareness, How To Rock is likely to be a good sell to middle schoolers interested in contemporary fiction.  While it is a little formulaic and cliche, the story remains enjoyable--and quite marketable, as Nickelodeon's recent purchase of the rights and plans to adapt it into a series called "How To Rock" illustrates.

Wings by Aprilynne Pike

Laurel has always felt different from other kids her age; but she's always assumed it had something to do with the way she's been raised.  Her sweet hippie parents have homeschooled her and treated any health problems with her mom's natural treatments.  Now that she's starting at a real school, Laurel is realizing that she is unusual in a lot more ways.  She can only really eat fruits and vegetables and too much time inside makes her feel trapped.  Then Laurel grows a pair of flower-like wings between her shoulder blades. 

I heard a lot of good buzz about this opening novel in Pike's romantic fairy trilogy.  And some of that hype is deserved; Pike's writing has almost ethereal quality and she crafts her sentences and the story's plot clearly.  Laurel is a sweet but strong heroine and her two love interests, the kind human David and the mysterious fairy Tamani, are both attractive characters.  Did it set me on fire to grab the next two novels, Spells and Illusions? Not really.  But will younger teen fans of supernatural romances snatch it up? For sure.    

Abandon by Meg Cabot

Pierce died.  She got tangled in her pool cover trying to rescue a bird, hit her head, and woke up in a strange place she now knows as the Underworld.  But she escaped and now she is trying to get on with life,  moving to her mom's old hometown and starting at a new school.  However life is much more complicated when you know what it's like to die.  The fact that the tall dark and handsome guy she met in the Underworld keeps showing up whenever Pierce is in trouble is not helping.  Escaping death once was lucky but can Pierce be that lucky a second time?

I was excited about this book.  Meg Cabot, Greek mythology, dark romance--sounds like a winning combination.  But I was personally somewhat disappointed.  Abandon functions mostly as set up for the next novel in this new series, being high on flashbacks and brooding yet generally unbelievable romance and low on action or character development.  However, it sold like hotcakes among my 8th graders.

Heist Society by Ally Carter

When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her to Paris.  Of course in between buying Kat ballons and croissants, her mom and dad were busy casing the Louvre so they could rob it later.  But being an art thief without a real home has become exhausting and so at 15 she pulls her biggest con yet: acceptance into a prestigious boarding school and a normal life.  However it turns out the family business is a lot trickier to get out of than Kat thought.  Suddenly her friend and fellow con artist Hale bounds into her normal life to tell Kat that her dad is in big trouble--international, life-threatening kind of trouble--and only Kat can get him out of it.

How fun is this book?!  Non-stop action, globe-trotting adventure, smart teens, a kick-butt heroine, and a touch of art history all in one delightful read.  Kat is a great protagonist, being both glamourous and reassuringly down to earth, and the plot moves at a great clip.  I had dozens of 7th graders battling for this one before I even finished my booktalk!