Thrills and Chills: A Review of The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

I love mysteries.  I am an unapologetic mystery fiend.  Since my first Nancy Drew in fourth grade, I have been a bit addicted to mystery stories. But I usually find my mystery reading from outside my preferred shelves of the young adult section.  So when I heard that one of my favorite YA authors, the brilliant Maureen Johnson, was publishing a murder mystery with a supernatural twist, I pretty much threw a party in excitement.  One of my favorite writers writing in one of my favorite genres? A dream come true! 


It is always a highly anticipated event for a bookworm when an author writes a book that seems very different that previous novels.  It's sort of a gamble: will it be brilliant or will it flop?  While I was at ALA this June I was lucky enough to be at the YALSA Young Adult Authors' Coffee Klatch.  So I got the opportunity to hear Maureen answer the question that she has likely already grown sick of hearing: why write a murder mystery about Jack the Ripper and a secret London police force? She said that she had always wanted to write a mystery.  Well, I for one am very glad that she has finally been able to pursue that interest! 


Maureen's other novels (which include The Bermudez Triangle, Suite Scarlett, 13 Little Blue Envelopes) usually fit very clearly into the sub-category of young adult realistic fiction; the delightfully supernatural Devilish is an exception to this statement.  The Name of the Star seems, initially, quite different from these other novels. It begins like many of the best mysteries: with an intriguing murder.  Then we meet Rory Deveaux, a native of Louisana whose arrival in London coincides with a brutal murder that appears to mimic  the first of Jack the Ripper's famous crimes.  Starting senior year of high school in a foreign country is already pretty terrifying and confusing but soon it appears that Rory is going to have to worry about something much scarier than British slang and unfamiliar classes as the murders continue and she finds herself caught up right in the middle.  


Rory is what I like to think of as a classic Maureen Johnson heroine: smart and spunky with a solid sense of humor.  She is likable, admirable, and realistic.  As usual, I completely adore her.  She is a great narrator, interspersing her narration with sharp and often self-deprecating observations about the world and stories about her kooky but beloved Southern family.  The novel is spot on in its descriptions of the wonders and confusions that come with studying abroad (especially in England) as well as the more universal experiences of being a teen (kissing, high school politics).  But amidst her signature elements, Maureen Johnson slowly sneaks in not only a compelling mystery but also a great supernatural twist.  By the last page, I was simultaneously thrilled and furious to remember that this book is the first in a series; it left me eager for more but frustrated that I now need to wait to get it! 


So definitely be watching the shelves of your local libraries and bookstores this September for the release of Maureen Johnson's newest, The Name of the Star!


5/5 STARS


* The copy of The Name of the Star I read and based this review on was a free (and signed!) ARC I received from the publisher at ALA Annual 2011.  
  

The Romance of a Good Love Story: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

When I first looked a little dubiously at this shiny cover picture of the coy girl and the Eiffel Tower, I would never have predicted that about a month later I would be standing eagerly in line at a conference center in New Orleans, awaiting my chance to snatch up Stephanie Perkins' next novel.  I picked Anna and the French Kiss off the library shelf while browsing earlier this summer because I remembered that John Green had mentioned it with high praise in a Vlogbrothers video a few months before.  I flipped the book over and saw more excited praise from E. Lockhart and Maureen Johnson.  Well, I thought, I guess I really have to give it a try.  But I remained a little doubtful.  The blurb inside the cover sounded  like a classic romance cliche: girl likes boy but boy is taken.  


Then I started to read.  And, wow, was I wrong!  

What I Learned At My First ALA Conference

Me and my book haul :) 

1.) When people tell you to wear comfortable shoes, they are deadly serious.  You will walk miles just getting from one event to another in the convention center. Miles, people.


2.) Publishers actually give away FREE books before they are published.  Really.  FREE BOOKS.  You will want all of them.


3.) Therefore--you should perhaps pack an extra duffle bag in your luggage to use as a checked bag. Or plan to mail at least one to two boxes of books.


4.) IF you do need to mail books to yourself (or your parents' house where there is still some empty space left!), do it before 1pm on Monday.  Do NOT go into the Exhibit Hall Post Office at 1pm on Monday--that way lies madness and chaos.


5.)  Bring your own sturdy tote bags.


6.) Pack granola bars or other snacks because sometimes waiting in line for exciting advanced readers copies (ARCs) is much more important than lunch.  Or dinner.


7.) ARCs and galleys are the same thing: free copies of awesome books you can read before they get officially published.


8.)  The Exhibit Hall is a shiny land of great temptation.  This is where the free books dwell.


9.) There is this amazing invention called Hair Glimmer or Tinsel.  If you tie it in your hair, you look like a metallic fairy.  Thank you, Lauren Myracle, for introducing me to this wonder.


10.) YA authors really are as cool as you always suspected. And even nicer.


11.) Plan ahead but be flexible! If you spot a wonderful program that you missed in your pre-conference plotting, go to it! You can free yourself from your Excel spreadsheet.  


12.) I am so proud to call myself a librarian.  

Bound for New Orleans: ALA Annual and A Review of Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Well, tomorrow morning at some horrible hour, I am flying out to New Orleans--for my first ever American Librarian Association Annual Conference!  I am both excited and nervous, especially because I'm still in the middle of my last term of grad school classes and two internships and haven't had much time to prepare!  But it does help that other librarians have offered some great advice.  The awesome librarian/blogger GreenBeanTeenQueen, for example, did a wonderful ALA Annual advice post on Monday.  


Ship Breaker seemed like a perfect book to post a review about in celebration of the beginning of this exciting event.  It is this year's Printz Award winner and the story, like that of last year's winner Going Bovine, leads us through New Orleans! 


Nailer works light crew, crawling into the beached wrecks of oil tackers to strip them of valuable copper wiring.  He lives day to day dependent on his ability to make quota and to avoid the unpredictable rage of his drug addicted father.  But suddenly it looks like Nailer has finally had some good luck when he stumbled upon a beautiful abandoned clipper ship--only to discover that it is not quite abandoned.  Now Nailer must decide between survival and the risky chance at a better life.  


Ship Breaker seems like a very apt choice for this year big YA lit prize, the Printz Award.  First, it's superb example of the dystopian/speculative fiction trend that has been so popular with teen readers this year. Bacigalupi paints a beautifully desolate and harsh picture of a future in which environmental exhaustion has helped the gap between wealthy and the desperate widen to catastrophic levels.  For Nailer, life is truly a struggle to survive day to day and Bacigalupi's writing places us right in the struggle with him.  


The novel also provokes a huge range of questions dealing with topics pulled right from the headlines: dependency on oil, environmental changes, the manipulative power of corporations, and people left behind by an unequal society.  It is a page turning adventure that will also make you think.  Ship Breaker also should appeal to diverse group of readers.  Older teens who enjoy thrilling adventure or were hooked on The Hunger Games would be likely be pretty quick sells on Ship Breaker.  


I couldn't put this book down and after finished it, I immediately paged back to reread the climax again so I could relive the thrill!  Check it out!   


5/5 STARS   


   

Identity Crisis: A Review Double Feature

Who am I? What kind of person am I? How do other people see me? Can I be more than one thing? What box do I fit in? 


These questions about identity are among the biggest concerns for many teens.  So it's no surprise that so many novels written for young adults tackle this area of philosophical conflict.  I read 10 Things I Hate About Me by Randa Abdel-Fattah and Pink by Lili Wilkinson in the same week, having no idea that they share some interesting similarities.  Both novels are by awesome Australian young adult authors and both stories take place in modern day Australia.  But as I read each one, I found that the similarities go beyond the geographical: these two novels tackle the classic young adult issue of identity in some unique and specific ways. 

Limited Visibility: My Response to THAT WSJ Article

Whew! I woke up yesterday morning to an Internet storm in the young adult lit blogosphere. If you frequent young adult lit blogs or follow YA authors on Twitter or are on a young adult services listserv, you will have likely read the now infamous article in the Wall Street Journal, "Darkness Too Visible" written by Meghan Cox Gurdan.  If not, check it out here.  


First, I'll say that there are so many extremely articulate and wonderfully thoughtful responses to this article by bloggers, librarians, and authors--I'm including a list of links to several of them at the bottom of this post.  Please check them out because they are far more experienced and eloquent than I am.  


Now, this WSJ article got me riled up for a large number of reasons.  There's such a great deal about it that frustrates me that I'm almost unsure where to begin.  I think that my objections can be tied into one overarching problem with this article: it's extremely limited viewpoint.  The article's content demonstrates a very narrow understanding of young adult literature, of young adults, and of librarians, authors, editors, and others in the industry.  


Firstly, the article begins by describing the experience of one mother who was very unsatisfied and unhappy with the selection of books in her local Barnes and Noble's teen section; she felt that there was nothing appropriate for her 13 year old daughter, saying: "It was all vampires and suicide and self-mutilation, this dark, dark stuff."  The author goes on to agree with this statement, stating that "kidnapping and pederasty and incest and brutal beatings are now just part of the run of things in novels directed, broadly speaking, at children from the ages of 12 to 18."  I have to say that such statements are indeed very "broadly speaking."  This generalization about the range of materials out there for young adults is especially frustrating because it is patently untrue.  I frequently find myself explaining to people that YA literature is not just one thing; it is not all vampire love stories or angsty prom tales or 'problem novels.'  Just like adult literature, young adult literature is extremely diverse.  Books dealing with some darker issues or situations are one type of fiction out there aimed at teens; they are far from the only kind of young adult literature being published and read right now.  What about the fabulously fun or romantic or hilarious or whimsical young adult novels out there? Additionally, not all teen fiction is aimed at the same age group; most YA literature is not created for the entire 12-18 demographic.  As other bloggers have noted already, if this mother had walked into a library and asked a teen or children's librarian for some advice, she likely would not have left empty-handed.  


The main thrust of the article is that the fiction being published for teenagers is too dark, covering topics previously considered taboo such as sexual and physical abuse, self-mutilation, depression, suicide, sexual assault, etc.  Other bloggers have articulated nicely that young adult literature has essentially contained 'problem novels' or issue-driven stories dealing with difficult topics since the genre has existed.  I would rather simply point out why I, as a librarian and youth advocate, feel that books addressing these topics are important.  I was a lucky kid--I lived a safe and comparatively happy life as a child and an adolescent.  But I knew that the scary stuff was out there; I either knew of or was friends with young people who dealt with some or several of these situations.  For a lot of teens, total innocence or ignorance of the dark side of life is simply not a reality.  Now that I am older, I am even more aware of the fact that for many young adults, abuse, self-injury, or sexual assault are things of reality rather than fiction.  Do I think that this means that every young adult should read about these topics? Of course not--each kid is unique and has distinct reading preferences and needs.  But I do think that the attempt to give a voice to the voiceless should not be dismissed as easily as Ms. Gurdon seems to feel it can be.  When we say that these topics cannot be written about--that they are dirty and depraved and so should be hidden in the dark--what message are we sending to the young survivors of abuse, assault, or depression?  We are telling them that their stories do not matter; we are saying that these realities should not be discussed.  As someone who has made it her job to care about young adults, I believe that such action is simply not okay.  


In her conclusion, Ms. Gurdon states that "book business exists to sell books; parents exist to rear children"; I would like to add to that that librarians (and along with other members of the young adult literature community) exist to defend each child's individual right to read and to provide a diverse literature in support of each child's discovery and understanding of the world around her and her place in it.  This difference in objectives ties into my last quibble with this article: there is a distinction between banning and guidance.  When we discuss censorship or book banning, we mean the demand that an item be removed from access by the public or by a large group of people (such as students at a particular school) based on the objections of an individual or a group.  Meanwhile guidance is on individual, personalized basis.  Parents should talk with their children about what they're reading; please do! However, individuals do not have the right to extend such guidance to other children or young adults.  


To end on an inspiring note, please check out the myriad of responses on Twitter using the hashtag #YAsaves; hundreds of teens and adults have shared their personal examples of how powerful stories written for teens can be.    


Here are a few of the great responses to this article so far- check them out! 


Liz B. @ A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy,  "There's Dark Things in Them There Books!"  

Stephanie Lawton, "YA Under Attack: Heaven Forbid We Address Reality" 

Libba Bray's recent Twitter feed compiled by WSJ 


Linda Holmes @ NPR's Monkey See, "Seeing Teenagers As We Wish They Were: The Debate Over YA Fiction"

Elizabeth Bird @ A Fuse 8 Production, "Fusenews: Hand Me My Smelling Salts! I Think I Have the Vapors!"

Laurie Halse Anderson, "Stuck Between Rage and Compassion" 


bookshelves of doom has a response and a round up of other responses 


 Mary Elizabeth Williams at Salon Magazine, "Has Young Adult Fiction Become Too Dark?"

Malinda Lo, "The Moral of the Story" 

A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz

Tween Tuesdays! 

Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the fabulous GreenBeanTeenQueen over at her blog.  Bloggers use the meme to highlight awesome reads for tweens. 

A Tale Dark and Grimm

Adam Gidwitz

You've heard about Hansel and Gretel before right? With the witch and her crazy house made of candy and cake?  Well, then, you haven't heard the whole story.  The real story of Hansel and Gretel is a much darker,  bloodier, and more Grimm adventure than you might imagine. 

So don't say we didn't warn you. 

What a delightfully Grimm novel!  Gidwitz weaves together several of the Grimm brothers' tales into one witty and darkly funny story held together by our brave young protagonists, Hansel and Gretel.  The very involved narrator interjects sly and wry comments throughout the story and kids will greatly enjoy this hilarious commentary.  Additionally, readers who like creepy and bloody tales or fairy tale retells will be quickly hooked on this story, which combines both subgenres into one twisting and eventful adventure. 

As I have said before, I am a big fan of fairy and folktale retellings.  I had heard good things about this particular fairy tale-inspired novel but wasn't quite sure what to expect when I turned the first page.  What I found was a very unique re-imagining of the now iconic Grimm tales.  Gidwitz draws on the darkness and the gore of the original tales; instead of white-washing them, he highlights their scary qualities.  He finds overarching truths embedded in several separate stories: grown-ups are unreliable, the world is a frightening and unsafe place, and no one is truly innocent.  Through these common themes, he crafts a new story that will likely appeal to many children for the ways it acknowledges how very scary the adventure we call 'growing up' can be.    

5/5 STARS