What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones

What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones
published 2001 by Simon & Schuster
259 pages (hardcover), YA

Jacket flap:

My name is Sophie.
This book is about me.
It tells
the heart-stoppingly riveting story
of my first love.
And also of my second.
And, okay, my third love, too.

It's not that I'm boy crazy.
It's just that even though
I'm almost fifteen
I've been having sort of a hard time
trying to figure out the difference
between love and lust.

It's like
my mind
and my body
and my heart
just don't seem to be able to agree
on anything.

I think that's enough of a summary, really. You've got the main character (Sophie), the basic content of the book (her love life as a 15 year-old girl), and the style in which it's written (series of poems).

What My Mother Doesn't Know shockingly made it to #7 on 2010's Most Frequently Challenged Books list for reasons that I cannot comprehend. So, I'm just not going to even try. Instead, let's talk about why this book is absolutely amazing and why I love it so. :)

The title of this book makes it sound like it's going to be super trashy, but it's not - not at all! I don't like to do this, but I'm going to reveal the secret of the title for you. Cover your eyes if you really don't want to know. Here it comes ... What Sophie's mother doesn't know is that Sophie doesn't want to wear the ugly rose-printed dress she guilted Sophie into buying and that Sophie actually will be changing at a friend's house into a slinky black dress more suited for the Halloween dance. Oh Sophie, how could you! (Pardon the sarcasm.) C'mon, who hasn't performed the good ol' switcheroo? I know I certainly did as a teen!

What's wonderful about the book is Sophie's voice. She's so disarmingly honest. Her poems transport you right into the depths of a specific feeling. From the initial sparks of a new crush to the empathy of a lonely classmate and the longing for a better relationship with her mother, Sophie feels everything so acutely that you can't help but feel it a little too. On the back cover of my book, there's a blurb by Laurie Halse Anderson that sums up my thoughts about the story - "Tender and sexy and honest. With the poetry of an innocent kiss and the passion of a teenager's heart, Sones has created a book that feels like real love." Exactly! It feels like real love.

I remember reading this book when it first came out and absolutely devouring and adoring it because I could relate to it so well (even though I was a few years older than Sophie), but even reading it again just last night, 10 years later, I'm still right there with Sophie. It's not that it was a good book for me at the time because I could relate to it - it's just a good book, period. It's one that I'll re-read again and again because it'll remind me of what it's like to be a teen in such a beautiful and heartfelt way. Sophie and I are kindred spirits, that's for sure, but I think Sophie's charm can extend to those who may not relate so closely too. Gosh, I want to read it again right now! I'm not properly conveying how excited about and grateful for this book I am. You'll just have to read it for yourself to see why it makes me so giddy and tongue-tied. :)

So yeah, I was indeed surprised to find this book on last year's Most Frequently Challenged list mostly because it's so old. Ten years is a long shelf life for a YA novel! Does that mean it's on its way to becoming a classic? Are teens still gobbling it up like I did back in the day? I sure hope so! And I hope that this list appearance makes it a little more popular still.

Five purple crayons for one of my favorite books ever!

Cross-posted to the Banned Books blog.

Banned Books Week - Lush by Natasha Friend

Lush by Natasha Friend
published November 2006 by Scholastic
192 pages (hardcover), YA

Thirteen year-old Samantha has a fairly normal life. She has three fantastic best friends, an adorable and energetic four year-old brother, and a mom who is quite obsessed with yoga. Oh, and her dad's an alcoholic. But he's not the blatantly belligerent type. He doesn't come crashing down the street, alerting the neighbors to his unseemly state. No, he just crashes around inside the house and forgets about it all in the morning. After one crash too many, Sam just doesn't know how to deal anymore. She can't tell her best friends because they're just so normal and who knows how they'll react. So, she's been writing notes back and forth to AJK, some anonymous person she "met" at the library. All the while, she's also "mashing" (is that really the new word for kissing?) with a cute high school boy at the water fountain, who just so happens to invite her to a party. You can guess what happens there. This is Sam's life, a bit messy and complicated, but honest and real.

I downloaded this book last night because it was #6 on ALA's Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2010 list, and it is now Banned Books Week. The reasons it was so frequently challenged? Drugs, offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited to age group. Yes, alcohol is a drug, and it's a running theme throughout the book. But it's not glorified in any way. Samantha hates that her father drinks. She tries it at a party one night, without thinking really, and realizes even more afterward how horrible it actually is. I won't even go into defending the other reasons because I think they're all unjustified and ridiculous. Common Sense Media does a good job of highlighting any questionable content, if you're really into judging a book before you read it. The one other thing I'd mention, though, is that it's definitely not "unsuited to the age group." I'd hand this book to a mature 10 year-old, I really would. I have students in 5th grade that would read this and really appreciate it.

Samantha's voice is just so honest. Lush isn't only about Sam's feelings about her alcoholic father. That would translate into problem novel, and it's definitely not one of those. We get to know her as a complex 13 year-old. A girl who wears baggy shirts because she's developed faster than her friends and doesn't know how to communicate those feelings. A girl who so desperately needs someone to talk to that she writes notes back and forth to someone she's never met. But a girl who still has her head on her shoulders (most of the time) and who knows the difference between right and wrong.

Natasha Friend articulates Sam's thoughts about her father so well - the way she analyzes his words and movements to tell if he's drunk, the way she checks all the supposedly hidden bottles of alcohol in the house to see if there's any liquid missing. And she makes Sam strong. Sam tells her father the truth - she doesn't believe him when he says he'll stop, and she says so. Although having an alcoholic father is a seriously tough issue, Natasha Friend provides a realistic way for teens to respond, cope, and make amends. It's not cutesy or wrapped up nicely. But it offers hope.

I'm so glad that I looked at this year's list of challenged books because I definitely missed this one when it came out. And I'm torn between being furious that it's been so frequently challenged and happy that it has been because it means that much more exposure for the book. You don't have to have an alcoholic in the family to get this book. But if you do, goodness gracious, you're not alone, and it feels so good to know that. Four purple crayons to Lush by Natasha Friend.

So, that's my banned book reading for the week - what will you read? 




Cross-posted to the Banned Books blog.

Stolen by Lucy Christopher

Stolen by Lucy Christopher
published May 2010 by Chicken House
304 pages (hardcover)
Kindle edition published February 2011

On route to a summer holiday in Vietnam with her parents, sixteen year-old Gemma is kidnapped from the Bangkok Airport over a simple cup of coffee. One minute she's staring into a handsome face with beautiful blue eyes, and the next she's lying in a bed wearing unfamiliar clothes and feeling the aftereffects of some nasty drugs. Terrified and confused, Gemma slowly realizes that there is little hope for escape in this Australian never-ending desert, and that Ty, her captor, actually means her no harm. Told as a letter written to Ty, this story is unlike other kidnapping tales in that he's not actually a bad guy. Really.

For the record, I've never been kidnapped. So, I don't personally know how it feels. But if I ever do, I sure hope it's by someone like Ty. The guy has good intentions, mind you. He wants to save Gemma from her life of plastic parents and ugly concrete London. He's been watching her, and he can sense that she's different like him, that she just might want to run away to the desert and live in isolation on the land. Maybe that sounds crazy. But he's convinced, and he had me convinced too. And Gemma? She's a trooper. She must have aged ten years in the short time they spent together, with all the emotions she went through. She responded quite appropriately to finding out she had been kidnapped - hurt captor, run away. She repeated these actions until they proved useless. Until she grew weary of the fight and realized Ty wasn't fighting back. I don't want to give too much away, but I will say that Gemma and Ty had a complicated relationship. You're supposed to root for Gemma, to want her to escape and find her way home. That's a normal response. But goodness, how could you not feel for Ty? He was severely misguided, yes, but he has such a good heart.

I never understood it when people finished reading a book and then immediately went back to re-read it. Yeah, I get it now. Maybe not tonight, but I will revisit it soon because I loved it that much. Not just loved it either. I love a lot of books. I can't help it that I love stories so. But because it moved me (I know that's corny, but how else to say it?). It made me feel and think things I didn't think I could, and that is a rare gift. Maybe it's not a feel-good story, but it's a feel-something story, and I do appreciate it.

Thank you to Chelsea from Coffee and Cliffhangers for blogging about this book last week and unintentionally giving me exactly the recommendation I didn't know I was looking for. :)

Do I even have to say it? Five purple crayons for reminding me what it means to be human.

Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian

Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian
published September 2010 by Scholastic
336 pages (hardcover), YA
YA Reading Challenge

I don't usually use blurbs, but this one said all I wanted to say. From the dust jacket:

Life is about choices, and Natalie Sterling prides herself on making the right ones. She's avoided the jerky guys populating her prep school, always topped honor roll, and is poised to be the first female student council president in years.

If only other girls were as sensible and strong. Like the pack of freshmen yearning to be football players' playthings. Or her best friend, whose crappy judgment nearly ruined her life.

But being sensible and strong isn't easy. Not when Natalie nearly gets expelled anyway. Not when her advice hurts more than it helps. Not when a boy she once dismissed becomes the boy she can't stop thinking about.

The line between good and bad has gone fuzzy, and crossing it could end in disaster... or become the best choice she'll ever make.

This book was good. I can't believe how many negative reviews I read for it, though. Most of them cried the same - Natalie's not a likable or a relatable character. Well, no, she's not very friendly or approachable. She's goal-oriented, with very little people skills and a know-it-all attitude. Reviewers said that made her unbelievable, that they'd never met anyone like her in real life. Really? I certainly have! Especially in a teenage girl who is trying so hard not to let boys and high school drama rule her life. Who wants desperately to be successful - to leave a legacy behind and make a name for herself in all that she does. Who acutely feels the pressure of being a female in a male-dominated society, to the point where she cannot see beyond herself. Yes, I've known (and know still) girls and women like that. Natalie is determined to be assertive in all that she does, and she sometimes fails to see how that hurts others. So, sure, she has flaws, and she is slow to realize them, and we don't really get to see her change her ways, but there are morsels of hope by the end of this book.

One reviewer also said that when dealing with teens and sex, there's no need for subtlety. Others called the book preachy. I don't know that it was either. I suppose I'd lean towards the subtle side. It was complex, that's for sure, and Vivian didn't attempt to explain away all the iffy decisions Natalie and her small group of almost-friends made. There is much room for interpretation and discussion in this book, and that's why I liked it so. The characters were developed just enough that you could guess why they did and said the things they did but not too much that it was spelled out for you.

I wish I had this book in high school. I might have questioned more and thought of absolutes less. Even looking at the title, I cringe when I think about how many times I've probably said those words about myself. So damaging - to myself and other girls. Because isn't that how you say it? I'm not that kind of girl. Like you're better than that girl. You have higher standards, morals, ethics, whatever. And those kinds of girls are all the same, lumped in the same category, on the receiving end of your disdain. Too much measuring, too much hate - let's all just be ourselves and be happy with each other, okay?

Anyhow, back to the book. Another fantastic YA read - goodness, I'm on a roll! Go read it. Have thoughts of your own. Share them, please. :) Four purple crayons from this Natalie.

Read this week (8)

Though I try not to make a big fuss over the new year, I do like joining reading challenges and read the most for them during these first few months of the year. And so I bring back my abandoned Read this week feature. I only use it when I have a particularly heavy reading week, and I want to jot a few notes down about each book before they all start blending together. This was definitely the case this week, as I started intensely on the YA Reading Challenge.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
published August 2010 by Scholastic
YA Reading Challenge

What's to say that hasn't already been said? I'm so glad I re-read the first two. And someday I know I will want to re-read the trilogy. Yep, it's that good. Admittedly, this third book was my least favorite. But isn't that usually the case with series' ends? The trilogy itself reminds me of the Back to the Future trilogy - first two were fantastic, very similar to each other, and hard to pick a favorite. But the third was a little random - much different setting, different problems, but you can't help but like it because of familiar characters. Mockingjay's storyline was a bit too political for my taste (I don't generally read war novels, much too sensitive for that), and all the killing was hard to read, but the character depth achieved was well worth it. A satisfying end to the trilogy.


Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
published August 2010 by HarperTeen
YA Reading Challenge

Will I ever tire of YA paranormal fantasies? Not anytime soon, I suppose. Evie is a sixteen year-old girl working for the government, the International Paranormal Containment Agency, that is. She's gifted with the ability to see through glamours and into monsters, to see them for what they really are, and so she is a rare commodity that this agency has put to good use. Evie's daily life consists of apprehending and putting ankle bracelets on anything from vampires to hags, chatting with her best friend (a mermaid), and watching her favorite teen drama, Easton Heights. She doesn't live a normal teenage life - she doesn't go to high school or have human friends her age or even drive. But she has adventure and plenty of drama and perhaps a little love interest in a newly discovered paranormal who breaks into the agency. Reminded me of the Alexia Tarabotti books because of the action, adventure, and variety of paranormals. Fun, quick, and light.


The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney
published November 2010 by Little, Brown
YA Reading Challenge

This, for me, was The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks + Speak (both favorites of mine): major girl power surrounded by the very serious issue of date rape. What impressed and startled me most about this book was how calmly Alex reacted to her situation. The book begins with Alex naked in a boy's bed, obviously hungover with next to no memory of the evening before. As the story progresses, she slowly remembers more about that night, with emotional triggers from friends, songs, and smells. Her confidantes are the ones to suggest she has been date raped, and she has to mull over that idea and ultimately decide if it's true. The setting (boarding school) is crucial to this book, as Alex also needs to figure out what action she should take next. Should she call the police? Tell her parents? The school's administration? But there is a fourth option. The Mockingbirds. A secret justice agency created by the students for the students. The more I think about this book, the more I like it. It saddens me that the students are dismissive of the adults in their lives, that they feel like their problems wouldn't be taken seriously by their teachers or parents. But it makes me proud that they are capable and willing to sort them out themselves. Definitely glad I read this one.


The Dark Divine by Bree Despain
published December 2009 by Egmont
YA Reading Challenge
Shifter Challenge

Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about this book. I didn't know much about the story before I picked it up, so I was surprised that the main character was a preacher's daughter attending a Christian school. I'm usually very aware of faith-related books before I start reading them because it requires me to open my mind a little more and not be so judgmental. But I rebounded quickly and was able to suspend prejudices, if you will, enough to get into the story. Grace is a good girl. The only bad part of her life seems to be Daniel, her childhood friend who disappeared years ago but now is mysteriously back in town to finish high school. Grace is inexplicably drawn to Daniel, but whenever she's with him, strange and dangerous things happen. Secrets abound. Promises are made and broken. And Grace questions her world incessantly. The questioning was tiresome for me. The writing too literal. I wanted more magic and mystique. And the story? Not entirely original and not my cup of tea. But I know many people loved this book and are jumping all over the recently published sequel, The Lost Saint, so to each his or her own.


Phew, that was my reading week. I love it when I binge on books. :) Have you read any of these? What'd you think?

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
published October 2010 by Random House
272 pages (hardcover), YA

Dash hates Christmas. He can't stand the throngs of bipolar people who'll be spreading yuletide joy one minute and cursing you in a certain department store the next. He's surly and snarly, but he's a teenage boy, so he's partially entitled. Lily, on the other hand, is full of Christmas spirit, baking the most delicious and inventive holiday cookies and creating her own caroling troupe. Both teens are on their own for Christmas this year, which inevitably leads them to one another. When Lily's brother devises a plan to get Lily's goody-two-shoes bum out of the house and into the real world for some adventure and excitement, what Dash finds from these two is a red notebook in his favorite bookstore, daring him to do the same. So begins the correspondence between Dash & Lily.

I'll get the unfair comparison out of the way first - I'm a big fan of Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist as well as Naomi & Ely's No Kiss List, so I knew that I would enjoy this book as well. Levithan and Cohn write alternating chapters in each of these books, and they're quite good at it. Remember when I said that I love author collaborations? I really, really do. I feel like there's more character development there somehow, but I suppose it's just because there are two narrators and the reader gets to know them both fairly well. At any rate, Dash & Lily are just as memorable as the previous, and I'm rather happy for it.

Coincidentally, here's my favorite quote from Dash:

I was attempting to write the story of my life. It wasn't so much about plot. It was much more about character (p.198).

So, the story is about a boy and a girl who do not know each other in person but only through the dares they write to each other in this red notebook. From the bookstore to Santa's lap to a wax museum and much more, these two teens not only dare each other to do silly and annoying things but they also open up and share parts of themselves in their writing. Do I want to go buy a red notebook and try the same? You bet! It's fun and a little reckless - the idea is hopelessly romantic and does require you to suspend disbelief in order to properly enjoy it.

As with any author pairing, I was curious to see which character I would prefer. It took me a little while to decide, but I think Dash is my guy. Although Lily's sweet and innocent self was adorable, I had just a bit of trouble reconciling how sheltered she was in New York City. Not to say that everyone in the city is harsh and jaded - well, maybe I am a little. I'm not from there, so what do I know? But for that reason, Dash made more sense to me. And I'll be honest, I totally would have had a crush on him in high school. His unabashedly nerdy love affair with words is hot.

Though this book was told in two voices, there were quite a few supporting characters that stood out too. Dash's best friend Boomer, his ex-girlfriend Sofia, Lily's brother Langston, her great aunt "Mrs. Basil E," her cousin Mark and a few others. Through their eyes, the reader learns more about Dash & Lily, which does say something about a person's character, no pun intended.

So, there it is. Stick this entry into Wordle, and you'll get what I look for in a good novel: character. It's almost comical how many times I used that word. But that's what I enjoyed most about this book, even though the dares were fun too. It's definitely an appropriate read for this time of year - I appreciated it during our first snow! Go pick it up and pass it along to a teen over the holidays. They might not admit it, but they will definitely eat it up.

Three purple crayons for an enjoyable story with excellent characters.

Around the blogosphere:
Eating YA Books ; Guys Lit Wire ; Pure Imagination ; Chick Lit Reviews ; Book Aunt

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
published December 2008 by Walker & Co
368 pages (paperback), YA

We all know the story - good girl falls for bad boy. She's popular, rich and college-bound, the envy of all her friends. He's in a gang, living on the poor side of the tracks, and hoping to at least graduate high school. Inevitably, the two must spend their school days together as chemistry lab partners. On their first day, they're forced to introduce each other to the class:

"This is Alejandro Fuentes. When he wasn't hanging out on street corners and harassing innocent people this summer, he toured the inside of jails around the city, if you know what I mean. His secret desire is to go to college and become a chemistry teacher, like you, Mrs. Peterson."

Brittany flashes  me a triumphant smile, thinking she's won this round. Guess again, gringa.

"This is Brittany Ellis," I say, all eyes now focused on me. "This summer she went to the mall, bought new clothes so she could expand her wardrobe, and spent her daddy's money on plastic surgery to enhance her, ahem, assets. Her secret desire is to date a Mexicano before she graduates."

I don't read a whole lot of realistic fiction or romance for that matter, but I quite enjoyed this one. Perhaps it's because I saw Simone Elkeles speak at ISLMA last month, and she was just so bubbly and hilarious. Perhaps because the trailer for this book is genius and fall-off-your-chair funny. Or maybe because I read it over a long weekend traveling to visit a friend. It made for great airport and plane reading.



One thing Simone mentioned when she talked about her writing career is that she was never great at school and she never saw herself as a writer or even reader. But a trip to the public library and a handful of romances later changed her mind. She loves the happy ending that all romances promise and deliver, and that's what she tried to do with this book. Personally, I could have done without the happy ending, especially in a YA romance, but I liked the rest of the story enough to be okay with it. Brittany and Alex are three-dimensional characters, with complicated family stories and even more complicated friendships, with thoughts and feelings so at odds with each other that they're constantly fighting and trying to figure out what's right. Simone's passion and general emo qualities shine in this book. Honestly, that's what I love most about teens and books for teens - the raw emotion and incessant need to question everything.

So, four purple crayons for a fantastic if predictable story. I smiled and laughed and wanted to hug someone when I was finished reading it. :)

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan

Will Grayson, Will Grayson 
by John Green & David Levithan
published April 2010 by Penguin
304 pages (hardcover), YA

Can I first say how much I love author collaborations? I really, really do. Okay, now we can begin the review or something like it.

Jacket flap:

It's not that far from Evanston to Naperville, but Chicago suburbanites Will Grayson and Will Grayson might as well live on different planets. When fate delivers them both to the same surprising crossroads, the Will Graysons find their lives overlapping and hurtling in new and unexpected directions. With a push from friends new and old--including the massive, and massively fabulous, Tiny Cooper, offensive lineman and musical theater auteur extraordinaire--Will and Will begin building toward respective romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history's most awesome high school musical.

How refreshing it is to read a YA book about love and friendship through the voices of two male characters! I'm finding it difficult to harness my thoughts because there is just so much I loved about this book. The writing? I couldn't stop laughing. John Green's Will Grayson is too witty for words, while David Levithan's will grayson is deeply troubled but with a sour sense of humor. I wish I was one of those people who carried around a quote journal because I would fill it with lines from this book. Part of the reason I liked it so much is because it resonated with my teen self - it instantly took me back to high school (I suppose it helps that I lived in the Chicago suburbs too) in such a disturbingly vivid way. But the book is set completely in the present, with texting in classes, musical references, and a trip to Millennium Park. I found myself thinking, how is it possible that these adult men could write today's teen boys so well? That's not really a question because I do think that Green and Levithan are very much in tune with the times and interact with youth, while drawing on their own adolescent experiences as well.

When I read it again, I'll have more to say. For now, I'm just giddy from the experience. I don't read a whole lot of realistic fiction, but I'd say this is the best of the genre. Authentic teens with real emotions and problems with the propensity for getting into ridiculous situations.

AND! I can't overlook the gay characters in this book - but gay without the drama of coming out, which is what so many GLBTQ books focus on. No, this book represents gay teens with the same sense of normalcy as straight teens, which is so so important. Yes, Tiny Cooper is a bit over the top in his gayness, but we all know someone like him. will grayson is almost passively gay until he develops a relationship and has the option to explore what it means to be gay and out. And Will Grayson is so not gay but loves his best friend Tiny Cooper in a way that best friends love each other - homophobia is not even an option. I hope that this is an accurate reflection of teens today, with their open minds and hearts, but I know it's not the case everywhere. Maybe not even in Naperville. But somewhere. Somewhere, I hope that people can love who they love, experiencing the joys and pains of all kinds of relationships and friendships.

What I got more than anything else in this book was the intensity of the characters' emotions and personalities. And that's what I remember most about being a teen - every emotion, every touch, every thought, every conversation was magnified - and the people in my life meant more to me than absolutely anything else. My goodness, what a book to evoke such vivid, sentient memories!

I'll stop there because I'm heading into incoherent gushing territory. I'm curious to know what others think because I stayed far away from reviews this time around. Have you read it? Link your review in the comments! You haven't? Well, go read it!

Of dreamcatchers, preternaturals and thieves

I haven't been in the mood to write about my reading lately. The weather puts me in a funk - I'm one of those happy when it's sunny kind of people, so all this rain (and even a little snow) has left me less than enthused about anything. So, I've been working at about half-energy, and I feel like I've just been playing catch-up with my reading, reading books that you all have most likely read already - probably because I get so many of my book recs from the blogosphere. Ah, oh well. Here's what I've read most recently.

Gone by Lisa McMann
published February 2010 by Simon & Schuster
214 pages (hardcover), YA

I admit that I read this one on a wonderfully sunny, almost warm day sitting next to a lake. What a fine way to experience a book! Unfortunately, like so many have already noted, this finale in the Wake trilogy did not impress. What I enjoyed most about the first book in the series was the exploration of what it meant to be a dreamcatcher, which was nearly absent in this book. This book was about family, which is fine but unexpected, I suppose. Janie is on summer vacation with Cabe when she's summoned back home to deal with her drunken mother and a comatose father she's never met. Obviously, she's curious about her father, so she does a little research and finds that they have quite a bit in common. You can guess where that's going. I don't have much else to say really except that for fans of the series, this book will read quickly enough - but if you didn't like the first two books, I don't think there's reason to keep going. Too bad, I think, because I do enjoy McMann's unusual writing style.

Soulless: An Alexia Tarabotti Novel by Gail Carriger
published October 2009 by Orbit/Yen

384 pages (mass market paperback), adult (YA appeal)

Preternatural is a word I despise - I cringe every time I read it. Well, I had to get over that pretty quickly in order to enjoy this book, where our main character Miss Alexia Tarabotti is just that, a preternatural. A what? She has no soul. She neutralizes supernatural powers. Vamps lose the fangs at the touch of her, werewolves turn back to humans. That's just a little glimpse into her world - this is also Victorian England but not like you've learned about it, let's say instead with a steampunk twist. If you can imagine all of this in one book, where our main character, a self-proclaimed spinster (at no more than 25), must live with a stepmother who loathes her and two stepsisters who are only interested in advantageous marriages, gossip, and pretty things, then you will be in for a treat. Alexia is witty, okay hilarious, and I could not stop the little girl giggles from escaping me at her cheekiness. This book is fun but not necessarily light - it's ridiculous but also thoughtful. I was expecting something a lot less substantial from a book originally published as a mass market paperback (oh, how judgmental I am), but I was pleasantly surprised to find the story was more than just a paranormal romance (but those parts were great too, I must say), where the focus is on the budding relationship. So many twists and turns in this one - I shouldn't write any more. If you can stand to read anything more of vamps and weres and wouldn't mind a little romance and are in serious need of a laugh, pick this one up. I'm excited for the next installment, Changeless, due out in April.

Heist Society by Ally Carter
published February 2010 by Disney Hyperion
304 pages (hardcover), YA

What to say about this one? I'd consider it another breed of fantasy - sure, it's contemporary, with human characters who don't have any special powers, but is it realistic? Not in my world. Kat has just left the family business - high profile thieving - and is trying to live a normal teenage life at a boarding school. But she's whisked back into that underground world by Hale, a good friend (who happens to be gorgeous), who needs her help to clear her father's name of a crime he most likely didn't commit. The heist? Re-steal five priceless paintings for a big, bad guy and hopefully save her dad. From a back of the book blurb, E. Lockhart says, "Heist Society is an edge-of-your-seat caper with more twists than Ocean's Eleven and cooler gadgets than Casino Royale." I agree. It's fun, action-packed, with a little bit of romance. A beach read for those of you still spring breaking. :)


What's next? Be sure to check out my Unsung YA Giveaway (as well as the many others linked from YAnnabe), which will end April 12. I'm currently reading a few different books because of attention span issues. Most of the weekend will be spent lesson planning, which I'm almost excited about. I may disappear for awhile depending on how busy I let myself get. I'm ready for March (my least favorite month, in case you hadn't noticed) to be over!

Read this week (7)

Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund
I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Read about it here.

Enthusiasm by Polly Shulman
This book was #4 on the Top 10 Unsung YA Heroes list, so I thought I'd give it a shot. And the cover blurb by Stephenie Meyer says she recommends this book to just about anyone she meets. I don't know that I'd go that far. I didn't love it as much as others seemed to, but I thought it was fun and a little silly. The story centers on two best friends - one is completely wacky (marches to the beat of her own drummer kinda gal) and the other is shy but loyal, following her friend in all her schemes and obsessions. The latest is a Pride and Prejudice phase, wherein the girls infiltrate the all-boys' private school dance in search of a Mr. Darcy. It's a quick, lightly romantic, clean teen read.

Once was Lost by Sara Zarr
People have had nothing but good things to say about this book, and it made it on YALSA's 2010 Best Books for Young Adults list, but I didn't really love it. I liked it. And I can see how the main character could be relatable to teens, especially those going through similar struggles - issues with God and faith, a mom in rehab and a potentially adulterous father, friends who keep secrets and act differently towards the "pastor's kid." And this all comes about because a girl goes missing, and that's all anyone can think or talk about. Small town. I don't really understand small towns. And the tragedy never really sinks in or seems to be all that important even though it's written into so many of the pages. I just wasn't feeling it.

High Five by Janet Evanovich
What's not to love about a Stephanie Plum novel? Fast-paced, hilarious, with several mysteries all in one. I'm slowly going through the series because they're not really the kind of books you read one right after the other. In this one, Uncle Fred goes missing, and it takes Stephanie two weeks to figure out what in the world happened. Morelli is still an irresistible love interest, but Stephanie chooses chocolate instead. And Ranger is turning on his charm - but he's a bit more man than she can handle at the moment. Though she will work for his morally sound, legally ambiguous company in order to make the rent. It was a refreshing read.