Revolver-- Marcus Sedgwick

A really good writer leaves something for the imagination. S/he describes a scene in detail but leaves the truly horrific part for you to create in your mind. I can read gory horror books and feel fine, but the creepy-left-to-our-imagination scenes... that's what keeps me up at night!

Marcus Sedgwick accomplishes the balance between detail and not over-writing perfectly. Revolver takes place in the arctic circle during the gold rush. When Sig discovers his father frozen to death on the ice, he knows his whole life will change. But when Wolff shows up and torments Sig, his emotions go from sadness to utter terror. Wolff believes that Sig's father is hiding gold and will do anything to retrieve it. Sig and his sister Anna do everything they can to appease Wolff, but he still brutalizes them believing they are lying. Sedgwick weaves threads of this tale together, allowing the reader to figure out some things on their own and leaving enough mystery to keep the pages turning.

For whatever reason, Wolff's character scared the crap outta me. It was like he had no moral compass and couldn't see beyond his own personal desires. Wolff was adept at both physical and emotional torment. He was animalistic but just human enough to make me get up and make sure my doors were locked at night.

I would recommend this book to youth who like thrillers, pager turners, short chapters, and stories about harsh landscapes. This book would be especially good for boys. While there isn't anything graphically described in detail, it's still not for the faint of heart.

Mock Printz Nominations!

After many agonizing meetings, my librarian cohort Paige and I have settled on an official Mock Printz list for this year. It's always so hard to choose, because inevitably something amazing will be published after we've already made our list...

And the nominees are (in no particular order):

Nothing-- Janne Teller
A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend-- Emily Horner
The Water Seeker-- Kimberly Willis Holt
Black Hole Sun-- David Macinnis Gill
Revolver-- Marcus Sedgwick
Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty-- G. Neri and Randy Duburke, Ill
They Called Themselves the KKK-- Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Wicked Girls-- Stephanie Hemphill
Finnikin of the Rock-- Melina Marchetta
Last Summer of the Death Warriors-- Francisco X. Stork

OK, you have your list! Now start reading and let me know what you think about our Mock Printz selections. And, if you want more information about the Mock Printz event, email teens@fvrl.org.

The Water Seeker-- Kimberly Willis Holt

Taking place from 1833 through 1859, The Water Seeker is a fictional tale of what life was like on the prairie and along the Oregon Trail. Mostly historical fiction, but with a light touch of magical realism, this novel is a meandering but compelling story of a boy and the adults who find their way into his life.

Amos is the son of Jake, who is a trapper by chosen trade but a dowser by god given gift. While Jake is away trapping, he leaves Amos to be raised by his brother and his wife, then later the neighbor and her five sons. It isn't until Amos is almost 14 that his father comes back to claim him... and take him on the journey of a lifetime, out west on the Oregon trail. Amos learns about himself through those who care for him. After watching Jake work as a dowser, Amos realizes that skill is living within him, too. And after years of sketching eerily accurate portraits, he learns his mother (who died giving birth to him) was a talented artist. But it isn't until he meets Gwendolyn that Amos learns what it means to be a man and see beyond the surface and first impressions.

This novel is appropriate for all ages of teens, and would be especially appealing to those who loved the Little House on the Prairie books but have outgrown them.

This Gorgeous Game--Donna Freitas

When 17 year old Olivia wins a prestigious writing contest sponsored by award winning author Father Mark Brennan, she can't believe her good luck. Being a writer is her life's dream, and winning this contest will set her on her career path. When Father Mark offers to mentor her in the ways of writing, Olivia couldn't be happier. As a devoted Catholic and completely dedicated to her writing career, Olivia believed being mentored by Father Mark would take her places she would never reach on her own.

But when Father Mark begins to call and text her multiple times an hour, follow her, and completely dominate her time, Oliviae starts to realize their relationship isn't typical. Although Father Mark hasn't touched her in any way, Olivia can still tell that something is inappropriate about their interactions. But soon the situation spirals out of her control and she has to dig deep inside herself to try and find her way out... and to still find the love for writing that started it all.

Donna Freitas has written a tale of an inappropriate relationship between a priest and a young girl, but she has done it in a respectful, not sensationalized way. She does not dismiss all priests or Catholicism as wrong; in fact I would think readers who are Catholic might be pleased with the way she portrays the religion. I would easily recommend this book to youth who like clean, religious fiction even though the subject matter seems so appalling. Personally, I didn't enjoy it much but only because it's not quite my literary cup of tea... but in general, I found it to be well written and there is a subset of teens out there who will be looking for a book like this.

A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend-- Emily Horner

Things that are happening during the summer before Cass's senior year in high school:

Totally Sweet Ninja Death Squad.
A badass solo bike ride from Illinois to California (kinda).
A musical which should have stared Julia, but instead stars Heather, the girl who mercilessly called Cass a dyke in front of the whole school.
Self discovery.
Two first kisses.

Something that happened in the spring:

Julia, Cass's best friend and secret (even to herself) girlcrush is killed in a car accident... and Cass's world implodes. Her hippy-liberal-Quaker parents encourage Cass to find her way out of the blackness, and Cass decides to do so by making a cross country bike trip, alone, to scatter Julia's ashes in the Pacific Ocean. Meanwhile, Cass and Julia's friends decide to produce Julia's legacy, the musical she'd been slaving over "Totally Sweet Ninja Death Squad."

This book is told in Then and Now passages, isn't linear, and is totally compelling. I literally couldn't put it down. Sometimes YA coming of age stories are unrealistically good (ahem, John Green), but this one really communicates how boundaries in the mind can be blurry, and how easy it can be to trick yourself into believing a lie... basically just like real life. I also found this book to be quite well written and will be keeping it in mind when it's time to select titles for Mock Printz!

Blast of Books III: Journey into Distopia

For some reason, I found myself in a black hole of dystopia last week... and this is what I read:

The Gardener-- S.A. Bodeen (May 2010)

Mason is your average teenage boy growing up in a small town. His father is out of the picture, his mother struggles with alcoholism and works nights at the local nursing home, which is owned by TroDyn. Determined to make something of his life, Mason decides to apply to TroDyn, a local scientific corporation that will pay for his schooling if he agrees to work there afterward. But when Mason visits his mother at work one day, and sees that she is not watching over senior citizens but catatonic teenagers, Mason learns there is more to TroDyn than he originally thought. All at once, he is caught up in a whirlwind of science he never thought possible, and falls hard for a beautiful girl who needs someone to project her.

The Gardener is almost more sci-fi than dystopia, and as you can tell by the cover, the Gardener isn't growing flowers in the greenhouse. And though there are massive plot holes and the character development is poor, Bodeen does a good job of showing how an altruistic idea can have sinister results when science is more highly valued than human life. I didn't enjoy this book as much as some of the others in this post, but I think teens will like it if they are looking for a fast paced sci-fi/dystopia.


Matched-- Ally Condie (November 2010)

It's the not-so-distant future and Society rules. Literally. All personal choice has been removed, and because of that, there is no war, conflict, or confusion. There are 100 approved poems, 100 approved paintings, and no one knows how to write (only type). Your career is chosen for you by your aptitude and social standing. And most importantly, your spouse is chosen for you. It's like an arranged marriage, but instead of loving families deciding what's best for their children, Society uses logarithms to scientifically make matches. And somehow no one questions this.

Cassia cannot wait for her matching day. She is thrilled when she is matched with Xander, the boy who lives next door and is her best friend. This is extremely rare and she is grateful to already know her match. But when she pops in the data disc that has more information about her match, it's not Xander's face that she sees. Instead she sees Ky, the mysterious boy who is always on the fringes. Society acknowledged the glitch in the system and tried to smooth things over. Yet other bits and pieces of Society's rigorous hold are crumbling and Cassia finds that she can't just live a quiet subdued life anymore.

Nomansland-- Lesley Hauge (June 2010)

I'm a sucker for retold mythology and from the cover and synopsis of this book, I thought this would be a retelling of the story of the amazon women... you know, the women who cut off a breast so they could use their bows and arrows better, and spend their lives on the back of a horse. However, it's vaguely inspired by that myth and really focuses more on the post apocalyptic plot.

Something has happened and the world we currently know is gone. A group of women survive the apocalypse on an island and recreate society to survive this new reality. When we meet Keller, the world we live in now is a distant memory. She lives with other women in a strict, almost archaic feeling society and is training to be a tracker. When her friend Laing finds an old dwelling (most likely from the around our current time, so maybe 2020 or so?) buried under the earth, she and the other girls are introduced to a society they never knew. They try on lipstick, look at beauty magazines, and marvel over barbie dolls. But when the women governing their society discovers their secret hideaway, the results are nothing less than tragic.

This World We Live In--Susan Beth Pfeffer (April 2010)

This is book three in The Last Survivors series (the first being Life as We Knew It) and because of this, I won't spend too much time on it. Basically This World We Live In takes the characters we met in the first two books and places them in a situation where their worlds unite. I would think fans of the first two books will be happy to read this, to me it felt uninspired and kind of like an afterthought.

Scott Pilgrim: A side note

So here's some randomness for y'all.

Just over a week ago I was rambling on about how much I loved Mercury by Hope Larson. Then, over the weekend, I decided to read the first 5 volumes of Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley since the movie is coming out soon. Then I noticed one of the volumes was dedicated to Hope Larson. And then in another volume, I see that she is his wife. Ooooohhhh, synchronicity.

And, speaking of the Scott Pilgrim GNs; they're awesome! Although my library has the series cataloged as YA, I really think it's more for people in their 20s. The characters are in their mid 20s and there are lots of references back to 90s area videogames and bands. The series is perfectly appropriate for teens; I'm just not sure of the appeal. I wonder if teens will be drawn in by the forthcoming movie...

...And speaking of this movie, is it just me, or does Michael Cera have a monopoly on the ya book to movie roles? He's been in Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, Youth in Revolt, and now Scott Pilgrim. I can't say that I am happy about this choice, but I'll hold me judgment until I actually see the movie.