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Return to home page The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal I write about princesses, though not the prissy, flooffy kind. I don't actually have anything against beautiful, strong princesses of the more standard variety, and that was what I was expecting when I opened this book. What happened instead was that this princess finds out that she isn't a princess at all. She's turned out of the castle with a small amount of pay for her services to the crown, essentially for taking the place of the princess while the endangered princess was in hiding, raised as an ordinary girl. What also surprised me was that the two princesses become friends. I had thought that the real princess would turn out to be selfish and rude. I like friendship stories with strong women and think they are lacking in YA, so this was great. A mild romance was also fun. Plain Kate by Erin Bow Wow, what a great story this was! It's dark and delicious fantasy set in a never-never medieval world of gypsies and traveling performers. But at heart, it's a story about a girl who has power and learns how to use it and what the price of it is. That makes it sound like a thousand other stories, but it's not at all. It has heart, and some gizzard in there, too. Dead Air by James Goss This is an audio book with the feel of an old-fashioned radio play. I absolutely loved it! I've read a few Dr. Who novelizations and they all pale in comparison to the TV series. But this one is its own unique thing. I love David Tennant, of course. But the story itself is fun. It's about aliens who take over the voices of others, and there is a twist at the end. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua I read this for my local book club. What I had read of it in the newspaper did not lead me to think I would like it. My own personal philosophy on parenting is that parents need to drastically reduce their pressure on kids to do what the parents want, and need to focus instead of figuring out what the kids want to do. I'd be happy to put my kids up against Amy Chua's any idea and see which ones are more competent, functional adults and which ones get more scholarships to Harvard or Julliard. But the memoir itself is very nuanced and there is a tone of self-mockery about it that I liked very much. Even though I like to think of myself as a loosey-goosey kind of parent, there are actually some really strict rules and expectations at my house. My kids have been told since they were small that we would not be paying for college, so if they want to go, they'd better expect to get scholarships. They are all capable of getting full-ride scholarships just about anywhere. Or if not, they can work through college. My husband and I did that, too. There are times when I have been too hard on my kids and times when I have just done absolutely the wrong thing. I like Chua's painful honest exposure of herself. You will be surprised by this book. The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger This looks like a cheesy tie-in book, but it isn't at all. It's not really about Yoda except in a wonderful, twisty way. I think of this on the order of a retelling of the fairy tale of Star Wars. It's really about a group of middle school kids who need help, and the vignettes about what happens when they ask Yoda for advice are warm, funny, and touching. My kids all read this, from age 9 to 17 and all loved it in a different way. Jane by April Lindner I was pretty skeptical about this retelling of Jane Eyre. I admit, I loved Jane Eyre when I was a teen, but it hasn't fared as well in rereadings as other novels have. The woman in the attic side story is code for something very odd in terms of women and their relationships with other women. The Blanche Ingram side story isn't any better. And Jane's relationship with St. John is at turns odd and cliched. But I thought this fresh retelling did a great job of keeping what was good and updating what needed updating. From one reteller to another, I applaud the effort. The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Maryrose Wood This is a hilarious book about three kids who were raised by wolves and then go through a series of governesses attempting to civilize them. I wish I had the sense of humor necessary to write something like this. But there is a level of depth to it that interests me, as you would know if you've read my HOUND SAGA. I am fascinated by raised by wolves stories, and about thoughts on what makes humans different from animals and the same. Also by the fringes of humanity. Among Others by Jo Walton I don't know how Jo Walton does it. Every book of hers is so unique. They are all speculative, but I honestly think she could have four or five different pen names and make different careers for all of them. This is a story set in the near past in England, about a girl who is growing up after the death of a twin and the estrangement of her mother, and slowly realizes that she has magical power and that it isn't good. But it's also about how we find our tribes and how important it is to do so, and how books play a role in this for those of us who are nerdy types. I fell into this book and didn't want it to end. Tankborn by Karen Sandler I started out writing YA and adult science fiction and fantasy, but it was my YA fantasy that sold first, and I have focused on that since then. I've watched with interest as sf has become a new hot subgenre in YA, though not with the name "sf." It's dystopian or thriller or something else. But for the most part, it's also lacking the focus on humanity and science that I long for. Tankborn is an exception to this. It has plenty of interesting science, but the focus is on the human story, and it is a story of secrecy and oppression, as many stories are. The fact that the main character is a POC makes perfect sense here, though I also am proud of Stacy Whitman, the editor of this imprint, for making this important project work. A Dance for Emilia by Peter S. Beagle My sister, who is an artist, suggested this story to me. She said that it captured for her the painful feeling of not being adequate in her chosen art, but the decision to continue to work in it anyway. I think she is absolutely right, with the added fun of an animal/human crossbreed which interests me every time. I know this isn't a new book, but it was a new read for me, and maybe for you, too. Ingathering by Zenna Henderson This one was recommended by my editor, who thought one of the books I was working on had the same flavor. I hope that my books are still as readable in forty years as these were. They're small stories in the best sense, stories about people who don't matter or who seem like they don't matter. Not kings or queen or soldiers or presidents, but school teachers and doctors and kids. A lot of kids. They are from another planet and they must learn how to use the small magical power they have here, but use it secretly. But they also have to find each other, find the people who are like them, which is a great code for what we all are trying to do, find our tribe. Careless in Red by Elizabeth George I've found the Inspector Lynley series this year, through the PBS series which is partly available streaming on Netflix. I was interested enough to seek out the books. This is my favorite of the series, which diverged from the TV plot in interesting ways. It's heavy on the details of the world of the victims, and sometimes takes hundreds of pages until the murder. I admit, I am more interested in Lynley and Havers than anything else, but the writing is good enough that I never mind the diversions. Kat, Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis I read this earlier this year, but haven't been able to stop thinking about how great this series is. It's so fun. And really, don't we all need more fun? It's set in a Regency England and has plenty of tips of the hat to Jane Austen, but it's not derivative at all. I love Kat as a character and of course, I must agree that adding Highwaymen to this was genius. It made me smile and then laugh out loud. I think Stephanie is a genius and can't wait to read the next book. I bought three copies of this so I could pass it around to people I know. Princess for Hire Lindsey Leavitt This was another book that I had low expectations for, assuming that it would stereotypical characterization and plot about a floofy princess. But it's not about the princesses at all. It's about an ordinary girl who takes over for them when they are on holiday. And the princesses aren't what you expect, either. A lot of imagination went into this, and the characters are deep enough to make me interested in the sequel. Plus, it's fun enough that any kid looking for an easy read will love it, too. The best combination of all! Drawing from Memory by Allen Say I loved this book about a young artistic boy and the mentor he finds through wit and sheer determination in post war Japan. I also loved the illustrations that seemed perfectly matched to the story. I don't think this is really a picture book at all. It's a book with pictures for adults, and especially for anyone who has had or wanted a mentor. Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol Teen Graphic Novel. I wish there were more graphic novels, I really do. They don't seem to sell well, and I think this is because Americans are stupid. Or prejudiced in some odd way against "comics." I loved the way that the ghost is introduced both in the story and in the drawings as harmless, and then gradually changes to have more power. And I loved the metaphor this is for teen (and really lots of girl) friendships Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins I was complaining at a conference this year to a couple of friends about how I hate contemporary romance. I loved it when I was a teen, but whenever I pick up a book now it feels like it is so cliched, like everyone is a robot, and that the characters are wandering around, looking for people to fall in love with like the bird in "Are You My Mother?" But I was willing to try again, and so I read this wonderful book. The problem at the heart of the romance felt so real to me and the characters were new and interesting, not the standard at all. The guy is short, for one thing. The perfect teen romance. How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr I love Sara's books, but this was an especially good one for me. I was fascinated at the story of the mother who wants to adopt a baby after her husband's death. The daughter's reactions seemed spot on, as everything Zarr writes is. And the conclusion had the perfect combination of yes, this had to happen, and wow, did this really happen? I teared up a little, and that does not happen often. Smile by Raina Telgemeier This is a graphic novel about getting braces. Doesn't sound deliciously impossible to put down, does it? But it is. It starts with a girl who has to get braces and isn't excited about it. But on the other hand, getting braces is part of being an American teenager, and she is just starting middle school. And then things get worse, as they always do in novels, right? She is running down the street, falls, and knocks her front teeth out. The graphic novel format and the skill of Telgemeier are perfect for showing what each step in the reconstruction is like on the outside and the inside. The tone of this book is so perfect for middle grade kids and I immediately recommended it to all my braces-wearing kids. I will say, though, that I have begun to wonder more and more about the American obsession with perfect teeth. Why is this acceptable when plastic surgery is not? The Shattering by Karen Healey This is a story about three teens drawn together by the apparent suicides of their siblings, desperate to prove that there is some “meaning” in the deaths besides despair and darkness. I loved Healey's way of concretizing what feels real in the heart. This is what the best fantasy does. It makes metaphors real. Everyone who knows someone who has committed suicide wants to deny it happened, wants to blame someone else. In this case, there is a mysterious curse on the town the teens live in that the teens have to break. They have power to fight real villains and to triumphant. Except that Healey makes a brilliant twist in the end that I won't reveal, which makes it clear she knows what she is doing. It isn't just fantasy here. I also must say that I loved the quirkiness of the characters. Not in any superficial way. They felt very real, and very different. I was dragged in from the first page and kept reading to the end. I felt shattered, too. Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma Another confusing book. It has a fantastical element, but that isn't clear from the first. There are no fairies or magic spells. It seems possible for a while that the narrator is simply delusional, as unreliable as her sister is megalomaniacal, or that there is some elaborate hoax being played. It's the story of two sisters who rely on each other too much, and it reminded me of mother/daughter stories where there is a deep dysfunction. The metaphor of the water in the book is deep and I loved the sense of borders around this town where they live. It feels real, like the real boundaries of my life as a teen. I could move, but I couldn't move that far away from my home. I'm not doing a good job of describing the plot here, but I'm not sure that plot is what this story is about anyway. Lightborn by Tricia Sullivan This is a book that, like much of the best science fiction written in the adult world, is hard to get into. The language is thrown at the reader and you have to make sense of it, like you have been sent to a foreign language class where no one will speak English and you have to figure things out in context. But the short chapters and the clarity of the broken relationships between adults and children is so real that you keep reading, anyway. That part makes sense, and like Healey's book, is where the heart of this deep book lies. The metaphor here that mattered most to me was about the ways in which adults are changing the world and then leaving our children to fix it. I also liked how the ending did not take any easy way out. I have more to say about this book on Wednesday, talking about suspense in writing. The story is about an AI that gets out of control and starts taking over the minds of those it can get to by the “light,” but that makes it sound so flat. It is also a story about “the Fall,” with all the Biblical allusions that you can think of, none of them obvious or trite. Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick I loved Hugo Cabret so much, so when I saw this out, I was excited and frankly, a little nervous. When you love a book and its author so much (I heard him speak at ALA after he won the Caldecott and I thought he was amazing!), your expectations can be incredibly high and I have to say, few authors live up to those expectations. I think that this book does live up. It surprised me, but it also satisfied the itch for the same kind of story as Hugo Cabret at the same time. It has the same incredibly textured pencil drawings and so many of them, telling an alternate story as the main word plot goes forward. You have to wait to figure out how they tie together. I also really liked how the silent/talking film story came to be a lot more, and how the Deaf culture was portrayed here. I know a lot of deaf and hearing impaired people and I was glad to see a book that didn't ignore them. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor I loved Lips Touch by Laini Taylor last year, but I must admit, felt trepidation when I realized shortly into this book that it was about angels, vampires, and puppets along with being set in Prague. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against Prague. It just felt like too much for any author to deal with well. But Laini does a great job making old things new, making the setting matter and feel real and distant at the same time, exotic and familiar. I liked the surprise ending (which I will try not to spoil). I liked the bit about gathering teeth. I liked the sense of being propelled forward to find out a secret about the main character that even she does not know about herself. I don't think I could pull off a book like this, but it left me wanting more. Planet Middle School by Nikki Grimes A novel in poems, this is the kind of book I could never write because it takes so few words to say so much. I felt so clearly the pain of the main character as she grow up out of middle school and into high school. The confusion about the change in other characters' personalities, and then when it happens to her, the sense that it is wrong, but also that she can't stop it. Copyright Mette Ivie Harrison 2011 all rights reserved. Last revised August 10, 2011.