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books

Sisters Red, by Jackson Pearce

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I loved the concept for this book: Rosie and Scarlet March are sisters who use their “Little Red Riding Hood” appearance to lure werewolves to their deaths. The sisters are hardcore werewolf hunters, initiated into the hunt by their memory of a terrible werewolf attack on their grandmother (of course) from when they were little girls – an attack which left Scarlet horribly scarred.

I love a good fairy tale re-telling, especially when it features a pair of ass-kicking females who turn the traditional fairy tale on its head. Sisters Red, published June 7 by Little, Brown, has a lot to like: an excellent cover (very different from your normal teen fare nowadays!), plenty of action, romance, good versus evil, and a compelling sister relationship (the strongest aspect of the book). Still, it left me underwhelmed. Nothing about the book really surprised me – the romance progressed as I expected it to, the tension between the sisters developed as I knew it would, and the “twist” at the end was so predictable I knew it almost from page one. Because of the predictability, I had a hard time staying engrossed.

Additionally, I expected something heavier from Sisters Red. After all, it’s a book about two teenage girls, one disfigured, both jaded, who kill werewolves every single night. So much of the book felt fluffier than the content promised. I felt like Pearce was aiming for a moody, dark, intense thriller but didn’t quite succeed.

The book’s Amazon page has rave reviews from names like Melissa Marr and Carrie Ryan, and it’s garnered a starred review from at least one major review source. I just wasn’t wowed. There are so many better books in this genre (Donna Jo Napoli and Shannon Hale really set the bar high). Sisters Red does fill a small niche within this subgenre: it’s a modern, urban re-telling, and would speak strongly to today’s teens.

If you like the genre, you may want to check out this one, and if you’re a fan of the book, you have two companion novels by Pearce to look forward to in the near future: Sweetly, a modernization of Hansel and Gretel, and Fathomless, a modernization of The Little Mermaid.

Bonus: There’s a trailer for Sisters Red on Pearce’s blog/website.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Pretty Dead, by Francesca Lia Block

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Pretty Dead was my first Francesca Lia Block, and I was completely blown away by the way she writes. The beautiful words are what make this book worth reading. I think it’s pretty safe to say that Block could write about grass growing and I would be entranced.

Luckily for us, Block chose not to write about her front lawn and instead focused her attentions on the unceasingly popular theme of vampires. Charlotte Emerson is a vampire who lives in modern day Los Angeles. Like most vampires in teen literature, she’s anguished. She chose to become a vampire after the death of her twin brother, Charles, and she’s since realized that this was a mistake. She broke it off long ago with her maker and lover, William, but he’s returned to haunt her. Meanwhile, Charlotte’s friend Emily has died in an apparent suicide and Charlotte is growing ever closer to Emily’s boyfriend, Jared. To top it all off, Charlotte has begun to realize that her perfectly immortal body is going through some very mortal changes.

Many of the people whose reviews I have read of Pretty Dead seem to be disappointed with the book. Much of the criticism I’ve read stems from the fact that Pretty Dead is about vampires, and vampires are just oh so in with the teens nowadays. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know this is true, but what drew me to the book was the twist Block put on the traditional vampire myth – Charlotte the vampire is slowly becoming human. The story explores why and how this might be happening. Beyond that, Pretty Dead also explores the intense loneliness and isolation that accompanies immortality. Charlotte’s life is initially glamorous, especially to her human friends Emily and Jared, but Block forces us to see that such an eternal life is far from desirable. This is very different from the vampire books out there that romanticize the immortal life (while simultaneously pretending to demonize it).

Kelly also pointed out to me that the book seems pretty anti-feminist, with Charlotte’s motivations stemming mostly from a desire to please the men in her life. I can see where people might make this argument, since much of what Charlotte does is determined by her feelings for her brother or her ex-lover, but I think the addition of Emily provides a more complex female relationship that also significantly influences Charlotte’s actions. Long after I finished the book and had figured out Charlotte’s relationships with the men, I was left pondering the meaning behind her relationship with Emily.

Pretty Dead was a great introduction to Francesca Lia Block. It’s a short novel on a popular theme and has given me a taste of the wondrous things Block can do with words. I really cannot say enough about Block’s talent with the English language. In my dreams where I am a published author, I write with the beauty, power, and intensity of Francesca Lia Block. I will definitely be picking up her other books.

One last note: I really really dislike the cover. Aside from the fact that it seems like a blatant ripoff of the True Blood poster, it does not evoke the mood that Block’s words do. The cover makes the story seem salacious, soapy, gossipy. Perhaps this is a good thing for teens who are already hooked on anything vampire, but for those readers looking for something different from the usual vampire story, the cover is not going to make them pick this one up. That’s too bad, because the prose is just so, so achingly beautiful.

Lips Touch, Laini Taylor w/ Jim Di Bartolo

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I’m going to do something I haven’t done before: I’m reviewing this title without finishing it.

Lips Touch by Laini Taylor and with illustrator Jim Di Bartolo is one of the nominees for this year’s National Book Award. I’m going to go out on a limb and say — even without reading the other two nominees just yet — that this is going to be the winner.

Why?

This book is fantastic, it is beautiful, and it is a book worthy of such an accolade. Although this definitely strikes me as a book that would speak in that way to an awards committee, this is also a book with high appeal, though it’s definitely going to appeal most to those who love fantasy, mythology, or fairy tale worlds and older teens. That’s not to say it’s got a lot of questionable content that wouldn’t be appropriate for younger teens but more because it is written in a very sophisticated manner with dense language. And the allusions and depth Taylor has is going to be most appreciated by those with a little reading and literary currency.

Lips Touch is a series of three short stories that revolve around kissing. They’re wildly different but are related through that common theme. Each story is preceded by a few pages of fantastic illustration by Di Bartolo which tell the story graphically. The art uses red, black, and grey to set the tone and the colors are throughout the book, as titles, page numbers, and chapter titles are red themselves. The extra money that the publisher spent on the color was well spent and as a reader, I just loved the beautiful book itself. Sorry Kindle users, but you will miss out on a piece of art.

The first story is an exploration of Christina Rosetti’s famous poem “Goblin Market.” This a poem that, like Taylor, I’ve been fascinated with for a long time. Kizzy, the main character in the story, is one of those girls who wishes she had the boys interested in her like others in her class do. She never will, of course, because she’s not that attractive and well, she has a very, very weird family.

That is, of course, until a new boy comes to town and rouses the goblins. Will they ruin her or him? Will they ever get to experience a true kiss or will they become victims of the goblins out to haunt Kizzy?

Taylor’s second story is a story about a curse placed upon a baby. Based heavily in mythology — and I believe this is Middle Eastern mythos — Taylor crafts a story where the Devil can kill at will, but it is through the promise to a woman with power to travel between life on earth and Hell that he chooses no longer to kill children. That is, if this child who will be given the most beautiful voice on earth never utters a word. When a solider sees the cursed individual upon her late teen years, and she falls deeply in love, will she break the curse? Will she break it for love?

And the third story, admittedly, I did not get through. This is a story that relies a lot on world building and development and will definitely appeal to fantasy readers. This is not my genre and because I was so enamored with her first two tales, I did not want to read through the third knowing that I could not appreciate nor evaluate it well. The preceding art I did enjoy but knew from that and the short summary following the illustrations that it wouldn’t be for me.

Lips Touch was so enjoyable, so different, and so memorable. I first heard of this book from a webinar I attended wherein David Levithan raved about the book but had a heck of a time finding it anywhere. I wanted to purchase it for my library when I first learned of it but could not locate it through my vendor. A few trips to a number of big chains proved fruitless, as well, both before and after the NBA nomination announcement. So, if you’re interested in reading it and can’t find it easily, don’t be surprised. I did land a copy through Amazon.

This is a literary work. It is based deeply in language and imagery, and it alludes to many myths, legends, and other literature. This will not have wide appeal, but I think that any reader can appreciate at least one story in here. If for no other reason, pick up Lips Touch for incredible language use and for the unique use of visual story telling.

I’m pretty okay taking the risk in saying this will be the winner this year — I suspect that Claudette Colvin and Charles and Emma are going to be great reads, but this book has so much more to it than the text and for a fiction title just glows differently.

Kid-Friendly Graphic Novels & Knights of the Lunch Table by Frank Cammuso

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Every two months, all of the children’s librarians from my entire system (73 libraries!) gather downtown for an information order meeting. One of the presentations at a recent session? You guessed it – graphic novels for kids. Our fearless leaders in Children’s Services have been trying to broaden the world of graphic novels in the Los Angeles Public Library. The battlecry? No longer will the Young Adult area hold a monopoly over the graphic novels! Publishers, children’s librarians, and patrons are demanding more content for younger kids.

I managed to coerse the graphic novel committee into letting me post their great powerpoint overview of the graphic novel genre and how Los Angeles Public Library is incorporating these books into the children’s collections… and programming around it! As a verified non-expert in this genre, I appreciated the synthesis of a huge amount of information into a simplified format. I only wish I could’ve grabbed some snapshots of the cute insanely cute crafts that were demonstrated. I hope you enjoy the efforts of Marc Horton, Eva Mitnick, Carey Vance, Joanna Fabicon, and Maddy Kerr – I know I did.

The September issue of School Library Journal reflects this trend. Peter Gutiérrez wrote an article entitled “Good & Plenty: It used to be hard to find good graphic novels for the K–4 crowd. My, how times have changed.” Okay, the title is a bit of a clunker, but the article itself offers a great primer to some of the awesome material for children. And I decided to challenge myself to read a few of the novels mentioned.

My favorite of the bunch? Frank Cammuso’s Knight’s of the Lunch Table series, without a doubt.

I accidentally ordered the second volume of the series, the Dragon Players, instead of the first volume, the Dodgeball Chronicles. No matter – the story was easily picked up without needing an introduction.

King Arthur and the Round Table seemlessly fits into this modern day story about middle school. Artie attends Camelot Middle School with his evil sister Morgan. Of course, there’s a Mr. Merlyn, a science wiz with a mysterious raven as a classroom pet. And Percy and Guen show up as Artie’s best friend and love interest respectively. That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to references to the Camelot legend. At times, I really want to go back and grab my copy of the Once and Future King, just to catch more obscure allusions in the text.

In the Dragon Players, Artie finds himself in a competition of dueling dragons – robot dragons, that is. The bullies of the school, appropriately named “The Horde,” have forced Percy to build them a fearsome dragon competitor. Cammuso weaves the theme of duality from the beginning of the story to the narrative climax. I particularly loved the scene where “the ladies of the lunch” dispense a warning.

Arthur, King of Middle School,
Within thy heart, two dragons duel.
One is warm and one is cook,
In thy life just one shall rule.

All pretty standard stuff, right? Of course the mystic lunch ladies would speak in cryptic gibberish. But Cammuso continues the exchange… with an appropriate food-related sense of humor. This, of course, totally confuses Artie.

French fries… or veggie sticks?
Who knows which dragon you shall pick?
Chef salad… or pizza cheesy?
One is right and one is easy.

I couldn’t stop laughing, and then I forced several co-workers to listen to the dialogue.

A shadowy figure in the guise of a dorky kid named Evo shows up with an easy answer to Artie’s dueling robots dilemma. And of course, Artie and his friends have to go through harrowing hijinx before they must make a decision. Kids will definitely identify with Artie; he’s savvy, street-wise, but a little uncertain at the same time. Like most kids, he looks to his friends and his mentors for advice… but Artie can also look to his magic locker (a middle school version of Excalibur) for a more unique form of guidance.

The art is fantastic – the characters are drawn with deft, broad strokes. The coloring is vibrant, appealing to both younger kids and their parents. I’m not extremely visually oriented; I read text too fast. But I found myself going back through the pages a second (and even a third) time to absorb all of the small details in the background of the panels. The stories pertain to middle schoolers, but younger elementary school readers will eat up this series.

Twitter-style book reviews, part 2

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I’m moving soon, so I’ve been frantically trying to read all of the books I have checked out from various libraries, books I’ve picked up at conferences, and books I’ve borrowed from friends and acquaintances. What this means is that I have started many books but not finished any of them. At present count I’m reading twelve books. Because I haven’t actually finished any, I can’t post a full-fledged review, but I decided it would be worthwhile to highlight some of the more interesting and noteworthy titles. So, without further ado, what I’m reading now in 140 characters or less.

Liar, by Justine Larbalestier

After her boyfriend is killed, pathological liar Micah says from now on, she’ll tell only the truth. Interesting psychological YA with a twist.

Escape, by Carolyn Jessop

Carolyn Jessop’s story about her life in the FLDS, her subsequent escape, and what happened afterward. Simplistic writing, compelling story.

The Secret Life of Prince Charming, by Deb Caletti

Quinn discovers her womanizing father steals more from the women in his life than their hearts. Sometimes slow YA, but has real insight.

A Kiss in Time, by Alex Flinn

Teenage boy wakes up Sleeping Beauty in modern times. Hilarity and confusion ensue. There are better retellings, but this is fluffy and fun.

The Knife of Never Letting Go, by Patrick Ness

A germ kills off all females and causes men’s thoughts to be broadcast. One day, Todd discovers a quiet in the Noise. Fascinating YA dystopia.