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Field Notes: A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler

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Aura’s mother, Grace, is drowning in her own sickness. She’s schizophrenic, and each day has become a bigger and bigger battle between perception and reality. It’s been Aura’s responsibility to keep an eye on her as her only child, especially after he father left. He couldn’t handle the illness anymore after her mother chose to stop taking her medication.

Aura’s life changes abruptly after a horrible episode with her mother. Can she handle taking care of her or is she a lost cause? And what about Grace’s mother, Aura’s grandmother? She may be the glue to this broken family, despite not having been part of the family for a long time.

A Blue So Dark is a haunting, literary read, perfect for those who enjoy their stories to unravel piece by piece. While reading this book, I couldn’t help but see the similarities between it and Blue Plate Special by Michelle Kwasney. The use of an intergenerational plot line worked well here, and it’ll appeal to teens who like their drama family-style. Likewise, watching how Aura needs to take charge and clean up after her mother’s episodes reminded me of C.J. Omololu’s Dirty Little Secrets. Fans of either of those books would find a lot to love here.

What worked for me was the slow pace and the strongly written details of Grace’s descent into her illness. I thought Schindler nailed her metaphors here, using the sea and the beach to mimic drowning. Not only that, the ability to weave in a lot about art vs. reality and reality vs. perception will hit home with artistic types. However, throughout the book, I really wish I had gotten to know Aura more. This book felt at times more the story of Grace, told through the eyes of Aura. She worked more as a vessel rather than a participant in the story. I wanted to know more about her beyond the fact she likes art and a boy named Jeremy. But perhaps it’s because of how the story works — wherein she must be the mature caretaker of her mother — that we don’t get to know her better.

Pass this off to fans of realistic, literary reads. They will sink into this one. Likewise, this is a fantastic book to hand off to your adult young adult readers. The strong storyline and the intergenerational saga will stand out to them.

Field Notes: Kiss It by Erin Downing

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The setting is small-town Milton, Minnesota, and our main chracter Chastity (call her Chaz) wants nothing more than to have sex. She’s not shy about it, and she won’t back down from the goal. Unfortunately, it’s a small town, so the pickings are slim when it comes to guys. What’s a girl to do?

Lucky for her, while working her shift at Matt’s, the local bar and grill, she meets the mysterious Sebastian – a newcomer to Milton. Guess what Chaz’s goal is now?

Kiss It is a fast-paced romance and total brain candy. It’s not a deep book, though there is a great personal realization for Chaz at the end of the book, and Chaz is a fully fleshed character that will keep readers engaged and laughing. Sure, she’s got a one-track mind, but she really reminds me of a girl in a small town just jonesing to get out. She’s a good student and has a lot going for her, but she’s also confused about her future. Should she go to college at the University of Minnesota? Keep working at Matt’s? Join Americorps?

Downing’s book will appeal to older teen readers — I emphasize older, as there are steamy scenes and strong language. Chaz reminded me immediately of Cecily from Claire Zulkey’s An Off Year and I think it would appeal to that readership. Your female readers who find Sarah Dessen “too light” will appreciate Chaz’s sassy attitude and the real issues she faces within what is otherwise a cute romance story. No need to take this one too seriously, but Downing will surprise you with a nice ending and some twists that weren’t obvious to the reader.

Field Notes: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

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Megan Chase’s brother Ethan has disappeared. But this isn’t the first strange thing to happen in her life. When her father disappears from the family — and we’re not talking about “leaving” in the sense as we understand it, it’s a real disappearance into thin air here — her mother moves them to a remote part of Louisiana, where she begins seeing strange things. Of course, she’s also a misfit in school, though she has a strong friendship with Robbie.

And it’ll be Robbie who introduces her to the idea that Megan isn’t who she thinks she is: she’s a member of the fairy world. Her father sired her with her mother, he being half-fairy and her mother being a mortal. So, now that that bomb’s been dropped in Megan’s life, she gets the news that Robbie, too, is a member of this world. In fact, he’s Robin Goodfellow; that’s right, he is who we lovably know as Puck from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. And Megan’s dad? Oberon.

Through a series of discoveries and battles in the fairy world, Megan traces down her family’s roots, her place in this half world, and aims to track down and save Ethan from this world in which he doesn’t belong.

The Iron King was a fast-paced fantasy that appealed to all of my senses, despite my hesitation to fall into a fantasy book. This one just worked for me. Megan is a strong female character who begged me to escape into her reality, and the use of Shakespeare’s fairy world kept this book pulsing forward. Kagawa develops her own world and does a fantastic job world building, but I can’t help saying that she has a lot to work with in the original story, as well. In short: I really liked this book and think it has wide appeal.

Kagawa’s story will appeal to fantasy fans, as well as non-fantasy fans who may want to try a book in that genre. Teens who are drawn to Shakespeare’s original tale will enjoy this one, and I believe that those who are seeking to be writers will love what Kagawa has done here. The entire time while reading the book, it felt to me like it could have began has a writing exercise: taking a well-known story or set of characters and shaking up their worlds. I think this is one of those books that could be quite inspiring for young and new writers.

The Iron King encompasses the fairy world, making it a true fantasy (rather than a paranormal book). This is refreshing in a world of paranormal thematics. An additional and interesting theme is technology. Kagawa’s world dives into how technology has changed humans — err, fairies — and what impact that has had on societies as a whole. So, while we’re swept into a created world, it is very much grounded in many of the issues and challenges present in our own world.

Kagawa has convinced me enough to check out her forthcoming sequel, The Iron Daughter, as the title alone has me intrigued after the conclusion of this book.

Don’t forget, too, you have a week to enter our contest to win this title. You can find the details right here. This is one title worth devoting a up-too-late-reading excuse to (or in my case, it made a wonderful plane read!).

Field Notes: Dark Life by Kat Falls

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What combines adventure, science fiction, homesteading, and evil gangs all within an undersea water setting? I didn’t think it could be done, but Kat Falls has created a fantastically creepy and exciting world in her dystopian debut, Dark Life.

Ty and his family are among the first to stake a claim to land under the sea, as the above-water world has become far too crowded (not to mention expensive and lacking in resources). But it’s not that easy: the Seablight Gang, a band of powerful outlaws, wants to destroy the settlement. Because of this, the government calls for all citizens to work toward capturing the rebels, and until that happens, no one new can seek land claims. Ty, almost 18 and able to stake his own claim, is NOT happy.

Add to that Gemma, a Topsider looking for her brother who came down as a prospector, and the unsettling feeling that there is something strange about Gemma’s story, and you have a story ripe for all of your adventure, intrigue, dystopian, and science fiction fans.

Dark Falls is richly written, so much so it begs you to slow down and read each word. The world building is strung together through the vivid language. Although the sea scape and concepts here are strong, the characters were a little on the weaker side, and a number of plot holes glared for me. Perhaps it was less plot holes and more that there were a number of instances of deus ex machina I couldn’t swallow as a reader. Gemma’s prospecting brother became something too convenient for me far too deep into the story, as one example. In terms of character, I never connected enough to any to care much about their situations.

But this is a book that has appeal written all over it. Fans of The Hunger Games, The Line, or faster, more action-packed adventures will eat this title up. HG fans will find the fighting scenes a little slower, but the government conspiracy factor will appeal hugely for HG and The Line fans. The dystopian aspect is not played up too heavily, though it is certainly the thrust behind why settlers came to the sea to homestead.

I can see our middle school and high school boys that love Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game series devouring this one, as well, for the pioneering aspect and the science fiction flair. For the adventure aspect, it’ll likely appeal to fans of Ben Mikaelson (of Touching Spirit Bear and more). I believe that this would be a fantastic book to listen to on audio, with the language playing such a key role in the story development. The fact this has been optioned for film, too, delights me — the entirety of the story reminded me of a film, so I cannot wait to see how that would play out.

Field Notes: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

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Two teens, both named Will Grayson, meet in a porn store. One’s a loner and one has a big gay best friend named Tiny. What could possibly happen?

Will Grayson, Will Grayson is the first collaborative effort from John Green and David Levithan. It is a humorous story about finding yourself and finding love.

This is going to get me some hate mail, but, neither author is among my favorites. But I can say I’m glad to see John Green has ventured away from his same story line of geek boy seeking the mysterious girl, though I thought his Will Grayson was much less dynamic and interesting than Levithan’s. But his Tiny? Hilarious. I didn’t know he had that in him and I’m glad he let him out.

WG, WG will appeal to fans of either author, though it will certainly not be a great starter book for those who haven’t read either Green or Levithan. The book’s appeal with be with those who like humor and those looking for something totally different for their reading palate. I don’t like stereotyping people, but I think big-time theater geeks who proudly label themselves as such will get a real kick out of this book.

This will not appeal to readers who don’t like reading the, well, ridiculous. Both Wills are developed characters, as are the ancillary characters, but the story itself is something out of this world. Be prepared for overuse of particular expletives and for very frank discussion of sexual acts (within a context of teenage humor!).

Just remember: you never know what can happen when you meet someone with your same name and you never know how that can impact your best friend or your love interest.