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Rotten by Michael Northrop

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Jimmer Dobbs — who goes by “JD” — just got back into town after being away from the summer. No one really knows why he was gone, but more than that, no one buys his story that he was visiting his aunt. But he’s sticking to it because he’s not yet ready to admit the truth.

When he gets home, JD is greeted by a new addition to his household: a dog. It’s a rottweiler and JD is really skeptical. He’s not really a dog person and even though his mom is really excited about having done a good deed by rescuing this dog who had no other future (and who came from a bad home), JD just can’t get behind it.

Until he names the dog. Johnny Rotten is the full name, but JD refers to him as JR for short. And now that JD has some ownership over the dog, he starts to feel protective of the animal, so when one of his friends gets his hand bitten by JR, JD jumps in to defend the dog at any length he can.

You know how there are those books featuring male main characters in YA who are 16 and they are very smart, very philosophical, and sometimes really edgy and dark and gritty? That’s not the story Michael Northrop writes in Rotten. That’s not to say that JD is a dumb kid. In fact, JD is kind of smart and he’s savvy about how he interacts with his friends, especially when it comes to the truth about how he spent his summer. But the thing is, JD is a dork. He’s a real dork, and he’s funny, and he’s unashamed in being either of those things. He’s not intentionally funny, either. It’s humor delivered in single lines that are so 16-year-old dorky boy. These aren’t cheap shots, as they’re authentic to JD’s voice, and yes, the lines are laugh out loud funny. That ability to deliver humor even in a story that’s not meant to be funny is one thing I really appreciate about Northrop’s writing, and I think it’s what makes his books especially appealing to teen boys.

Someone commented recently about a teen boy in class wanting books that weren’t about “girls with problems” — Rotten is that. Even though JD has problems, they’re not the focus of the story. In fact, his problem is one that’s also somewhat funny.

Before I get there, I should talk a bit more about the fact that one of JD’s friends was hurt by his dog. Johnny Rotten, of course, was an abused dog, and as such, his temperament and his interactions with people are different than a typical dog’s would be. In this instance, he’s sort of skittish, and JD not only recognizes this, but he comes to relate to JR’s skittishness. He becomes protective of the dog. So when his friend (which is a loose term) claims that JR hurt him, JD can’t help but become skeptical. Did his friend provoke the incident or did JR really lash out? What happens when that friend goes to his parents and points out the injury.

You bet the answer is lawsuit.

What I didn’t add to this is that JD lives only with his mom, and the two of them aren’t exactly rich. His mom just barely makes ends meet, so the introduction of a lawsuit brings up the real questions of whether or not they’ll be able to pay for any damages. It’s possible they could lose their house.

It’s also possible that JR may have no future, too.

JD approaches his friend when he realizes all of this, and he makes a deal: if his friend can calm down his parents, he’ll share what it was that got him sent away from home during the summer. The friend is, of course, curious and says he’ll do it. So JD tells him the secret — he’d been sent away for shoplifting.

I won’t talk more about the shoplifting incident because it is during that admission we learn so much about JD and his character.

The question remains then what happens to the lawsuit? And the possibility of losing their home? Worse, what’s the outcome for JR? Does the friend convince his parents to let things go, that he’s okay, and that it’s time to move on?

Rotten is a quick-paced read that will hook younger YA readers, as well as those older YA readers who love a story that has humor in it. There are some references to drinking, but there’s nothing that would make me uncomfortable handing this book to middle grade readers ready for a more advanced story. This is a book for animal lovers, especially those who want a story where the relationship between person and pet isn’t automatic. This is a story about the development of that relationship, which I don’t know I’ve ever read before — I’ve read plenty of stories where the character has a relationship with a pet already or the pet plays a significant role in the story, but never one where the development of that relationship and trust happens. Obviously, one of the biggest reasons JD and JR bond is because they’re both fighting to overcome their own pasts and move forward. It’s sweet without being saccharine or inauthentic.

JD is a good kid, and sometimes, you need to read a story about a good kid. Bonus points for not having a romantic storyline here, too, and even more points for an interesting look at male friendship. Again, I think it’s rare to explore those lines and they’re done well here.

Since I know this is a trigger point whenever there is a story that involves animals: you want to know whether the animal lives or dies. I’m going to tell you, but you have to highlight the rest of this paragraph to know. No worries, animal lovers — this is a story where the dog lives. It’s a really happy and satisfying ending to the story. JD and Johnny Rotten get to continue bonding. 



Rotten is available now from Scholastic. Review copy received from the publisher.

So You Want to Read YA?: Guest Post from Michael Northrop (author of Rotten)

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This week’s guest post comes to us from author Michael Northrop, and he’s going to lay down where to start when it comes to contemporary YA.




Michael Northrop’s first young adult novel, Gentlemen, earned a Publishers Weekly Flying Start citation, and his second, Trapped, was named to YALSA’s Readers’ Choice, Quick Picks, and Popular Paperbacks lists. His third YA novel, Rotten, is out today—Quelle coïncidence! It is about a tough teen named JD and a rescued Rottweiler named Johnny Rotten. His Twitter handle is @mdnorthrop.






Depending on whom you ask, YA is either a marketing label, an age range, or something else entirely. One thing it’s not is one thing. The genres contain subgenres, the categories contain subcategories and no one really agrees on what those terms mean anyway. Here are my recommendations for just one genre—or is it a category?—contemporary/realistic fiction. If you’ve never read YA before—or if you’ve read tons of it, but none of it realistic—here are half a dozen excellent books to start with.

Contemp(t)

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers. 

This seems like a good place to start. “Problem novels” have come a long way. When I was a teen, they were pretty reliably ham-fisted. Not this one. There are plenty of problems—boy, howdy—but it’s never didactic. Instead, Summers’ portrayal of high school social dynamics is relentless and searing.


Old-School
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. 

This is sort of the roots of the tree when it comes to YA, but in addition to the history lesson it’s also a brilliant novel. (Ponyboy! Sodapop! Aah, so good!) I reread it recently, and nearly 50 years after it was written (by a 16-year-old!) it still feels fresh and vital.


Old and at a School

A Separate Peace by John Knowles. 

The granddaddy of all prep school novels, it’s elegant, powerful, and perfectly constructed. John Knowles, making the rest of us look bad since 1959.

Meanwhile, in the City

Tyrell by Coe Booth. 

Pitch-perfect from the opening sentence, which is, not incidentally: “When I pick Novisha up from school, she actin’ all weird and shit.”


Have a Heart

Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork. 

Good contemporary YA doesn’t have to be nasty, dark, or mean. It just, you know, tends to be. There are plenty of big-hearted books out there, though. This story of an autistic 17-year-old navigating the “real world” of a summer internship is one of the best I’ve read.


Romance

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith. 

And speaking of hearts—romance! I’ve been told there are a lot of YA books about it. The statistical probability of me reading many of them is pretty low, though, so I’m sticking with a safe pick here. TSPoLaFS is extremely clever and very sweet and has twice as many words in its title as my first four books combined.

Extra Credit: This probably isn’t the right book to start with—a lot of readers might never go back—but it’s worth checking out once you’ve gotten a feel for contemporary YA.

The Outer Limits

The Children and the Wolves by Adam Rapp. 

This one shows how far realistic YA can go. (At least) one of the main characters is a full-blown psychopath, and another is a kidnapped three-year-old girl. (Oh, Frog, you poor thing.) It’s a very short book, so it’s like taking a quick walk along the outer edge of the YA property.

The Chocolate War Read & Blog Along

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The Chocolate War is a classic of YA fiction. It’s a classic of realistic fiction and has been cited numerous times by authors today as the book which inspired them to want to write and to write contemporary/realistic fiction that’s at times brutal and gritty and at all times, honest.

It’s been a few years since I’ve read it. In fact, it was the class in which I read the book where I met Kim (and we know where that story goes, as it’s being written here). I think my reading of it now, many years later, will be way different and I’m eager to have that experience.

After talking with Liz and Leila, we decided we all were ready to give it a reread — or in Liz’s case, a first read. We thought we’d blog a little about it, too, including our first impressions, our reviews of it, and I know all of us have another idea or two up our sleeves, including watching the film and seeing how it does or doesn’t do the book justice. I have some ideas in regards to contemporary YA I want to talk about, too, and how Cormier’s classic has inspired so many other books.

But more than us reading and blogging about it, we wanted to open this up to anyone interested in joining in a read and blog along to Cormier’s book. We’re doing it May 12 through 19, and you’re welcome to post as much or as little as you’d like to. We will have a kick off post on May 12 where anyone who wants to join in can drop a link to their posts throughout the week, and at the end, we’ll highlight some of the posts we read.  Yes, you can and should steal my graphic above if you want to join in.

If you are interested in joining but don’t want to blog yourself or don’t have a blog and would rather write a guest post, I am happy to host any and everything relating to the book or movie. Drop a comment here or email me and I’ll set things up. We want this to be fun, so offer up anything you want to. Also note the hash tag for anyone playing along via Twitter.

We will, of course, post a reminder closer to the start date, but we’re so excited about this, we wanted to get the word out early. And, bonus, you know you can now get the book as an ebook if you want to, right?

Let us know if you’re going to join in!

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

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Lauren Oliver is a very good writer. I know this because the premise of this series of books is ludicrous, but she is able to make me believe it. She’s made me invested in a story that could never possibly happen, rooting for the characters and feeling their heartaches right alongside them. Part of me wonders if she thought to herself “I wonder what the most ridiculous premise for a dystopia would be, and if I could somehow manage to sell it to my readers anyway,” and boom, Delirium was born.
Anyway, it’s clear that I think the premise is kind of stupid. Enough about that. I read and enjoy the books anyway. Here’s why.
Pandemomium alternates between two time periods: Lena immediately after escaping from the repressive loveless society, taken in by members of the resistance, and Lena as a full-fledged member of the resistance on her first real mission. The “Then” portions don’t really do much plot-wise, but they do a good job of establishing setting, the background of the resistance movement, and a few key characters. I know some readers didn’t care for those parts, but I found them interesting. The “Now” portions are more riveting, and also introduce another teen male character – who (of course) becomes Lena’s new love interest.
Much of what happens in this book will not surprise you. The massive revelation at the very end of the book will most certainly not surprise you (though I was kind of hoping it wouldn’t happen). But there are still a few twists that I didn’t see coming, and it’s all written in such an engaging way that it doesn’t matter as much as it would in another book. I realize that I’m cutting Oliver a lot of slack for what would be a rather lackluster book in another writer’s hand, but good writing matters. It can elevate a middling story into something pretty good.
I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the first. I think it’s too much of a standard middle-book in a dystopian trilogy, in that the hero or heroine joins the underground resistance and starts to fight for a better future, discovering secrets and being betrayed along the way. As an adult, I have less patience for the romance that blossoms between Lena and the new boy, too. They don’t share any common interests, though I suppose they are both good-looking and kept together in a confined space for a period of time. I guess that’s enough. I do know my teen self wouldn’t have minded so much, and again, it’s mostly due to the writing (it always comes back to the writing). The romance doesn’t make sense intellectually, but Lena feels it and so I do, too.
I’m hoping the third book (which I do have) will give me a few more surprises than this one did. I have no doubt that the excellent writing will be there, but that knowledge hasn’t been enough to send me digging into its pages yet. Of course this is a stellar example of what readers crave in their dystopian romances – equal parts dystopia and romance, anchored by good writing. Personally I wanted a little more, but it will certainly satisfy many others.
Review copy provided by the publisher.

Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger

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Etiquette and Espionage is Gail Carriger’s first novel for teens, set in the same world as her much-acclaimed Parasol Protectorate series for adults. I went into this book pretty blind, not having read any of Carriger’s adult titles or knowing much about the world she created in them. What I did know is that they are funny, romantic, historical, and not your usual paranormal fare. That appealed to me, and the premise of her YA book – about a girl sent to a Victorian finishing school that teaches the traditional womanly arts as well as espionage and murder, covertly – was enough for me to want to read it, despite my general avoidance of paranormal stories.
And Etiquette and Espionage is a lot of fun, mostly. It features a fourteen year old girl named Sophronia who loves to get her hands dirty playing about with the various mechanical creations in her steampunk-y world. This is seen as very unladylike and gets her into trouble. Her mother is fed up with her daughter’s behavior and ships her off to Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. There, Sophronia learns that the school is not all that it seems: she’ll learn how to curtsy, but she’ll also learn to kill. 
This information is presented to Sophronia in a very matter of fact way, though she learns a lot of it on her own. The girls and teachers at the school all take it for granted, treating their topics of study as quite natural, and therefore it comes across as quite funny to the reader, who witnesses Sophronia’s bewilderment and dismay. The main plotline, though, involves the theft of a mysterious prototype. Sophronia and her close friend at the school, Dimity, get themselves involved in figuring out just what this prototype is, why it’s so important to so many people, who has stolen it, and where it’s been hidden. 
Etiquette and Espionage is a very funny book. Here’s a line that made me giggle: “A mustache was perched above his upper lip cautiously, as though it were slightly embarrassed to be there and would like to slide away and become a sideburn or something more fashionable.” It’s full of writing like this, so it’s certainly no boring read.
But.
It’s a little uneven. The plot featuring the prototype isn’t terribly exciting (I kept on wanting to go back to Sophronia’s classes and learn more about poisoning people), and the worldbuilding left a lot to be desired.
I think I would have gotten a lot more enjoyment out of the book if I had read the Parasol Protectorate series first, which is concerning, since they target different audiences. I know that the vampires and werewolves play vital roles in the adult series, but here they felt extraneous and not very well-incorporated into the world. Sophronia’s friendship with two other girls at the school, Sidheag and Agatha, is built up pretty late in the book and then dropped. I believe one of those girls has important ties to characters in the adult novels, but again, I wouldn’t know. The prototype, too, remained a mystery to me, though the characters themselves seemed to understand it eventually. Perhaps there is more information about it in the adult novels, too. 
I know many, many YA books are being bought and read by adults now, and maybe some publishers and authors are playing into this, hoping fans of the adult series will buy the YA as well. But it doesn’t sit quite right with me. I want teens to be able to read books targeted for their age group without needing to  read “up” first.
That said, I did have a lot of fun reading Etiquette and Espionage, and I think a lot of teens will too. It’s frequently hilarious, even if the plot and world-building are a bit weak, plus it features a group of girls being taught to spy and kill while also learning the proper way to curtsy. Historical institutions that outwardly teach respectable topics to their female participants while covertly instructing them in violent, dangerous, and/or and illegal pursuits tend to go over well (think of the assassin nuns, Victorian spies, and others that have populated YA books recently).
Review copy received from the publisher.