STACKED

books

Why Aimee Bender can never disappoint

|

One of the first things we did when we began this blog almost a year ago was introduce ourselves by our favorite books. Mine was, of course, the delectable Girl in the Flammable Skirt by Aimee Bender. This is a collection of strange but memorably depicted stories with lush images and semi-fantastical settings. No matter how many times I reread some of the stories — in particular, “The Ring” — it still as fresh as the first time I read it.

When I saw Bender had a new book coming out soon, I knew I had to get my hands on it. Luckily for me, the folks at Random House had galleys of this title at PLA and my entire trip was made by that alone.

But I digress.

Just as I’ve come to expect from Bender, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake is a very strange story. Rose is 9 years old when she begins to realize she’s different; it’s a different she figures out upon biting into her mother’s lemon-chocolate cake. Rose can literally taste the emotions her mother had when making the cake. This won’t be the only time, either. Every time she tries to eat something, she can taste the emotion within the food, down to the feelings of the factory workers who packaged the food.

Rose can’t tell anyone about this, either, for fear of being the weird child. Her brother had been the golden child of the family, and while she and her brother had a good relationship, it’s her brother’s best friend George with whom she becomes close and spills her secret. George, the ever-Scientist, tests the theory of tasting emotions and it is through this that he and Rose develop a relationship — one that Rose can’t seem to develop with her own family.

If it sounds a bit Like Water for Chocolate to you, I promise it is an entirely different story. I’ve read LWfC but never once made the connection until a friend pointed it out to me.

Bender’s story is emotionally draining, despite the fact you are never once inside Rose’s perspective. Her story explores the deep secrets of families. We’re led to believe that Rose’s father is a normal person, but it is a secret that spills near the end of the novel that we find out Rose’s condition may actually be quite, well, ordinary in the context of the family. And we come to learn that Rose’s ability to taste emotion doesn’t work when she eats food she herself has made. Instead, she feels empty.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake is a literary work, ripe with rich language and metaphor. Rose’s emotional emptiness is a great exploration of the Edelstein family structure. The food in the novel itself is palpable. There is attention to every choice of word and language use, right down to the point that Bender chooses not to use quotations for dialog. This is conscious and makes complete sense in context of the characters and the story as a whole.

I am so excited that Random House chose to share galleys of this title. I think Bender is an under appreciated writer, and I think this particular story will have great appeal. I can see good book discussions about this title; despite being quite literary, it is a very easy read and quite quick, as well. According to the back of the galley, the final product will include a book discussion guide and will have significant outreach to book clubs.

While the book doesn’t release until June 15, 2010, I have a feeling there will be a lot of buzz about this title and every bit is well-deserved. These are strongly developed characters with a big of magical realism that is so characteristic of Bender’s style. The poetic language begs to be read over and over, too.

For those of you who haven’t read Bender or need something to tide you over, check out this selection of her short stories. I had been passed the link, but I didn’t realize that “Bull” is actually a sequel to “The Ring.” She’s well worth the investment of time and energy, though you will find yourself absolutely transported to strangely familiar worlds. Perhaps The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake will bring the attention deserved to such a different style of writing and writer. I won’t say it’s better than GitFS, but this is a great door opener to that collection and its follow up, Willful Creatures.

Field Notes: The Karma Club by Jessica Brody

|

What happens when a girl goes to a spiritual retreat after being dumped by her cheating boyfriend?

The Karma Club: a way to make sure those who do bad also get the bad back at them.

Debut author Jessica Brody’s The Karma Club is a story of girls getting revenge on the boys (and girls!) who’ve done them wrong.

The Karma Club is a readalike to Suzanne Young’s The Naughty List, though it is not an intentionally humorous and at times borders on didactic. The ending wraps up a little too tidily, though that will certainly appeal to a number of readers. The story itself is cleaner, with very minimal language issues.

This is a contemporary book, with references to Facebook and text messaging. Themes include karma and revenge, as well as relationships and how social status can impact those relationships.

Though far from perfect, Brody’s book is an easy read — one I read in an hour on an airplane. It is not a fully fleshed but that will be the big draw for many readers. Reluctant readers may find this a good choice, as well. As mentioned, fans of Young’s book and fans of Elizabeth Eulberg’s The Lonely Hearts Club will find this an excellent reading choice.

The Karma Club publishes in May by Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, a Macmillan imprint.

(Is it me or does it seem this is a cover that’s a double? Anyone know its twin?)

AudioSynced Round Up — April Edition

|

It’s here! Head on over to Abby the Librarian’s blog to see the March audiobook round up. A nice variety of reviews this month, for sure.

Did you write about or review audio this month? Add your link to her comments or leave them here and I’ll pass them along.

Didn’t get to listen this month? Don’t fret. We’ll be hosting AudioSynced right here next month.

A favorite blog you MUST check out

|

One of the best things about blogging is sharing other favorite blogs. Since it seems our cover-related posts get so much traffic and discussion going, I must share with you the greatness that is Melissa Walker’s blog. Yes, this is THE Melissa Walker of Lovestruck Summer and Violet in Private fame.

Her blog, located here, features regular “cover stories,” which are opportunities to talk about the design process of many of the well-known covers young adult readers see. Some of my favorites include the story of Cracked up to Be (which we featured as a double take), Kayla Perrin’s Spring Break (the story of race on a cover), and Claire Zulkey’s An Off Year. She also wrote up a really cool interview with Michelle Zink on the make over of her Prophecy of the Sisters series.

So if you haven’t, head over there and add it to your RSS. Besides this fantastic feature, she’s an interesting read and always offers a good photo or two.

Every Little Thing in the World by Nina de Gramont

|

A couple years ago, I was enchanted by the cover and description of a book called Gossip of the Starlings by Nina de Gramont and purchased it. This was, of course, a big deal since I am not a book buyer.

Although that book ended up being less than I hoped, I was excited to see that de Gramont would be releasing a teen book this year — GotS featured a prep school girl, and I had the hopes that when aiming to reach the teen audience, rather than the adult audience, the story would come together a little better.

Every Little Thing in the World delivered.

Sydney Biggs has been getting in more and more trouble lately — and when she and her best friend Natalia steal a car, that’s the end of the rope for Sydney’s mother who decides she needs to spend time with her father while they figure out a punishment.

While away, her mother and father decide the best means of punishing her for her poor behavior is to send her to a summer camp in the wilds of Ontario, Canada. The lessons in self sufficiency and survival should help her learn to be more responsible and think through her actions. As Sydney calls Natalia to break this news to her, Natalia lets Sydney know that she, too, will be joining her.

Oh, and Sydney is pregnant but she hasn’t told anyone except Natalia.

Every Little Thing in the World follows Sydney as she not only spends an extended period in the wild but as her relationship with Natalia changes. Once best friends, their time on punishment has really changed how they relate to one another and to other people their age. Then there is the issue of the pregnancy, which tears the two of them apart and pulls them back together at the very end of the story.

While the story itself is not the most unique or necessarily the most well developed — a number of jumps in time and in plot, particularly near the end of the story, were not cohesive with the pacing — the writing is excellent. de Gramont has a talent for strong writing and attention to detail and syntax which makes the bumps in pacing almost forgivable. In addition to the pacing, I found that the mother and father figure in the story weren’t fully fleshed and the ending made her mother especially flat.

Perhaps the biggest strength in the story is the development of Sydney as a character. When the book opened, I didn’t feel that connected to her, nor did I find myself caring too much about the predicaments in which she’d found herself. As the story progressed and as tensions rose between her and Natalia, I found myself really caring about Sydney and about what she was going to do about the pregnancy. As readers we’re led to believe a couple of different things about this issue, and the way it ends both is and isn’t expected.

Every Little Thing in the World will appeal to those who enjoy realistic fiction and coming-of-age fiction. Fans of Amy Efaw’s After will eat this one up for sure. There’s quite a bit of language and situations that will be a turn off to those who prefer cleaner reads, but I think the writing itself makes this a worthwhile read.

Although I found Gossip of the Starlings a let down, I think de Gramont has found her voice in young adult fiction. She writes a strong, realistic 17-year-old in this story and I think that Sydney’s voice will be relatable to teens who find themselves in tight spots. I read an interesting interview de Gramont gave on one of the blogs where she discussed the epilogue in the story. Having read the interview before the book, I read it a little more critically, and I have to agree with de Gramont completely: it could go either way. It both works and could work without being there.

So, though this title contains a lot of what we see in teen lit — especially the pregnancy, trouble-making teen — read this one for the writing and for the character of Sydney. I think this is an easy cross-over title for adults, as well, who may already be familiar with the author.