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books

The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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The Fixer is Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ YA answer to Scandal. Tess is the younger sister of a successful “fixer” in Washington, DC, Ivy (the Olivia Pope analogue), who takes Tess to live with her after their grandfather’s mental state deteriorates. Ivy is much older than Tess, and Tess is not thrilled to be uprooted from her grandfather’s farm and taken to live with the sister whom she feels abandoned her when their parents died many years ago.

Tess starts school at an elite private institution also attended by the children of politicians, dignitaries, and the very wealthy. She initially prefers to dissociate herself from her sister, but her classmates won’t let her. After she inadvertently helps the vice president’s daughter out of a tight spot, everyone seems to think that she’s a fixer in training.

While the book starts out by following Tess as she tries to avoid helping with her classmates’  problems, it quickly becomes more national in scale. Ivy tries to shield Tess from what she does, but Tess finds herself drawn into her sister’s problems and soon she’s caught up in a conspiracy involving the murder of a supreme court justice. More bodies join the first, and the suspect list includes the president of the United States.

This is a really fun political thriller just right for a teenage audience. The politics aren’t party vs. party and the book doesn’t really even broach touchy political issues like climate change or healthcare. The plot focuses more on politicians’ desire to acquire and then keep power, which is something anyone with a basic understanding of our political system can follow. You don’t need to be a fan of C-SPAN to know what’s going on, you just need to know that presidents appoint supreme court justices for life. This also means the book shouldn’t date too quickly.

At the same time, it’s not written down to the teenage readers either. The Goodreads synopsis initially led me to believe that Tess’ adventures would mostly be relegated to high school, but she actually ends up affecting events at the national level, and she has a great amount of agency outside the high school setting. This is not to say that Tess fixing her classmates’ problems wouldn’t have been enough to sustain a novel, but I think it’s very gratifying for teens to read about kids their age making an impact on a much larger scale. The plot is fast and the twists are many, and Barnes assumes her readers are smart enough to follow along.

The comparisons to Ally Carter’s Heist Society are apt, though the tone is a bit more serious, and the consequences are too. The best comparison really is the “meet” description provided by the publisher (and I don’t say that a lot) – Scandal meets Veronica Mars. I can’t say if today’s teens watch either of those shows, but the book’s got enough present-day teen appeal without the comparisons to be necessary anyway.

Review copy received at TLA. The Fixer will be published July 7.

On The Radar: 12 Books for June

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One of the most popular posts I do over at Book Riot is the round-up of upcoming YA fiction titles, and one of the most popular questions I seem to get on Twitter and in my inboxes is “what should I be looking out for in YA?” For a lot of readers, especially those who work with teens either in classrooms or in libraries, knowing what’s coming out ahead of time is valuable to get those books into readers’ hands before they even ask.

Each month, I’ll call out between 8 and 12 books coming out that should be on your radar. These include books by high-demand, well-known authors, as well as some up-and-coming and debut authors. They’ll be across a variety of genres, including diverse titles and writers. Not all of the books will be ones that Kimberly or I have read, nor will all of them be titles that we’re going to read and review. Rather, these are books that readers will be looking for and that have popped up regularly on social media, in advertising, in book mail, and so forth. It’s part science and part arbitrary and a way to keep the answer to “what should I know about for this month?” quick, easy, and under $300 (doable for smaller library budgets especially).

For June, here are 12 titles to have on your radar. All descriptions are from WorldCat, and I’ve noted why it should be included. 

The Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker: Set in an alternative 16th-century England, Elizabeth Grey is the only girl in the king’s elite group of witch hunters. When she’s framed for being a witch herself, Elizabeth finds freedom at the hands of the world’s most wanted wizard and her loyalties are tested. 



Why: This one has gotten some solid buzz, along with a sizable distribution of review copies. I’ve heard positive things, though I haven’t picked it up myself. 

The Summer of Chasing Mermaids by Sarah Ockler: After a boating accident takes her beautiful singing and speaking voice from her, Elyse d’Abreau, the youngest of six sisters, leaves her home in Tobago to stay in an Oregon seaside town where Christian Kane, a notorious playboy, challenges her to express herself and to overcome her fear of the sea.

Why: Sarah Ockler is a mainstay in contemporary YA fiction. Bonus points for a great cover. 




Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway: Sheltered seventeen-year-old Emmy’s childhood best friend Oliver reappears after disappearing with his father ten years ago. 

Why: Like Ockler, Benway is a staple name in YA. Her new book looks to be no different. 

Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older: When the murals painted on the walls of her Brooklyn neighborhood start to change and fade in front of her, Sierra Santiago realizes that something strange is going on–then she discovers her Puerto Rican family are shadowshapers and finds herself in a battle with an evil anthropologist for the lives of her family and friends.

Why: An urban fantasy novel featuring a girl of color. Let’s talk about that killer cover, too. I am dying to read this, even though it’s not my usual genre. 




Because You’ll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas: Ollie, who has seizures when near electricity, lives in a backwoods cabin with his mother and rarely sees other people, and Moritz, born with no eyes and a heart defect that requires a pacemaker, is bullied at his high school, but when a physician who knows both suggests they begin corresponding, they form a strong bond that may get them through dark times.

Why: If there were one book I got more review copies of than any other this year, it might be this one. Interestingly, there are some parallels between this one’s description and the forthcoming Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon. 




Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella: Fourteen-year-old Audrey is making slow but steady progress dealing with her anxiety disorder when Linus comes into the picture and her recovery gains momentum.

Why: Sophie Kensella is a huge name in adult fiction (“chick lit,” though I loathe the term) and the reviews for her first YA title have been solid. This one features a younger-than-usual teen, too, which is a bonus. 



The Devil You Know by Trish Doller: Exhausted and rebellious after three years of working for her father and mothering her brother, eighteen-year-old Arcadia “Cadie” Wells joins two cousins who are camping their way through Florida, soon learning that one’s a murderer. 

Why: Trish Doller has been building a name for herself in contemporary realistic YA, and her first foray into the thriller genre is going to keep her reputation going in a positive direction. This is a fast-paced read, perfect for summer. 




The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent: 

Why: Another urban fantasy title for shelves by Rachel Vincent, who made a name for herself in the adult urban fantasy realm. 




The Book of Spirits and Thieves by Morgan Rhodes: A mysterious book and ancient magic bring together four young people in modern-day Toronto and the ancient kingdoms of Mytica. 

Why:  Morgan’s kicking off a new series with this one, and her previous series, “Falling Kingdoms,” has been popular. 

I Am The Traitor by Allen Zadoff (book three in “The Unknown Assassin” series): After breaking free of The Program, Boy Nobody is on a mission of his own to reclaim his life and rescue his friend Howard from the secret organization that has turned him and other orphaned children into trained assassins–but he has no idea who, if anyone, he can trust, or what the consequences will be if he succeeds in bringing down The Program.

Why: This is the third book in Zadoff’s “Unknown Assassin” series, which is great for those more reluctant readers who want a fast-paced thriller. 

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera: After enduring his father’s suicide, his own suicide attempt, broken friendships, and more in the Bronx projects, Aaron Soto, sixteen, is already considering the Leteo Institute’s memory-alteration procedure when his new friendship with Thomas turns to unrequited love.

Why: A “light science fiction” title by debut author Silvera features a queer character. 

Delicate Monsters by Stephanie Kuehn: When nearly killing a classmate gets seventeen-year-old Sadie Su kicked out of her third boarding school in four years, she returns to her family’s California vineyard estate. Here, she’s meant to stay out of trouble. Here, she’s meant to do a lot of things. But it’s hard. She’s bored. And when Sadie’s bored, the only thing she likes is trouble.

Emerson Tate’s a poor boy living in a rich town, with his widowed mother and strange, haunted little brother. All he wants his senior year is to play basketball and make something happen with the girl of his dreams. That’s why Emerson’s not happy Sadie’s back. An old childhood friend, she knows his worst secrets. The things he longs to forget. The things she won’t ever let him.

Haunted is a good word for fifteen-year-old Miles Tate. Miles can see the future, after all. And he knows his vision of tragic violence at his school will come true, because his visions always do. That’s what he tells the new girl in town. The one who listens to him. The one who recognizes the darkness in his past.

But can Miles stop the violence? Or has the future already been written? Maybe tragedy is his destiny. Maybe it’s all of theirs.  (via Goodreads)

Why:  Kuehn is the 2014 winner of the Morris Award for a debut novel, and her third offering takes all she’s done well so far and amps it up another notch. This is a diverse read, and it’s super dark. 

Reading Fatigue

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Last year was my first year as a Round 1 judge for the Cybils, and I think it contributed a lot to just a feeling of general reading fatigue. Aside from school, reading has never felt like a chore to me, but it got to be that way sometimes during Cybils season. This is not to say I didn’t enjoy it, but I definitely read a lot more, a lot faster, and a lot of it was stuff that I didn’t much like.

I knew I’d need a switch in my reading habits for a while afterward to recover. What I didn’t count on was how long that switch would last. I don’t know if it’s permanent or not, but I haven’t been reading much YA speculative fiction at all this year. My hands aren’t itching for the sequel to the book I loved so much last year, and I’ve picked up stuff I’m usually guaranteed to like and set it back down almost immediately.

This is not to say I’ve stopped reading YA SFF completely. I still have several books in that category going at a time, but I don’t consume them at the rate that I used to, and often I’ll put off finishing the last 50 pages of a YA fantasy to instead start something else completely different. Below are the categories that I’ve been reading a lot more of lately – let’s just call 2015 (or at least the first half of 2015) the year of the audiobook and the romance novel.

Audiobooks
I’m a fidgeter. I can’t just sit and watch a television show or movie, I also need to be doing something with my hands, like putting together a puzzle or playing Candy Crush. Sometimes when I’m reading a book, I’ll feel like I also need to be doing something with my hands, and holding up the book doesn’t cut it. Audiobooks fulfill this need so well, because I can listen to a book while also messing around on my phone or doing laundry. While I’ve listened to some YA on audio this year, most of my audiobook listening has been in the categories below.

Romance Novels
I love romance novels for many, many reasons, but the primary one this year has been the guaranteed happily ever after. There’s a lot of changes (and potential changes on the horizon) happening in my life right now and I just don’t want stress from my fiction to contribute to stress in my reality. I read everything Courtney Milan has written that I could get my hands on, dove back into Julia Quinn, brushed up on Sarah MacLean, and gave Scribd a trial run so I could consume a bunch of other authors in short order. I’ve finally overcome my aversion to e-books thanks to my romance reading, since a lot of what I want to read is only available in e-formats. But I’ve also listened to a lot of romance on audio, which isn’t actually as awkward as I thought it would be. Though I do tend to put my headphones in when the sexy times happen. Even if no one’s around.

Nonfiction
I’ve listened to some really heavy nonfiction, but most of it is narrative nonfiction, meaning that I can actually go and research what happened so I’m not surprised going into it. It removes the suspense, which may seem boring to some readers, but is really reassuring to me at this point in my life. I’ve read a lot about cults, including some memoirs of people who have escaped some really awful stuff. But that’s the important part: they’ve escaped it. I’ve also read some really fascinating science nonfiction that has enabled me to learn more about my world and myself. Most recently, I inhaled Emily Nagoski’s Come As You Are, which is a book about women’s sexuality. It’s awesome enough that it deserves its own blog post, so I won’t go into a lot of detail here, but if you are a woman and/or have sex with a woman, you should read it.

Mysteries
I’ve always loved the classic sort of mystery where an amateur sleuth solves a whodunnit, bonus points if there’s lots of humor (which is why I tend to stay away from mysteries featuring actual detectives or FBI agents or whatnot). Again, these sorts of stories provide a lot of comfort, much in the same way romances do: I know the sleuth will catch the bad guy by the end of the book. My Elizabeth Peters binge belongs in this category. I need an Amelia Peabody in my life.

Subtitles
OK, this one doesn’t really count. But I’ve been watching a lot of Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Bob’s Burgers. I’m not saying Tina Belcher is my hero, but I’ve known since early this year that I’ll be dressing as her for Halloween.

Blogging Vacation

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With Book Expo America here, we’re on vacation! We’ll be back next Monday with our regularly scheduled books and mayhem.

Debut YA Novels of May

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It’s time for another round-up of debut YA novels of the month.

Like always, this round-up includes debut novels, where “debut” is in its purest definition. These are first-time books by first-time authors. I’m not including books by authors who are using or have used a pseudonym in the past or those who have written in other categories (adult, middle grade, etc.) in the past.

All descriptions are from WorldCat, unless otherwise noted. If I’m missing any debuts out in February from traditional publishers, let me know in the comments. As always, not all noted titles included here are necessarily endorsements for those titles. 

Tracked by Jenny Martin: Phee Van Zant, an orphaned street-racer on the corrupt planet Castra, gets swept up in the corporate rally circuit and an even bigger revolution.

Immaculate by Katelyn Detweiler: Mina, seventeen, has everything going for her until she discovers she is pregnant and no one, especially her boyfriend and her father, will believe that she is a virgin except for the few who have faith that miracles are possible and that her unborn child could be the greatest miracle of all.

The Wrath & The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh: In this reimagining of The Arabian Nights, Shahrzad plans to avenge the death of her dearest friend by volunteering to marry the murderous boy-king of Khorasan but discovers not all is as it seems within the palace.

Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton: Gigi, Bette, and June, three top students at an exclusive Manhattan ballet school, have seen their fair share of drama. Free-spirited new girl Gigi just wants to dance, but the very act might kill her. Privileged New Yorker Bette’s desire to escape the shadow of her ballet star sister brings out a dangerous edge in her. And perfectionist June needs to land a lead role this year or her controlling mother will put an end to her dancing dreams forever. When every dancer is both friend and foe, the girls will sacrifice, manipulate, and backstab to be the best of the best.

The Novice by Taran Matharu: When blacksmith apprentice Fletcher discovers that he has the ability to summon demons from another world, he travels to Adept Military Academy where must decide where his loyalties lie. The fate of an empire is in his hands.

Becoming Jinn by Lori Goldstein: Behind closed doors, sixteen-year-old Azra is learning how to harness her powers and fulfill the obligations of her destiny. Mentored by her mother and her Zar “sisters,” Azra discovers she may not be quite like the rest of her circle of female Jinn … and that her powers could endanger them all.

5 to 1 by Holly Bodger: In a dystopian future where gender selection has led to boys outnumbering girls 5 to 1 marriage is arranged based on a series of tests. It’s Sudasa’s turn to pick a husband through this ‘fair’ method, but she’s not sure she wants to be a part of it.

Love, Fortunes, and Other Disasters by Kimberly Karalius: Devastated by a “love fortune” indicating that she will be a spinster, fifteen-year-old Fallon decides to take control of her own fate, even if it means working with Sebastian, a notorious heartbreaker.

The Cost of All Things by Maggie Lehrman: When her boyfriend dies, a grieving Ari uses a spell to erase her memories of him, but this spell triggers a series of events that reveal hidden, and sometimes dangerous, connections between her friends and the boyfriend she no longer remembers.

Conviction by Kelly Loy Gilbert: A small-town boy questions everything he holds to be true when his father is accused of murder. 

Made You Up by Francesca Zappia: Armed with her camera and a Magic 8-Ball and her only ally (her little sister), Alex wages a war against her schizophrenia, determined to stay sane long enough to get into college

Emancipated by M. G. Reyes: The good girl, the bad boy, the diva, the hustler, the rock star, and the nerd. Six teens legally liberated from parental control for six different reasons, all with one thing in common: something to hide. 

Now they’re sharing a house in Venice Beach, acting like a family, and living their lies. No parents. No limits. No alibis. One witnessed a crime, another might be a murderer—and one’s been spying on them all.

As they cling to a fantasy of freedom and slowly let down their guards, the past creeps up on them. And when one of them gets arrested, everyone’s carefully constructed facade comes crumbling down. 

In this steamy, drama-filled series, relationships are tested and secrets revealed as lies threaten to destroy their perfect setup.  (via Edelweiss) 

Scarlett Undercover by Jennifer Latham: Scarlett, a sixteen-year-old private detective in the fictional city of Las Almas, finds herself at the center of a mysterious case–involving ancient curses, priceless artifacts, and jinn–as she discovers that her own family secrets may have more to do with the situation than she thinks.
Anything Could Happen by Will Walton: A phenomenal debut about a gay Southern boy in love with his straight best friend. 

Material Girls by Elaine Dimopoulos: Teens Ivy Wilde and Marla Klein, both minor celebrities, face major lifestyle changes as pop-star Ivy questions the rampant consumerism required to maintain her image, and fashionista Marla sees first-hand the appalling working conditions that allowed her to be a trend-setter.

The Last Leaves Falling by Sarah Benwell: In Japan, teenaged Abe Sora, who is afflicted with “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” finds friends online and elicits their help to end his suffering.