I don’t do a whole lot of programming in my current position, but I’m happy to say that I’ll be bringing three YA authors to my library next week while they’re in town for TLA. If you’re in town too, won’t you consider stopping by? We can say hi and you can watch me moderate a fun panel on writing for teens with three talented authors. There will be discussion, open Q&A, signings, giveaways, and you can even snap a photo of yourself and the authors in our iGeek photobooth.
In preparation for their visit, I read a few of their books. Since they’re Harlequin Teen authors, all of their books have some element of romance (which I am absolutely there for), but they’re wildly different from each other regardless. We’re giving away a copy of each of the three books below (two of which are advance reader copies) plus a few more surprises.
Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter
As longtime readers may know, I’m a sucker for fairy tale and classic story retellings. This is a sort of Alice in Wonderland with zombies, where the zombies can only be seen by some people – but they’re no less terrifying for it. Ali’s father is paranoid and won’t let his family be outside after the sun sets. He says he sees monsters, but no one else can see them, and Ali secretly believes he is mentally ill. Ali convinces her father to let them all go see her little sister’s dance recital, even though it will end after dark, and everything seems to be going OK. Until the trip back. Ali’s dad sees something, freaks out, and the car flips. Her entire family is killed, not necessarily in the crash itself, but by something…else. Soon after, Alice starts to see the monsters, too.
Her family’s death is revealed in the blurb, but I hadn’t read it, so when it happened, it was a huge punch to the gut. Showalter knows how to make her readers hurt. But this is also a fun story, with lots of zombie hunting and, of course, a sizzling romance. When Ali moves in with her grandparents after the accident, she starts at a new school, and she ends up locking eyes with a resident “bad boy,” so-called because he is always skipping school and getting into fights – though none of the fights ever seem to happen on campus. It turns out he’s part of a group of teenagers who fight the zombies, and Ali gets caught up in their mission. Showalter is well-known for writing adult paranormal romances and it shows in her teen books.
The parallels with the Alice in Wonderland stories are not explicit, and this is not a retelling per se. Instead, there are clever little homages, like a cloud that resembles a rabbit and fanciful chapter titles like “Down the Zombie Hole” and “What Bloody Bloody Nonsense!” This is a good pick for teens who still crave zombie stories but are ready for something a little different.
Nowhere But Here by Katie McGarry (publishes May 26, 2015)
McGarry is known for writing high-appeal contemporary romances for teens, and her latest – the first in a new series about a motorcycle club – is sure to be popular. Contemporary romances aren’t usually my thing, but I quite liked this story about family, loyalty, and the prejudices we all carry about ways of life we don’t understand. Emily is sent to stay the summer with her biological father, a member of a motorcycle club and a man whom she believes has no interest in parenting her. There she gets to know her extended family and begins to fall for Oz, the son of the club’s leader whose dream is to follow in his father’s footsteps. She also uncovers secrets of her family’s past and learns that her mother’s story about why they left her father doesn’t necessarily line up with the truth. Lies on both sides of her family create grave danger for Emily.
This is a long book, but the pages move quickly, thanks in part to short chapters that alternate between Emily and Oz’s points of view (emblematic of McGarry’s writing style). The romance incorporates a lot of common tropes (dislike and physical attraction at first sight, slowly giving away to real affection, a “bad” boy and a “good” girl, long-hidden secrets), but it also feels very genuine and age-appropriate. Emily and Oz fall in love like teens do, and McGarry’s characters don’t assume it will be forever – which doesn’t make it any less real. The romance combined with the secrets in Emily’s family’s past make for a multilayered book with a lot of threads to unravel.
The press release stated that McGarry did some hands-on research for the book by spending time with an actual motorcycle club, and it shows. I can’t say I have any firsthand experience, but McGarry’s story is immersive and she turns characters that could have been stereotypes into real people with strengths and flaws. Highly recommended for contemporary romance fans or any reader interested in modern ways of life outside the mainstream.
Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid (publishes August 4, 2015)
When they were freshmen, Dave and Julia made a list of all the stereotypical high school things they’d never do: go to a beer party, dye their hair an unnatural color, hook up with a teacher, go on a road trip, fall in love with your best friend. A few years later, with graduation on the horizon, they decide to turn their list of Nevers into a To Do List. Unbeknownst to Julia, Dave has already checked one item off the list: he’s hopelessly in love with Julia.
Alsaid’s second YA book leads with its gimmick, but it doesn’t take the trajectory you’d expect – at least not for long. Readers will enjoy watching the two teens check items off the list, from the relatively innocuous (dying their hair, which turns out terribly for Dave, who chose green), to the much more serious (hook up with a teacher, which Julia takes to with gusto). This hooking up with a teacher storyline is played for laughs and as an adult I was horrified by it, but teens will probably just think it’s funny like Julia and Dave do. (This part in particular made me feel old.) The first part of the book is told from Dave’s perspective and the middle part from Julia’s; Alsaid is more successful with Dave than Julia, though he manages to get real pathos out of both points of view. I was pleased that the story surprised me in the end, and I felt real sadness but also satisfaction at how everything turned out. This is a good pick for fans of lighter contemporary YA.