Tag: young adult

Scarlet

This is book 2 in The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, and it’s every bit as good as Cinder. The story continues, with great new characters taking center stage. I love Scarlet’s loyalty and tenacity and Wolf’s fight to hang onto the good parts of his humanity. Thorne is fun, too. (Though I’m not sure I understand quite how much my daughter likes him.)

I totally understand K’s love for the series, though. I can’t wait to start on the next book. (Actually, I have to wait to start on the next book because I have actual, you know, work I have to get done, and once I get into these, I tend not to stop. Still, I’m very excited to get to the next book as soon as I can open up a time in my schedule that’s long enough for it.)

If you like YA science fiction and fantasy, and you haven’t read these yet, you really should.

Find Layla

I found this, strangely enough, when I was researching ways to format text messages in a book. (If you’re stressing about that, btw), this book does it seamlessly.

In the process of looking at the formatting, I got hooked on the story. Then I had to read the whole thing.

Find Layla chronicles a few days (maybe as much as two weeks) in the life of a brilliant teen who is raising herself and her younger brother in squalor as her mother struggles with drug addiction and possibly mental illness.

This book is a beautiful portrayal of the survival skills and savvy–as well as the trust issues–of a kid living the way kids should never have to live. I like the way Layla and those around her are shown with full nuance. Like real people, they’re not all good or all evil, but a mixture of both. And some of the most painful hurts Layla receives come not from active aggression towards her (though there’s that), but from the ignorance of people who care about her or who mean well.

This strikes me as very real. Almost too real. It’s hard to help teens who have been forced to survive on their own for far too long. This book at least helps people understand them.

Jacob Have I Loved

Such a good book–and if I found myself a bit disappointed in the end, it’s only because the rest of the book was so astonishingly intense. For hours, I lived in the mind of Sara Louise Bradshaw, a girl growing up in the shadow of her beautiful and talented twin–feeling tall, awkward and unloved, but also working hard to shift her own and her family’s fortune.

When she works it all out, coming to terms with herself and her family and growing up rapidly in the last couple of chapters, the new attitudes feel too sudden, and it’s hard to believe that Sara Louise no longer feels the envy and insecurity that have plagued her throughout the book. She comes into her own–but it’s not at all clear to me how she manages it.

Nevertheless, for the setting alone I would read this book again. The little crab-fishing community on an island that’s being reclaimed by the sea is both beautiful and harsh, and I’m nearly seduced into wishing I’d grown up in a tiny town on a salt marsh.

Ridiculous, seeing how I don’t really like salt water, or beaches, or being out in the sun much…

Sara Louise herself is also a character I’d love to spend time with again, and her story reminds me that life’s greatest dramas happen at home.

Like I said, such a good book.

Story of a Girl

This is a story about Deanna, a small town girl whose dad caught her in the back seat of an older boy’s car three years prior to the story’s start.  Her life (mostly unfairly) has been defined by that moment ever since, but this is the summer where she begins to move forward, forgiving (sort of) herself and those who hurt her.

It’s well written, with sparkling dialogue, and though I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the ending, there’s enough hope there that I don’t hate it.  Well worth reading.

Thanks, Mom.  You were right–it is a good book.

 

 

Does My Head Look Big In This?

This is a frequently funny, occasionally poignant story about an Arab-Australian teenager who decides she’s going to start wearing the hijab full-time (including to her private school.)  It dives right into serious issues without making them seem at all heavy (faith, women’s rights, cross-cultural communication, the immigrant experience, getting along in families).  It also touches on lots of lighter teenage experiences.  It was a fun, worthwhile read.

Dragon of Ash and Stars

This was a Bookbub title I picked up for free, but it was worth so much  more than the nonexistent price I paid.  This is one of only a couple of ebook titles I’ve read that I may try to obtain in actual paper (the others are Audacity and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay).

Dragon of Ash and Stars is a beautifully written coming of age story, with a unique voice (the narrator is a dragon).  The world building is rich, the details exquisite, and the story reminiscent of Black Beauty.  The main character is complex, realistically flawed, and extraordinarily sympathetic despite (or perhaps as a result of) feeling distinctly not-human.

If you’re into fantasy, I’d strongly recommend this book.

Fledgling

I enjoyed this story about a young woman with a serious medical problem and the young man who befriends her at her new school even though it could have used a better copy edit.  It also leaned a bit too heavily on Twilight for my taste.

Still, a fun read with some interesting characters.

The Mind Readers

I enjoyed this dip into the life of a young woman who can tell what everyone around her is thinking.  I did find myself wondering why her grandma didn’t prepare her better for the world she was getting into, and why she was so quick to trust a pretty face–though that was explained (but not entirely to my satisfaction) later.

Still, it’s a fun, almost light–if any dystopian novel could be called light–read.  I may try to pick up the sequel if I get past my frustration with an ending that’s a blatant ad for the next book.

Sticks and Stones

Mandy, the heroine in this book, manages to work through an overwhelming burden of grief and guilt without that burden overwhelming the reader–or becoming trivialized. Granted, she’s got magical help, but still, it’s an impressive feat.

I’ll definitely be picking up more of Shawn Mcguire’s books in the future.