Books I Didn't Finish: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Total Page Count:  ~200 of 441 pages

Why Didn't You Finish It?:  This book has a killer concept -- in the future, love is a disease.  At 18 everybody gets a "procedure" that will cure them of Amor Deliria Nervosa.  Of course the procedure robs them of most other emotions and the ability to question the government.

Pretties, The Giver, The Cure, Bar Code Tattoo -- all of these books have covered similar ground.  And done it in less than 441 pages! 

Dissenting opinions? Sure.
The Compulsive Reader
Dreaming in Books
Reading Rants


The Bottom Line: While Oliver writes beautifully, it just takes her too long to get where she's going for me. A skillful world building and a clever concept doesn't make up for pages and pages of a wishy-washy heroine being wishy-washy.

White Cat (The Curse Workers) by Holly Black

The Curse Workers by Holly Black

What You Need to Know:  A supernatural/crime mash-up, this is the rare "teen paranormal" from a male POV with guy appeal.

Summary:  Cassel is a normal kid with an abnormal family.  His mother, grandfather and both his brothers are curse workers -- individuals able to do magic with touch.  Curse workers are criminals by nature, as curse work is illegal.  Most curse workers are tied to major crime families, and Cassel's are no exception.  Mom's in jail, both brothers are enforcers.  But family sticks together, even when Cassel is at a boarding school, trying to live down his dark past..  However, Cassel loves the con too much to go completely straight.  When a white cat keeps appearing in his dreams, it leads Cassel down a dangerous path.

What Worked:  Holly Black doesn't back away from the dark stuff.   Something I've always liked about her work is that she doesn't sugar-coat things.  Here, she shows exactly what a life of organized crime is like.  Cassel's family may love him, may even think they're protecting him, but they are not good guys.   

Black also does a lot of really nice, really subtle world building here.  Everybody wears gloves, as touch is dangerous.  There are different types of curse workers, some good, some bad.  Stones can be spelled against the curses.  Black doesn't feel the need to tell you this upfront, but organically weaves the details through the story.  In my opinion, this is what separates a great fantasy book from a good fantasy book.

What also works well is the voice here.  Cassel isn't a terribly reliable narrator (for various spoilery reasons) and he knows he's not one of the good guys.   He tries, but he just loves the con too much.   Also,  Cassel is a guy and sounds like one, which is a nice change in a paranormal focused series.  

Finally, there's the plot.  Like all good con jobs, shows you its cards then pulls a fast one.  I can't say to much for fear of being spoileriffic, but does a fantastic job of ducking and feinting, and ending with a sucker punch.

What Didn't:  There is a lot of plot and world building here, so some of the characters get shoved to the sides.  Particularly Cassel's brother Phillip, who can harm with touch, isn't as fleshed out as he could be.

However:  I honestly didn't care.  I tore through this in one sitting, and am now desperate for the sequel.

Who would I give this book too:  Teens looking for a paranormal with more bite than the crop of Twilight clones; guys who are secret paranormal readers, fans of twisty plots.

Books I Couldn't Finish: The Freak Observer

Total Page Count: 63 pages.

Why didn't you finish it:  Nothing happens!  It's all a sad girl, being sad.  Beautiful and sad.  Sad on the bus.  Sad at home.  Sad. Sad. Sad.  Dead sister. Dead friend.  Sad.

Dissenting Opinion?s: Oh, Yeah.
A Chair, A Fireplace and a Tea Cozy 
Stacked
ALA Morris Award 

So, what's your verdict?:  Navel Gazing Emo B.S.

2011 Young Adult Reading Challenge

So -- upon urging from my former boss, I am taking part in the 2011 Young Adult Reading Challenge hosted by For the Love of YA.

This is simple, just pick a target, 12, 20, 40 or 50+ books, and sign up to read that many YA books in the upcoming year.

As I have sworn to read 2 books a week for the ENTIRE year, this will hopefully keep me honest.

See the page on the side for my list of challenge books.

Watch me drop dead of Teen Fatigue sometime around November!

Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri and Rand DuBurke

What You Need To Know:  This is a fictionalized account of the life (and death) of Robert Sandifer, an 11 year old gang member who shot and killed a neighborhood girl. Although it is beautifully done, this book may struggle to find an audience.

Summary:  Yummy is an 11 year old felon.  A member of the Black Disciples Nation, in the Roseland neighborhood of Chicago, he is well known for stealing cars, strong arming kids for money and having something to prove.  However, he is also known for his love of sweets, his short stature and good manners.  Roger, another 11 year old, tries to unravel the dual nature of this boy after he accidentally kills a 14 year old girl.  While Yummy's gang hides him, Roger listens to the words of his friends, his family, those who knew Yummy, and those who only know him as a symbol or statistic

What Works: This is a powerful story.  The DuBurke's stark black and white artwork manages to convey that power without melodrama.  Neri works hard to give a complete picture of Yummy, a dangerous felon who was still a child.

What Doesn't:  I have some serious questions about the intended audience for this book.  Is it meant for teens?  If so, the choice of a young narrator may turn off readers.  Also, while Yummy's story is indeed powerful, it also happened before most teen readers were born.  Dated slang, dress and cultural references will serve to remove teens from the story.   I can't quite see a younger reader enjoying or understanding this volume, and I think the format will be enough to turn off most adults.  So while the book is arresting and moving, I'm not sure it will reach the intended recipients.

However:  I am a 30+ white girl living in a suburb. While I can't see many of my patrons picking this title up of their own accord, that could be different in a different library.

Who Would I Give This Book To?:  Fans of Walter Dean Myers and urban fiction.  Teens researching gang violence, fans of non-fiction graphic novels.

Black Hole Sun by David Macinnis Gill

What You Need To Know:  This is a highly-derivative, but fun, fast-paced sci-fi book.

Summary:  Durango is out of luck.  A highly trained Regulator, he should have committed suicide for the disgrace his father brought upon him.  He didn't, and now he has to live on the fringes of Martian society.  His only companions are Vienne, his deadly but beautiful lieutenant and Mimi, the AI planted in his head.  When miners seek his help to protect their settlement from the cannibalistic Draeu, he has no choice.  So he rounds up what crew he can and sets off to the mines.  But the miners are hiding something; something that terrifies Durango.

What Worked:  This is a fun book to read, with lots of explosions, bullets and cannibal attacks. Things move fast, and the snappy banter, mostly between Durango and Mimi, keeps everything light.

What Didn't:  To put it bluntly, there's not much of anything that's original here.  I counted tropes from  Firefly, The Magnificent Seven, Total Recall, Red Mars, Bioshock,  and Star Wars. You could argue that there's nothing new under the sun, but that is a lot of borrowing.  Even the title (which doesn't have ANYTHING to do with the story) is lifted from a popular song.

However: I'm a middle aged geek.  I cut my teeth on some of this stuff.  So to me, this is just an old tale retold.  Your average 14 year old kid?  Not going to notice or care that Durango is basically a younger version of Capt. Mal Reynolds and that the plot is lifted from a 60 year old Western.*

Who Would I Give this Book To:  This is a great guy book, lots of action and a hot chick.  Fans of "space opera" would like it too.

* Yes, I know The Magnificent Seven is based on The Seven Samurai.  I've never seen the Kurasowa film, but I've seen Yul Brenner in that Mexican town more times than I can count.  Dad was a big western fan.

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

* Note:  I'm trying a new format for the reviews, so this may look a little different.

What You Need to Know:  Revolution is a historical fiction book with a twist.  This is the story of a very modern, very screwed up girl who finds inspiration and hope in the diary of a girl who lived and died during the French Revolution.  Beautifully written and engrossing, I consider this one of the best books of 2010. 

Summary: Following the death of her little brother, Andi's life has fallen apart.  Her dad has split, her mom's gone crazy and Andi only survives due to medication and her music.  When Andi's mom is hospitalized, Andi is forced to go to Paris with her dad.  There she finds the diary of Alexandrine, a girl who lived during the French Revolution.  Alexandrine was a performer, who was a special companion of the Dauphin, the heir to the throne of France.  When the Revolution comes, and Louis-Charles is imprisoned, Alexandrine risks everything to give him what comfort she can.  As Andi becomes more engrossed in Alexandrine's story, the two girls' lives begin to converge in surprising ways.

What Worked:  Donnelly has a special gift, for instructing her reader with out lecturing them.  Although I had a pretty good background in the French Revolution, I learned without realizing it, as the information is seamlessly integrated into the story, not dumped in big chunks of exposition.   Donnelly also humanizes her historical characters, so that they are just as flawed and sympathetic as the characters she creates, not dusty cardboard cutouts.  Those two things -- history lessons disguised as narrative and stock characters  -- are two of my biggest beefs with historical fiction, and both are avoided here.

The amount of craft in this book is truly amazing, so many different threads -- the fate of Alexandrine, the implosion of Andi's family, the causes of the Revolution, musical DNA, the Paris catacombs, depression, survivor's guilt, art, The Divine Comedy -- all come together to weave a compelling and engrossing story.  Yes, at 500 pages, there is a lot of book here, but it doesn't feel overlong or padded.  The length is necessary for the complex tale.

What Didn't:  Personally, I could have lived without the love story angle.  I know from interviews that Donnelly took a lot of inspiration from The Divine Comedy and wanted to show an artist traveling through their version of hell with a guide.  Andi's Virgil is so smoking hot and wonderful, how could she not fall in love with him?  However, I'm not sure it worked.  I also felt like Donnelly was trying to make some paralells between the climate during the Revolution and the treatment of refugees in modern Paris that never really came off.  

However: These are quibbles, overall there wasn't much wrong here.

Who I Would Give this Book to:  Kids who share Andi's love of music.  Girls who like historical fiction.  Boys who would be intersted in the bloody Revolution.