Blackbird, by Anna Carey

I'd heard some positive advance praise for Blackbird, so I was eager to get my hands on this one.  Students are always asking me for mystery book recommendations, so I was hoping this one would turn out to be a good selection. 

The book begins with a girl lying on the tracks of the subway.  She gets to safety in the mere nick of time.  When the police want to question her about what she was doing there, she flees. 

The girl doesn't know her name, how she got on the tracks, or where she's supposed to go.  She has a mysterious tattoo on her wrist, and a backpack filled with cash and a few supplies. 

Carey chooses to write the book in 2nd person point of view, which puts the reader in the girl's confused state: "Why were you just lying on the subway tracks?  Why can't you remember how you were ended up there, how you got to that station, this city?"
We learn discover pieces of the mystery in real time, right along with her.

This book started a little slowly for me.  It reminded me of the book The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die, by April Henry.  It too opens with a girl who cannot remember who she is or where she is.
Blackbird is not particularly lengthy - about 250 pages - but it seemed to take too long to begin answering questions.  However, once it finally got going, the premise was intriguing.  Carey borrows from the famous short story "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell as inspiration for the plot here.

Readers should know that the novel ends rather abruptly and on a cliffhanger, obviously setting us up for a sequel. 

Rabbit Ears, by Maggie De Vries

I started reading Rabbit Ears a few days ago; I had about half an hour left in my day, so I figured I would start one of the new books we just got in the library.  By the time the bell rang, I was so hooked that I brought the book home and finished it before I went to bed.

De Vries's novel goes back and forth between two sisters, Kaya and Beth.  Both are grieving over the loss of the father from cancer.  Beth takes solace in food, happily eating junk in the solitude of her room or in front of the tv.  Kaya sneaks out at night, hitchhiking rides to parties on the beach.  But Kaya's antics are more than just an expression of grief; she's also trying to cover up the pain of a much darker secret from her childhood.

One day at school, Kaya runs into a childhood friend, Diana, an encounter that threatens to bring past secrets to light.  Unable to cope with her feelings, Kaya convinces another girl, Michelle, to skip school with her and take a bus to a seedy part of town.  Before too long, Kaya is skipping school more than attending it, getting into more and more serious activities each time.  Soon Kaya has run away altogether, turning tricks downtown in order to support her next heroin fix.

Kaya's mother is worried about her child, but doesn't know what to do about her.  The adult in me wanted to yell at her.  "Find her!  Put her in treatment!  Don't let her out of your sight!"  Several times Kaya comes home and attempts to go back to school, but she continues to sneak off again. 

Author Maggie De Vries bases Rabbit Ears in part on the story of her sister, Sarah, whose story is similar to Kaya's.  Sarah eventually went missing and was never found.  Kaya ultimately gets a more satisfactory ending filled with hope.  However, De Vries's novel is not a cautionary tale with big moral lessons.  It feels real and should grab teens who are looking for realistic books with serious themes.  There are a few semi-explicit sexual situations in the book, making this best suited for older teens.  De Vries keeps the novel to just over 200 pages, making it an accessible choice for reluctant readers.

When I Was The Greatest, by Jason Reynolds

First of all, can I say that I love the cover art of this book?  There's no mistaking the shape of the gun, but it's... been yarn bombed?  What?

Everything on the cover comes into play in this quick, easy read by Jason Reynolds.  However, just because it's easily accessible does not mean it's not substantial.  Reynolds' debut novel is very impressive and he's worth watching for more things to come.

When I was the Greatest centers on Ali, 15 years old, living with his single mother and younger sister in a Brooklyn neighborhood prone to drugs and violence.  Ali, however, is a good kid.  He stays out of trouble, helps out a handicapped Vietnam vet (who in turn gives Ali boxing lessons, hence his nickname), and has a good relationship with his family.  His mother works two jobs, but doesn't put up with any foolishness.  Ali lives next door to two brothers, Needles and Noodles (the nicknames are a bit precious for this reviewer).  Their father is long gone, and their mother is often seen wearing tight, short clothes and getting into strange cars.  There's not often food at their house, so Ali's mother frequently invites them over.  Needles is a shy, quiet boy who suffers from Tourette Syndrome.  He has a violent, loud episode one evening on his front stoop, attracting the attention of the entire neighborhood.  To calm him down, Ali's mother gives Needles her knitting supplies.  By giving him something to focus on, his tics and outbursts become more manageable.

The thing I liked most about this book is that the characters all felt real.  The boys - largely good kids, but not without their flaws - get excited about the possibility to get into an exclusive party.  It's a place they are too young to be, but they have to learn that lesson the hard way, as many teens do.  It's a story about friendship and about what it means to step up and do the right thing.  Sometimes that's hard to do when your main obstacle is your best friend.

Another thing I liked about this book is that the adults also felt genuine.  Too often in YA lit, we find stories wherein teens seem to live a world of absentee parents, where - at the end of the book - the parents are like, "Wow!  I had no idea you were going through all that."  In this book, Ali takes many things upon himself, but in the end, his parents also step up and do the right thing by their children.  It was refreshing to read.

Author Jason Reynolds has another book due out in January, The Boy in the Black Suit.  I'm looking forward to his next release.

Hidden Girl, by Shyima Hall

Hidden Girl: The True Story of a Modern-Day Child Slave, is an incredibly timely story, given how much attention human trafficking seems to be getting in the press lately.  And rightly so: the trials that Hall endures should never be put upon anyone, much less a child. 

Her story begins in Egypt, where she lived with a large, poor family.  The father was rarely present, and when he was, he was often abusive.  She had several brothers who touched her inappropriately.  Shyima says that to this day, she has siblings whose names she cannot remember. 

One day, she and her mother go the home of a wealthy family who employ her older sister.  They accuse the sister of stealing from them and want her fired.  However, they demand the money that the sister owes them.  Because her family cannot pay, the mother hands young Shyima over to them as a child slave.  She will work for them in repayment of the sister's debt.  She will never live with her family again.

From here, Shyima recounts the years she spent in slavery in Egypt, and then on to America where her captor family illegally smuggled her.  Only when a suspecting neighbor called the authorities was Shyima finally freed.  However, she continued to spend her teenage years with several unloving foster families and faced bullies at public school.  Once she became an adult with independence, Shyima finally discovered freedom.

Her story is well worth a read by any young adult.  She repeatedly laments how shocked she is by American teenagers who take much of their lives for granted.  Because of her delayed education, Hidden Girl is very simply written and is easily accessible to struggling readers.

I hate to offer up criticism to what is a serious story, but I cannot give this book an enthusiastic review.  My main problem is that even though the book is written with the help of author Lisa Wysocky, it doesn't often come across like it's had professional help.  Writers are often told to "show, don't tell," and the same could be offered to this book.  Hall's narrative is often repetitive, and she could have made us care for her plight more if she (or Wysocky) had really brought us in depth to her environment.  Instead, she often relies on such meager descriptions like, "I was too busy being mistreated, getting up way too early, and being yelled at."  Like I said, show, don't tell.

Still, the timeliness of this story makes it worthwhile.

More Than This, by Patrick Ness

I must open this review with a disclaimer:  I love Patrick Ness as an author.  I think his Chaos Walking trilogy was completely brilliant and I talk it up to students whenever I get a chance.  A few years ago I read A Monster Calls and I was ugly crying by the end.  Lots of books move me, but few make me shed real tears.

That all being said, I absolutely could not wait to get my hands on his latest YA title.  The book opens with a drowning.  Seth is being washed out to sea and he cannot stop these events.  It's brutal and devastating.  The prologue ends with two simple words: "He dies."

But then, he awakens.  But he's not still in the ocean.  He's at home - but a home he hasn't lived in for many years.  There appears to be no sign of any other life around.  Where is Seth?  Is he in Hell?  Purgatory?

So begins More Than This.  I was completely engrossed in the first part of this book.  As Seth explores his surroundings, we also get flashbacks to the events leading up to his drowning.  There are many secrets, and things Seth doesn't quite want to admit to himself.

As the book progresses, Seth unexpectedly finds two other children in this place with him, and they are being pursued by mysterious "driver" in a black van.  Where are they, exactly?

When the revelation finally comes, I was shocked.  Not because it was such a surprising twist of events, but because I was so, so disappointed.  Having loved Ness's earlier books so much, I was let down that this was the "twist" he chose for the book.  I don't want to give away too many spoilers, but I thought, "Really?  Are you kidding me?"  We've seen this all before in other movies and books.  Truth be told, I quit reading it for a while.  It sat on my coffee table, half-finished, for a couple of weeks.

I finally felt guilty and forced myself to finish it.  I didn't really buy into the "twist" and felt there were too many gaps in logic that he didn't explain.  Also, the quasi-uplifting moral at the end came across as a little heavy-handed and obvious.

I still love Patrick Ness and will look forward to his other books.  This one just didn't quite do it for me.

One Week Down

Now that I've finished the first full week of school, people have been asking me how it's been.  I only have one response:

EXHAUSTING.

Last week I was so tired I wanted to cry, except crying requires energy.  I mostly sat on my couch in a stupor upon coming home from work each day and watched marathons of House Hunters.

It's so hard to adequately describe my first week as a high school librarian.  The "job" isn't all that different.  I'm still booking classes in the library, planning book talks, troubleshooting iPads, etc.  But any time you move to a new campus, there's so much new "stuff" to learn.  I think my standard answer to all the questions was, "Ummm.... I don't know.  But I'll find out."  God bless my fabulous library assistants.  They are true pros who helped keep things sailing as I tried to keep my head above water.

Today, as I began week 2, I started to feel more at home.  My "To Do" list is starting to seem manageable.  I've met lots of teachers and even remember a few of their names!  Win!

Mostly, I've loved the kids.  I had many classes come through the library the first week for a brief orientation, and I almost had to laugh at the stark difference between middle school and high school.

Here's how library orientation used to go in middle school:

"Everyone take a seat.  It doesn't matter what seat.  Just get one.  Get one now or I will assign you one.  I don't care if you don't like that person.  SIT DOWN NOW.  Stop talking.  I will not talk over you.  (Waits....)"

Here's library orientation in high school:

(Students enter library and sit down.)  "Hello!  I'm Ms. Henson, your new librarian.  Welcome to the library!  If you'll please get out your iPad or phone..."

It was amazing.  They just... listened.

I was nervous that I wouldn't know high school books as well as I know middle grade books. However, as students began checking out books for the first time, I realized that most of them have read NOTHING.  I was very quickly rattling off book suggestions left and right.  Luckily I read lots of book reviews on my own time, so even if I haven't personally read a YA title, I'm at least familiar with its basic premise.  A teacher came to my office last week and asked if I ever did book talks.  Seriously?  That's my favorite thing!  What librarian doesn't do book talks?  Tomorrow I'll be presenting "Ms. Henson's Top Ten."  Can't wait!

Hopefully soon things will calm down and I'll get into a groove.  I have a huge cart of new books to process in my office, and I'm dying to steal some of them to read.  But for tonight, I'm just thankful I had the energy for this blog post.  Cheers to Week One in the bag!

Book Review: Panic

Teenagers.  Deadly games.  One winner.  Sound familiar?  Thanks to the wild success of YA mega-hitters The Hunger Games and Divergent, we are at no short supply for teens-and-violence novels. The good news for Panic, the latest by Lauren Oliver, is that she steers clear of the sci-fi, dystopian genre, and grounds this book solely in the realistic, present day.  Panic has more in common with Maggie Stiefvater's The Scorpio Races, minus the magic water horses.  Panic is set in the small town of Carp, New York, a somewhat poor town where many dream of getting out, but few have the resources to do it.  Somewhere along the way, Carp's high school student body created a game called Panic.  Every student has to pay into the pot - or suffer the consequences.  Only graduated seniors are eligible to play.  The last man standing wins the pot.

Of course, the challenges are reckless and illegal.  The local cops have been itching to bust Panic for years.  Given that it kicks off at the same time and place every year, one would think the police would have figured out how to stop it before it starts.

Oliver switches back and forth between two players: Heather and Dodge.  Each has her (or his) own motivations for winning.  Heather lives with her druggie mother and innocent little sister in a trailer park. Winning Panic would pay for a way out of Carp.  Dodge is playing for revenge.  His older sister, Dayna, was injured and paralyzed playing Panic several years earlier.  Dodge wants payback.

My main problem with Panic is that neither Heather nor Dodge are sympathetic enough for me to really care about either one of them winning the game.  Unlike Stiefvater's The Scorpio Races, where I was truly torn between wanting Puck or Sean to win, Oliver didn't get me to fully invest in her main characters.  The other main issue with the book is that the challenges - although dangerous - aren't terrifying or frequent enough.  They come across as something you'd see on Fear Factor, if dreamed up by teens.  (One of the challenges involves running across a busy highway, blindfolded.  I kept hearing the movie Dodgeball in the back of my mind: "If you can dodge traffic, you can dodge a ball!")

Panic was a quick read for me, and I do enjoy Oliver's writing.  This would be a recommended addition for high school libraries where students are devouring Divergent and are asking, "What else do you have?"