The Great American Whatever, by Tim Federle

The Great American Whatever marks author Tim Federle's debut in YA fiction.  Federle is also the author of the middle grade novels Better Nate Than Ever and Five, Six, Seven, Nate!.  (He's also written cocktail books for adults, one of which is called Tequila Mockingbird which wins for best punny title).  In his few published works thus far, Federle writes what he knows.  In the Nate books, he used his own experiences on Broadway to write about a boy who wants to make in on the Big White Way.  In this newest work, we follow the journey of seventeen-year-old Quinn, a closeted movie buff from Pittsburgh (Federle's home town).  I give this little bit of backstory because as much as I wanted to embrace The Great American Whatever, it felt a little distant for me.  I never found Quinn's voice to be fully authentic.  It sounded too much like adult-Tim in the guise of a teenager.  (In the acknowledgements at the end, Federle says that the book was initially written with the characters about ten years older.)

The Great American Whatever follows the first summer Quinn spends without his sister, Annabeth, who died in a texting-related car crash six months earlier.  Quinn and Annabeth were a filmmaking team; he wrote the screenplays and his sister directed.  Without her, Quinn feels desperately empty and lost.  He also feels responsible for the wreck that took her life, since he was the one she was texting.  Slowly, Quinn crawls out of his grief thanks to his best friend, Geoff, and a cute older boy he meets at a college party.  Peppered throughout the novel are sample screenplay directions, as Quinn imagines his life the way a filmmaker would:

EXT. GEOFF'S PERFECT LAWN - NIGHT

Quinn takes Geoff by the lapels and flings him onto the lawn.  He straddles Geoff and digs his knee right between Geoff's ribs.

QUINN

Seriously.  Explain yourself so that I don't freak out.

Again, as much as I wanted to really love this book, it was only ok for me.  I think Federle needs a little more time to really find his voice in YA fiction.  This is a perfectly solid debut for older teens, but similar themes have been done explored elsewhere and with greater resonance in YA lit.

Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

After finishing Dumplin', I felt like my normally nonexistent Texas accent was just a little stronger.  I might have started droppin' some gs from the ends of words and speakin' just a little more slowly.   From the nuances of small-town Texas life, to our obnoxious Homecoming traditions of mums so big they're liable to swallow you whole, to the unspoken serenity that comes with settlin' down on a hot day with a large glass of iced tea, author Julie Murphy gets it right.  She also gets right the creation of her main character, the overweight Willowdean Dickson, whose outward confidence masks deep insecurities. 

Willowdean is a Dolly Parton-loving high schooler, still reeling a year later from the death of her beloved aunt.  Her mother heads up the annual Texas Blue Bonnet Beauty Pageant, something Willowdean has always stayed as far away from as possible.  However, hurt that her mother has never once suggested that Willowdean might consider entering the pageant, she decides on a whim to enter.  What she doesn't expect is for her best friend and three other girls (who all suffer ridicule from their classmates for various reasons) to sign up as well.

Let me just say here y'all: I love to hate me some beauty pageants.  I think they are, really, The Worst.  But I would LOVE for a girl like Willowdean to show up just once, curves and all.  People throughout the book tell Willowdean that she's brave for entering the pageant.  "I don't want it to be brave," she says.  "I just want it to be normal."

Added to the mix are a couple of scenes where Willowdean and her oddball fellow contestants seek pageant tips from a local drag queen (a plot twist that is funny and sweet, but also a bit unrealistic.  I mean, out of the middle of west Texas is a gay bar that just happens to put on a Dolly Parton drag show?  Sure...). 

So much of Willowdean's journey was authentic and should resonate with teen readers.  Although mostly comfortable in her own skin, she still feels insecure about her body when it comes to boys and intimacy.  Even when presented with the chance to have it all with the boy she really likes, Willowdean nearly throws it all away because she can't imagine going to school every day and facing the other students.  Because no one would ever believe that a hot guy like that would possibly go for a girl like her, right?

Dumplin's a winner.  Toss your head back and throw your arms to the sky for this one.

Another Day by David Levithan

I don't think I've been looking forward to a new release all year like I have been for Another Day, the long-awaited companion book to Levithan's Every Day from 2012.  I ADORED Every Day and I recommend it to students all the time.  Seriously, Levithan should send me flowers and gifts to thank me for all the kids out there that have gone out and purchased his book because I've talked about it so much.  Every Day is about 'A', a soul without a body.  A is genderless because every morning A wakes up and is in someone else's body.  It's a fabulous novel that asks us think about identity and how we define ourselves.  It also asks us to consider if we could ever learn to love someone whose face and gender changes every day.

Naturally, I was thrilled when I got the email from NetGalley: "Your request to view Another Day has been approved."  (*Insert Homer Simpson cheering noise here*)

Another Day is not a sequel, so fans wanting to know what happened to A at the end of Every Day will be disappointed.  Another Day retells the story, but this time from Rhiannon's point of view.  At first I wasn't sure if this was even necessary, and truthfully, I still have some doubts.  In Every Day, A falls in love with Rhiannon and manages to convince her that A's unique situation is true, and she in turn begins to fall in love with A.  I felt like a large chunk of Another Day offered little that was new, since we've read a lot of this before.  However, Rhiannon's point of view is unique because she has to struggle with her own ideas of love and relationships, even before she meets A.  Her doubts and insecurities are real and should ring true with teen readers. 

And yet, by the end of Another Day, we still don't know what's to come of A and Rhiannon, as the book ends pretty much exactly where Every Day does.  We'll have to keep waiting and wondering if they'll ever have a happy ending.

Red Queen, by Victoria Aveyard

I have to confess that I often judge a book by its cover.  Who doesn't love attractive jacket art?  I'm absolutely the kind of person who will pick up a book at the store if the cover art catches my eye.  And how great is the image to the left?  If you don't want to pick up the book based on that fantastic cover, then you must be blind.  That being said, if you know absolutely nothing about the book at all, you may be thinking you're getting ready to read an historical fiction tale; maybe something about "Bloody Mary" for example.

What you're going to get, however, is a fantasy/sci-fi/adventure story that presents very little that we haven't already seen.  The story opens with Mare Barrow, who lives in poverty with her parents and sister.  Her brothers are off fighting in war, and her sister is apprenticed as a seamstress.  Mare has no skills, so she spends her time picking pockets around town, dreading the day she will be "conscripted" to go the front lines of battle.  At least Aveyard didn't give her a bow and arrow to hunt food for family.  Mare just steals things outright. 

The world in which Mare lives is strictly divided into two castes: the Reds, like her, who are poor laborers and soldiers, and the Silvers, the elite ruling class.  But Silvers don't just merely have silver blood (literally), they also have X-Men like superpowers which keep the Reds in check.  One day Mare runs into Prince Cal, heir to the silver throne.  He takes a liking to Mare and arranges for her to have a job inside the palace, thus freeing her from having to go to war.  In a pivotal moment, Mare is serving the silvers during an exhibition: young women from across the land have come to prove their worth in order to become Cal's bride and future queen.  But this is no Cinderella-like ball.  The girls enter an arena and show off their powers and skills.  One such demonstration causes Mare to lose her balance and she falls into the arena.  Rather than be killed, however, an electrical jolt awakens something within her, and in front of everyone, she begins to produce lightning and electricity.

Because no Red has ever displayed powers before, the royal family quickly concocts a story to explain that she is a long-lost Silver princess, and they move her into the palace to keep a watch on her.

What follows is nothing new: Mare has to attend classes and training exercises.  She might as well be at Hogwarts, except without a wand.  She's also betrothed to Cal's younger brother, Maven.  Although she harbors some feelings for Cal, Mare and Maven begin to bond as she realizes they are both working in secret with a rogue group intent on taking down the royal family. 

I enjoyed a lot of this book, despite the fact that so much of it was familiar.  Towards the end I got a little tired of the fights and scheming and plots, and skimmed the last 100 pages or so to the end.  Naturally we will be set up for a sequel.  Give this one to students who have read Hunger Games and Divergent and still want more.

Saint Anything, by Sarah Dessen

There are some authors in the YA world who are like comfort food: mac and cheese, your favorite hot beverage, etc.  Or maybe in the case of Sarah Dessen, pizza and garlic knots.  (I wanted to eat ALL THE PIZZA after reading this book.  Nom nom nom).  That being said, just because I'm comparing Dessen to pizza doesn't mean her books per se are necessarily comforting.  Dessen always serves up YA lit that is both true and challenging.  Her characters experience real problems that aren't always resolved in a neat bow in the end.  I think this is probably what makes her novels still so popular in all the school libraries where I've worked. 

Saint Anything is a bit darker and grittier than some of her previous books.  We open on high schooler Sydney, whose family has been thrown in disarray after her brother, Peyton, has been sentenced to jail for drunk driving.  He hit a young man, causing the boy permanent paralysis.  Peyton's shadow hangs solidly over the prep school they both attended, and Sydney is in desperate need for a fresh start, so she transfers to the local public school where no one knows her family history.

Things are home aren't much better.  Her father is emotionally absent, not taking much of a role in anything.  Her mother, on the other hand, is living in supreme denial of Peyton's crime.  Her number one priority involves Peyton's phone calls from jail and keeping track of everything going on at his penitentiary.  At one point she even calls the warden over some trifle issue.  The way she goes on, one would think Peyton's at summer camp and not jail.  No one in the family shows any remorse or guilt over what happened to the victim of Peyton's crime.  No one - except Sydney.  She feels she must carry the burden of guilt because someone has to.

It was very difficult to get through parts of this book, emotionally.  The mother drove me CRAZY.  I wanted someone to shake some sense into her.  (Peyton does, eventually).  Dessen also introduces us to Ames, one of Peyton's friends who takes an unhealthy liking to Sydney.  He's creepy and uncomfortable.  The fact that Sydney's parents are so blind to his actions was infuriating.  I hope teens reading this book WILL TELL SOMEONE if they are put into a similar situation.  It was hard to believe that no adult did anything about Ames until the end of the novel.  Ugh.

Still, so much of Sydney's path to personal healing and reconciliation with her brother rings true.  She meets a group of students at school who embrace her and don't pass judgment on her family.  She slowly begins to fall in love for the first time.  She seeks advice from her friend Layla's mother, since her own mother is so emotionally absent.  She doesn't like talking on the phone to Peyton, until she discovers they both watch the same Real Housewives-esque reality show, and the ice begins to thaw between them.

I think Dessen tries a little too hard to wrap everything up neatly.  The ending felt a bit rushed and the conclusions forced.  Still, I have no doubt that this book will be snapped up by Dessen's fans, as it should be. 

5 to 1 by Holly Bodger

5 to 1, by Holly Bodger, is a book whose premise I enjoyed much more than its execution.  We're in India, far into the future.  A culture that previously put so much emphasis on having boys rather than girls has produced a population that cannot continue.  Girls are in short supply, and therefore are a prime commodity.  Because there are 5 boys born for every 1 girl, the state has set up a series of tests designed to match the best boy to every girl, with the hopes that their marriage and subsequent offspring will produce more girls.  The winners are assured a life of comfort and riches, while the losers are sent to "the wall."  (You know nothing, Jon Snow...).

The story begins with Sudasa, 17, beginning the preparations for the contest where she will select her husband after a series of tests.  The boys are not given names and are simply referred to by number.  The book switches back and forth between Sudasa's point of view, told in verse, and "5," told in first person narrative.

If this book reminds anyone of Kiera Cass's The Selection, you're not alone.  I liked the idea that it was boys competing for the hand of the girl instead of the other way around.  However, 5 to 1 reminded me not just of The Selection, but so so so many other YA titles, that I felt there was very little here that was new.  We've seen the idea of arranged marriages in Matched.  Women who are valued for the reproductive role in The Handmaid's Tale.  Being told that life outside "the wall" is bad and therefore you know the main character(s) will end up outside of it: The Giver, Delirium, Divergent, etc...

This book was such a short, fast read, I felt that the author did not give us time to flesh out the characters enough for us to care about them.  The end is not surprising or suspenseful, even though it's clear there will probably be another title to come. 

Additional purchase recommended only where The Selection is constantly checked out and students want something else to tide them over.

Review given in exchange for a digital ARC from NetGalley.

A Court of Thorns and Roses

I think it's safe to say that fairy tale retellings are certainly the 'in thing' right now.  As I write this review, Cinderella is at the top of the movie box office, and the Internet is all abuzz about the new live-action version of Beauty and the Beast set to begin filming with Emma Watson.  Teens who just can't wait until that film comes out, however, can spend many a happy hour with in the stacks of YA Lit devoted to fairy tales.  A Court of Thorns and Roses, the first in a new series by Sarah J. Maas, tackles the familiar Beauty and the Beast story but gives it a fresh spin.  It's a little bit Beauty and the Beast meets The Hunger Games meets Twilight.  I realize that sentence may be a big turnoff to many people, but don't let your biases get in the way. A Court of Thorns and Roses is exciting, sexy, violent, and sure to find an audience.

The story begins with 19-year-old Fayre hunting in the woods.  She lives with her father and two selfish sisters.  Once a wealthy family, their mother died and the father lost their fortune.  They now live in poverty in a small cottage, getting by on the meat and furs Fayre brings in thanks to her hunting skills.  One day she kills a large wolf, expecting to sell its fur in the market for a handsome price.  What she was not expecting was for a large beast to show up at their cottage, demanding Feyre come with him as payment for killing one of his soldiers.  It was no ordinary wolf she killed.  It - and the beast - are not just animals.  They are faeries, powerful creatures who once ruled the human lands.

In keeping with what we know of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale, Fayre at first resents her captivity and has no interest in being friendly with the beast (named Tamlin).  Of course, the more she learns about the Fae and the curse that has been placed upon them, she begins to soften, eventually falling for the one who's taken her prisoner.  

Whereas the familiar fairy tale ends with Belle falling for the beast, he becomes a prince, and they live happily ever after, Maas's story gives our heroine a second act.  Fayre fails to declare her love for Tamlin aloud, and thus unwittingly condemns him into the hands of the one who cursed him, an evil woman named Amarantha.  When she realizes what she's done, Fayre goes to Amarantha's lair to try and save Tamlin.  She is given two options: solve Amarantha's riddle or undergo three dangerous and deadly trials.

A Court of Thorns and Roses is best suited for high school students, as it contains a few rather steamy sex scenes, as well as scenes of graphic violence.  Although there are additional entries in this series still to come, and there are still some questions left unanswered (what happened to Feyre's family?), I think this entry can stand alone as Maas does a good job at bringing the narrative to a conclusion.

Review given in exchange for an ARC from NetGalley.