Books for Boys

Well, technically, this post should be "books for guys!" I've come across many great books for teen guys recently, that I'd love to share! (P.S. - I'm almost at my 100 books for the year - 6 more to go! See J. Kaye's Book Challenge - link on the left).

First up, and one of my favorites of the year, is The Vast Fields of Ordinary, by Nick Burd. This is the story of a gay teen in Midwest Iowa who is struggling with telling his family he is gay, standing up to bullies, and being true to himself. Sounds like any other teen book, but honestly, it's just beautifully written and must read for any YA librarian. The words are just so carefully chosen - each line is to be savored. The characters are well-written and the only mar is the very end, where he appears to have written the book you're holding in your hands (a little trite/overdone).



I just finished this book the other day. A great graphic novel, honored by YALSA and Library Journal, Life Sucks is funny, poignant, and best of all, doesn't end "happily ever after" (but the ending isn't too sucky, which is nice).












This was the perfect book to read at this time of year (Christmas season). I haven't read these authors previous endeavors (shame on me!), which include Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. While the story started out great, and was good enough that I couldn't put it down, I was slightly disappointed in Lily's character and thought that Dash made a big change - maybe too big for his character. I really wished that Lily had been more offbeat and less innocent, like it appeared she was in the notebook's first entries. Still, a fun, nice, easy read for the holidays!







I just finished this book yesterday. Crazy by Han Nolan (a woman) beautifully captures the mind of a teen boy, whose biggest fears are losing his "crazy" father, and becoming crazy himself. He battles voices in his head (characters that he has made up and really has pretty good control over) and the idea of making friends (and thus letting them in to his abnormal, perhaps embarrassing life). I thought the author did a good job of not only portraying a teen boy's emotions and thoughts, but especially of how someone deals with death and mental illness. Excellent book, overall.







This was one of the few non-fiction books I read this year. The Duel: The parallel lives of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr by Judith St. George is a fast read that nicely summarizes while also revealing interesting details. It was fascinating to see how the two lives intertwined and I refreshed my history along the way (smile).

Well, that's it for now - I'll be back in January for my summation of 2010 (my favorite picks) and my goals for the new year! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Hope you get some books in your stocking!

Redemption

I was excited by the prospect of The Killer's Cousin by Nancy Werlin, even after a few recent duds, mostly because of its promising cover. I was determined to find a novel of hers that I felt was worth reading. This book almost met the challenge. The basic premise is that a teen is acquitted of killing his girlfriend and goes to live with his aunt and uncle, who lost one of their daughters not too long ago in a suicide. However, as he comes to terms with his past, he learns that his other cousin may understand him more than he realizes. It is a haunting ghost story, in part, and a little thrilling. The mystery, as usual, is not too difficult to uncover, which seems to be Werlin's standard fare. However, I did enjoy the open-ended conclusion and bits of the mystery left unresolved.

Meanwhile, I was eager to read Impossible, also by Werlin, which has won scads of awards, which is a realistic fiction interwoven with fantasy. I was FINALLY truly impressed! Basically, a teen finds out that the women in her family are cursed by a fairy king, to become pregnant at seventeen, and go insane directly after their child's birth. However, the protagonist (Lucy) believes she can break the curse by attempting the three impossible tasks. Although parts were a little rushed, the ending was beautiful and well-deserved. As for the covers, I thought that for once, the hardback version kicked the paperback's butt (see here, left; paperback below).

In the meantime, these are several other decent, excellent, and so-so books I've plowed my way through.

The Firefly Letters, by Margarita Engle is a beautiful verse book about women's rights and slavery in Cuba.

Half World by Hiromi Goto is an otherworldly (pun intended) story of life, death, and a creepy man called Mr. Glueskin. Very original and wonderful ending.

Bruiser, by Neal Shusterman is an incredible blend of realistic fiction and fantasy; a story of bullying, victims, and love. Told in two voices.

Stick Figure: A Diary of My Former Self, by Lori Gottlieb is a moving account of anorexia in a young teen. This autobiography may not be the newest thing on the shelf, but the feelings, the attitudes, and the desire to be, "the thinnest," are hauntingly present-day.

The Enemy by Charlie Higson is a dystopian, sci-fi novel about zombies. Yep, zombies. And I loved it. I'm not a sci-fi fanatic, I'm not a zombie person at all, but I loved this book. Great to recommend to your guy readers!

Diary of a Witness, by Catherine Ryan Hyde is a heart-breakingly realistic tale of teen boys who, after being teased one too many times, decide to tackle their bullies in a violent way. The ending is fitting and I appreciated that it wasn't too depressing.

The Hunchback Assignments by Arthur Slade is one of my favorite books of the year. I just loved the main character - how brave, and modest, and strong of heart and mind he was. The steampunk setting was fabulous, too! A little gore, a little adventure, a tiny bit of romance. The opening scene was so horrific, I almost put the book down, but I'm glad I didn't!

The Miles Between, by Mary E. Pearson was another one that I wasn't sure I would like at first. The opening scene seemed so contrived and easy, but as the story unraveled, it was a truly original concept. I loved the mix of fantasy and reality and the ending was very surprising (and sad!).

The Maze Runner, by James Dashner was another fabulous book that took a little time to get going. I was fairly annoyed at Thomas's repeated, "what is this place?" line of questioning and the 'trying to be mysterious' lack of answers. But the concept as a whole was again, very original and thrilling! Loved the ending (although there will be a sequel, this was still satisfying enough).

Num8ers, by Rachel Ward was one of the best books I've read all year so far. I was blown away by the concept of being able to see people's "dates of expiration" and I loved the main character's fortitude. Her hesitation to make connections was worth the possible loss when she met Spider, and what an amazing couple they made!

One Piece: Romance Dawn by Eiichiro Oda is the first in a popular manga series. It would be the last thing I'd normally pick up, but I'm doing my best to expand my horizons. This was actually very cute. A fun series for younger teens, about a boy who dreams of being "king of the pirates" but accidentally eats the fruit of the "Gum Gum tree" and becomes made of rubber but loses the ability to ever swim again (he'll drown/sink). Still, he goes on to conquer his dream with plucky determination. Readers will enjoy how things just keep managing to go his way.

Last but not least, Crimson Hero, volume 1, by Mitsuba Takanashi is another original manga series. This time, it's about a girl who loves volleyball more than anything else, but her mother is determined to have her follow in her footsteps as the hostess of a tea place (not sure of the proper terminology). I've read worse plots, but I really had a hard time keeping the characters straight with the black and white illustrations. Many of the guys looked similar and even some of them looked like girls! Otherwise, a decent book.

I'm Back!

After 3 months of maternity leave and 1 month back on the job, I finally can sit back, breathe, and think about posting again! Also, I have a little time to read now. You'd be surprised how much you can get read during a midnight nursing. It's great for keeping you awake, too, so you don't fall asleep with baby!

Over the summer, I read a few "older" YA novels that had been on my To Read list for a while. Among them, Double Helix, by Nancy Werlin, Define Normal, by Julie Anne Peters, Flipped, by Wendelin Van Draanan, and King Dork, by Frank Portman.

I was slightly disappointed by most of these, in particular Double Helix. This was given to me by a good friend of mine, and fellow young adult lit reader. It was not much of a difficult mystery and resolved much too quickly and easily. I guess it's a great short read for reluctant readers, but otherwise I wasn't impressed, which is unfortunate because I know what a great author Werlin is purported to be. In fact, I met her at a YA Lit conference a year or two ago, and everyone was very enthusiastic about her work. I look forward to reading Impossible and Rules of Survival, two more of her highly recommended and recent novels.

Otherwise, King Dork was the only one I would call a great read. A riff on Catcher in the Rye, which I hated, it poked fun at The Catcher throughout, while simultaneously being a similar story of teen angst with a rather random plot. This is not a book to skim, quick-read, or bring to the beach. Every line is meant to savor and laugh at. Hidden sarcasm, great characters (Little Big Tom - "Rock on!") and a satisfying while inconclusive ending made this something I would actually read again (had I the time!) just to catch more of the author's great lines. The band names and song titles at the end, along with the glossary of terms, really cracked me up.

Now I'm in the process of reading many excellent titles for our Cafe Book program, where public librarians like myself visit middle schools for book discussion groups. I've actually read several "guy books" with lots of blood, gore, and death, and not minded! Here are some that I think you might like (not all are guy books specifically, but could appeal to all types):

Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins is a must read but of course you have to start the trilogy with The Hunger Games and then continue on to Catching Fire before you pick up this amazing conclusion.

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher is an incredible fantasy that I couldn't put down. The worlds are intricate and she is consistent with the details, the way fantasy writers need to be.

Girl in the Arena, by Lise Haines is a great action book with a girl protagonist. Brought up in an era eerily present-day, 18 year-old Lyn is the daughter of seven Gladiators. A celebrity lifestyle and media frenzy are things she has learned to live with, as Gladiator fighting (to the death) is a popular sport. Although Lyn has become a skilled fighter (unusual for a girl, as they typically become Glad wives) she has no desire to continue in her mother's footsteps, remarrying after each husband's death, but chooses pacifism instead.

I'm looking forward to some more new YA titles on my To Read list, including The Killer's Cousin, by Werlin, because everyone deserves a second chance.

New Year, New Outlook

While 2009 was the year of reading as much as I could (155 titles, including some adult and audiobooks, but mostly print YA), I think that 2010 will be the year of reading the best books I can, and of a wider variety. I completed three of J. Kaye's Book Blog challenges last year, but this year it'll be just one. While I read more graphic novels and fantasy in 2009 (I usually tend towards realistic fiction) I still shied away from "boy" books - adventure, action, gore - the stereotypical boy stuff anyway. Even the graphic novels, manga, and comics I read were girl-based. I also tended to read more high school based stuff, perhaps because so much of the YA lit is geared towards older readers (gritty and/or content that might not fly with 7th and 8th graders that I mostly work with). That said, here's what I've read already in the first week of the year!

As you can see from the above picture (Blogger isn't cooperating with me at the moment to cut and paste the image here), Wondrous Strange, by Leslie Livingston is my first read of the year. It's a great YA fantasy that I just couldn't put down, despite the exhaustion of pregnancy. It's really pretty strong fantasy, based on the faerie kingdom of Shakespeare's plays, including Auberon, Puck, and other fairy royalty. I loved it because while it had a strong girl protagonist, it also shared viewpoint with a strong male, which I think my guy readers will be able to relate to. At any rate, there was plenty of action, a little romance, and a great story line (Kelley, the girl, is stolen from the faerie world and hidden from her true life - as a faerie princess, while the main boy, Sonny, is a boy stolen and made half-faerie). The ending isn't too neatly tied up, but you can finish without expecting or needing a sequel (by pet peeve recently). Great book. Three and a half out of four stars ***1/2.