Beauty-queen survivalists, time travel, blood magic and a little Cyrano de
Bergerac--this jumbo-sized edition of Fresh Takes has a whole bunch of
somethings for everyone.
CONTEMPORARY (mostly) NOVELS
The YA lexicon has yet to come up with a standardized way to classify the wide
variety of the category. I usually break my recommendations up into "Paranormal"
and "Contemporary" meaning “non-paranormal.” But this time I have a historical
novel. And how can I them "realistic" novels when I lead off with a book about a
plane-full of Beauty Queens that crash lands on a Lost-slash-Survivor type island?
I could, of course, just call them delicious.
BEAUTY
QUEENS by Libba
Bray. (Scholastic; May 24) It’sMiss Teen America plus Lost plus
Heart of Darkness. Only funnier.
I am constantly awed and amazed by Libba Bray’s ability to reinvent herself
between books. Trust me on this--Bray is one Literary Prize Winning author who
will never bore you. Beauty Queens mixes slap-stick fun with action adventure,
genuine peril and real issues. Devilishly clever and funny, even while asking
why girls apologize for things that aren’t their fault, and what does “act like
a lady” really mean, and what does it mean to be a girl in a label-crazy
society? Oh, yeah, and there’s also a secret government weapons conspiracy that
might kill them all. These girls--and this book--are a lot deeper than the
Barbie doll cover, but always entertaining and engaging. (file under:
contemporary, adventure, and non-boring-issue-book)
WRAPPED by Jennifer Bradbury (Simon
& Schuster; May 24) A bluestocking debutante gets more adventure than she
bargained for when she attracts the attention of a handsome amateur archeologist
in this Regency set mystery adventure. Is Lord Showalter too good to be true?
Could there be Napoleonic spies in England? Oh horror! This is frothy Regency
fare full of mummies, spies, silk dresses and romance. (file under: regency,
adventure, and fun)
FLAWLESS by Lara Chapman (Bloomsbury;
May 10) Smart, funny, lively Sarah might just be perfect--except for her HUGE
nose and her HUGE issues with it. When she and her (flawless) best friend
Kristen start crushing on the same (hunky) guy, and Kristen asks for Sarah’s
help to win Rock’s affections, what can a BFF do? Matchmaking-mishaps, sweet
romance, and a love-your-flaws message round out this charming and hip take on
Cyrano de Bergerac. (file under: contemporary romance, sweet, retellings)
THE
SWEETEST THING by
Christina Mandelski (EgmontUSA; May 10) I have to admit, it was the cover
that first attracted me to this book--it’s a great fit for this sweet and girly
contemporary romance. Sheridan’s life is perfect when she’s decorating a cake.
The rest of the time, however, it’s pretty screwed up. Family drama, cute boy
drama, and lots of cake (drama) make this a sweet read for a teen on a long car
vacation or lazing on a summer afternoon. (file under: contemporary romance,
sweet and girly, and younger heroine)
MOONGLASS by Jessi
Kirby (Simon & Schuster; May 3) Debut author Kirby spins a tale about
another lost mother, one with an introspective and poignant turn. Since her
mother’s mysterious death, Anna has had a hard time getting close to anyone,
including her father. But on the beach where her mother grew up, a handsome
lifeguard and an unexpected discovery about her mother’s death force Anna to
chose between solitude and love. (file under: contemporary, realistic problem
novel, debut author… and hot lifeguard)
These popular authors also have books out this month (It’s like the publishers
are gearing up for vacation season or something):
Susane Colsasanti--So Much Closer
(contemporary realistic romance)
Sarah Dessen--What Happened to Goodbye
(realistic problem novel)
Lauren Myracle--Shine (dark mystery,
realistic problem novel)
PARANORMAL
It’s worth noting that along with the continuing pervasive trends of dystopia,
girl-loves-magical-boy romances, and first-book-in-triology, there are virtually
no vampires to be seen (outside of Morganville, that is, and Rachel Caine’s fabulous
Bite Club).
DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth
(HarperTeen; May 3) Huge buzz about this first in a new dystopian series. In
post-war Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to a
particular virtue. Once a year, every sixteen-year-old must chose to which
faction they will devote their lives. For Beatrice, the intense initiation mean
not just reinvention of herself, but deciding who to trust, especially when she
discovers that her perfect society isn’t really. I find it interesting how many
recent YA dystopian novels center on fitting into a mold, whether it’s a
computer prediction of your perfect mate/job/life as in Matched, by Ally Condie,
or here, where Tris’s fatal secret is that she is, well, “divergent” and fits
into more than one faction. Will this save the ones she loves, or destroy her?
Suspenseful, action-y, and rather violent, this will appeal to
those who love THE HUNGER
GAMES and last month’s extremely gritty ENCLAVE, by Ann Aguirre. You can read
a substantial excerpt (100 pages!) at the HarperTeen
site. (file under: dystopian, first-in-a-series, first-person-present-tense,
trifecta of popular things)
BLOOD MAGIC
by Tessa Gratton
(Random House books for Young Readers; May 24) I almost passed over this one
because I don’t equate graveyards and blood with romance. But I was won over by
the author’s bio, which says, “Tessa Gratton has wanted to be a paleontologist
or a wizard since she was seven.” While this does fall firmly into the
girl-is-drawn-into-magical-world-by-a-hot-guy territory, in this case, Silla is
already on the path there when she meets Nick, and they go deeper into magical
peril together. Silla has been obsessed with her parents’ apparent
murder-suicide. When she receives in the mail a mysterious journal of
blood-powered spells. Silla is willing to spill a little blood to learn the
truth. Rather than the magical-creature trope, the draw here is magic as
power--addictive, consuming, and not free. Nothing is without a price. But how
does that tie into the horrific deaths of Silla’s parents? And who is trying to
stop her from finding out? (file under: paranormal romance, dark and slightly
disturbing, alternating POV)
THE
GIRL IN THE STEEL CORSET by Kady Cross (Harlequin;
May) Not sure yet what Steampunk is? Click for a
primer. In "Corset" Finley learns she has special qualities and joins a
group of misfits to investigate gaslit London for a criminal called The
Machinist, the mastermind behind recent crimes by automatons. Mystery, romance
and adventure in this League-of-Extraordinary-Gentlemen-esque novel. You can get
a taste of the world--similar to Victorian, but different in marked ways--in
this excerpt on the
author’s website. ) (file under: steampunk, fist-fighting-heroines,
automatons, nifty costumes.)
TIGHTER by Adele Griffin (Knopf; May
10) Ghosts, mystery and spine-tingling horror. I’ll take an extra helping of
that. Seventeen-year-old au pair finds herself inexplicable tied to the horrific
recent events when she arrives to fill a position on the New England island of
Little Bly. Why can she sense the ghosts of a young couple, tragically killed?
What really happened to them? Jamie must navigate the blurring line between the
living and the dead in this adaptation of The Turn of the Screw. (file under:
gothic, ghosts, and retellings)
TEMPEST
RISING by Tracy
Deebs (Walker Books; May 10) Half-Mermaid surfer girl Tempest Maguire just
wants to have fun in the sun, but her 17th birthday means choosing between land
and water. Meeting gorgeous, otherworldly Kai makes the decision easier, but
things aren’t all Enchantment Under the Sea. Destiny awaits, with the entire
ocean’s future in the balance. (file this under: paranormal romance,
fate-of-the-world-in-her-hands, and mermaids-are-cool)
Also releasing this month, from continuing series and popular authors:
Bite Club, by Rachel Caine
Dead is Not an Option, by
Marlene Perez
Shift, by Jeri Smith-Ready
A Tale of Two Castles, by
Gail Carson Levine
(Straddles into Middle Grade, but I just love her books.)
Whew! So there’s just a FEW books to hold you until next month! Until then,
happy reading!
Rosemary Clement-Moore
writes Young Adult books because she loves to read them.
Visit her webpage or blog
to find out more about her award winning Maggie Quinn: Girl vs.
Evil series, and her gothic romance, THE SPLENDOR FALLS (now in
paperback). Next up is TEXAS
GOTHIC.
1 comment posted.
Sounds like some really good books for young adults. I always check them out as I have a daughter and 2 granddaughters and I am always looking for good books for them.
(Mary Branham 12:37pm May 31, 2011)