YA fantasy primer

Traditionally, fantasy has been written by men for male readers, though women enjoy them too. With YA fantasy, it's usually female writers gearing their books toward women/teens. Some of the things I love best about this is because a) they generally feature strong women, or female protags who become strong and more independent over the course of the book; b) I want a little romance with my fantasy, dang it; and c) they're just plain good reads.

So here are a few of my favorite fantasy books and series for YA readers:

1. Goose Girl series by Shannon Hale: An interesting feature of this series is that each book follows the story of a different character. (The fourth book, Forest Born, is my second favorite in the series.) Another of her great fantasy series is The Princess Academy, which received a Newbery Honor award.

2. Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith: One of my all-time faves. I seriously love these books. Make sure you get the copy that combines Crown Duel and Court Duel. Some libraries still have them as separate books, but most now have them as one book combined.

3. Poison Study series by Maria V. Snyder: Strong woman protagonist, which I love. Her Touch of Power books are equally awesome. (See my review here.)

4. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner: The series gets even better once you hit book two. Then it's amazing. And after getting to know the author, I'm even more enthralled by her books.

5. Graceling by Kristin Cashore: This one is really good, but I LOVE the second, Fire, but have sadly not yet gotten to reading the third, Bitterblue.

6. Tortall books by Tamora Pierce: There are plenty of them to keep you busy, though the sub-series of Wild Magic is my favorite. But start with the Lioness trilogy.

7. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman: I absolutely LOVED the fantastic world the author created in this series. The long-awaited sequel, Shadow Scale, is currently sitting at the top of my TBR pile.

Geek Girl

 ★★★★★

Geek Girl by Cindy C. Bennett

I originally picked up this book (metaphorically speaking) because of the fun premise: a reversal of roles with the bad girl setting out to corrupt the good boy. I expected a fun read, but what Bennett delivers is so much more than that. It's an honest portrayal of a wounded girl finally making peace with herself and her past.

Jen is a product of the foster system. After a huge disappointment with a family she truly loved, she shuts herself off emotionally. As she bounces around from home to home—some good and others horrible—she becomes the typical rebel teen to protect her heart from future hurt.

The story is fairly predictable, but that's not what makes this book shine. It doesn't need plot twists to pull readers in. It's the startlingly honest portrayal of Jen, her wounds and struggles, that tugs at you. I even cried at one point, which hasn't happened with any book in recent years. It wasn't tragedy that struck me to the point of tears, either, but the emotional honesty that leads Jen to truly find herself.

That said, there is plenty of fun, especially if you're a closet nerd like me. You could think of it as a mild, teenage Big Bang Theory. I whole-heartedly recommend Geek Girl to teens—male and female—as well as adults. The struggle to find oneself is universal, regardless of background or age, and Jen's journey is beautifully told. 

Cool fact: Bennett originally self-published Geek Girl before it attracted the attention of a publisher. It proves, in part, that a well-told, self-published story can find success.

Note: The publisher, Cedar Fort, is a smaller independent press in Utah that in the past has focused on Mormon fiction and nonfiction. It looks like they're branching out into mainstream with books like Geek Girl, which doesn't reference religion at all. Plenty of their other books do revolve around Mormon culture, such as The Next Door Boys (review to come). It's not good or bad; just something to note when selecting future reads from this publisher.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a review copy.

The Composer Is Dead

★★★★★★★*

The Composer Is Dead by Lemony Snicket

The moment I saw Lemony Snicket's name on the cover of The Composer Is Dead at the library the other day, I knew I had to read it. I knew it would be funny; what I wasn't expecting was this musical masterpiece.

The story is somewhat basic: a composer has been murdered, and the detective must sound out the man, er, instrument who committed the crime. The text, however, isn't what makes this book so amazing.

This isn't just a picture book, nor is it just an audio book or just a soundtrack; it is an experience. The book is funny enough on its own, but play the accompanying cd with soundtrack, and it's even greater. The experience, however, doesn't reach fever pitch until you add in Snicket's exceptional narration (also included on the cd).

Daniel Handler, the man behind the Snicket, must have played in an orchestra at some point in his life. It's the only way to explain how all of the humor in The Composer Is Dead is spot on.

While marketed as a children's picture book, young children won't get most of the jokes. Instead, the musically inclined adult reading (or listening) to the book will be laughing to the point of hyperventilating. 

Don't believe me? See the book trailer, below, which demonstrates a bit of what I'm talking about.

I played this book for my stepmom, a concert cellist cum cello instructor. She laughed and nodded at all the jokes and one-liners, and then immediately went out to purchase a copy to share with her students.

I highly recommend this book as a gift for the music major/orchestra teacher/flautist in your life. If they've played in an orchestra, even just in high school, they will be rolling by the time the experience ends. Then buy a copy for yourself.

*Because this book deserves much more than 5 stars.

Gunnerkrigg Court: Orientation

★★★★★

Gunnerkrigg Court: Orientation by Tom Siddell

I've been fascinated for a while now with the fusion of text and graphics that comprise graphic novels. The problem I find is that most comics and graphic novels are geared toward a male audience. While it's great that there are books for the numerous guys who are reluctant readers, I wish there were more graphic novels that appealed to women—especially women who are strong, smart, and dress in actual clothes. So I was ecstatic when I found Gunnerkrigg Court, a captivating series of graphic novels for teen girls.

In the first volume, Orientation, Antimony Carver arrives at the gloomy Gunnerkrigg Court, a British boarding school that looks more like a factory than a school. Sounds normal enough, but that illusion fades within the first few pages as strange things start to happen.

Soon enough Antimony discovers that her parents—her mother recently deceased and her father missing—are intricately tied to this school and the mysteries that surround it. Events at Gunnerkrigg may even hold the key to understanding what happened to her parents.

Antimony's world is a dark one populated with robots, demons, and forest gods, but it also one in which she and her pre-teen classmates can still have fun. This isn't a humorous book by any means, but there is a quirkiness to the situations and scenes that give it a certain kind of depth I've only found in graphic novels. The best comparison I can make is to Emily the Strange, another graphic novel series* I absolutely adore. As with Emily the Strange, there's something youthful but dark about the illustrations that I find fascinating.

While some of the chapters in this volume feel a bit episodic—which makes sense considering the series started out as a web comic—enough of the the overarching plot threads are woven throughout that it all fits together well.

This volume ends much like the Harry Potter books: at the end of the school year but with enough mystery to propel readers immediately into the next book.

Now all I have to do is track down the rest of the series since my library only carries the first. (Why do they do that‽) This is definitely a series I'd recommend, though it might be a bit tougher to find a copy.** 

* There is a series of books for teens featuring Emily the Strange that are mainly text-based but with graphic elements. The original graphic novels are much darker, though just as compelling, and fit more into the traditional comic style. 

** Hint: All of the books in this series is available online through Indiebound, even if your local indie doesn't carry them.

Paranormalcy

You know what I'm a big fan of? Cotton candy. It's fluffy, sweet, can have multiple flavors and colors, and I DO NOT SHARE IT.

Kiersten White's debut novel is exactly the same, except for that last bit, because I'll be only too pleased to share Paranormalcy with my friends. Granted, I probably wouldn't share it with my children, but that's more because they're all boys who have about much interest in funny, airy, girlie stories as they would in opera.

That's okay, though. More delicious Evie for us, right?  So, the quick and dirty?  Fun and funny focal point Evie has spent the majority of her sixteen years dispensing humane (oh, the irony) justice and control to paranormals, and with a light touch. Her world isn't the usual, but it works for her, and for the most part she's happy, and she feels like she belongs and is loved. Then of course, Something Bad happens to make Evie question her lifestyle, beliefs, safety, and even her race, but without losing her sparkling sense of humor.

There's a boy. Of course, there's a boy. What's the story of a in-indentity-crisis teenaged Barely-Been-Kissed without a boy? A cool boy, both figuratively and literally, as Lend appears to Evie to be made of water (though he isn't . . . ah, not exactly).  Lend needs to be saved, and because Evie intends to help out with that, Evie needs a little saving, herself, possibly from herself.

If Evie doesn't find enough strength in her old life, will she be able to keep her world enough intact to create a new one?

I THOROUGHLY enjoyed Paranormalcy, and am totally looking for to its sequel, Supernaturally.

Savvy

In the movie Legend the faerie Oona asks the hero, Jack, "Am I not sweet?" He answers her, "Sweeter than bee pollen on a summer wind," which is kind of how I feel about Ingrid Law's Savvy.

Savvy is wonderful and wonderfully understated. Mostly thirteen-year-old Mibs Beaumont has a magic inside her, just like the rest of her family, and I don't just mean the calm, lying in the sweet grass kind of cadence to her first person narration throughout the book. Law masterfully blends the absolute certainty and passion of childhood faith with a sort of Judy Blume-esque lesson about becoming a member of the adult world, and then she wraps it all up together with a simple, deep-roots-strong language.

What kind of savvy--her magical gift--will Mibs have after she blows out her thirteen birthday candles? Will it be strong enough to right the sudden, frightening wrongs in her life, or will it be so powerful it only complicates them?

I won't answer those questions for you, but I will tell you, the answers Mibs finds are colorful and perfectly-fitted to the rest of the story and its inhabitants.

Buy the book, and then come back here so we can talk about all the subtle, crafty things that makes it so great. Go ahead; I'll wait.  And come to think of it, pick up the second book, Scumble, which my partner Michelle had the good taste to review a while back. I probably wouldn't have picked up Savvy without it, which would have been a shame.

Chime

Chime by Franny Billingsley is one of the most gorgeous books I've read in a long while, and yes, the cover is gorgeous too, but when I picked up the book from my library, I really didn't think a novel with such a glammed-up, confidently-posed covergirl would have the kind of depth this book has.

Boy, how was I wrong! The narrator, Briony, tells the story of herself, her father, her addled twin sister (Rose), her late step-mother, the new boy in town, and to top it all off, the very real swamp bogies in their backwoods, turn-of-the-century English villiage (in fact, kind of think of Shamalyan's The Village). Briony's voice has a wonderful point and counter-point to it, using rich language, but in a stark, staccato rhythm I found absolutely wonderful. This voice matches the way Briony views herself, on one hand gifted with Second Sight, while loathing herself for her selfishness and desire to break free of her responsibilities. 

I can't properly describe how  the adjective "flat" can be desirable or even complimentary, so you'll totally have to go BUY this book to see what I mean.

Savannah Grey

Savannah Grey by Cliff McNish

It’s incredibly rare that a book manages to vault itself onto my “favorite books ever” list within the first two paragraphs. Only one book comes to mind, at least within recent memory: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman captivated me by the first line. Now I’ve found a second: Cliff McNish’s Savannah Grey, and it did so with incredible force.

What did it? Paragraph number 2: “Reaching number thirty-three, Savannah Grey’s house, the Horror dropped its star-shaped head on one side, knotted its murderous claws behind its back, and tried to work out the most entertaining way to reach Savannah’s bedroom. There were many ways available, but the Horror was young and like all young things, it liked to use its teeth.”

How, I ask, can a book be dull with an opening like that? I was immediately captivated. Not even the change in narrative styles to first person once Savannah awoke diminished the storytelling. I was delighted when I saw that the original voice returned every few chapters to detail more of the Horror and the ancient Ocrassa that controlled it. Neither voice suffered, instead offering a depth to the already compelling story.

While the human characters were well crafted, the monsters came to life with a vibrancy that made me want to see the child-like Horror prance about in a stolen leotard and chasse and leap about while terrorizing humans. The way McNish tells of the Ocrassa’s history is as though he is telling of the Earth itself, incredibly powerful and moving. While explicitly evil, the Ocrassa is rendered in such a way that its actions seemed logical given what it was. I’ve never seen a writer make monsters feel so natural in our world. It’s incredible and not something I can accurately express in a brief review.

In addition to all this, the book ends exactly where and as it should. While there are some flaws (which I’d daresay are minor in comparison to its incredible strengths), I’ve read so few books that seemed nearly perfect in so many ways. This is one you have to read for yourself. Although many of you may disagree with my thoughts, you can’t read this and not wonder at the incredibly rich and original universe McNish created here. It’s astounding.

Thanks to Carolrhoda and NetGalley for the review copy.

The Sweetness of Salt

The Sweetness of Salt by Cecilia Galante


The Sweetness of Salt is such a beautiful and real story, one without the teenage melodrama common in current YA fiction. Galante captures the essence of the family's struggle, giving it depth and importance without making it into a cliche. I loved the simplicity of this story, and especially how real these characters were. I would love to meet them sometime, stopping by the bakery for a cake and a chat. Simply lovely.

Scumble

Scumble by Ingrid Law

If Ingrid Law's debut, Savvy, taught us anything, it's that this writer is adept at portraying humanity at its most basic level. While I loved Savvy, I can't think of an adequate word to describe my adoration for Scumble. Maybe it's because I live in the Mountain West near Wyoming, but something in the story of young Ledge struck home.

What Law does best in both her books is show an everyman struggling with an extraordinary power and coming out more human than before. I can't recommend Scumble highly enough. Pay attention to this story, and it will change you. It changed me.

Take a look at Amethyst's review of Savvy.

The Unfinished Angel

The Unfinished Angel by Sharon Creech

There are so few books that have touched me deeply enough that I couldn't imagine my life without having read them: The Alchemist, The Little Prince, The Graveyard Book. And now, I add to that list The Unfinished Angel by Sharon Creech.

The story is simple. It goes like this: an angel lives in a tower in a small village in the Swiss Alps. This angel, he isn't sure what his purpose is. "Me, I am an angel. I am supposed to be having all the words in all the languages, but I am not. Many are missing. I am also not having a special assignment. I think I did not get all the training. . . . Do the other angels know what they are doing? Am I the only confused one? Maybe I am unfinished, an unfinished angel."

This angel watches over the people of this little village, and then one day, an American family comes to live in the house attached to his tower. Zola, a young girl vibrant with life and colors—she wears three different colored skirts and numerous bright ribbons at the same time—meets angel and actually sees him. Thus begins an unlikely friendship between a vivacious girl and a grumpy angel.

Though the events of the story are ordinary, there is an uncommon grace and elegance to the prose, even with an angel narrator that cannot speak English properly and often fuses words. ("Zola smills, smuggles, what is the word? What is it, that word for happy teeth??") But more than that, the beauty of the story outshines any I have read in a long while.

Through often misguided efforts, angel watches over his town and his "peoples." By the end of the book, angel realizes he has a purpose, and we recognize the goodness that there is in the world and the hearts of the people who populate it.

"I am feeling most hopeful watching these peoples. I don't know what to say about this feeling. I don't eat food, but if I did, maybe it is as if I were hungry, so hungry, and I didn't even know it, and then I found a mountain of food and I ate and ate, and then I sat back contentful and there was still more mountain for the next day and the next day. Maybe it is like that. I don't know. Since I don't eat food, it is hard to say."

After reading this striking story, I am feeling contentful as well.

In conclusion, this mesmerizing story is one that will become a classic, and I would not be too far off in saying I see this as a strong contender for the Newbery. Every child, every adult should become friends with this unfinished angel and let him help you become more of a finished person.

P.S. I have serious issues with the book's cover design. Had I not read a review of the book previous to buying it, I would most likely have passed it over.