High school can be frightful for some folks, and when you add in some ghosts who never graduate… just plain spooky! Tread the haunted halls in these BooksYALove faves (and watch your back)… This way to scary school stories
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Scary book pair #2 – enemies seen and unseen
Another pair of scary BooksYALove favorites for the witching season: if blood-spatter and dire peril aren’t your thing, search the tag cloud (over there on right) for something else!
Afterworlds, by Scott Westerfeld (book review) – transforming death, embracing life
One book with two stories, two heroines.
Two girls, one creating the other.
Lizzie’s plunge into the realms of death and love underscores her creator’s path from aspiring high school writer to published YA author as Darcy Patel discovers what so many authors have told me: writing is hard, but rewriting (and rewriting and rewriting) is so, so much harder.
Scott Westerfeld’s new novel isn’t a tale of writing, but a twinned narrative about rewriting a novel and rewriting a life short-circuited by not-death. Love is a prominent and problematic feature of both stories, a great deal like real life where the darn details of everyday can get in the way of what’s really important.
Releasing on September 23 (most new media goes on sale on Tuesdays…), Afterworlds will get big buzz because Scott is a big YA author – and because this big two-in-one volume is that good.
**kmm
Book info: Afterworlds / Scott Westerfeld. [author site] [publisher site] [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.
My book talk: Deferring college for a year to rewrite her first novel, Darcy is excited to move away to New York City, exhilarated to find love, and mystified about how she can craft her story’s ending that her editor requires in this novel-within-a-novel.
On a routine trip between her divorced parents, Lizzie is trapped in a doomsday terrorist attack, plays dead so the killers will ignore her, and discovers that she can now sense ghosts – so begins the mystical love story that Darcy wrote to add to her college applications (2000 words a day for a month makes a 60,000 word novel).
Her family’s Indian heritage provides the mythic basis for this afterworld, a tragic incident from her mother’s hometown inspires the ghost girl in Lizzie’s house, but Darcy invents handsome Yamaraj, who has been living among the dead for centuries, confirms that Lizzie is a psychopomp who helps dead spirits cross over, and falls in love with her.
Guided by an agent, a publisher, and a math-savvy little sister to watch her budget, Darcy feels even luckier when fellow writer Imogen hand-holds her through apartment-hunting and then holds onto her heart.
As they both plunge into rewrites of their very different young adult novels, Darcy and Imogen walk an emotional tightrope between togetherness and writing time. As Lizzie and Yamaraj fall in love, she ignores his warning against seeking vengeance while trying to comfort a little dead girl.
Two complete and compelling novels intertwined in a single volume = Afterworlds.
Kiss of Deception, by Mary E. Pearson (book review) – princess seeks peace, finds danger
A dreaded arranged marriage,
a daring escape,
two girls on the run
with a killer on their trail!
Prepare for a galloping read across lands we’ve never seen as Lia tries to stay unnoticed in the lovely seaside town, the disguised prince seeks to know her, and the hidden assassin waits for the right moment when you grab this July 8 release at your local library or favorite independent bookstore.
Either a medieval future after failed interplanetary travel or space voyagers in the past created the setting of this great new series by the author of the well-known Jenna Fox Chronicles, which wrapped up last year with Fox Forever (my no-spoilers review here).
Marriage as a political alliance tool- yes or no?
**kmm
Book info: Kiss of Deception (The Remnant Chronicles, book 1) / Mary E. Pearson. Henry Holt, 2014. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.
My book talk: Escaping a kingdom-uniting marriage, 17 year old Lia finds peace in a coastal village, unaware that the jilted prince and a stealthy assassin have found her.
Indeed, the First Daughter of Morrighan lacks the Gift of prophecy required by the kingdom of Dalbreck. Piqued by her note “I should like to inspect you before our wedding day”, the prince tracks Lia and Pauline to Terravin where they’re working at aunt Berdi’s inn and poses as a young farmer in town for the religious festival.
Also on her trail are the King’s Army scouts (her father won’t forgive Lia for leaving everyone waiting in the chapel) and an assassin bent on easing a Vendan invasion of Morrighan – by eliminating any alliance with Dalbreck.
Secrets shared, secrets kept, disguises and deceit – how long until Lia falls for handsome Rafe or charming Kaden, shattering her hard-sought peace with a Kiss of Deception? First in The Remnant Chronicle series where crumbling ruins mark the past’s spacefaring technology, and Lia’s gift of Sight may arrive much too late. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)
Shadow Hero, by Gene Luen Yang & Sonny Liew (book review) – Asian superhero against crime!
In Chinatown’s dark alleys,
the ruthless tongs demand payment,
but the Green Turtle arises to protect the innocent!
Happy book birthday to The Shadow Hero, as the origins of the first Asian-American superhero are revealed!
I love this new joint effort of graphic novelists Gene Luen Yang and Sonny Liew – light-hearted, but underpinned with the historical accuracy which won Gene so many awards for his paired graphic novels of a pivotal time in Chinese history, Boxers and Saints (my review here) .
Get a quick look at its vintage look and action here:
The Green Turtle’s adventures continue in this short sequence published on the Tor website, too.
**kmm
Book info: The Shadow Hero / Gene Luen Yang and Sonny Liew. First Second Books, 2014. [Gene’s site] [Sonny’s site] [publisher site] [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.
My book talk: As a child of Chinese immigrants, Hank expected to follow family tradition, but his mother demands that he become a superhero!
When The Anchor of Justice rescues his mother from a bank robber, she won’t be satisfied until Hank reinvents himself as a superhero, instead of being a grocer like his father.
Hank discovers that intense training and a new costume certainly don’t guarantee superhero success when his attempt to save a young lady from thugs merely earns him a beating and the crime boss’s daughter rescues herself.
Fighting against the tong’s extortion has a high price for Hank’s family, yet he vows to continue, aided by the ancient Tortoise spirit from his parents’ homeland.
As the Green Turtle, Hank battles his way into the tong’s headquarters with the Tortoise spirit’s guidance. Yet the challenges he finds there would tax any superhero’s skill and resolve.
“Sometimes a fight you cannot win is still worth fighting,” counsels the spirit of the Tortoise, and Hank is in this fight until the end.
Gene Luen Yang and Sonny Liew transform an old comic book into this great graphic novel about the first Asian-American superhero. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)
And that’s a wrap! Another Blogathon in the books
Hooray – we did it!
Blogathon2014 was a success –
Thirty posts in 30 days (even with a lengthy power outage)!
And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming… I plan to post 3 times weekly, so watch for new content on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
Please subscribe to BooksYALove by email or your favorite blog aggregator using the handy-dandy links on the right. I also tweet out new posts @BooksYALove (along with info on reading, brains, fun info, and cats), so follow me!
Young ladies do the unexpected in these titles featured during last year’s Blogathon – now out in paperback (click on title for my original recommendation – no spoilers):
From so-so rural teen to international glamour queen, Becky becomes Gorgeous (with the right dresses… and a little magic?)
Young Emily Dickinson seeks to uncover Nobody’s Secret – does it relate to the mysterious death in her small town?
Thanks again to FreelanceSuccess.com and MichelleRafter.com for hosting this year’s Blogathon and its welcoming Facebook group page – let’s do it again next June!!
**kmm
Twelve Minutes to Midnight, by Christopher Edge (book review) – visions of future – lunacy or conspiracy?
Writing, scrawling, jotting,
visions of the future, horrifying and violent,
every lunatic in Bedlam writing down their dreams,
every
single
one.
As writer of eerie tales Penelope investigates the startling claim that every inmate in Bedlam is dreaming of future events, the teen must be accompanied by the actor she’s been forced to hire for public appearances of Montgomery Flinch, her nom de plume.
A big thank you to publisher Albert Whitman for bringing this popular British series to the States – next is Shadows of the Silver Screen, wherein Penny and Monty face danger from a producer of those newfangled moving pictures.
**kmm
Book info: Twelve Minutes to Midnight (Penelope Tredwell series, book 1) / Christopher Edge. Albert Whitman & Company, 2014. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.
My book talk: In 1899 London, Penelope writes eerie stories to keep her late father’s newspaper alive, while all of Bedlam’s lunatics suddenly dream of the future. The thirteen year old investigates the Midnight Writings, placing her chaperone and The Penny Dreadful in terrible danger!
Only with the actor she’s hired to portray her pen name in public can Penny go to Bedlam after reports that all inmates begin writing down their dreams at precisely 12 minutes before midnight. As the young lady and Montgomery Flinch view astounding visions of the future written on cell walls, clothing, and even the inmates’ own skin, they realize that some outside force is causing this.
As 1899 draws to a close, Penny and Monty hear that widowed Lady Cambridge may have clues to this mystery. Of course, the writer of London’s most hair-raising adventures must interview the reclusive widow (with Monty as chaperone).
The Midnight Papers disappear from a locked room in Bedlam, strange boxes vanish from the Natural History Museum, and a rival newspaper’s reporter is suspicious of Monty’s actual writing talents while a poisonous danger is luring Penny into its web!
First in the Penelope Tredwell series, Twelve Minutes to Midnight is followed by Shadows of the Silver Screen. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)
The Taking, by Kimberly Derting (book review) – aliens or the government: who’s the enemy?
Abducted by aliens,
Awakening in her hometown years later,
What’s different, except everything?
Kyra can’t remember anything about the past 5 years, except that flash of light. She’s stayed 16, everyone else has grown older – is that why the National Security Agency wants to take her away?
Read the first chapters of The Taking here for free (gotta love publishers who do this!) and you’ll be itching to discover why Kyra was taken and what happens next.
**kmm
Book info: The Taking (The Taking, book 1) / Kimberly Derting. HarperTeen, 2014. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.
My book talk: Returned to her hometown five years later but not one day older, Kyra struggles with changes in family and friends, but must flee when government agents try to imprison her.
Her high school classmates are now in college, her parents divorced, her mom remarried (a baby brother? after all this time?). No one truly believes that she can’t remember anything about the time she was gone, no one except her dad and her boyfriend’s younger brother; Kyra has stayed 16 for five years and Tyler has finally caught up with her.
The aliens took her memories, leaving her with super-fast reflexes, amazing strength, and ability to heal in mere moments – but did they leave her anything else?
On the run from National Security agents who want to experiment on her, Kyra and Tyler are trying to get to a safe place … if there is one. First in new paranormal/ sci-fi series. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)
Friends With Boys, by Faith Erin Hicks (book review) – one ghost too many
First day of public school jitters,
a ghost overstaying her welcome,
Mom gone away suddenly,
everything was so much easier in homeschool!
Canadian artist Faith Erin Hicks melded Nova Scotia’s long seagoing history and her personal experience of being homeschooled with 3 brothers to create this coming-of-age story with a ghostly twist.
Alas, she never saw a ghost in her house like Maggie does…
**kmm
Book info: Friends With Boys / Faith Erin Hicks. First Second Books, 2012. [author site] [publisher site] [fan-created book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.
My book talk: The ghost lady may be Maggie’s smallest worry now, as being homeschooled with her three big brothers hasn’t prepared her for the people-part of attending high school.
Mags liked Mom as her teacher, but wanted to play with her brothers instead of do girly stuff with her – maybe that’s why Mom left their small coastal town in the Maritimes.
Her twin brothers fight constantly (as usual), but don’t hang out together (not usual), her oldest brother likes theater, but distrusts Maggie’s new friend Alistair, mohawked senior Alistair decided that not being a jerk to his sister Lucy was more important than being a volleyball jock, so now the team hates him, and Lucy is fascinated by ghosts and their town’s history, which all leads to a teeny-little museum caper… by the way, Dad is the police chief now.
This graphic novel follows Maggie as she tries to find her place in the high school hierarchy and make the ghost go back to the cemetery – is that really so much to ask? (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)
House of Ivy & Sorrow, by Natalie Whipple (book review) – curse on witch family, unbreakable?
A long-lost father,
a friend to the bitter end,
a malevolent chase… to the death.
Even though Nana stops inflicting icky spells on her possible boyfriend, Josephine has much to worry about as a centuries-old curse stabs at the shields protecting her witch family’s magic roots, and her best friend must make a terrifying choice.
Find this compelling tale now at your local library or independent bookstore to see if love and hope can break the curse’s grip on the Hemlocks.
Iowa farm country as a place of deep magic – who knew?
**kmm
Book info: House of Ivy & Sorrow / Natalie Whipple. HarperTeen, 2014. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.
My book talk: As the curse hounding Jo’s witch family nears, she must sacrifice her normal teen life to control the magic which could save them.
The dark curse killed Josephine’s mother, so it’s just Nana and Jo in the hidden ivy-covered house over a magic well, where Jo’s high school friends cannot visit – until the father she never knew arrives in their small Iowa town, bespelled by the curse-holder to reveal them.
Being in control or being consumed are the only choices where magic is involved. The curse-holder seeking the Hemlocks’ land-hold has relinquished control and will obliterate Jo’s friends, father, town, and new boyfriend in a heartbeat to get their magic source.
Something in the family archives may beat back the curse, if only Jo can find it in time, if only it exists… (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)