Tag Archive | US author

Zahra’s Paradise (fiction)

Nov30

Fraudulent elections.
Violence against protesters.
Hospitals invaded by the Revolutionary Guard.

World Wednesday takes us to Iran in the bloody days following the June 2009 elections which were manipulated by the powerful Supreme Guardian Council. Hundreds of thousands of students descended on Freedom Square in Tehran to demonstrate – many never returned home.

This unflinching graphic novel began as a webcomic about an anonymous Iranian blogger attempting to let the outside world know how Iranians felt about the election results. His family’s search for Mahdi represents all the missing students and the agonies suffered by their families while searching for them. Two chapters are still available on the book’s website with translations in ten languages.

Amir and Khalil also include information on the Omid Memorial, “hope” in Persian, which collects the names and stories of those who have perished in Iran while standing up for human rights since the 1979 Khomeini revolution.

Strong feelings, unfettered language, detailed black and white art – Zahra’s Paradise is not for the faint of heart, but is a call for human rights and freedom.
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Book info: Zahra’s Paradise / written by Amir; artwork by Khalil. First Second, 2011. [book website] [publisher site] [book trailer]

Recommendation: Iran, summer 2009 – students protest against rigged elections, and Alavi’s brother doesn’t come home. It makes no sense; Mehdi was studying for his final exams so he wasn’t out partying. As Alavi and his mother search Tehran’s hospitals in this graphic novel, their despair deepens – is Mehdi one the many who have disappeared into Evin Prison, that horror of abuse and degradation?

Alavi prints up missing person posters with Mehdi’s picture, meeting a sympathetic copy shop owner near the university and a beautiful woman who reminds him of well-respected Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi. In 2003, Zahra was taken into Evin Prison for questioning and came out in a coffin. Chief Justice Mortazavi said she had tripped; an autopsy showed that she had been tortured and raped.

Swirling connections of corrupt officials and powerful politicians continue to block every avenue that the Alavis pursue in search of Mehdi. The few people who dare to help them are well aware of the risks involved, but what decent person wants another dead son dumped into an unmarked grave in Lot 309? Ah, Zahra’s Paradise, the cemetery named for the wife of the Prophet, has a growing hidden section that no one publicly mentions.

This intense graphic novel about struggle, power, and loss is a brutal testimony to the thousands of Iranians who asked for free elections and were silenced. The closing pages of the book contain their names, page after page in the smallest readable font, as part of the Omid Memorial, so that they may not be forgotten, even though their final resting places be unknown. It is no wonder that the author and artist published this compelling story using only fictitious first names.

Legend (fiction)

Nov28

Elite soldiers and expendable worker drones.
Iffy electrical power and repeated plagues.
Endless slums and a handful of luxury apartments.

Future Los Angeles is a far cry from today’s sunny tourist destination. Most of its 20 million people are doomed to slums because of their mediocre Trial scores at age 10. Those who score too low are removed by the Government as a useless burden on society.

Scoring well on the Trial means high school and college and a good position in the Elector’s own police force. June is the only person who ever made a perfect score and has raced through all her classes in just four years, getting ready to stand as an officer on the front lines with her brother Metias.

When he is murdered by the notorious teen-criminal Day, who’s survived on his own since escaping from prison after his failed Trial, June’s hunger for revenge and Day’s drive to protect his impoverished family set the pair on a collision course with consequences that no one could envision.

Scheduled for Nov. 29 publication, so grab the first book in the Legend trilogy at your nearest indie bookstore tomorrow!
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Book info: Legend / Marie Lu. Putnam, 2011. [author’s website] [series website] [publisher site] [book trailer]

Recommendation: No one expected a 10-year-old to break out of prison like Day did. No one expected a 10-year-old to get a perfect Trial score like June did either. Future Los Angeles only educates the very brightest – the middling ones become drudge labor, the Trial failures are turned over to government prisons or research labs.

Now 14, June is bored with her military college classes and longs to be on active duty full-time like her older brother Metias. Her parents would be so proud of them both, if they were still living… When Metias is killed on a routine patrol, June is not sure she can keep on living, but duty to the Elector keeps her going.

Day moves along the fringes of underground society, stealing supplies to keep his family alive in the slums, even though they think he’s gone forever. Fleetingly captured on security cameras, Day’s exploits against government stations are becoming legendary, even though no one knows exactly who he is.

Another plague is stalking the poor areas of the city, and Day spies as his family’s house is marked with the infected-quarantine mark. Now, getting the plague suppressant for his brother is Day’s main concern – and that means infiltrating high-security hospital labs undetected.

As Day searches for the medicine, the police continue searching for Day. June is assigned to the case and takes to the streets in disguise, trying to capture this renegade before he becomes more of a folk-hero in the slums.

The more Day learns about this plague, the more worried he is for his family. The more June learns about Day, the more she questions the Republic’s actions.

Was Day involved in Metias’s death? Why are the plagues so common in the City? Will June find answers in her brother’s journals or just more questions?

Leap into a gritty future adventure with Legend, recounted by Day and June in alternating chapters, first in a series. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

My Life Undecided (fiction)

Nov25

Welcome to Fun Friday (for us) as Brooklyn is not having any fun anymore –
grounded by her parents forever,
shunned by her so-called friends at school,
performing community service to make up for her stupid decisions…

Why not let others decide everything for her for a while? As her blog readers’ choices lead her through experiencing a macrobiotic diet, getting bruised up at rugby tryouts, and being unexpectedly good at debate, Brooklyn has a chance to be herself instead of society-queen Shayne’s primped and painted sidekick.

And you can visit http://mylifeundecided.com/ – yes, Brooklyn’s blog – right now if YOU want blog readers to help YOU make a choice! But remember that there are some decisions that you really have to make for yourself…
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Book info: My Life Undecided / Jessica Brody. Farrar Straus & Giroux Books for Young Readers, 2011. [author’s website] [publisher site] [book trailer]

Recommendation: Brooklyn didn’t think throwing that party in her mom’s new model home was a bad idea – she just didn’t think at all. Firetrucks, underage drinking, destruction of property – she’s lucky that her parents found a lawyer who got her off with community service. Helping clear the debris of the burned-down model home fits her dumb offense, but 200 hours volunteering in a Denver nursing home? Auggghhhh….

In desperation, Brook decides to anonymously blog about it all – and let her blog readers vote on what she should do next. After all, when was the last time that she made a good decision on her own?

Before the fire, Shayne directed every fashion and makeup choice, since they were both at the top of Parker High’s social ladder – now she snubs her at school. Her older sister Isabelle is perfect at everything. And 10 years after she fell into an abandoned mineshaft as a toddler and was rescued, she’s still recognized as “Baby Brooklyn.”

Eleven people vote in her first poll, and Brook is relieved to go with the majority choice of The Grapes of Wrath for English class. At the nursing home after school, she’s assigned to read to Mrs. Moody, who adores the Choose Your Own Adventure books. Maybe letting others make her decisions will be better after all!

Since she’s letting her blog readers vote on every choice, soon she finds herself trying out for rugby and debate, going to a diner instead of a swanky club opening, and becoming part of a hostage situation (well, she chose that minimart herself). When her blog goes viral, she suddenly has 800,000 readers telling her what to do about the overnight debate trip and which guy to date!

What’s up with Mrs. Moody and that collection of kids’ books? Should Brooklyn decide on her own about going to the Winter Formal? Wait, is Shayne really apologizing for snubbing her?

Brooklyn has to discover some answers for herself in this hilarious, timely, and oh-too-true teen novel. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

Paper Daughter, by Jeannette Ingold (book review) – family tree with hidden branches?

Nov23

When what you “know” about your family isn’t true,
When the person with the real answers is gone,
How far can you search back into the past without losing yourself?

Maggie knows that she wants to be a reporter like her father, recently killed by a hit-and-run driver. But when investigations get too close to home, when the truth upends everything she thought she knew about her family background…

Her hometown of Seattle has always been shaped by immigration and change – from its wild days as a frontier logging town through the countless immigrants from China who made one corner of the city their own, despite the strangling restrictions of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

So what does Maggie discover about her family’s past and her own future?
Find out at your local library or independent bookstore on our World Wednesday – and remember to share family stories around the table this Thanksgiving.
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Book info: Paper Daughter / Jeannette Ingold. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010. [author’s website] [publisher site] [student video book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My Book Talk: As a young journalist, Maggie Chen has her late father’s writing skills and reporting instincts. His recent death has left a gaping hole in her life, but she is determined to complete the summer internship he helped her arrange at the local newspaper.

That Jillian rushed in and grabbed photo desk before Maggie could even open her mouth – good thing Maggie won’t be working directly with the other intern, who is all talk and nosiness. But internship means trying every aspect of the job, so she’ll start at the sports desk and move to other assignments as the summer goes on.

Maggie and her professor mom start to notify Dad’s out-of-town contacts about his death, about that hit-and-run driver. When one call connects Maggie to Dad’s best friend in college, pieces of his life story begin to crumble as the truth about his past erases the family stories that he’d always told them. Now she’s wondering about the unfinished articles in her dad’s files.

If Dad wasn’t from a well-to-do family, then where did he come from?
Why did he contact so many people in California just before his death?
Was he in Seattle’s old Chinatown on the day he died for a newspaper story or on a personal investigation?

During her first “hard news” assignment, Maggie learns that someone else was killed in the same area on the same day, someone who might have been ready to blow the whistle on corrupt land development deals. Was her father’s death connected to that, too?

Murmurs of Chinese immigrants’ stories thread through Maggie’s search for answers, stories of “paper sons” claimed as blood relatives on immigration applications, of changed names and unchanged resentments. Can she ever know who she really is? (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

I Am Tama, Lucky Cat, by Wendy Heinrichs (book review) – legend retold for all

Nov20

Wait a minute… a picture book on a YA blog?

Yes, of course! Picture books are great for all ages and every interest. That’s why Picture Book Month reminds us of the wide range of stories where the pictures make the tale come alive, from Where the Wild Things Are to Grandfather’s Journey.

Today’s picture book theme celebrates folktales, so we look to a Japanese legend. Now you can discover why Lucky Cat became the friendly image that so often greets you in Chinese restaurants and oriental markets.

A charming book to spice up your world geography report or to share with younger friends. What do you wish the Lucky Cat could bring to you?
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Book info: I Am Tama, Lucky Cat / Wendy Heinrichs; illustrated by Yoshiko Jaeggi. Peachtree Publishers, 2010. [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My Book Talk: Arriving at an old Japanese temple, the bobtailed cat raises his paw in greeting. The monk brings him in from the snowstorm and calls him a lucky cat. So Tama strives to make life better for the monk in this beautiful retelling of the lucky cat legend. But with no money, how can Tama and the monk repair the temple and help its worshippers?

Watercolor images of the flowering trees and carp pond surrounding the rundown temple evoke the serenity of its setting near a holy mountain. This beautiful picture book for all ages includes short historical notes about the legend’s origins.

You’ll look for new details in the illustrations every time you read about Tama, and you’ll smile every time you see a ‘lucky cat’ in a store window or restaurant, his paw raised in traditional greeting. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Future of Us (fiction)

Nov18
Oooh, tell me about my future!!
I’ll have hundreds and hundreds of friends!?
I’ll look like that in 15 years?
I’ll be incredibly… miserable?

Seeing into the future is a form of time travel, and best friends Josh and Emma have stumbled onto a window into their own destinies through an AOL disk and a dial-up modem.

Somehow, the view from 1996 (when getting online is new to most teens) into their adult lives isn’t as rosy as they’d hoped. Emma decides to try and tweak her future by making some changes right now, checking that Facebook thingie to see how it works.

There are two distinct voices in this book, as Carolyn Mackler writes Emma’s chapters and Jay Asher writes Josh’s, alternating to tell their story.

You can become a fan of the book on Facebook, of course! The Future of Us is being released on Monday, November 21, 2011, and Warner Brothers has already purchased the film rights.
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Book info: The Future of Us / Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler. Razorbill, 2011. [Jay’s blog] [Carolyn’s website] [publisher site] [book trailer]

Recommendation: Events from 15 years in her future are the last things that Emma expects from her new computer in 1996! A birthday gift from her dad and stepmom, it even has an internal modem to dial-up and “get online” so her best friend Josh brings over an AOL install CD-ROM.

After dialing up on mom’s phoneline, Emma gets an AOL “welcome” message and something called Facebook with pictures of all these people she doesn’t know. Curious, she searches for other Emma Nelsons on the Facebook and finds one, someone who went to her high school, who has the same birthday, whose picture looks exactly like Emma…15 years older! This Emma has a rotten husband – you can tell by her messages to her “friends” (who could have hundreds of friends?). And the future Josh is married to the most popular girl at their high school! Josh, who’s too shy to talk to anyone except Emma and his best friend Tyson?!

Getting ready for the track meet, telling her boyfriend Graham that it’s all over, Emma wonders if she’s been pranked somehow with this Facebook thing. But when she tears up her application to the college that the future Emma attended, suddenly the Facebook entries are different. The future Emma is less-stressed about her husband (a different one!), but unhappy about her work… hmmm.

As Emma’s updates on the Facebook site change, Josh decides that he’d better start making his big-house-and-a-boat future come true, so he gets up the nerve to ask beautiful Sydney on a date. Never mind his long-hidden feelings for Emma and that awkward try at kissing her a few months ago.

So, can Emma completely alter her own destiny just by changing a few things now? Is Sydney going to be the best thing that ever happened to Josh? Do they really want to know ahead of time about their futures or would they rather go back to the way things were before?

Josh and Emma react to their view into the future in alternating chapters written by Jay Asher (Thirteen Reasons Why) and Carolyn Mackler (Vegan Virgin Valentine and The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things) – would you want to know about your future? (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

To Timbuktu, by Casey Sciezka (nonfiction) – art, teaching, love, travel

Nov16

Nine countries,
Two people,
One true story.

Travel the long route To Timbuktu with Casey and Steven on this World Wednesday, sharing their everyday joys, occasional mishaps, and adventures on their two-year journey together.

Steven’s charcoal sketches perfectly complement Casey’s retelling of their experiences as teachers of English in Beijing (becoming residents instead of visitors that cold winter ), as travelers in Vietnam and Thailand (paradise of warmth and way too many tourists), and as observers in different towns of Mali, including the remote and legendary Timbuktu.

Returning to the US, they’ve established the Local Language Literacy foundation to provide humorous books to African students in their native languages. Casey’s first LLL book was translated into Bamanakan by a teacher they worked with in Mali, and 1300 copies are now in the hands of Malian high school students. Currently, she and Steven are working with author Daour Wade to create books in French and Wolof for students in Senegal.

What an adventure Casey and Steven had as they traveled together! You’ll be glad that you came along on their winding journey To Timbuktu!
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Book info: To Timbuktu: Nine Countries, Two People, One True Story / Casey Scieszka, illustrated by Steven Weinberg. Roaring Brook, 2011. [author’s website] [publisher site] [book trailer]

Recommendation: World travel – that’s the plan for Casey and Steven after graduation. Now, actually getting jobs overseas – that’s another thing…

When they met in Morocco during junior semester abroad, the pair tried to just live in the moment, as they’d be in college on opposite coasts when they returned to the US. But they couldn’t let each other go and kept up their long-distance romance through that long, difficult year before graduation.

Casey dreams of living overseas and writing the stories told by Muslims who live in different cultures, examining how Islamic schools differ from others in the same country. Steven’s art is his passion; what career that will lead him to is still uncertain. As Casey writes grant applications for her research, Steven wonders how his future fits into hers…

When Casey finally gets funding to live and write in Mali – a year from now – she and Steven decide to travel and work in other countries along the way. Teaching English in Beijing, touring Southeast Asia, grabbing a quick rendezvous with their families in Paris, a detour through Morocco to see their host families again, then they’re finally in Mali!

But can the couple stay in love through traveler’s flu, bureaucratic red tape, and erratic train schedules? When Casey is piled-up with research, will Steven have enough to do? And once you’ve gone all the way To Timbuktu, what do you do next??

This autobiographical travel memoir leaps off the pages, thanks to Casey’s evocative narrative and Steven’s many sketches, taking us from their Beijing neighborhood to the schools of Mali and everywhere in between. And, yes, Casey is the daughter of author Jon Scieskza. (Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher)

Hothouse, by Chris Lynch (book review) – dead firefighters, heroes or reckless?

Nov15
book cover of Hothouse by Chris Lynch published by Harper Teen

Hero dads?
Reckless heroism?
Negligent heroes?

Losing your dad is difficult at any age; losing the dad you idolized and emulated, just as you’re about to join him in an amazing career together is terrible.

But to have your hero dad suddenly called a villain by the same people he protected and served as a firefighter his whole life? Devastating.

How will Russ and DJ cope with the loss of their firefighter dads during their senior year, especially now that the whole town has turned against them?

Hothouse packs so much emotion into its 208 pages that this intense story has been included on several recent booklists for older teens – catch it at your local library or independent bookstore.
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Book info: Hothouse / Chris Lynch. HarperTeen, 2010. [author interview] [publisher site] [book trailer/recap]

My Book Talk:  Two dads – best friends forever, their sons named for each other, firefighters together, dead in a flash.

Their sons must start their senior year of high school without them, their wives wish they could hear the phone ring again from the “Hothouse” fire station. Their community honors the memory of David and Russell as “Outrageous Courageous” heroes and treats sons Russ and DJ like heroes, too.

Russ had always planned to be a firefighter like his dad, practicing his skills at Young Firefighters, ready to graduate from high school, enter the Fire Academy, and work alongside his dad to keep their city safe.

But a house fire rescue gone wrong has changed that, at least the part about working with his dad. No one at school knows how to talk to Russ about it, and now the investigation into the firefighters’ deaths is raising questions about whether they were really fit to work that rescue call.

What is courage?
When are heroes not heroes?
How can Russ keep going when old questions get new answers?

The danger and stress that firefighters face every day can be so hard on them and their families. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Drowned Maiden’s Hair (fiction)

Nov14

Seeking answers from The Beyond.
Unwilling to wait until Heaven to see loved ones again.
Willing to pay anything to hear their voices now…

On this mysterious Monday, welcome to the early 1900s during the height of Spiritualism, when bereaved people became convinced that the chasm between this world and the next could be crossed during seances, that someone could connect them with a loved one for just a little time more together. For every truly gifted medium, there were countless charlatans and tricksters who took advantage of immense grief for large profits.

Seances and bringing forth voices from Beyond are just “the family business” for the genteel spinster Hawthorne sisters, now fallen on hard economic times. Who would guess that a child was suddenly living in their attic bedroom, an orphan child with a heavenly singing voice, an unwanted orphan child who can fit in hidden cupboards and manipulate the ghostly vapors and set chandeliers to swinging?

Wondering how long this arrangement can last? How long the illusions will hold? If there are any true connections to the Other Side? Come back to 1909 with Maud and find out for yourself.
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Book info: A Drowned Maiden’s Hair: A Melodrama / Laura Amy Schlitz. Candlewick, 2006 (paperback, 2008). [author interview] [publisher site] [book trailer]

Recommendation: Locked in the orphanage outhouse, Maud never imagined that she would be rescued by spinster sisters to become a séance angel…

Suddenly Maud has lovely new dresses and books with all the pages and a bedroom of her own! The Misses Hawthorne have all the “modern conveniences” in their large, remote house – this is 1909, after all. They teach Maud new hymns, buy her a blond wig to cover her flyaway brown hair, have her practice tricks for making chandeliers sway and hiding in secret compartments.

Yes, the Misses Hawthorne are no longer wealthy, so they hold séances to make a living. They help grieving people “hear” their lost loved ones from The Beyond, now assisted by Maud acting as any child who died young. If truth from the doctors and religion from the preachers won’t satisfy a wealthy patron that someone dear has indeed died and gone to heaven, then the Misses Hawthorne are more than willing to act as go-betweens with the Spirit World on their behalf…for a fee.

Moving to a seaside villa to be closer to a grief-stricken mother whose daughter drowned is another new experience for Maud – ice cream! The sea breeze! Sneaking out in the night to play in the sand! For no one outside the house must ever see her, must ever know that a child lives with the Hawthornes…

So, will Maud always have to live hidden in the attic bedroom? What does Muffet, their deaf and mute servant, think about all this trickery? Why does pretending to be dead Caroline feel different from acting as the other child spirits? Is Caroline really speaking to Maud in her dreams?

Go behind the scenes with Maud as she is swept along with the Misses Hawthorne during the height of the Spiritualist movement – and listen for Caroline’s voice…
(One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

Payback Time, by Carl Deuker (book review) – football, journalism, secrets

Nov10

What’s going on at Lincoln High?
Coach is keeping a talented player on the bench?
A gifted athlete refuses interviews?
His “previous school” history is… blank?

Mitch, stuck as sports reporter instead of newspaper editor his senior year, is puzzled about the new guy on the football team after accidentally witnessing his amazing catches and footwork at the park. Coach says to forget that and just feature the quarterback in every story to help his college scholarship chances.

Trying to find out the truth stirs up more than Mitch could have imagined.
Can he and newspaper photographer Kimi stay out of danger? Is he right about Angel’s past? Is Coach covering up so they can win the state championship?

A compelling mystery-action story that you’ll enjoy, whether you’re a sports fan or not, especially as we go into high school football playoff season, just like Lincoln High…
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Book info: Payback Time / Carl Deuker. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010 (paperback Feb. 2012). [author’s website] [publisher site] [book recap video] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My Book Talk: Sports reporter instead of editor? Mitch isn’t sure he wants to work on the school paper his senior year, even though he’s planning to major in journalism in college. Well, he can write some great articles for his portfolio since Lincoln High is predicted to have a winning football season. And as photographer, Kimi will be with Mitch on most assignments. Maybe it’s time for him to lay off his parents’ fabulous bakery creations and start doing a little running…

When a new transfer player stays on the practice squad despite his obvious talent and the football coach won’t comment, Mitch’s reporter instincts sense a deeper story. Injuries during a crucial game bring Angel off the bench, and he leads the team to victory. But the next game, he’s riding the bench again – is he an undercover cop?

As Mitch and Kimi investigate the story, they receive anonymous threats and begin to worry for Angel’s safety. Lincoln’s football team is headed for the State playoff game, and the midnight caller promises that Angel won’t make it home on the team bus…

Full-contact football games, hard-hitting news investigations, and a cute girl who actually talks to Mitch – will everyone come through safely, now that it’s Payback Time? (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)