Tag Archive | communication

Pills and Starships, by Lydia Millet (book review) – climate change, drugs, and lies

Jan3

book cover of Pills and Starships by Lydia Millet published by Akashic BooksToo sad to keep on living in a climate chaotic world,
her parents have chosen their time to die…
or is it the pharma talking?

Nat’s mom and dad – former environmental activists – could have waited just a few more years to invoke the Service Contract ending their lives, till the teen and her younger brother moved out as workers – why now?

In this too-possible dystopia, global warming has changed weather patterns, babies are now illegal, and new diseases mutating weekly make face-to-face contact rare.

Ask for Nat’s story at your local library or independent bookstore to see if she can find a way to keep her family together once she discovers the truths that pharma-corps are trying to hide. (I loved the book, but its title… not so much)

**kmm

Book info: Pills and Starships / Lydia Millet. Black Sheep/Akashic Books, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [author interview on NPR]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Preparing to honor her parents’ final week of life, Nat learns that big money uses pharma to trick the few remaining Americans into thinking that global warming has eliminated the entire natural world.

At a tropical resort devoted to final Contracts, the teen and her hackerkid brother discover real plants and animals and people who think for themselves.  Are pharma-corporations really lying to the public about imminent doomsday?

Her decision about joining the rebels must come soon, as her parents’ date with a lethal farewell drink in mere days will leave Nat and Sam in a group survivors’ home in Oregon – are her parents really sad enough about the state of the world to leave it forever?

When a mega-hurricane hurtles toward Hawai’i, will it be too late to rescue her not-old parents and not-old-enough brother?

Addressed to an imagined friend safely orbiting this climate-chaos world, Nat reflects in the Contract-provided mourning journal about Starships and Pills  and her unexpected opportunity to escape pharma-managed life… if she can. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

The Lost, by Sarah Beth Durst (book review) – lost her way & her self, forever?

Dec30

book cover of The Lost by Sarah Beth Durst published by Harlequin MiraBreaking out of her normal drive to work, speeding through the desert, away from cancer specialists and Mom’s insistence that everything is fine.

“Unfortunately, I seem to have packed all my emotional baggage for this impromptu road trip,” to where? Click to read more

Take Kids to the Bookstore Day is today! (we’re all kids, right?)

Dec6
sketch of open book with flowing bookmark by ee from openclipart.org

by ee from openclipart.org

Today is designated “Take Kids to the Bookstore Day” (well, officially “Take Your Child to the Bookstore Day” it says here, but I believe in arriving at book palaces en masse), so bring kiddos to your favorite bricks-and-mortar bookstore for a great Saturday outing (find your nearest independent bookseller using IndieBound search).

And what books should you point out to kids? Help young readers take www.abookandahug’s What Reading SuperHero Are You? short quiz, then discover new favorites tagged by their reader-type (or keyword or age) among the 7,000+ librarian-created reviews of books for babies, kids, tweens, and teens to start their own wishlists (I have over 300 posted there – search Manck).

If you’re heading for the bookstore alone to buy for kids, try Who’s On First  for anyone who loves baseball or funny books (my review here), Cornelia Funke’s Ghost Knight  for tweens hooked on mysteries or the medieval (review here), and Dave Roman’s Astronaut Academy series of graphic novels – Zero Gravity  (review) and Re-Entry  (review) – for the reader who’d enjoy Hakata’s classes in dinosaur-riding and fireball tournaments in space school.

Amid the holiday shopping frenzy of keyboard-clacking and mouse-clicking, please shop at the physical bookstores that bring authors to our own towns, plan fun events for all ages, and give us an opportunity to find that book we didn’t know we were looking for. Remember that BooksYALove always seeks out great YA books beyond the bestsellers for you (and never has ads or affiliate links).

Wishing you book serendipity all year!
**kmm

Get Happy, by Mary Amato (book review) – wanted: uke, dad, happiness

Dec4

book cover of Get Happy by Mary Amato published by EgmontTeen songwriter wants an ukulele and better days.
Teen’s long-gone dad wants to see her at last.
Teen’s hyper-organized mom wants him to stay gone.

As the Rolling Stones sang, “You can’t always get what you want,” but be assured that the teens eventually do get what they need, even if they don’t know what it is Read on, read on!

Author, author! Meeting a favorite writer in person!

Nov14
photo of Terra McVoy & Katy Manck (c)Katy Manck

Terra & Katy at Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, Georgia!

Look!
It’s her,
it’s really her!

So cool to finally meet Terra Elan McVoy in person at Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, Georgia yesterday!

Terra is a bookseller, author, and generally all-around fun gal – be sure to read her novels set in the Atlanta area: After the Kiss (an early BooksYALove recommendation), Being Friends With Boys  (my notes here), and Criminal  (my review here).

I have her most-recent book In Deep on my nightstand right now, but just cannot force myself to turn the page – I don’t want Brenn to make that bad decision!! (But Terra said that we know she’ll do it)

Have you met an author in person lately?
**kmm

Soul still here? Meet Me at the River, by Nina de Gramont (book review)

Nov8

book cover of Meet Me at the River by Nina de Gramont published by Atheneum Books for Young ReadersMoving past grief means leaving Luke behind.
Tressa just can’t do that,
but she can’t find peace among the living either. read my recommendation

In the multiverse, A Thousand Pieces of You seeking me; by Claudia Gray (book review)

Nov4

book cover of A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray published by HarperTeenEach choice you make creates a fork in time,
a new path in the multiverse through history –
Which dimension holds Meg’s happiness? Read more about this new book

Haunted high schools… double scary books!

Oct30

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

Somewhat scary & completely wonderful: spooky season books pair #1

Oct26

Y’all know that I cannot read horror books; my imagination is just too good and needs no super-terrifying prompts.

I can take on scary tales in measured doses and do love mysteries, of course..

So as we count down the days till Hallowe’en, check out BooksYALove favorites to get you ghoul and ready for some frights! Today’ pair, future based on past inequities and past predicting the future: Click for today’s titles

Curses and Smoke, by Vicky Alvear Shecter (book review) – love, class conflicts, Pompeii

Oct7

book cover of Curses and Smoke by Vicky Alvear Shecter published by Arthur A LevineOld gods and older gods,
gladiators and slaves,
Pompeii is prosperous and proud…

Enjoy Curses and Smoke for its glimpses into the port city’s everyday life, its recounting of the weird phenomena observed prior to Vesuvius’ most famous eruption, its love story between owner and owned.

Forget not the past…
**kmm

Book info: Curses and Smoke: a Novel of Pompeii. Vicky Alvear Shecter. Arthur A Levine Books, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: As handsome Tag returns to her father’s gladiator school at Pompeii, Lucia’s unease about her upcoming marriage to an old man and the recent loss of her mother are echoed by the earth’s tremors.

It was different when Lucia was a little girl roaming the hillsides and Tages was the medical slave’s small son at her side, before he was sent away to learn the healing arts in Rome, before her mother’s untimely death, before these sulfurous emanations near Vesuvius began.

As Lucia tries to break her betrothal to elderly Vitulius and Tag tries to cure his father’s failing memory, rich young Quintus arrives at the school to play at being a gladiator – with a hidden agenda.

Is there any way for Lucia to escape her dreaded marriage?
Can Tag ever end his captivity in the gladiator school?
Are the old Estruscan gods angry that Romans took their sacred grounds at Pompeii?
Why will no one listen to Lucia’s ideas about the strange things happening?

A richly detailed story of love, loss, and the human spirit fighting against the inevitable. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)