New YA Mysteries: Two Can Keep a Secret, Serious Moonlight,The Vanishing Stair, and The Hummingbird Dagger

Mysteries are arguably the most popular genre in fiction. Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys have captivated readers for generations.  With summer just around the corner, I think it's a perfect time to recommend four new YA mysteries, complete with teen sleuths, for summertime escapist fun. In Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen McManus (One of Us is Lying) twins Ezra and Ellery solve a series of homecoming queen murders. Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett (Alex, Approximately) introduces mystery lover Birdie Lindberg, who teams up with an aspiring magician to  expose the devious activities of a reclusive mystery author. In The Vanishing Stair, the second installment in Maureen Johnson's (Shades of London) Truly Devious trilogy, mystery obsessed Stevie Bell continues to uncover clues to a triple murder at Ellingham Academy. The Hummingbird Dagger by Cindy Anstey  (Suitors and Sabotage) is a regency novel filled with romance and mystery, involving an amnesia plagued young woman who is the target of devious criminals.

In Two Can Keep a Secret twins Ellery and Ezra are staying with their grandmother in Echo Ridge, while their mother is in rehab.  Their mother's twin, a high school homecoming candidate, died there 17 years ago, the homecoming queen five years ago was murdered  and now threats against the homecoming court have again surfaced.  The twins are working at the Fright Farm, formerly known as Murderland, where the homecoming queen's corpse was found. Ellery, a true crime buff, is determined to solve the mysteries.  The story is told in alternating chapters from the perspectives of Ellery and Malcolm, the younger brother of a man suspected of the five-year-old murder. This fast paced mystery is filled with red herrings and shocking twists that will keep readers turning pages until the satisfying conclusion, that reveals not only the murderer's identity and motivation, but other town secrets as well.

Serious Moonlight introduces mystery-loving Birdie Lindberg, who finds herself working the graveyard shift at her new job at an historic Seattle hotel, with aspiring magician Daniel Aoki, after an awkward one night stand with him, which she initiated, but ultimately fled. Birdie, whose strict grandparents have kept her isolated from kids her own age, spends most of her free time hanging out at the Moonlight Diner, where she met Daniel, or with her free-spirited Aunt Mona. Daniel, hoping to break through Birdie's defensive behavior, suggests they investigate whether a guest holding secret meetings at the hotel is actually Raymond Darke, a reclusive bestselling local mystery author.  As Birdie begins to blossom, she and Daniel rekindle their initial attraction while sharing their individual vulnerabilities with each other.  He struggles with depression after an accident with a magic trick leaves him deaf in one ear, and she worries that she suffers from narcolepsy, which is especially troublesome for someone who works the night shift. The mystery is compelling, with each chapter opening with a quote from a famous literary sleuth, but it is the developing relationship between these sensitive teens that is truly memorable.

The Vanishing Stair, the second installment in the Truly Devious mystery trilogy, finds true-crime obsessed Stevie Bell, continuing to investigate an unsolved kidnapping and triple murder that rocked her school, Ellingham Academy, in 1936. After a classmate's murder at the academy, her parents make her come home, but then allow her to return at the urging of their employer Senator Edward King.  When she returns, she resumes a relationship with his rebellious son David, who initially lied about his identity. Unbeknownst to him she agreed to keep tabs on him for his father in exchange for her return. Hired by an academic to help research details for her upcoming book on the legendary murders, Stevie uncovers the answers to several of the long-standing riddles of the case.  The story, alternating between the past and present, resolves several elements of the mystery yet others go unsolved, leaving readers anxious for the final installment, The Hand on the Wall, coming out in January 2020.

As The Hummingbird Dagger opens, a near-fatal carriage accident near London in 1833 leaves a young woman with amnesia and in the care of young Lord James Ellerby of Hardwick Manor.  Calling herself Beth, the girl struggles to regain her memory and is terrified by a recurring nightmare of a hummingbird with blood dripping from its steel beak.  James and his sister Caroline, who were suspicious of Beth's shifty carriage companions and insist she recuperate at their home, try to help her uncover her identity, even as frightening occurrences continue to take place on and around the manor.  A romance between James and Beth slowly evolves as clues to the mystery begin to help Beth reclaim her past and defy those plotting against her. Those readers, who love historical fiction filled with intrigue and suspense, will enjoy this latest book from Cindy Anstey, a master of the YA Regency Novel.

CTLC: Young Adult Romance

I attended the Colorado Teen Literature Conference a couple weeks ago and the afternoon keynote speaker was the award-winning romance writer Simone Elkeles, best known for her Perfect Chemistry and How to Ruin trilogies.  Her self-deprecating humor was very engaging, as she talked about her path to writing YA romance.  She frequently does talks at correctional facilities where her novels are wildly popular with young incarcerated males.   Her new novel Crossing the Line, which is about star crossed lovers in Mexico, comes out June 12th. While you are waiting for its publication, I would like to recommend several new YA romances.   Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett (Alex, Approximately) explores the Romeo and Juliet romance between former best friends whose parents are feuding. August and Everything After by Jen Doktorski (The Summer After You and Me) focuses on two musicians who find solace in each other after the loss of friends in traffic accidents. In The Upside of Falling Down by Rebekah Crane (The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland), Clementine Haas, an American teen who experiences amnesia after surviving a plane crash in Ireland, falls in love with an Irishman and his country, as she is trying to rediscover who she is.

In Starry Eyes nerdy stargazer Zorie Everhart uncharacteristically agrees to join a group of popular classmates on a "glamping" vacation at a northern California resort, the summer after her junior year.  She plans to attend a meteor shower viewing with her astronomy club at a nearby location after the trip. When the teens come to pick her up for the drive, she is horrified to find out that her former best friend and crush Lennon Mackenzie is going, too.   Their families are feuding because his lesbian moms have opened a sex shop next to Zorie's parents' spa, which seems to be hurting business, and they haven't spoken to each other since he stood her up for homecoming without an explanation.  After a series of unfortunate events, Zorie and Lennon find themselves abandoned by their friends without a ride home, so they decide to hike to the meteor shower event, giving them time to resolve their differences and find their way back to love.  Serious subjects such as grief, betrayal and divorce are explored, but the snappy dialogue, sympathetic characters and an action packed plot are what will make this a winner with teens.

August and Everything After introduces Quinn and Malcolm who meet when they are both grieving the loss of friends in traffic accidents: she her best friend and he two band mates. In the aftermath of loss, Quinn is paralyzed by panic attacks and Malcolm substance abuse.  When Malcolm invites her to play drums for his new album, she finds it the perfect summer distraction.  As their relationship deepens through music and her desire to save Malcolm from his demons, Quinn struggles with sublimating her own desires to Malcolm's demands.  Pressured by her mother and aunt to decide on a master plan for her future, she must decide whether to go on tour with Malcolm after they record his demo or focus on her own goals and healing.  Appropriately named after the Counting Crows' debut album (1993), the book is about change and redemption and forgiving oneself.

The Upside of Falling Down is a step above the usual amnesiac melodrama.  The only survivor of a plane crash outside Shannon, Ireland, 18-year-old American Clementine "Teeny" Haas panics when she wakes up in an Irish hospital, remembering nothing of her former life.  Playing a game of truth or dare, she convinces a hospital volunteer, Kieran O'Connell, to sneak her out of the hospital and take her to Waterville, where Kieran shares a home with his pregnant twin sister Siobhan.  Hoping to regain her memory, Teeny spends time with Siobhan and her boss Clive at a used book, record, and costume shop and helps Kieran with his "do-gooder" projects around town.  Slowly, fragmented memories of her old life surface, meanwhile her father and nurse Stephen are back at the hospital trying to locate her.  Kieran and Teeny continue their game of truth or dare, concentrating much more on dares than telling each other the truth about her identity and his conflicted relationship with his business mogul father.  The colorful characters and Irish setting make this a charming read.  Siobhan is a testy rebel, who is very suspicious of Teeny, and Clive is a flamboyant bisexual who embraces Teeny's impulsive spirited antics in her search for her true self.  Kieran is, of course, a swoon-worthy leading man, whose good looks and supportive friendship lead Teeny to fall in love with him.  The surprising reveal at the conclusion makes this a fun and satisfying romantic read.

Summer Reading: One of Us is Lying, Alex Approximately, and Alex and Eliza: a love story

Frequently, writers find inspiration from other artistic representations of a story that they are in essence retelling.  A chapter in my book, "Classic Connections," is devoted to books inspired by classic literature.  The novels I am recommending this month are inspired by dramatic performances.  Alex Approximately by Jenn Bennett (The Anatomical Shape of the Heart) gives a nod to the film You've Got Mail. In the book a New Jersey teen has an online relationship with a California boy based on their shared love of classic film.  When she moves to the West Coast for the summer, she struggles with the decision to meet him in person. One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus was inspired by John Hughes' film The Breakfast Club. In this re-imagining five students from differing social strata show up for detention and one of them ends up dead. Melissa de la Cruz (Something in Between) was motivated to write Alex and Eliza: a love story, when she went to see the musical Hamilton on Broadway. This imagined courtship between Alexander Hamilton and his wife Eliza Schuyler weaves together fact and fiction for an enchanting read. 

In Alex Approximately, classic movie buff Bailey "Mink" Rydell is heading from the East Coast to California to live with her dad. Throughout her junior year Mink has been involved  in an online relationship with a film geek named Alex, who happens to live in the same surfing town as her dad.  She decides to surreptitiously discover his identity before she reveals herself to him.  Meanwhile she is working at the oddball Cavern Palace Museum, where she is tormented daily by a security guard named Porter Roth.  When they get locked in the museum together one night, Mink begins to look at Porter in a different light and wonders if she should give up her search for Alex and focus on Porter.  What she doesn't know is Porter is actually Alex, approximately. This book is great fun and all the references to classic film are a bonus for movie buffs.

One of Us is Lying turns The Breakfast Club into a murder mystery.  Five students end up in detention, only four survive. Simon, who authors a brutal gossip app containing dirt on kids at his high school, drinks a glass of water laced with peanut oil and dies of anaphylactic shock.  He has damning information about all four remaining detainees: Bronwyn, the brainy good girl; Cooper, the baseball hero; Addy, the girl in her boyfriend's shadow, and Nate, the drug dealer. Now murder suspects, the four team up to find the real killer, upending their lives and finding romance along the way. This fast paced thriller will keep readers guessing, as the pressures of high school and the dangers of social media are explored in alternating chapters from all four suspects' perspectives.

Alex and Eliza, a fictionalized version of the romance between Alexander Hamilton, an aide for General Washington and America's first treasury secretary and Eliza Schuyler, a socially connected young woman, includes some historically accurate information and much imagined. Alex meets Eliza and incurs her wrath, when he delivers news to the family that her father is to be court martialed. He can't forget her fiery nature and two years later pursues her in Morristown, NJ, where she has come to inoculate soldiers against smallpox.  Although he comes from humble beginnings, he ultimately earns her love and rescues her from a disastrous engagement.  The story ends with the wedding of the two, who become a political power couple in the early days of a new nation.  Although many of the characters are real, much of the action, including Eliza's engagement to Henry Livingston and Hamilton uncovering Benedict Arnold's treason,  are fictional embellishments to add pizzazz to the story.  Told from Eliza's perspective, the story sheds some light on the civic minded woman who aided her husband with his political writings throughout his career.  This is an entertaining read for those who enjoy "history light."

Realistic Reads: Not If I See You First, The Anatomical Shape of the Heart and Orbiting Jupiter

As an approved professional reader on Net Galley, I have access to advanced copies of more books than I can possibly read.  How do I choose which books make it to the top of my virtual reading pile? Many times my choice is based on knowledge of the authors or word of mouth.  This month I am enthusiastically recommending three new realistic reads.  Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom chronicles the tale of a teen who lost her sight, as well as her mother, in a horrific car accident.  The Anatomical Shape of a Heart by Jenn Bennett introduces us to Beatrix and Jack, two unconventional artists who meet on a midnight bus in San Francisco.  In Orbiting Jupiter by two-time Newbery winner Gary Schmidt,  sixth-grader Jackson narrates the story of his foster brother Joseph, a thirteen-year-old who has a child himself.  

In Not If I See You First  Parker Grant, who was blinded in a car accident that took her mother's life, develops rules that are her coping mechanism for life. Don't treat her differently, don't take advantage, and no second chances.   When her father dies and Scott Kilpatrick, the best friend who broke her heart in middle school reenters her life, she needs to rethink the rules.  Trying out for the track team and giving tough-love advice to her classmates keep her busy, but before she knows it, all the emotions she's been avoiding overwhelm her and she implodes.  Now she must relearn to navigate her world and include forgiveness and trust.  Scott and Parker's unconventional love story will have you at hello. 

The Anatomical Shape of a Heart focuses on Beatrix, whose specialty is anatomical drawing and Jack who is a notorious graffiti artist who hides in the shadows in San Francisco. She is hoping to win a drawing competition that will win her a scholarship to become a medical illustrator. He is leaving single gold words of inspiration around the city.  She would love to spend the summer drawing cadavers at the Willed body facility at a San Francisco medical school, but is denied. When she meets Jack on a late night bus and spies a can of gold spray paint in his backpack, little does she know that he will be the key to her realizing her dreams.  When Jack opens doors for her at the medical school, she finds out he is the mayor's son, who is hiding many family secrets.  Together they navigate a plethora of problems to find a future that allows them a chance at love.  These two engaging characters will win readers' hearts through their frank humorous dialogue and heartfelt actions. 

Jackson Hurd, the narrator of Orbiting Jupiter, rises to the occasion when his family takes in Joseph, a 13-year-old foster kid, on their farm in rural Maine.  Joseph has suffered parental and institutional abuse, fathered a daughter and lost the love of his life in childbirth.  As Joseph acclimates to life on the farm and a new school, Jackson tries to help him find the daughter he has never been allowed to see. Not only is this the story of Joseph's redemption, it is also a coming-of-age tale for Jackson. Flashbacks to Joseph's past illuminate his journey, where the present tale shows Jackson's development as he defends Joseph and defines his own code of behavior.  This is a powerful character study that one has come to expect from Gary Schmidt and I highly recommend it.