YA Novels Explore the Multiverse

 Life in the multiverse, a hypothetical group of multiple universes, is a hot new topic in YA novels. The multiverse stories can use a variety of plot devices. e. lockhart's new novel Again and Again, follows the "ground hog day" approach, where the main character Adelaide experiences her relationship with a new love interest over and over with variations each time.  Patrick Ness's Burn employs a "wormhole" between universes in a story set in the Cold War era where a dragons versus human conflict is about to break out. Now and When by Sarah Bennett Wealer is a take off on the "butterfly effect" when the main character sees the future on her social media site and begins manipulating the present to change the future.

In Again and Again Adelaide Buchwald spends the summer following her junior year at Alabaster Prep experiencing a recent breakup, her brother Toby's opioid addiction and a new attraction to Jack in various timelines.  She meets Jack while walking five dogs for teachers at the prep school.  She has never forgotten his writing her a poem at a party two years ago.  The narrative explores various possibilities as to how their relationship will progress.  At the same time, she is working on a set design for Sam Shephard's Fool for Love,  mourning her lost love and reconnecting with her brother.  The question of reality versus imagination is not always easy for the reader to determine but is worth the work. 

Burn is a mashup of historical and science fiction which begins in 1957 in Frome, Washington.  Amid tensions of the Cold War, bi-racial Sarah Dewhust and her father hire a new worker for their failing farm.  The catch: the hired hand, Kazimir, is a centuries-old Russian blue dragon, who has knowledge of a prophecy involving Sarah and an upcoming war between humans and dragons.  Meanwhile in Canada, an assassin raised by the Believers, a religious cult that worships dragons, is headed south to kill her with two FBI agents in pursuit, seeking to stop what the cult has planned. Sarah and her friend Jason Inagawa, who just returned from an internment camp, seek Kazimir's protection from the perceived threat, when they are thrown into an alternate universe where things are similar, yet completely different. In this action-packed thriller, elements of prejudice and the fears of the Cold War era are explored amidst a genre-defying title of political intrigue and dragons!

Now and When introduces Skyler Finch who finds her nemesis Truman Alexander an incredibly annoying Know-it-all; so when her phone starts sending her notifications from the future, she is shocked to see herself married to Truman.  She decides she cannot let that happen and begins trying to change the future by manipulating the present. Although Skyler seems to have it all, academic success, happily married parents, and a perfect boyfriend, she is concerned by a threat to demolish a beloved community space and her best friend Harper's suicidal tendencies.  As she tries to change the future, she disturbs the present and ends up enlisting Truman's help to undo the harm she has done.  As she stumbles toward a solution, she finds that letting things play out on their own may not be so bad after all.

Mountains and Plans Booksellers' Recommendations: The Rest of Us Just Live Here, Wolf by Wolf and These Shallow Graves

I recently attended the Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers' Trade Show where I got lots of wonderful recommendations for new books coming out in 2016.  However, I also was alerted to three new novels by favorite authors that have  recently been released.  The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness (The Chaos Walking Trilogy) is a satire of the "Chosen One" genre that focuses on the kids living normal lives while the Chosen Ones battle other worldly beings. Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin (The Walled City) is an alternate history fantasy which focuses on a shape-shifting concentration camp survivor in a world where Hitler won WWII. Finally, These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly ( A Northern Light and Revolution) is a turn-of-the-century murder mystery about an aspiring reporter investigating her father's death.

In Mikey's town the heroic "indie kids" have battled the undead, vampires, soul eating ghosts and are now trying to keep the Immortals from finding a vessel for their Empress to inhabit, so that they can take over the world.  Meanwhile, Mikey and his friends are just trying to get through senior year.  Mikey, whose dysfunctional family includes an alcoholic dad, a power hungry politician mom, and an anorexic sister, is struggling to overcome his OCD issues and get up the courage to ask his longtime crush Hanna to prom.  Each chapter opens with a brief description about the battle with the Immortals, but then switches to chronicling the trials and tribulations of being a "normal" kid amidst the chaos.  In The Rest of Us Just Live Here, Ness's parodies of the "Chosen Ones" novels are hilarious, with the underlying message being everyone is special in one way or another.

Wolf by Wolf, a story about Yael, a girl who survived Nazi concentration camps, imagines what would happen if Hitler won the war.  Yael, the Jewish subject of Nazi experimentation is now an Aryan looking girl who can shape-shift, assuming other people's identities.  A resistance fighter, Yael is charged with assuming the appearance of a cross-country motorcycle racer, Adele Wolf. Adele won the last Axis Tour, a global motorcycle race, and got to dance with Hitler.  Yael's plan is to pose as Adele, win the race, and kill Hitler during the victory dance.  She doesn't count on Adele's brother Felix accompanying her, nor her former lover Luka alternately helping her, then thwarting her plans. Can Yael keep her identity secret, win the race and carry out her plans?  The action in this alternate history fantasy is wonderfully fast paced, and the ambiguous, yet satisfying, ending will leave readers anxious for the sequel in the duo-logy.

In These Shallow Graves the year is 1890 and the only thing expected of Josephine Montfort is that she marry a suitable upper-class man and settle down; but Jo, an aspiring reporter, has other ideas. When her father dies of wounds supposedly suffered during a gun cleaning accident, Jo is determined to find the truth.  Enlisting the help of Eddie Gallagher, a reporter at her father's newspaper, she risks her reputation and searches for clues in the seamy underworld of NYC.  As Jo learns more about her family's sordid history, she struggles with family and societal expectations and her attraction to Eddie, who is an orphan and self-made man.  The suspense-filled story line moves forward with clues and revelations that keep the reader one step ahead of Jo, and the short chapters make this a satisfying page-turner.