Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award 2014

The winner of the Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award for 2014 is Divergent by Veronica Roth.  This book is the first in the Divergent series and is followed by Insurgent and Allegiant. For those of you unfamiliar with the series, it takes place in a futuristic dystopian Chicago, where all people are born into one of five factions which have a different strength and focus:  Abnegation (service), Amity (friendship) Candor (truth) Dauntless (bravery) and Erudite (intellect). On their 16th birthday teens take an aptitude test, and can choose to remain with the faction they were born into or change allegiances.  The main character, Tris, chooses to leave her abnegation family and join dauntless, where she meets and ultimately falls in love with her demanding instructor, Tobias (aka Four). Much of Tris's success in training is because she is actually a divergent with strengths in multiple factions. This makes her a target of the merciless autocratic leaders who kill divergents because they are hard to control.  As in all dystopian literature, Tris and her friends fight the status quo in hopes of creating a "brave new world" where all inhabitants live in harmony. The struggle continues in Insurgent, leading up to the final book in the series, Allegiant, which is told from both Tris and Tobias's points of view. The shocking, yet satisfying, ending leaves no doubt that this is truly the end of the series. Divergent comes out as a movie starring Shailene Woodley on March 21st.
Most of the nominees for 2015 are books from series as well. They include Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Blood Red Road by Moira Young, Cinder by Marissa Meyer, Delirium by Lauren Oliver, The Eye of Minds by James Dashner, The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey, The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson, Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore, Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Legend by Marie Lu, Matched by Ally Condie, The Paladin Prophecy by Mark Frost, Proxy by Alex London, The Selection by Kiera Cass, Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi, Smoke by Ellen Hopkins, Truancy City by Isamu Fukai, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin, and Unwholly by Neil Shusterman. I guess a surefire way to win over teen readers is to give them a dystopian or fantasy series to which they can become loyal.
The other two nominees are The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin and Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys.  For more information about the Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult  book award, including book talks for each of the nominees, as well as contest rules and promotional materials, go to http://www.coloradobluespruceaward.org.

Classic Connections: Will in Scarlett, Man Made Boy and Far Far Away

Many young adult authors are incorporating elements of classic stories in a modern tale, which provides the opportunity for teachers to pair these novels with the classics they reflect. By having students read and compare the classic and the related modern novel, we can expose kids to plots that form the backbone of literature and help them appreciate the clever variations that the modern authors imagine.  This month I am recommending three new "classic connections." Man Made Boy by Jon Skovron tells the tale of Boy, the son of the Frankenstein monster and his bride.  Will in Scarlet by Mathew Cody reimagines the Robin Hood story, and Far Far Away by Tom McNeal is narrated by Jacob Grimm, who is stuck in a plane of existence between life and death.

In a reimagining of Shelley's Frankenstein, Jon Skovron's Man Made Boy introduces Boy who performs in his parents'  Broadway revue of fantastical monsters, including Medusa, singing trolls, and sirens.  The audience thinks these characters are real people in makeup. Little do they know Boy's hideous appearance is due to his parentage; he is the son of the Frankenstein monster and his bride. When Boy, a computer hacker in his free time, creates a sentient computer virus that he unleashes on humanity, he must go out into the real world to undo the damage he has done. He embarks on a road trip to L.A., where he takes refuge in a community of magical creatures who work in TV special effects. Fantasy lovers will enjoy this action-packed supernatural mash-up, that has an underlying message about self acceptance and the value of family.

Will in Scarlet, an homage to the Robin Hood legend, introduces Will, whose father Lord Shackley is away on the Crusades with King Richard. Will finds himself fleeing the family manor when he wounds the manservant of Sir Guy, one of Prince John’s men. He ends up in Sherwood Forest where he is taken in by a gang of bandits known as the Merry Men.  He is befriended by Much, an orphan girl disguised as a boy, who has also taken refuge with the group. Determined to get revenge against Sir Guy, who has taken over his family's manor, Will schemes to get the Merry Men to aid him with his quest. Although Will's story is gradually woven into the Robin Hood legend, each of the characters feels like a new individual, some who resemble legendary figures more than others. 
 
In Far Far Away the narrator, Jacob Grimm, is stuck in a plane of existence between life and death and is the constant companion of Jeremy Johnson, a teenager who is the only one who can hear him. Jeremy’s abilities make him an oddity, and his only real friend is Ginger Boultinghouse, who seems to gravitate toward trouble. Grimm tries keep Jeremy on the straight and narrow, so he can get a scholarship and escape from the town of Never Better, but Ginger’s allure is hard for Jeremy to resist.  When Jeremy and Ginger are abducted and held in a dungeon by the town baker, he must find a way to get word to his father, before they become ingredients in the baker's next batch of Prince Cake. Details about the Brothers Grimm, as well as the tales they told, make this more than a run-of-the-mill fantasy. It is a finalist for the 2013 National Book Award.

New Series: The Naturals, Pawn and Tandem

It's always fun to find a new series which promises lots of future reading pleasure.  This month I have three to recommend.  The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is a psychological thriller that launches a group of teens who have special abilities that are useful in solving crimes. Pawn by Aimee Carter is a new dystopian series which focuses on a rebellion against a rigid class system. Tandem by Anna Jarzab is a sci-fi/fantasy about parallel universes where everyone has doubles who look identical but have very different personalities.

The Naturals introduces Cassie, who is gifted at reading people.  She doesn’t think much about this gift until the FBI recruits her for a group of crime solving teens with exceptional abilities.  Cassie agrees to participate, secretly hoping the group will help her find the killer who brutally murdered her mother five years earlier.  As she gets to know her fellow her fellow crime solvers, Cassie finds herself attracted to both Michael, who has a knack for reading emotions, and Dean, who shares Cassie’s gift for profiling, but avoids entanglements. However, there is little time for romance, because a serial killer is on the loose and seems to have his sights set on Cassie.

Pawn, the first book in The Blackcoat Rebellion series, sets up a dystopian world where people are assigned to a social class when they turn eighteen and are labeled with a tattoo on the back of their necks.  Kitty Doe is disappointed to be designated a III which will relegate her to a janitorial crew in far-off Denver. Benjy, her childhood love, is sure to be a V or VI and they will be separated for life.  Then she is abducted and when she regains consciousness, she finds she has been “masked” and is now a VII who will be trained to pass for the missing Princess Lila. Lila’s mother Celia is seeking revenge against those she deems responsible for her daughter’s death and hopes to use Kitty as a pawn in her plans. Kitty has only one goal – getting back to Benjy by any means possible.  Captive, the sequel, follows in 2014.

Similarly, Tandem, the first book in the Many-Worlds Trilogy, introduces sixteen-year-old Sasha Lawson who thinks that parallel worlds are a fantasy created by her grandfather, until she is transported to Aurora, another world where she takes the place of the missing Princess Juliana for whom she is an analog. "An analog is a type of double. We all have them; if not in one universe, then in another and in an infinite number of others besides. Analogs should not touch or one of them is ejected from the universe they both stood in. They are essentially equal, but not identical". The tandem is a force field through which analogs move between universes. As the story opens, Sasha thinks she is going to the prom with Grant, on whom she's had a crush since childhood.  However, Grant is actually Thomas, his analog from Aurora who has been sent to abduct her, so she can pose as Princess Juliana.  If Sasha succeeds in fooling everyone until the princess is found, she can return home.  If not, she’ll be trapped forever. Although Sasha wants to return home, she finds herself falling for Thomas and compelled to help resolve the conflict on Aurora.  The sequel called Tether comes out in the summer of 2014

 

MPIBA trade show: Lauren Myracle, Matt de la Pena & Holly Goldberg Sloan

Last week I went to the Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers trade show where I met some of my favorite authors and was introduced to their new books.  Lauren Myracle talked about The Infinite Moment of Us that fits into a new category of YA lit "New Adult" which includes books which have fairly graphic sexual encounters between characters.  Matt de la Pena admitted to wanting to try something new with The Living, the first book in his new action adventure series. Finally, Holly Goldberg Sloan (author of Blue Spruce nominee I'll Be There) shared the inspiration for her new book about a highly gifted girl who struggles with her parents' untimely deaths in Counting by 7s.

In The Infinite Moment of Us, high school seniors Wren and Charlie are an unlikely couple.  She has always been an overprotected  parent pleaser and he is a foster child who has finally found a supportive foster family.  She is attempting to assert her independence by taking a gap year in Guatemala before college, whereas he is thrilled with his scholarship to Georgia Tech. But when their eyes meet at graduation, they fall head over heels in love. In alternating chapters that move between Wren's and Charlie's third-person perspectives, we follow their summer romance, that could just be something more.

 

Matt de la Pena has had a lot success with his character driven explorations of bi-racial kids, so his decision to branch out into the adventure/survival genre is a departure from his comfort zone.  The Living is actually four books in one: a survival at sea adventure, a global disaster tale, a pandemic thriller and  a social-class drama. Shy Espinoza is working on a luxury cruise liner when a massive earthquake in California causes a tsunami which capsizes the boat and leaves him adrift in a life raft with a spoiled rich girl. Her father heads up a pharmaceutical company that is mysteriously involved in the proliferation of an infectious disease from which Shy's grandmother died. After a harrowing few days in shark-infested waters, the two end up on the company island where even greater intrigue awaits.  This action-packed page turner will leave readers anxious for its sequel The Hunted which will be published in the fall of 2014.

 

 Holly Goldberg Sloan, whose sons attend a school for the gifted, said she is fascinated by some of the quirky geniuses who attend the school, so she set out to write a book focusing on an unusually gifted kid. Counting by 7s introduces 12-year-old genius Willow Chance, who is obsessed with tending her garden, diagnosing medical conditions and counting by 7s. Her life is turned upside down when her adoptive parents die in a car accident and she is taken in by her friend Mai and her mother and brother, who live in a room behind their nail salon.  When social services comes to call, they move in with the kids' misfit guidance counselor Dell Duke and pose as one big happy family.  As Willow tries to adjust to the new normal, she worries about her upcoming custody hearing and what will happen when she is once again at the mercy of the social services system.  Although Counting by 7s is billed as a middle school read, it will tug at the heart strings of readers of all ages.

 

New YA Titles for Fall: The Book of Broken Hearts, Falling Hard, and Countdown

Fall is here, school has begun and students find themselves with a lot of  required reading.  But there are many readers who want some fun quality "escapist" novels to complement what they are reading in class.  I have three such books to recommend. Sarah Ockler's The Book of Broken Hearts, finds Jude Hernandez hiring Emilio Vargas to help her Alzheimer's stricken father restore his beloved vintage motorcycle. Falling Hard is the first in Megan Sparks' series about Roller Derby girls and  Countdown by Michelle Rowen is a dystopian thriller for fans of The Hunger Games.

Sarah Ockler (Twenty Boy Summer and Bittersweet) has another winner with The Book of Broken Hearts.  When Jude Hernandez hires Emilio Vargas to help her father restore his vintage motorcycle, she knows she has to keep it a secret from her three older sisters. They made her swear in their Book of Broken Heats to stay away from Vargas men, who are notorious heartbreakers. But Emilio is the best man for the job and she is hoping the project helps stave off the onset of her father’s Alzheimer’s symptoms. Jude tells herself she can resist Emilio's charms; but as she struggles with her father's increasingly erratic behavior, Emilio is there for her and she finds herself falling for him.  The author provides realistic details about motorcycle restorations, as well as the trials of dealing with a loved one's deterioration when stricken with early onset Alzheimer's.  Jude, who should be at an age where she can focus on her own future, must think of her family first in every decision she makes.  Jude and Emilio's Hispanic heritage is reinforced with a sprinkling of Spanish phrases throughout the book which give it an authentic feel.

 

Falling Hard introduces Annie Turner who, after her parents' divorce, transfers from London to a high school in Liberty Heights, Illinois, where she must make a decision about what path to follow.  After a growth spurt Annie is now 5’11” and must give up gymnastics. She tries out for cheerleading in which she could use her gymnastics skills, but Roller Derby is what really intrigues her. If she chooses cheerleading, she will please her dad who wants her to take the safer route, and she might attract the attention of Tyler, the cute soccer star she is crushing on. But her new friends, punk rocker Jesse and artist Lexie, think she will be selling out.  In the sequel Hell's Bells Annie's roller derby team, the Liberty Belles, are finally winning, but Annie sprains her ankle and may not be able to play in the grudge match against their arch rivals. To make matters worse Tyler is flirting with other girls. However, Jesse seems to be there when she needs him. Annie is an amazing athlete and the details about roller derby tactics make this an informative, as well as fun series.

 

Finally, Michelle Rowen's Countdown was an adult book which her publisher convinced her to rewrite for a YA audience.  When I first picked it up, I thought it would be a rip-off of The Hunger Games, but I found it to be so much more.  Kira Jordan wakes up in an empty cell, chained to the notorious Rogan Ellis, who is suspected of murdering her family.  They live in a plague devastated city and she has been living on the streets, counting on her psychic abilities to keep her alive. He is scheduled to be sent to a maximum security prison for his supposed crimes.  Now she and Rogan are thrown into competing in a televised game that gives them tasks that must be completed in a specified amount of time in order for them to survive to reach the next level.  They can never be more than 90 feet apart and must cooperate to succeed.  As Rogan proves to be her savior in more ways than one, she begins to sense that his gory past crimes may have been trumped up to create drama for the TV show. If they win the game, he will be freed and she will be allowed to move into the domed city for the privileged class. As the powers that be manipulate what is happening to them, Kira has to decide whether to trust Rogan or think only of herself.

 

 

 

 

 

Satisfying sequels: Dark Triumph, A Spark Unseen and The Dream Thieves

Satisfying sequels are hard to find in the world of trilogies and series.  The second book frequently seems to be a bridge to the next or final book and leaves readers frustrated that the denouement is a year away. Robin LaFever in her His Fair Assassins series has come up with a winning formula to solve this problem. Each of the books in the trilogy is about a different woman, who was fathered by Saint Mortain, the God of Death, and brought to a mysterious convent to be trained as an assassin.  Dark Triumph is the latest offering in the series. Although the stories overlap, each book stands on its own.  A Spark Unseen by Sharon Cameron continues The Dark Unwinding saga, which chronicles the story of Katharine Tulman, who in 1852 is sent to Stanwyne Keep, her uncle's estate, to have him declared insane. There she finds a clockwork factory which employs hundreds of people from the workhouse, and an uncle who is lovably eccentric. The sequel follows Katherine to Paris where she flees with her uncle after an attempted kidnapping.  The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater is the follow-up to The Raven Boys, which introduces Blue and her family of clairvoyants, as well as the Raven Boys, four prep school students who are searching for the ley line, which is a link to Glendower, a long dead Welsh king.  

The first book in the His Fair Assassins Trilogy is Grave Mercy, which I reviewed in May of 2012. It introduces seventeen-year-old Ismae who escapes her abusive father and an arranged marriage, finding sanctuary at the Convent of St. Mortain.  There she discovers she has special powers and is to serve as an assassin for the God of Death.  In her first assignment Ismae must protect the Duchess Anne of Brittany and kill the traitor in her court. Set in medieval France with historically accurate details, Grave Mercy combines political intrigue with romance and mystery. The sequel Dark Triumph focuses on Sybella, a minor character in the first book, whose mission requires her to return home to her earthly father D'Albret's cruelty and her half-brother's incestuous obsession with her.  There she covertly plans to thwart D'Albret's plot to capture Duchess Anne and frees her champion, the Beast of Waroch.  In doing so, Sybella is inadvertently knocked out and taken by Beast to Anne's hideout, where together they work to end D'Albret's reign of terror. Mortal Heart , which comes out in Spring 2014, follows Annith, a trained assassin, who rebels against the abbess's decision to make her a Seeress, forever sequestered in the convent.

The Dark Unwinding introduces Katharine Tulman, who is sent by her conniving aunt to investigate her uncle, who seems to be squandering away the family fortune. Her aunt wants her to have him committed to an asylum. But instead of a lunatic, Katharine discovers an eccentric inventor of automatons and his devoted community of workers including his handsome apprentice Lane, whom she grows to love.  In A Spark Unseen Katherine thwarts a kidnapping attempt and spirits her uncle off to Paris, where she hopes to hide him and at the same time search for Lane, who left Stanwyne Keep to hunt Ben Aldridge, and is rumored to be dead. Her quest embroils her in a complicated maze of political intrigue involving the court of Napoleon III. Meanwhile she is also worrying about keeping one of Uncle Tully's inventions away from people who want to use it as a dangerous weapon. As with its predecessor A Spark Unseen is filled lots of action and plot twists that keep the reader guessing about whom Katherine can trust. The book will be released September 24, 2013. Although the ending wraps up all the plot lines completely, the author leaves herself a little wiggle room for another installment if she is up for it.

Maggie Stiefvater's The Dream Thieves is the second book in her Raven Cycle. In the first book, The Raven Boys, a great deal of time was spent introducing Gansey, Noah, Ronan and Adam and setting up the boys' quest to find the ley lines which will lead them to the Welsh King Glendower.  As the book closes, they have a mystical experience in the Cabeswater forest and their friend Blue continues to stress over the prophecy that she will kill her true love with her kiss.  As The Dream Thieves opens, Cabeswater has disappeared and The Gray Man, a new adult nemesis, has arrived in town searching for the Greywaren, which allows the owner to steal objects from dreams. Ronan's supernatural abilities and their connection to his family are the main focus of this installment, although the other boys and Blue continue to have struggles of their own. Fans of the series will love the fast pace and the intricate story lines that resolve themselves by the end of the book. Of course, the tantalizing hint about the next book is supplied in the epilogue. I'm not usually a fan of drawn out dream sequences in books, but Maggie Stiefvater's lyrical writing kept me feverishly turning pages in this outstanding sequel.

New Books with Embedded Research: Fallout, The Social Code, and Plague in the Mirror

 I recently attended the School Library Journal's virtual book show and got some great suggestions for the upcoming school year.  I read three books that fit into the embedded research unit that I outline in my book, What's New in Young Adult Novels? and Ideas for Classroom Use. Embedded research is information that is embedded so seamlessly into the story that it enriches the detail and realism in the story without seeming didactic.  Students might ask, "What is the difference between historical fiction and fiction with embedded research?" In answer to that question I would say that historical fiction has main characters, who actually existed in situations that really happened.  Stories with embedded research are about fictional characters in situations that really happened or involve accurate details about things that take place in the story. Todd Strasser's Fallout asks the question, "What would happen if a nuclear bomb was dropped and your family was the only one in the neighborhood with a bomb shelter? Sadie Hayes' The Social Code introduces twins who grew up in foster care and are now at Stanford University. They create a revolutionary computer app and are being courted by the biggest tycoons in Silicon Valley.  Deborah Noyes' Plague in the Mirror involves time travel back to 14th Century Florence where the Black Death is ravaging the countryside.

Todd Strasser grew up in the 1950s and experienced the Cold War first hand.  His family had a fallout shelter and he has parlayed some of his own experiences into a story about a twelve-year old-boy named Scott whose family is ridiculed for building and stocking a bomb shelter. Then the Cuban Missile Crisis occurs and his neighbors are singing a different tune. In Fallout the author suggests that a bomb is actually dropped and  neighbors force their way into the bomb shelter which was only provisioned for a family of four. Without enough food, water and air for all of them, tensions break out.  But the biggest question is if they can survive until the radioactivity outside abates, what will they find when they get out?


In The Social Code eighteen-year-old  scholarship students Adam and Amelia Dory find themselves out of sync with their privileged classmates at Stanford.  Then Amelia, who is happiest in a computer lab writing code, creates a computer program that allows users to control all their mechanical devices from their phones. Adam who longs for the privileged lifestyle enjoyed by those around them, talks her into creating a company and getting involved with a Silicon Valley mogul. However, their past comes back to haunt them in the cut throat, back stabbing world they have entered. The accurate portrayal of the computer programming culture make this a riveting read. This is the first book in the author's new "Start Up" series. The Next Big Thing, which continues to chronicle the lives of the Dory twins, will be available in November.

Plague in the Mirror weaves the horrors of the 14th century plague in Europe into the story of a young girl struggling with her parents' breakup. Hoping to escape the turmoil, May travels to Florence for a summer with her best friend Liam and his mother.  But once there, Christofana, a haunting doppelganger from the past, appears at the foot of May's bed and escorts her into the plague ridden Florence of 1347. There May meets Marco, an artist with whom she feels an immediate connection.  Christofana is hoping to trap May in the past so that she can take her place in the 21st Century. Meanwhile back in the present, Liam is intimating that he would like to be more than friends, which panics her.  When she tries to tell him about Christofana, he suggests that the stress of her parents' divorce may be sending her over the edge.  Is the time travel real or is it just a figment of her imagination? In a historical fantasy authors' panel at the trade show, Deborah Noyes discussed the extensive research she did, which is reflected in the story which is rich in detail about the Black Death, the Italian art world and life in the 14th Century.