YA Novels filled with Magic

 Magic, defined as the power of influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces, figures heavily in all the books I'm recommending this month. Castles in Their Bones by Laura Sebastian (Ash Princess trilogy) introduces triplet princesses conceived through magic so that their conniving mother can expand her empire. The Ivory Key by Akshaya Raman is set in the country of Ashoka that depends on their soon-to-be depleted quarry filled with magic to protect them from invasion.  It is up to the four royal siblings to find a fabled key that will unlock lost quarries that were hidden in the past.  Shattered Midnight by Dhonielle Clayton is the second installment in the Mirror fairytale series. Zora Broussard, a young black singer who wields magic, flees to New Orleans in the 1920s, after her magic causes a deadly accident in NYC.  Bright Ruined Things by Samantha Cohoe is a reimagining of The Tempest in which Lord Prosper uses a magical substance to enslave all the spirits on his island. Mae, the daughter of his steward, longs to learn to wield this magic in order to stay on the island once she comes of age.  

Castles in their Bones kicks off a new fantasy series which focuses on triplet sisters conceived in magic by their scheming mother Empress Margaraux, who wants to marry them off to expand her rule. Sophronia, Daphne and Beatriz have been betrothed to princes of neighboring kingdoms. They have been tasked with driving their new countries into war against each other so that the Empress can swoop in and gain control.  However, Sophronia falls in love with her fiancé, Leopold of Temarin. Daphne's fiancé dies and she is passed to bastard son Bairre of Friv, who becomes an ally. Beatriz finds herself married to Pasquale, the gay prince of Cellaria, where magic is banned. Although platonic, they develop a strong friendship and have plans of their own.  The story is told in alternating perspectives of the three princesses, who are trained in poisoning, coding and seduction in order to accomplish their goals. Along with her instructions to be achieved however the girls see fit, the empress has gifted each daughter the ability to pull magic from the stars to grant one wish.  The tale is filled with intrigue and changing allegiances as the girls attempt to decide whether to carry out their mother's plan or follow their own hearts. Meanwhile, Margaraux is behind the scenes manipulating characters and situations to her own end. I suspect their being conceived in magic will impact the girls' fates in the sequel.

The Ivory Key is told from the perspectives of four quarreling siblings who must save their country Ashoka from impending war.  The tale focuses on them finding the ivory key that will unlock quarries filled with magic which fuels their economy and protects them from invasion. Vira has ascended to the throne after her mother, the maharani, is killed.  Brother Kaleb has been wrongfully imprisoned for the assassination. Brother Ronak is planning to rescue Kaleb and flee with him.  Sister Riya, who ran away after arguing with their mother, returns to the palaces after two years of working with a group of rebels who want her to spy.  The only quarry in Ashoka is running out of magic, but it is rumored that there is a map which will lead them to the key that unlocks the lost quarries, which were closed when the Kamala society sought to control the mining trade.  After Vira's fiancé is murdered by the society, she must convince her siblings to band together to help her save their kingdom.  The epilogue, told from a fifth perspective, will leave readers anxious for the sequel in this fast-paced duology opener. 

Shattered Midnight, the second book in the four-book Mirror fairytale series, (Book 1: Broken Wish by Julie C. Dao) introduces Zora Broussard, a young Black teen who flees to New Orleans from New York during the 1920s, after her magic causes a deadly accident.  Living with her Aunt Celine, a high society maven, Zora is expected to become a debutante; however, she sneaks out at night to sing in jazz clubs as "Sweet Willow."  Fearing she will cause more harm, she bargains with a local conjure woman to take away her magic.  However, in return she must give up her music, which is her connection to Phillip, a White pianist with whom she has fallen in love.  Phillip is determined to be with her despite the racial segregation of the era.  Zora must decided how love, magic and music figure into her future happiness. What to keep and what to give up. 

In Bright Ruined Things, an homage to Shakespeare's The Tempest, Lord Prosper's island teams with a magical substance know as aether that keeps the island's spirits his captives and provides a glamourous life for his descendants.  Mae, an outsider who is the orphan of Prosper's steward, worries about being exiled from the island on her 18th birthday.  She schemes to find a way to stay and has many prospects.  Lady Vivian wants her to marry their sullen eccentric grandson Ivo, who is a powerful magician and heir to Lord Prosper's realm. Granddaughter Coco, Mae's best friend, wants her to leave the island and forge a new life together.  Grandson Miles, Mae's secret crush, leads her on in hopes of finding out what Ivo did to his mother, who is now a hopeless addict. First Night, the legendary once-a-year party hosted by the Prosper family, is coming up at which cousin Apolonia's engagement to Rex, magician and son of a rival family, and Mae's engagement to Ivo are to be announced.  But all does not go as planned.  Mae discovers family secrets and waffles between allegiances to various family members and even Rex, as she desperately tries to find a way to learn magic and secure a place in the family. 

Wrapping Up 2021

The new edition of my book What's New in Young Adult Novels? and Ideas for Classroom Use is now available. I have added over 50 new books from 2021 and integrated them into the lesson ideas. If you click on the picture of the book in the upper right hand corner of the blog, it will direct you to Lulu.com where you can purchase the book.  As we enter the new year, I would like to recommend a few more books from 2021 that I think are terrific. Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood is a retelling of Jane Eyre with a supernatural twist. Between You Me and the Honeybees by Amelia Diane Coombs focuses on a feud between beekeeping families and the romance between two teens ala Romeo and Juliet. You Can Go Your Own Way by Eric Smith finds estranged friends Adam and Whitney at odds over her father's attempt to take over Adam's deceased father's pinball arcade. You've Reached Sam by Dustin Thao deals with the grieving process as the main character is able to talk to her dead boyfriend by calling his cellphone. As with most young adult novels there is an element of romance in each book though they have very different storylines. 

Within These Wicked Walls, which is set in a desert region of Ethiopia, introduces Andromeda, an unlicensed debtera, who exorcises the manifestation of the Evil Eye.  When she is hired to cleanse Magnus Rochester's mansion, she leaves Jember, her mentor/father figure and moves into the mansion. Her relationship with her moody employer quickly heats up and complicates the exorcism.  She loses confidence in herself when she finds out several other debtera have failed and Jember refuses to help her. It turns out he has a prior relationship to the situation and is reluctant to get involved.  The fast-paced battle against the evil spirits and Magnus and Andromeda's angst-filled romance will keep readers turning pages until the dramatic final conflict.

Between You Me and the Honeybees focuses on Josie, a recent high school graduate who aspires to take over the family beekeeping business. She has turned down her college acceptances but puts off telling her mom and her best friend.  When her grandmother's Parkinson's disease worsens, Mom heads off to Florida to check on her, leaving Josie to her own devices.  She meets Ezra, the grandson of her family's beekeeping rivals and forms an immediate bond.  Mom returns with Gran and Josie begins sneaking out to see Ezra.  Plagued by anxiety, Josie is faced with complicated choices as she tries to prove herself as a beekeeper and navigate her romance with the son of her mom's sworn enemies. The authentic details about beekeeping taken from the author's personal experiences, as well as the sensitive depiction of Josie's anxiety issues, take this a step above many Romeo and Juliet reimaginings.

You Can Go Your Own Way alternates between the perspectives of Adam and Whitney, estranged friends who find themselves sparing on social media, as Adam tries to save his deceased father's pinball arcade and Whitney attempts to help her father acquire it for his e-sports café. When her brother destroys a pinball machine at Adam's arcade, Adam blasts him on Twitter, escalating the war.  Then a blizzard threatens to derail the plans for the neighborhood Winter Festival, which will bring much needed business into the arcade. When Adam and Whitney find themselves trapped in the arcade during the blizzard, they confront old wounds and rekindle a friendship both sorely missed. Excerpts from The Art and Zen of Pinball Repair give this enemies to lovers romance a quirky twist on the genre.  

You've Reached Sam is a modern day ghost story that cleverly explores the issues of grieving. Julie Clark's plans to move out of her small town with her boyfriend Sam after graduation are derailed when he dies in a car accident.  Planning to attend college together and go to Japan with him over the summer, Julie now finds herself mired in guilt and grief.  After an angry phone call from Julie, (he had forgotten to pick her up at the airport), he jumps in his car and heads to his death. Devastated and finding herself blamed by his friends for his death, Julie skips his funeral and throws out memorabilia from their relationship, trying to move on. But when she calls his cell phone to hear his voicemail message one more time, he answers. The phone calls give them the opportunity to reconnect, making it harder to let him go. This supernatural premise allows for an interesting exploration of the grieving process for an untimely death.  

New YA Fantasies: Realm Breaker, Steelstriker and Gilded

 Three popular fantasy authors have new books out that might be perfect for holiday gift giving. Victoria Aveyard (Red Queen series) kicks off a new series with Realm Breaker, which introduces a world where doors to other realms must be closed before an evil entity can seize power.  Marie Lu (Legend series) wraps up the Skyhunter series with Steelstriker, chronicling the battle to overthrow the Premier and dismantle the controlling Karensa Federation in a dystopian world. Marissa Meyer (Lunar Chronicles series) reimagines Rumpelstiltskin in Gilded, adding a romance between the miller's daughter and the magical being who spins the straw into gold. 

Realm Breaker is set in Allward, a world where Spindles - doors to other realms - are thought to be a myth, as are the Immortals and Elders, beings who can manipulate the Spindlegates that connect Allward to other realms.  The prologue details a disastrous battle which takes place when Companions of the Realm seek to stop Taristan, a rogue Immortal, and his wizard accomplice from using a Spindleblade to tear new spindles between realms to aid the evil entity he worships.  Half the companions are human and half are Immortals.  The only two who escape with their lives are Elder Domacridhan and Andry, squire to the knight Cortael, who manages to flee with Cortael's spindleblade.  When the story begins, Dom and Andry are heading to a Spindle temple to thwart Taristan's plans. They must engage the help of Corayne, secret daughter of Cortael and a pirate queen, who has the corblood required to wield the spindleblade.  Along the way they enlist the aid of assassin Sorasa and others to help their cause.  Shifting viewpoints and flashbacks detail the characters' backstories, setting up the quest to protect Allward and make sure the Spindles that can open destabilizing passages between realms are closed.  This complex tale will have readers spellbound as the ragtag band of heroes overcomes one challenge after another. 

Steelstriker, the final book in the Skyhunter duology, opens six months after the fall of Mara, as the Karensa Federation absorbs the formerly free nation into its empire.  Talin, an elite striker for Mara, has been taken hostage and turned into a skyhunter, a war machine complete with steel wings.  The story alternates between Talin's point-of-view and Red's, a skyhunter who escaped the Federation and bonded with Talin in the series opener.  Although held captive by Premier Constantine, who uses the threat of killing her mother to control her, Talin tries to aid her friends who are still waging a rebellion against the Federation.  As the Premier tries to harness a technology used by the "Early Ones," (presumably nuclear power) he is sabotaged by people in his inner circle.  Several of Mara's strikers have been taken prisoner and are awaiting execution or transformation into zombielike monsters called Ghosts.  Talin and Red communicate telepathically to orchestrate a rescue and a plan to overthrow the Premier in this romantic action-packed series closer.  I would recommend reading Skyhunter (see review in my October 2020 blog) prior to Steelstriker.

In Gilded, an inventive reimagining of Rumpelstiltskin, the sadistic Erlking and his undead followers appear every full moon to steal children and hunt magical creatures.  The miller's daughter Serilda knows to stay in on those nights, but she hears the hellhounds chasing two moss maidens and feels compelled to save them.  She hides them in their root cellar only to be confronted by the Erlking, whom she tells she's harvesting straw to spin into gold.  He departs but abducts her on the next full moon and takes her to his undead castle. He throws her into a cell piled with hay and threatens to kill her if she doesn't spin it into gold.  She assumes she is doomed until Gild, a redheaded undead teen, appears and completes her task.  She is immediately drawn to him and and looks forward to their next encounter.  Their star-crossed romance, as well as the suspense-filled conflict with the Erlking and the cliffhanger ending, will leave readers anxious to read the sequel Cursed, which comes out November 8, 2022.

YA Thrilllers - Eyes of the Forest, Bad Girls Never Say Die, You'll Be the Death of Me

 Three of my favorite young adult mystery/thriller authors have new books that I am recommending this month.  Eyes of the Forest by award winning mystery author April Henry is about the kidnapping of a famous fantasy series author, who must be rescued by his teen continuity advisor. Bad Girls Never Say Die by Jennifer Mathieu (Moxie) is a feminine retelling of The Outsiders involving an accidental murder and "tuff" girls sticking together. You'll Be the Death of Me by Karen McManus (One of Us is Lying) focuses on three estranged friends who skip school to recreate "their best day ever" and end up investigating the murder of a classmate. All three books have clever allusions to famous literary works.

In Eyes of the Forest a fan of an epic fantasy series, Swords and Shadows, kidnaps the author R.M. "Bob" Haldon and chains him to a treadmill desk, ordering him to finish the series finale.  It is up to his continuity advisor Bridget Shepherd to save him.  Alternating between the perspectives of the George R.R. Martin-esque author, the kidnapper Derek, a socially inept geek at Bridget's high school, Bridget and Ajay, a potential love interest to whom Bridget is reading the series, the narrative moves along at a fast pace.  Bob communicates with Bridget via coded messages, hoping she will realize something is wrong.  He met Bridget at a book signing, where he was impressed with her encyclopedic knowledge of the Swords and Shadows world. She and her mother read the series obsessively as Mom was dying of cancer, and Bridget has created a database which she uses to fact check his work.  Now he is stuck in a cabin writing a schlocky version of the finale which Derek is selling online; meanwhile Bob is surreptitiously writing the real finale.  As Bridget shares her suspicions with the police and Ajay, they discount her theory, and she must act alone.  This suspenseful thriller with nod to Game of Thrones and Misery, the Kathy Bates film where her character keeps her favorite author captive, effectively weaves fan culture into a spellbinding mystery. 

Bad Girls Never Say Die, a feminist reimagining of  S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders set in 1964 Houston, introduces "bad girl" Evie, who is a member of an Eastside High gang of economically disadvantaged white and Mexican girls, and Diane, a "good girl" who has been banished from her affluent community of River Oaks because of her involvement with a guy from Evie's neighborhood. When Evie is assaulted by Preston, a drunk boy from River Oaks, Diane inadvertently kills Preston while trying to rescue Evie.  Through the shared trauma, Diane and Evie become friends and begin to confide in each other and Evie wonders about the difference between good girls and bad girls. As the police close in, Evie's gang tries to protect Diane, but when her lover is arrested for the murder, Diane insists on saving him.  Melodramatic plot twists and engaging dialogue make for a thrilling read, as the story of star-crossed lovers and strong female friendships unfolds.  Teachers might want to pair it with Hinton's book for a compare and contrast discussion. 

In You'll Be the Death of Me  three estranged friends, Cal, Ivy and Mateo, skipped out on a middle school field trip in Boston, having the "best day ever," which sealed their friendship until high school, when they went their separate ways.  They reconnect when they come together after a particularly tough day when Ivy loses the student council election to class clown Brian "Boney" Mahoney, Cal gets stood up by his would-be girlfriend, and Mateo is exhausted from working two jobs and dealing with his mother's illness.  Deciding to drive into Boston to recreate the day they met, things immediately begin to go wrong.  They discover Boney's dead body in Cal's girlfriend's art studio and become involved in a complex murder plot.  Ivy is a suspect and insists they investigate to clear her name. The deeper they get into the investigation, the more secrets are revealed until the exciting climax. This clever homage to Ferris Bueller's Day Off is told from the three protagonists' perspectives. While the mystery of Boney's murder is the focal point, the relationship between the three friends adds depth to this thrilling whodunit. This book comes out November 30th. 

Twisted Tales: Hello Cruel Heart, What Was Once Mine and If the Shoe Fits

 According to experts, "Fairy tales are essential stories for childhood.  These stories are more than just happily ever after, they portray real moral lessons through characters and virtues shown in the stories.  They do not only captivate the imagination of young minds, but also enhance their creativity and reasoning skills." A popular new subject matter for young adult novels is the "twisted tale" where the author significantly changes the story line to recognizable tales. Hopefully most teenage readers come to these new stories with a knowledge of the original so that they can recognize the clever changes the author has made. Hello Cruel Heart by Maureen Johnson (Truly Devious series) gives readers insight into the formative years of Cruella de Vil from One Hundred and One Dalmatians. What Was Once Mine by Liz Braswell is the eleventh book in the Disney Twisted Tales series.  This one wonders what would happen if Rapunzel's mother drank a potion from the wrong flower? If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy (Dumplin') is a retelling of Cinderella that is a blend of the classic fairy tale and a reality TV show. 

In Hello Cruel Heart 16-year-old Estella dreams of being a fashion designer in 1960s London but spends most of her time designing trick clothes to use in heists she and her friends Horace and Jasper do to stay afloat.  When she has a chance encounter with trust funder twins Magda and Richard, they take her in and peddle her designs in exchange for accommodations and what she thinks is friendship. Her clothing designs are worn by their high society friends, as well as an up-and-coming rock band, whose lead guitarist becomes her boyfriend.  But when they tire of her and make plans to leave on vacation without her, her alter ego Cruella exacts revenge.  A vivid Swinging 60s setting and Estella's creative clothing designs add a colorful twist to the tale of a classic Disney villain. This is the prequel to the new live action film Cruella, starring Emma Stone, which continues the tale into the 1970s.

What Was Once Mine reimagines the Tangled version of Rapunzel with her mother drinking from the wrong flower. In this version the ailing pregnant queen drinks from the Moondrop flower rather than the Sundrop flower, giving Rapunzel silver hair and the ability to hurt rather than heal.  For everyone's safety she is locked in a tower and watched over by the evil Mother Gothel.  Rapunzel longs for freedom and to see the mysterious floating lights that appear on her birthday, but she is afraid of hurting people.  When the handsome outlaw Flynn Rider and his buddy Gina help her escape, the trio ends up investigating the secret of Rapunzel's hair, while Gothel and other nefarious people try to find them.  Although not vastly different from the original version of the story, this is an entertaining read, complete with a sympathetic princess and rogue friends, as well as devious villains, and a happily ever after. 

If the Shoe Fits, a retelling of Cinderella, finds Cindy, a plus-size shoe designer appearing on a reality dating show,  hoping to showcase her shoe designs and get a job. Cindy Woods, a recent fashion school graduate, is off to a nannying job, when her stepmother, a dating show TV exec, needs a fill-in for a cancellation on her show, "Before Midnight." Along with her two stepsisters, Cindy joins the two dozen girls hoping to win the hand of Henry Mackenzie, who is the heir to a fashion empire that is floundering.  Coincidentally, Cindy and Henry meet on the plane to LA and hit it off.  Expecting to be sent home fairly quickly, the witty likeable Cindy becomes an audience, as well as Henry's, favorite, and is surprised to last week after week.  As the show moves from one glamourous setting after another, Henry and Cindy find ways to be together off camera.  Assuming that Henry actually has the power to keep her on the show, Cindy ultimately realizes the producers are manipulating the show results and she may not get her romantic finale. Cindy's relationship with her supportive blended family, her aspirations as a shoe designer and her plus-size appearance are refreshing twists.  Although the book is being marketed for more mature readers, the  YA fans of the author's Dumplin' series will love her adult debut.  

Teen Addiction

 Addiction impacts lives in many different ways. Three new YA novels explore the topic from several points of view: the addict's struggles, the impact on the addict's family, and the culture of addiction enablers in the music industry. Tell Me When You Feel Something by Vicki Grant is a thriller which explores a tragic incident in the life of a closet teen alcoholic, who works in a simulated patient med school program.  You'd Be Home Now by Kathleen Glasgow details the struggles of a teen who becomes her heroin addict brother's caretaker when he returns from rehab. Songs in Ursa Major by Emma Brodie is set in the 70s and focuses on an up and coming musician, whose career takes off when she gets involved with a star with substance abuse problems. 

In Tell Me When You Feel Something, Vivienne Braithwaite is living a lie.  Seemingly, the girl who has everything, wealth, beauty, popularity, a loving boyfriend, now lies in the hospital in a coma, after taking an unknown drug.  How she got the drug and why she took it are revealed in chapters which alternate between Viv's third-person narration of events leading up to the tragedy, her friends' first-person accounts after the incident, and police interviews of individuals involved with Viv. Viv, Davida and Tim are participants in the Simulated Patient program at the local med school. Viv strikes up a friendship with them and plays matchmaker, while her boyfriend is away at rugby camp.  Unbeknownst to them, Viv is a closet alcoholic.  Her parents are going through a traumatic divorce, after her father leaves her mom for a younger woman.  To deal with the stress of being the perfect student, girlfriend and "patient", as well as the go-between in her parents' escalating battles, she drinks vodka, which she has in her ever-present water bottle.  Seeking help from the doctor who heads the SP program, Viv realizes that during her periods of blackout drunkenness, someone has been abusing her.  The author effectively explores the way teens can spiral into alcoholism , detailing how enablers and those who are too self-absorbed to see what is going on, add to the problem. This suspenseful novel will keep readers turning the pages to find out who abused Viv and how she fares. 

You'd Be Home Now introduces Emory Ward, who along with her brother Joey are in a car accident where a classmate dies.  Joey wasn't driving, but he was in the back seat nearly overdosed on heroin.  He is sent to rehab and when he returns, their mother sets up a strict set of rules for his behavior and instructs Emory to keep tabs on him 24/7.  Although she loves Joey and wants to help him, the pressure is suffocating. She rebels by shoplifting and hooking up with Gage, a popular classmate and neighbor who insists on keeping their relationship secret.  Meanwhile the town's problem with "ghosties," homeless addicts that live by the river, reveals an even bigger problem.  As she loses the battle to keep Joey on the straight and narrow and he gets involved with the "ghosties," she begins to realize that she must be honest with herself and others and find her own way.  With the help of new found friends, Emory restructures the balance in her life and her place in the community.  The author, drawing from the play Our Town and her own experience with addiction recovery, illustrates the profound effect the opioid crisis and addiction have on individuals and their families.

Songs in Ursa Major opens at the 1969 Bayleen Island Folk Fest, where local musician Jane Quinn is asked to step in for the headliner, folk rock mega star Jesse Reid, and her life is changed forever.  Jesse, who is recovering from a motorcycle accident, falls for Jane while recuperating on the island and asks her band, the Breakers, to open for his 1970 tour.  Jane insists on keeping her relationship with Jesse as secret, because she wants to be known for her music, not just as an opportunistic female. As the Breakers travel cross country on the tour, her A & R rep pressures her to capitalize on her romance to sell albums.  Complicating the situation is Vincent Ray, the producer who finds Jane's talent and independence threatening, and tries to derail her career. Although he is adept at hiding it, Jesse is a heroin addict and as the tour continues, Jane finds out and is pressured to coddle him and keep his secret.  Ultimately, she heads back to the island to record her seminal solo album, Songs in Ursa Major. The epilogue details the continuation of their friendship, although somewhat briefly. The book is based on the relationship between James Taylor and Joni Mitchell, although it stands on its own as a hero's journey where a woman with incredible musical gifts struggles to overcome the roadblocks the music business throws in her way.  Predictably Songs in Ursa Major is being adapted as a movie.  I can't wait to hear the soundtrack!

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Grieving Teens: In the Wild Light, Where It All Lands, and Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town.

 Having just lost a close friend in a head-on car collision, I find myself drawn to stories of grieving and loss right now.  Reading about others coping with grief informs me in my own process of dealing with his death. Jeff Zentner's (The Serpent King) latest book, In the Wild Light chronicles a teen grieving his grandpa's death by expressing himself through poetry.  Where It All Lands by Jennie Wexler opens with a unexplained funeral followed by a story told in a dual timeline revealing who lies in the casket. Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock (The Smell of Other People's Houses) is a collection of nine linked stories about small-town teens.

In the Wild Light introduces Appalachian teens Cash Pruitt and Delaney Doyle who have been best friends since childhood, having bonded over their parents' struggles with addiction.  When Delaney discovers a new mold with antibacterial properties in a local cave, she is offered a scholarship to a Connecticut science prep school. She agrees to go only if Cash is admitted, too.  Cash, whose beloved grandfather Papaw is dying from emphysema, is hesitant to go, but Delaney and his grandparents convince him to embrace this opportunity.  At first, they are fish out of water, but as they develop friendships and Delaney immerses herself in the science department and Cash discovers a passion for poetry, they begin to blossom.  As Papaw's condition worsens, Cash is more and more fretful about being away.  He pours his grief and homesickness into his poetry, which catches the attention of his poetry teacher, who becomes a trusted mentor.  His eloquent poems about love, family and grief, which are peppered throughout the text, are lyrical delights.  Although Cash and Delaney's relationship is threatened by differing challenges, they ultimately find their way back to each other. Perhaps I just read this book at the right time, but it is my favorite book so far this year. 

In Where It All Lands a coin flip creates a dual timeline, chronicling what happened for each outcome.  The story begins with a funeral, following a car accident, but the reader is kept in the dark as to who died.  Shane and Drew are neighbors and  best friends, who have both recently lost their dads.  Shane father succumbs to an illness and Drew's dad, a high powered music executive, has left his family behind for a new life. When Stevie Rosenstein moves to town and joins their school marching band, they both fall for her and flip a coin to see who gets to ask her out.  They all have a passion for music. Stevie plays the saxophone, Shane is a talented drummer and Drew is the lead singer in a rock band, but he picks up the trumpet to prove to his dad that he is a serious musician.  The first half of the book finds Drew winning the toss and entering a passionate relationship with Stevie, even though she and Shane are bonding over preparing for a music competition that may help her get a college scholarship.  The second half of the book ponders what would have happened if Shane won the coin toss.  Ultimately, the boys realize that have no control over Stevie's choices and the consequences.  The mystery as to who dies in the car accident creates suspense and the different timelines reinforce that there is more to love than initial attraction.

Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town is a story collection of nine linked third person narratives that take place in small towns from Alaska to Colorado. The common thread throughout involves a devastating wildfire and the disappearance of a young girl.  Gina is grieving her dead mother; Kelsey feels out of sync with her basketball obsessed community; Delia is looking for revenge on a pedophilic priest; other characters experience heartbreak and healing, but all are connected by the wildfire and missing girl.  Although some of the stories are stronger than others, all have a strong sense of place and relatable characters, who experience the suffocating social expectations of small rural communities.  Readers will enjoy recognizing overlapping locations and secondary characters, as well as solving the mystery of the missing girl.