YA New York

The second book in Alma Alexander’s Worldweavers trilogy is a whole bunch of things: funny, witty, mysterious, other-worldly, strange, and most importantly, awesome.

Alas, Alma did not get particularly lucky when it came to the cover design, but don’t let that turn you off. I mean, it almost turned me off. Because I got her books and was like, “OMG. This must be some seriously goofy genre sci fi/fantasy nonsense.”

But then I read the first book in this trilogy, Gift of the Unmage, and was drawn in by Alma’s tale of Galathea (Thea) Winthrop, a teenager who lives in a world where it seems everyone has magic powers — except for her. Thea is under a lot of pressure, too, because she is the seventh child of two seventh children. This apparently means she’s supposed to be super-powerful, but when we meet her at the beginning of book one, it seems she hasn’t got an iota of magical talent.

First things first: You can not read Spellspam until you’ve read Gift of the Unmage, which is a good book, a fast read, and also very reminiscent of some of Madeleine L’Engle’s lesser known books. (Specifically, it’s kind of like a few of the companion books to A Wrinkle in Time, but I won’t say which ones because I don’t want to spoil anything for you. And because I can never keep those books straight. A Wind in the Planet? A Swiftly Tilting Door?)

Now, as for Spellspam, it’s just unique. Concept: Magical spam. Not the canned meat product, but the unwanted e-mail. You read the e-mail, and next thing you know you’re under a spell. Some of the spells are hilarious, some are horrid, but the whole book is yummy.

I can’t say anything more! I just can’t, or I’ll wind up giving away details of the first book, of which you may not be aware. Indeed, I don’t want to talk about this trilogy at all. I just want you to read it. And then maybe we can talk.

With that, my friends, I must announce that I am taking a one-week vacation and will not be updating YA New York until next Friday. So sorry to tell you at the last minute, but other duties call, and even bloggers must take summer vacations, you know.

So please. Take the next week to read some of the many books recommended here, and I’ll see you soon, yeah?

Much love,
brina

Edit: I’m having so much fun on my blog-cation — having now read every single book in the house, I swear — that I’m extending it until Monday, when I will proudly present an interview with Kimberly Pauley, founder of YA Books Central and author of the soon-to-be-released Sucks to Be Me. I’ll tell you more on Monday. For now, enjoy the weekend, dear readers!

All right. I’m doing things all out of order, but I just finished reading Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr, which came on the tail of Wicked Lovely (I was a MM virgin, it’s true). And only a week or so ago, I read Ironside by Holly Black, and I need to talk to you.

I need to talk to you about faeries. I need to talk to you about my serious lack of education in the land of faery. Because see, Holly and Melissa use all the same lingo. Let’s start with something really simple, which is a thing called “glamour.” Note that it is spelled with a u, as if the word is inherently British or Canadian. Note that both Melissa and Holly are American.

Glamour: n., a kind of false skin that makes faeries visible to mortals, and makes them look mortal, and can even protect them from things they are allergic to, like iron.

Yes, apparently it is also a fact in the faery universe, a commonly known fact, that all faeries are allergic to iron.

But I didn’t know any of these things until I read the first of Holly’s modern faery tales, Tithe. I didn’t know any of them at all! Like, did you know what the effects of a four-leafed clover are on a faery? Yeah, neither did I. (more…)

Okay, this book only arrived in the mail yesterday. I, having an ear infection and being good for absolutely nothing but reading in bed, gobbled it down like it was manna from heaven.

Short synopsis: Chloe, fifteen, gets locked up in a group home for teens when she suddenly starts to see ghosts. The cast of characters at Lyle House, where she ends up, is as strange as she is. No, stranger. They may all have diagnoses — schizophrenia, in Chloe’s case — but they’ve got something else, too. Superpowers? Something like that.

It’s a book about a girl who sees ghosts, so it’s a little creepy. And it gets creepier as time passes. Best of all, it’s told from the perspective of a girl who is obsessed with film and wants to be a director one day. So we get all sorts of, “If this were a movie, X would happen” moments. You’ve got to love that whole told-like-a-movie thing Kelley’s got going on here.

Honestly? Kelley Armstrong totally saved my day yesterday. She made it not worthless. And she made me desperate for the sequel, The Awakening, which is slated for May 2009. Wait. May 2009? You mean I have to wait almost a year to find out what happens next???

Well, I’m not happy, but I suppose I have to admit it’s worth the wait. Anyway, get started, so you can be as totally keyed up in anticipation as I am.

Buy The Summoning from Amazon.com.

Lizabeth Zindel’s second book is every bit as good as her first. It’s like Mean Girls on the printed page, only not quite as obvious in its “… and the moral of the story is!”

Also, we can all take a sigh of relief upon noting that there is no Lindsay Lohan in this book. But of course, we can also sob uncontrollably upon realizing that Tina Fey doesn’t make an appearance, either.

Okay, down to the meat of it: The story goes something like this. Our heroine, Maggie, moves from Jersey to NYC when her parents split. It’s not exactly a happy parting for anyone, either; Maggie’s dad is barely speaking to her when the story opens. But then she starts school at Berkeley Prep, where everyone is super-rich and super-chic. She starts out as a loner (of course), but is soon adopted by the most popular of popular gals (of course).

Everything is going swimmingly until … well. Things start to get messy — really messy. I’ll give you three guesses as to how.

It’s a good read, and it reminds me not only of Mean Girls, but also of a slightly preppier version of The Rise and Fall of a 10th Grade Social Climber by Lauren Mechling and Laura Moser. Since I absolutely adore both Mean Girls and Social Climber, I can’t help but give this tome the thumbs up.

Buy The Secret Rites of Social Butterflies from Amazon.com.