YA New York

I haven’t even finished reading this book. Indeed, I am on page 277 out of 320. But I have to tell you about it. It’s urgent. Finishing the book can wait, because you need to know that Susane’s latest novel rocks.

It’s funny; I’ve been having this weird quandary about what my first post back should be. What book was I to review first? There have been so many good ones I can’t wait to tell you about: Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner, Cybermage by Alma Alexander, Gentlemen by Michael Northrop. Yesterday I read Initiation by Susan Fine, and it was pretty awesome. Indeed, I have a list of about twenty books I must tell you about.

But see, Waiting for You sucker-punched me. Because it’s about depression and anxiety, both of which I’ve grappled with for a very long time. And the book doesn’t treat these illnesses lightly. As a reader, you get to see how depression can take hold of a gal and drag her down. You also see how she can get back up, again and over again, in spite of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

Basic plot: Marisa is starting her sophomore year with that time-honored vow to reinvent her life. Last year she was a basketcase, or at least people thought she was one because she was so depressed and anxious and not talking about any of it. This year, so far, she’s doing better. Except that she doesn’t have a boyfriend. As time passes and pages turn, we get to see what happens over the course of the school year. Short answer? A lot.

Of course I have quibbles with Waiting for You. Like, there are way too many John Mayer references. (In my mind, one John Mayer reference is too many. But Susane really likes his music, which is a perfectly … err … valid acceptable opinion to hold.)

But what’s most important here is not John Mayer. It’s that I’m not even done reading this book, and even though I’m right at the part where everything is tragic — because that’s how books work — I’ve paused my reading to tell you to get yourself to a bookstore. Now. Right now. Immediately.

If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go finish reading now.

Much love,
brina

Dearest, darling readers:

I have not forgotten you, nor have I abandoned YA New York. I’m working on a re-design, and I’ve got some great books to tell you about in coming weeks. Also a few fantastic interviews, with the likes of Alma Alexander and Ned Vizzini. So don’t worry, my friends. I’ll be back so soon your heads will spin.

If you have any requests for things you’d like to see here on the site, this is your chance to chime in and tell me about how really, it would be so nice if the site had X and Y and Z. But please note that any requests for winged pink unicorns will be rejected outright.

We’ll be right back.

Much love,
brina

Dahlings,

YA New York is moving. Or rather, I am moving (about ten blocks away from where I live now), and so I’m temporarily putting a hold on YA NY. But don’t fear: once I’m settled into my new place I’m coming back with a new design, new author interviews, and tons of new reviews. There are so many books I can’t wait to tell you about! But first I need to pack them, unpack them, and so forth.

See you soon, and much love,
brina

Carrie Jones has made me afraid of the state of Maine. That’s right. After having read Need, I’m afraid to go to Maine, lest pixies attack me.

I’ll back up a bit: Our heroine, Zara, has been shipped off to her parents’ home state — Maine — several months after the death of her father. When the book opens, Zara is horribly depressed, deflated and inactive. Her mother sends her up to live with her Grandma Betty for awhile.

And then … well, then there are pixies. I won’t say much about that part, because then there would be spoilers galore.

But what I will say is this: Carrie’s book is a thriller made of awesome. She writes about Stephen King making Maine scary, but she does it just as well. I write this sitting in the desolate aftermath of the March snowstorm that has poured wrath on New York City, and I feel afraid of the cold. (Well, actually, there’s no heat in my house, so I am afraid of the cold anyway.) Seriously.

Oh, another cool thing Carrie does is she talks about fears. She names them. I believe she even names “fear of the cold,” but really it is cold enough in this house that my fingers are too cold for me to bother looking it up.

Anyway, I’m a bit late with this review, but I really wanted to make sure you all do go out and read Need if you haven’t already. And if you have read it, do come tell me what you thought!

PS. Random fact about Carrie Jones: she is not only a writer, she is a politician! In … Maine. I’d vote for her next time she runs for office, but I’m never going north of Boston after reading this book. No, indeed.

Liam Geller’s mother is a retired supermodel. His father is a CEO. And him? Well, he is king of the screwups, or at least that’s what he thinks, and his father, too, which is why he gets shipped off to his Aunt Pete’s trailer house in Pineville, New York.

Okay, the book isn’t out yet, but it will be in April, and I want you to be on notice for it. Today when I was at Brownstone Books, I came across a galley of it. (By the way, if you’re in Bed Stuy and you haven’t been to Brownstone Books, you’re missing out. The owner is a fantastic woman who will go out of her way to help you find books you’ll love, and she also happens to give out free galleys.)

I can’t wait for April, or risk waiting for April, to let you know that King of the Screwups is coming, and you’re going to love it when it does. It’s sad, and it’s funny, and it’s just generally one of those titles that will suck you in and force you to keep reading until you reach the last page.

Quick aside: If you don’t know about galleys, or ARCs, they are advance reader copies that have not yet been copyedited. They’re often full of typos, but this one was practically typo-free. Seriously, it was squeaky clean. It’s always a pleasure to read an early copy that is already in practically perfect shape. Which is not to say other galleys aren’t great — just that this one is particularly scrumptious, so please keep it filed in the back of your mind under “great books to expect in coming months.”

It’s hard for me to think of a book I’ve read in the last six months that was as absorbing as Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork.

The pub date is officially not until March, but Amazon’s already got it for sale, so I’m going to tell you about it now:

Marcelo Sandoval is a seventeen-year-old boy who suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome. (We talk a lot about Asperger’s these days, in a joking, offhand manner. We may say that anyone who is a bit nerdy must have Asperger’s. I myself have been party to a few of these conversations. But what we’re talking about is completely different from the more severe illness that falls within the autism spectrum.) Marcelo is highly-functioning, but while he could probably have gotten through a regular public school, he went instead to a school for children with autism. Until the summer after the end of his junior year, when his father announces that he will be attending public school in the fall and working at his father’s law firm this summer.

Of course, Marcelo doesn’t want this at all, and so we read about the struggles of working at the firm, but in the end the story is about much more than what is said. It is about coming to understand and love a character who suffers from a disorder most of us know very little about. Since Stork writes from Marcelo’s perspective, we get to think along with him, to share the way he sees the world.

Back to the story, I suppose: It’s a good one. Marcelo does face a lot of challenges in the real world, at the law firm, than he has in his thus-far protected life. He has to make decisions about what to do about a complicated moral dilemma. There is a bit at the end that is left unresolved — which left me wanting just a few pages more — but that is a personal preference and not a professional criticism. In other words, I can see quite plainly why things left off the way they did, and it works well.

Anyway, the reason I am so strongly recommending this book isn’t actually for the plot. Marcelo could be doing anything, and I’d read about it. His internal life is so fascinating, his character so complex, that he is completely real to me. It is as if Stork magically called a flesh and blood human being to my side.

Okay, so there’s no star system here, but if there were, I’d give this five hundred thousand. Go. Read. Come back, discuss.

Inkheart, the movie, based on Inkheart, Cornelia Funke’s bestselling YA novel, is an interesting specimen. The story is good (thanks to an exciting source), the cast is solid (Oscar winners! Bright newcomers), and all kinds of small elements in the film (costumes, locations, etc) are fabulous. Somehow, though, the final product doesn’t tie it all up in a bow. The flick feels kind of … average, which is fine for a fantasy adaptation in today’s culture of Harry Potter/LOTR wannabes, but not so great for fans of the novel looking for a loving cinematic incarnation. Read the rest of this entry »

All right, loves. Here’s another sweet treat for you: She’s So Money by Cherry Cheva.

Meet Maya, a Thai-American gal whose parents make her work at their restaurant every minute she’s not studying. Which is what she does most. Study. Because she’s determined to never, ever get a grade below an A, and to get into Stanford, and to get a merit-based scholarship to the aforementioned university, and to leave Michigan behind forever.

Maya is refreshingly not interested in popularity, or designer clothes, or prom. She’s one of those wonderful folks who embrace the inner nerd. In fact, she sort of despises the popular kids. Not in the way that most of us on the outside looking in do, (they’re evil and spoiled) but in a more un-interested “they’re so trashy” way. Did I mention yet that she’s awesome?

Problem: Maya gets assigned to tutor the super-popular Camden King, who is supposedly appallingly stupid and ridiculously trashy.

Of course all her problems start the minute Camden walks into her life. Stanford? The merit-based scholarship? These are beginning to look like far-fetched dreams. Also? She has six weeks to come up with ten thousand dollars.

I won’t say any more here, except that it’s a really enchanting read– blurbed by none other than Lauren Myracle herself — and that you should definitely investigate it next time you’re on a book-buying or borrowing expedition.

Oh, no. I will say one more thing: Cheva’s representation of Asian-American life is really on the mark. Yes, it’s supposed to be funny, and yes, you’re allowed to laugh. But Cheva (full last name: Chevapravatdumrong) does a great job of capturing the kind of pressure a lot of Asian kids deal with from their parents. Hmm. Actually, maybe I should do an Asian-American Lit roundup one of these days soon. There’s some good stuff floating around out there, She’s So Money included.

I honestly don’t think I’ll ever stop wanting more of Princess Mia Thermopolis, who emerged in 2000 as an awesome vegetarian/die-hard liberal/Greenwich Village-dwelling teenager and completely unwilling heir to the throne of Genovia.

Which is why this book left me a little, you know, misty. It’s the final installment of Meg’s series, and it takes place almost two years after volume nine, Princess Mia, just as our awesome heroine is about to graduate from high school.

Her friendship with Lana Weinberger (!!!), formerly the evil wench who tortured her when she was naught but a nerdy, gawky girl, has thrived. Indeed, Lana has become part of Mia’s pack, while Lilly Moscovitz is still not quite a friend. Furthermore, Mia is still dating J.P., aka the guy who hates when they put corn in the chili. And Michael, Mia’s long-lost love? To her knowledge, he’s still off in Japan.

The future looks bleak. Like, you know, Mia is going to end up with chili-corn guy, not friends with Lilly, and to top it all off, her father may lose the election for prime minister of Genovia to his own cousin!

Okay, but down to the nitty gritty: The book is well-written (of course), and super-fun (of course), and generally everything we’ve come to expect from the legendary Meg Cabot.

… But what can I say? I want more. I want more Mia. I will always want more Mia, because the girl is seriously awesome. (Although I’ve yet to read her romance novel, Ransom My Heart, but it’s next on my to-buy list.)

Seriously? I think we all sort of have to mourn the end of an era here. Meg has written lots of other awesome books, and she’s got lots more coming. Still, my dear friend Jami B. introduced Meg’s writing to me shortly after I’d left college because I’d gotten sick. She sent me a copy of the freshly minted Princess Diaries, along with a plastic tiara (covered in pink feathers and pink rhinestones). Jami insisted I’d enjoy the novel best if I wore the tiara while reading the book, and she was right. I think I still have that thing in one of my “memory boxes” somewhere.

Suffice it to say, Meg’s writing has made dark times more bearable for me for a good eight years now. When I’m really down in the dumps, I whip one of Meg’s books off the shelf I have reserved for her writing, and then I draw myself a nice rose-scented bubble bath. It never fails.

So yes. I’ll miss Mia’s crazy antics quite a bit. Almost enough to suggest that you shouldn’t read Forever Princess until you’ve prepared yourself emotionally. But honestly? Who can wait. Go dig in. And don’t forget the bubble bath. I personally recommend JASON Cosmetics rosewater and glycerine bath gel. Grab the book, grab a bottle of JASON bath gel wherever organic cosmetics are sold, and hop into the tub.

Then, of course, come back and tell me what you think.

Another date to mark on your calendars, kiddies: May 26.

Let me say it louder: May 26.

Let me say it softer: Actually, not May 26. Scroll to the bottom of this preview for more info.

Diana Peterfreund has written her first YA novel, and I’ve just this moment finished reading it. (Diana’s other novels were often mistaken for YA, which must have been frustrating to her. She’s the author of the Secret Society Girl series, which has been constantly mis-shelved.)

Anyway, Rampant is fantastic. Seriously awesome. A little bit of fantasy, a little bit of chick lit, and a bunch of unicorns.

That’s right. Unicorns.

Okay, so here is where I admit that I met Diana at a party awhile back. She told me she was writing her first YA novel, and she said it was about unicorns. I smiled and nodded, and I thought, “Unicorns??? She’s crazy. That might work for eight-year-old girls, but no properly developed teenager wants to read about unicorns.”

I’m sorry, Diana. So very sorry for misjudging you.

… Because, you see, Diana’s unicorns aren’t pink and sparkly. No, actually they’re hideous evil man-eating monsters. YES.

I’m not giving anything away here. And I’ll write a proper “review” once the book comes out. On May 26. But just be warned, my friends. Go pre-order this thing from Amazon.com or your local bookseller. I’m telling you, Diana’s book is going to be a huge hit.

(PS. This book almost makes me understand the unicorns versus zombies arguments between a bunch of YA authors. Almost, but not quite. After reading Rampant, I’m totally siding with unicorns.)

EDIT: The publication date of this book has been pushed back to September of ‘09. So, umm, please change the date in your calendars, and remember to pick up a copy of Diana’s fantabulous upcoming evil unicorn thriller in September. If you go to the store for it in May, you’ll be sadly disappointed!