Announcing...The Cybils YA Shortlist!!!

Audrey, Wait!
written by Robin Benway
Penguin USA

Audrey started it by breaking up with Evan, but when he releases a hit song about her things quickly spiral out of control in this fresh, funny novel by Robin Benway. Audrey's distinct, snarky voice and her passion for music immediately sucked me in to the story. Lots of musical details and a cast of well-developed supporting characters flesh out the book. This is a fun read, but it also takes a look at the flip side of being a celebrity - maybe being famous isn't all it's cracked up to be!
--Abby Johnson, Abby (the) Librarian

Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, The
written by E Lockhart
Hyperion

The summer before her sophomore year, Frankie Landau-Banks blossomed. Upon her return to prep school, she finds that she is suddenly one of the most sought-after girls on campus. E. Lockhart has written a novel that is an utter joy to read. Not only is her prose delicious, playful, and lovely, but she created a completely irresistible character and a completely irresistible storyline, complete with a secret society, first love, and the discovery of the delights to be found in the novels of P.G. Wodehouse. Viva La Frankie!
--Leila Roy, Bookshelves of Doom

I know It's Over
written by C. K. Kelly Martin
Random House Children's Books

Nick is sixteen and still in love with Sasha when she tells him she thinks they need a break, still in love with her weeks later when she tells him she's pregnant. In her debut novel, C. K. Kelly Martin writes with precision and honesty about an emotional subject: first love. I Know It's Over traces the arc of Nick's relationship with Sasha from the beginning through the end. But this is not just another story about a guy in love or teen pregnancy; it's a novel in which every detail feels so real and true that you could swear that Nick, Sasha, their family, and friends all actually exist.
--Trisha Murakami, The YA YA YAs

Jellicoe Road
written by Melina Marchetta
HarperCollins

My father took one hundred and thirty-two minutes to die. I counted. It happened on the Jellicoe Road." Thus begins the beautiful and haunting novel, Jellicoe Road, by Australian author Melina Marchetta. The narrative hooked me with the prologue and while I'll be the first to admit that the novel had its challenging moments--it's not a straightforward novel; it weaves two stories together--I never once considered abandoning it. It's intricately and exquisitely written. It's bittersweet, tragic, beautiful, and redemptive. A true must-read in my opinion.
--Becky Laney, Becky's Book Reviews

Sweethearts
written by Sara Zarr
Little, Brown

Jenna has left behind a painful childhood. With her mother's remarriage and subsequent move, she's reinvented herself. Then her grade-school friend, who Jenna thought was dead, shows up at her high school. This novel's crisp focus on the relationship between Jenna and the ghost from her past gives this story heart and soul. It will have readers wondering how the traumas of their young childhoods affect who they are today--and how much any of us are capable of helping the people who have touched our lives the most.
--Kate Fall, Author 2 Author

Ten Cents a Dance
written by Christine Fletcher
Bloomsbury USA

In this beautifully crafted piece of historical fiction about a Chicago taxi dancer in the 1940s, Christine Fletcher brings to life the shady world of a girl who is paid to dance with lonely strangers. Getting to know spirited Ruby was a pleasure, and the gorgeous use of language and 1940s slang in Ruby's authentic voice made this book truly captivating. The experience of being immersed in the vividly captured setting, accompanied by characters that feel like real people, is one that shouldn't be missed.
--Jocelyn Pearce, Teen Book Review

Thaw
written by Monica Roe
Boyds Mills Press

Temporarily paralyzed by Guillain-Barre Syndrome, popular jock Dane is sent to a rehabilitation center in Florida, where he's forced to change his icy exterior while breaking down physical and emotional walls. Though instantly filled with dislike for this exasperating main character, the incredibly powerful themes of love, patience, and honesty had me hooked from the very beginning, both on the plot and on Dane.
--Amanda Snow, A Patchwork of Books

--Jackie Parker, organizer

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Found on the Cybils blog this lovely morning: the shortlist announcements for each category:

Click on each genre for its short list:

Easy Readers
Fantasy & Science Fiction
Fiction Picture Books
Graphic Novels
Middle Grade Fiction
Non-Fiction MG/YA*
Non-Fiction Picture Books
Poetry
Young Adult Fiction

Happy New Year, book lovers!
--Anne Levy, Editor

*We expect this list soon. Sorry for the wait.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Mousetraps

Schmatz, Pat. 2008. Mousetraps.

Mousetraps is a busy little book. In a way it reminds me of Sweethearts by Sara Zarr. And it feels like a cousin once or twice removed from a Barry Lyga novel*. At the heart of this novel, is the story of an almost-friendship. Once upon a time (back in elementary school) there was a girl, Maxie, who was quite good friends with a boy, Roddy Nash. After a violent (bullying) incident in middle school (seventh grade, I think), Roddy moves away...only to resurface several years later in high school. He is now calling himself Rick. Maxie is shocked to see him in her chemistry class. Not happy. Not upset. Just shocked. You see in the last year (or two) when she'd known him she had begun to distance herself from him. His nerdiness was becoming more apparent--or perhaps, she just began caring that he was a bit different from the other kids.

Now that he's back, Maxie is trying to decide what their relationship--if any--should be. Just lab partners? Just friends? Just friends outside of school? Boyfriend and girlfriend?

As I said, this is a busy book. There are many different complicating layers to the basic plot. Her cousin, Sean, and his biracial jock boyfriend, Dexter, who is still in the closet. Her best friend, Tay, who is becoming more and more distant as she experiments with drugs. And there are the assumptions and burdens of memory. How traumatized was Roddy from all those years before? Is Rick gay? Is Rick in denial? Does Rick have an anger problem? Now that it's written out, it doesn't seem like those additional story lines would cloud up the text...but it just felt like this was too much of a "problem" novel.

I think the book tried to do too much in a way. (Especially towards the end.) Yes, life is complicated. Yes, people often have more than one problem to deal with at a time. But the characters and the plot seemed to only have dimensions because of the problems. Take away the problems, and what you're left with are very flat characters. The problems define the characters. That isn't true of everyone. There are a few that are multi-dimensional.

Another review of Moustraps: Amanda,
*I'm thinking of The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Ten Cents A Dance

Fletcher, Christine. 2008. Ten Cents a Dance.

Ten Cents a Dance is a book I enjoyed. A great deal enjoyed. But it could make a movie that I would just love and adore. Set around 1940-1941, the novel follows the adventures and misadventures of a teen girl, Ruby Jacinski, who is charmed away from the meat factories by the glamor and allure of a local dance hall. Instead of slaving all day for a very small paycheck, she could be dancing the night away at a taxi dance hall. Ten cents per dance. A nickel is hers to keep. A nickel is the dance hall's share. And her partners almost always tip as well. It may be small--a nickel, a dime--or a bit larger--half-dollar or dollar. Sometimes they even offer to take her out for a meal and/or to another after-hours club. (The men can buy the rest of her dances for the evening to the club and she can clock out early.) Sometimes they give her money or gifts as well. Of course, they're hoping that these lead to something else. They want much more than a dance for their trouble if they're going to spend more than a dime or two on her. It's a sometimes dangerous game that Ruby is playing with herself. And of course, Ruby's mother is a bit clueless about her daughter's new job. Easily placated by lies that her daughter is a telephone operator.

Whose idea was this in the first place? Ruby heard about the dance halls and the opportunity to earn up to $50 a week from the local bad boy, gangster-wanna-be Paulie Suelze. He's a guy that everyone warns her about, but no one can keep her from. Even as she's accepting all these favors from men--and these favors include a smooch or two--she's secretly sneaking around with Paulie. A guy who's not even remotely bothered that "his girl" is running around all hours of the night with men paying her to keep them company. Sounds suspcious doesn't it?

The characters are well drawn, and the plot kept my interest throughout. Definitely something I'd be happy to recommend to those that love historical fiction--especially world war 2 themed historical fiction.

I won't go into all the details. But this one is nicely layered in culture (among other things). The music. The movies. The dances. The clothes. The hairstyles. I just think this would make a great movie--so you could see the whole picture of what life is like.

There is an actual song from the 1930s called "Ten Cents A Dance."

Songwriters: Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers (1930)

Ten cents a dance, that's what they pay me
Gosh, how they weigh me down
Ten cents a dance, pansies and rough guys
Tough guys who tear my gown

Seven to midnight I hear drums
Loudly the saxophone blows
Trumpets are tearing my eardrums
Customers crush my toes

Sometimes I think I've found my hero
But it's a queer romance
All that you need is a ticket
Come on, big boy, ten cents a dance



I admit I like the cover of the ARC better than the final cover.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Shifty

Hazen, Lynn E. 2008. Shifty.

Here was a novel that surprised me. The cover didn't necessarily show much promise that I'd love it. And if it hadn't been nominated in the Cybils YA category, I might have missed this one. And that would have been wrong. Because I enjoyed this one. I did. The characters are flawed--very human--but the narrator, Soli, (a.k.a Shifty or Solomon) won me over...and quite quickly at that. He is a fifteen year old guy who is doing the best that he can. He's been in the foster care system for a while now--since he was a preschooler essentially--and it hasn't always treated him fairly. But the place he's at now...is the best he's ever known. And he'll do almost anything to stay there. Martha, his foster mom, may not be good at sticking to all the rules...but she sure does have a heart of gold. Soli isn't her only foster child. There is also Sissy and Chance. (Yes, those are their nicknames.) Chance is a baby that was born drug-addicted.

What can I say about this family? I cared. Martha. Soli. Sissy. Their story engaged me in a way that I wasn't expecting. Once I picked this one up, I didn't want to put it down again.

Other reviews: The Ya, Ya, Yas;
http://www.shiftythebook.com/
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Would You

Jocelyn, Marthe. 2008. Would You.

A Question
Would you rather know what's going to happen? Or not know?

Claire and Natalie are sisters. Sisters with the whole summer to look forward to. But one tragic accident changes their big plans and wipes away their hopes and dreams for good times. The future can be changed in an instant.

What more can be said? When it comes down to it, you're either drawn to tragic, sad books...or you're not. It is well written. The story is compelling. This is a book where you know exactly what you're getting yourself into. No big surprises there.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Madapple

Meldrum, Christina. 2008. Madapple.

The women resemble schoolgirls with gangly limbs, ruddy cheeks, plaited flaxen hair; they walk holding hands.

Weird and sometimes wonderful is how I'd describe Madapple by Christina Meldrum. It's not a novel for everyone. It's a bit dark, a bit moody, at times overwhelming, and not a bit traditional. It's a complex plot in a way. Well written. Well imagined. But very weird. Of course, there are plenty of folks that would read that description and think "this is the book for me!"

Set in the modern world--in America to be exact--the book has a very strange otherworldly feel to it. In part because our heroine, Aslaug, has been raised in isolation. Her mother, Maren, is a hard woman to know, to understand, to love. The two have been living in the country, living off the land for the most part. Aslaug has never attended school or church. She's never interacted or associated with anyone really. Though the two did occasionally venture into the nearest town to collect their mail and buy a few supplies now and then. But she's never known about the real world. She's lived a very sheltered, very odd existence. The information that her mother thought was most important to pass down to her daughter--and the information that her mother chose to conceal--is what sets Aslaug apart from her peers. What Aslaug knows is the natural world--the world of herbs and plants and weeds (roots, barks, etc.) She knows what plants are poisonous, and which ones aren't. And it is this knowledge of the natural world (in some ways associated with witches and witchcraft) that get her into trouble as the reader learns.

Maren, Aslaug's mother, dies of cancer. Though the powers-that-be suspect foul play for a bit and place Aslaug under arrest. (True, it was a bit strange that this teenage girl would try to bury her mother in the back yard after discovering her body instead of calling the authorities and arranging for a proper burial. But this "mistake" makes sense in connection with Aslaug's upbringing. What does she know of the authorities? Of the police? Of what's proper and improper?)

After Maren's death, Aslaug goes to stay with her mother's sister--her aunt Sara--and her cousins, Sanne and Rune. One might for half a second think this would be an improvement for her. That she would learn what it was like to be normal, to be loved....but no....this family she now finds herself in is just plain weird. Weird and a bit delusional. A bit out-of-place. Completely alien-outsider-culture going on in the midst of a modern day setting. What makes them so weird? They're cult-like, ultra-weird, non-traditional, spiritual-religious environment where everything's turned inside out and upside down and given a good shake or two.

Did I like it? Yes and no. I can see that it's well done. But it's a bit too weird for my personal taste. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad I read it. I couldn't put it down. It had me hooked from almost the very start. But once is enough for me. I won't be rereading it anytime soon. But I wouldn't be surprised to read that others loved it. Or if it began receiving attention on best-of-lists, etc.

I don't know if this description will make sense to anyone or not...but this is a thunderstorm of a book. You know how some people love the sound of rain, wind, and thunder...and others not so much. It's just a very symbolically-stormy kind of book.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Cybils! YA Panel

I'm on the Cybils YA panel this year!! And I am looking forward to it for many reasons. Look who I get to work with! Great people and some potentially great books. Nominations begin on October 1. So start thinking now of which titles you'd like to nominate. The categories are: fantasy and science fiction, fiction picture books, nonfiction picture books, easy readers, middle grade fiction, middle grade & young adult nonfiction, young adult fiction, poetry, graphic novels. For more on the cybils, visit the website.
The introductory post is here. (Two panels haven't been announced yet...graphic and fantasy and science fiction.) The post listing the rules (some new) for this year can be found here. One of the new rules is "This year, only books published in English between Jan. 1 and Oct. 15 are eligible."

Organizer: Jackie Parker Interactive Reader

Panelists (Round I judges)

Leila Roy Bookshelves of Doom
Rebecca Laney Becky's Book Reviews
Amanda Snow A Patchwork of Books
Trisha Murakami The Ya Ya Yas
Kate Fall Author2Author
Jocelyn Pearce Teen Book Review
Abby Johnson Abby (the) Librarian

Judges (Round II)

Jackie Parker Interactive Reader
Sarah Stevenson Finding Wonderland, Readers' Rants
Allie/Little Willow Bildungsroman
Lili Wilkinson Inside a Dog
Casey Titschinger Avid Teen Reader

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews