Jill Ratzan

Mystery & SuspenseYA FictionYAMystery

The complicated boundaries of friendship

Review by Jill Ratzan

Jessica Wong and Angie Redmond are always together . . . until Margot and Ryan, students at the local boarding school, walk into the ice cream parlor where Angie works. Margot and Angie hit it off and start to date, but Jess hates Margot immediately. In part, it’s because of Margot’s actions, but it’s also simply because of her presence: Margot and Angie’s relationship forces Jess to articulate her own longstanding romantic attraction to Angie.

Eventually, the four girls confront one another at a party that ends in tragedy—and confusion. A body is later found in the woods, and the girls’ intersecting loyalties may have something to do with it. What does each girl know? How do their various accounts fit with evidence discovered by investigating detectives? Who is lying, and why?

As the main tale unfolds, so does a parallel internal one: Jess, a talented cartoonist, is searching for an origin story for her anime character Kestrel. Do Kestrel’s feelings parallel Jess’ own?

Author Malinda Lo’s A Line in the Dark is filled with mystery, suspense, romance and an exploration of friendship’s boundaries (or its lack thereof). Known for writing complex and diverse characters, Lo tells her new story in a combination of flashbacks, Jess’ first-person voice, transcripts of interviews and a spooky, omniscient third-person narrator. Each time readers think the truth is about to be revealed, another twist awaits. The denouement will have readers scrambling back through the book’s pages, looking for clues they missed on the first read.

Jessica Wong and Angie Redmond are always together . . . until Margot and Ryan, students at the local boarding school, walk into the ice cream parlor where Angie works. Margot and Angie hit it off and start to date, but Jess hates Margot immediately. In part, it’s because of Margot’s actions, but it’s also simply because of her presence: Margot and Angie’s relationship forces Jess to articulate her own longstanding romantic attraction to Angie.

YA FictionYA

A stunning story of a single day

Review by Jill Ratzan

BookPage Teen Top Pick, October 2017

It’s a regular summer’s day for Adam Thorn. It begins with picking up gardening supplies for his mother (even though his brother, Marty, ran over her chrysanthemums). Later, he’s off to run with his cross-country team, and then he clocks in at what he calls the Evil International Mega-Conglomerate warehouse. After that it’s a brief stop to see his best friend, Angela, followed by his boyfriend, Linus. That evening, Adam helps at his preacher father’s evangelical church and ends the night at a going-away party for Enzo, an ex for whom Adam still yearns.

Adam’s day alternates between the mundane and the extraordinary: Angela and Marty both have revelations to share; Linus needs more from Adam than his heart is ready to give; and Adam’s tenuous truce with his father may be coming to an end. But as Adam’s day progresses, so does someone else’s: that of a mysterious presence who might be the ghost of a murdered girl—or perhaps the embodiment of an ancient water queen. Adam’s story and that of the drowned spirit run parallel for a time, but when they overlap, both could find some kind of release.

Drawing inspiration from Judy Blume’s Forever . . . and Virginia Woolf’s classic circadian novel Mrs. Dalloway, this new novel from Carnegie Medal winning-author Patrick Ness features diverse characters, unique religious perspectives (Adam’s father’s strict rules don’t hold a monopoly on spirituality) and just enough honest talk about sex to make it a good choice for older teen readers.

 

This article was originally published in the October 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Drawing inspiration from Judy Blume’s Forever . . . and Virginia Woolf’s classic circadian novel Mrs. Dalloway, this new novel from Carnegie Medal winning-author Patrick Ness features diverse characters, unique religious perspectives (Adam’s father’s strict rules don’t hold a monopoly on spirituality) and just enough honest talk about sex to make it a good choice for older teen readers.

Science Fiction & FantasyYA FictionYAFantasy

A dark, thrilling take on Snow White

Review by Jill Ratzan

Ever since Lynet’s mother, the last queen, hanged herself, the kingdom of Whitespring has been covered year-round in snow. Teenage Lynet, next in line for the throne, has never been cold; her Southern stepmother, Mina, has never felt warm. Lynet and Mina have always cared for each other, but when Lynet befriends Whitespring’s new surgeon, Nadia, secrets are revealed and relationships begin to unravel. Why does Lynet look exactly like her dead mother? Why does Mina believe no one can truly love her? What is this connection that Lynet and Nadia seem to share? At first, King Nicholas and Mina’s magician father make all the decisions. But the female characters triumph, not by playing by the male characters’ rules but by rewriting them.

This is “Snow White” as it’s never been told before. Fans of “Game of Thrones” will relish the loyalties and betrayals, but author Melissa Bashardoust sidesteps most of the violence that characterizes George R.R. Martin’s work. With elements of the medieval legend of the golem, echoes of the movie Frozen and plenty of magic, Girls Made of Snow and Glass is a feminist fantasy not to be missed.

 

This article was originally published in the September 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

This is “Snow White” as it’s never been told before. Fans of “Game of Thrones” will relish the loyalties and betrayals, but author Melissa Bashardoust sidesteps most of the violence that characterizes George R.R. Martin’s work. With elements of the medieval legend of the golem, echoes of the movie Frozen and plenty of magic, Girls Made of Snow and Glass is a feminist fantasy not to be missed.

YA FictionYA

When home looks different

Review by Jill Ratzan

BookPage Teen Top Pick, August 2017

Ever since their families merged eight years ago, Suzette and Lionel have been inseparable siblings. She calls him Lion; he calls her Little. Suzette and her mother, Nadine, are African-American, while Lionel and his father, Saul, are white. Suzette and Nadine converted to Judaism as they embraced Saul’s traditions, and all four have celebrated Shabbat every Friday night ever since.

But when Lionel was diagnosed with bipolar disorder last year, Suzette was sent to boarding school in the Northeast. Her parents expected this separation to help her live her own life, undistracted by her brother’s needs, but no one, including Suzette herself, expected her to fall in love at school . . . with her roommate, another girl.

Now back in Los Angeles for the summer, Suzette has a lot of adjusting to do. What does Lionel need from her, and what is she willing to give? As she renews her relationships with her family and her lesbian best friend DeeDee, she also struggles to name her own emerging sexuality. Is she bisexual if she’s attracted to both the hypnotic Rafaela, a Latina co-worker at her summer job, and Emil, a half-black, half-Korean boy?

Told in a combination of present-day narration and flashbacks, Little & Lion is simultaneously a quick read and a thoughtful one. Navigating intersectional identities is never easy, and author Brandy Colbert doesn’t shy away from details of mental health, racism and how these issues affect friendships and families. This is an intense, readable and highly recommended choice.

 

Jill Ratzan is a sharer of stories, an organizer of information, and a fan of traditions and technologies.

This article was originally published in the August 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Brandy Colbert doesn’t shy away from details of mental health, racism and how these issues affect friendships and families. This is an intense, readable and highly recommended choice.

Science Fiction & FantasyYA FictionYAScience Fiction

Sly satire with heart

Review by Jill Ratzan

Ten teenagers. One soundstage made to look like a spacecraft. Plus a questionable scientific agency, a maniacal producer and a dozen or so corporate sponsors. What could possibly go wrong?

Told in transcripts of audio and video recordings, blog posts and other documents obtained by a disgruntled intern, Waste of Space follows an eponymous reality show. Documents show the daily power struggles, challenges and romantic trysts of the “Space­tronauts,” along with the personal confessions they’re encouraged to record, the highly edited results that appear on TV and the increasingly frantic conversations that occur among various behind-the-scenes partners.

Discerning readers might initially get frustrated by the clichés, including the show’s instant and intense social media popularity and the overt product placement. But as these elements fall away or twist in on themselves, the characters are revealed to be more than they seem. Readers will come to see that Waste of Space is a satire skewering every element it seemed at first to glorify.

Author Gina Damico, best known for her humor/horror hybrids like the recent Wax, taps into a cultural zeitgeist of advertising saturation, Hunger Games spin-offs and self-mocking tales like Joss Whedon’s movie The Cabin in the Woods. A bit of real emotional power sneaks in with the mockery, leading readers to question the lines between realistic fiction, science fiction, magical realism and parody.

 

This article was originally published in the July 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Ten teenagers. One soundstage made to look like a spacecraft. Plus a questionable scientific agency, a maniacal producer and a dozen or so corporate sponsors. What could possibly go wrong?

YA FictionYA

A summer teen romance with a touch of magic

Review by Jill Ratzan

Sam wants a boyfriend. But having exhausted all known possibilities (specifically his ex-boyfriend and now best friend, Landon), he feels like he’s out of options. Maybe, he muses, he should give up on love entirely and focus on his creative writing instead.

When his other best friend Meg, a practicing Wiccan, suggests a love spell, a skeptical Sam decides to give it a try. He composes a “Perfect Ten” list of the top 10 characteristics he wants in a beau and burns the list at midnight in a spooky cemetery ceremony.

Enter a parade of prospects, including a sexy French exchange student, a quiet and intense painter, a just slightly dangerous lead guitarist . . . and Landon, who wants another chance. Could any—or all—of these suitors be Sam’s Perfect Ten? Or is the whole idea of a Perfect Ten list the wrong way to think about finding the right guy in the first place?

Rather than being an angst-ridden story about coming out, Perfect Ten is a romantic comedy that happens to be about boys dating boys. Don’t think too much about where the line falls between realism and campy wish-fulfillment here: Like its literary godparent Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan, the point of L. Philips’ lighthearted story isn’t to reflect reality so much as to enhance it. A fun, sweet and sexy summer read for anyone who’s ever sought (and maybe even found) that special person, perfect or not.

Sam wants a boyfriend. But having exhausted all known possibilities (specifically his ex-boyfriend and now best friend, Landon), he feels like he’s out of options. Maybe, he muses, he should give up on love entirely and focus on his creative writing instead.

YA FictionYALGBTQ Fiction

A teenage girl stops treading water

Review by Jill Ratzan

Blue-haired high school senior Ramona has always known what her future will hold: She’ll stay in her small Mississippi town, work multiple jobs, date tourist girls and live with her father and older sister, Hattie, in the cramped trailer that’s been home ever since Hurricane Katrina upended their lives. When Hattie accidentally gets pregnant, Ramona has even more reason to envision a life spent putting others’ needs before her own. But then her childhood friend Freddie moves back to town.

Freddie fits in seamlessly with Ramona’s friends—including gay siblings Saul and Ruthie—and when Ramona swims laps with Freddie at the YMCA, she feels like she’s reclaiming a part of herself that she’s long since pushed aside. Soon she and Freddie find their respective romantic entanglements coming to awkward ends, and she begins to feel more than friendship for Freddie. As she navigates relationships with Freddie’s kind grandmother, her own estranged mother and Hattie’s live-in boyfriend, Ramona starts to question long-held certainties. What does it mean to like girls but also be attracted to your male best friend? What balance can she find between realistic possibilities and Cinderella dreams?

Julie Murphy, acclaimed author of Dumplin’, once again takes on the voice of a marginalized teen, tackling issues of economic, racial and sexual diversity with love, humor and hope.

 

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read a Q&A with Julie Murphy about Ramona Blue.

This article was originally published in the May 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Blue-haired high school senior Ramona has always known what her future will hold: She’ll stay in her small Mississippi town, work multiple jobs, date tourist girls and live with her father and older sister, Hattie, in the cramped trailer that’s been home ever since Hurricane Katrina upended their lives. When Hattie accidentally gets pregnant, Ramona has even more reason to envision a life spent putting others’ needs before her own. But then her childhood friend Freddie moves back to town.

YA FictionYALGBTQ Fiction

Love and friendship

Review by Jill Ratzan

Last semester ended badly for Ben and Rafe. How could they do anything but break up after Rafe lied to him? But the spring semester is about to start at elite all-boys boarding school Natick, and Ben might be ready to be friends . . . or more than friends with Rafe again.

In this follow-up to Openly Straight, readers see inside Ben’s head for the first time. Ben has recently won a prestigious scholarship, been voted captain of the baseball team, begun a new semester of Model Congress and met a smart, interesting girl. But as Ben struggles with balancing all these commitments, Rafe is always on his mind. Would Ben and Rafe be fine as best friends, or does either of them want more? How can Ben consider himself attracted to girls, yet always be drawn to kissing Rafe? Should he stand up to the casual misogyny of his teammates, or is maintaining a low profile more important to him?

Readers may wish more time had been allotted to addressing one of the novel’s most interesting issues—the conflict between Rafe’s mother’s insistence on labeling Ben versus Ben’s reluctance to label himself. But plenty of humor, often in the form of the comic escapades of Ben and Rafe’s friends Toby and Albie, balance out the serious issues of gender fluidity, emotional vulnerability, economic privilege and the inadequacy of labels that author Bill Konigsberg addresses here.

 

This article was originally published in the April 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Last semester ended badly for Ben and Rafe. How could they do anything but break up after Rafe lied to him? But the spring semester is about to start at elite all-boys boarding school Natick, and Ben might be ready to be friends . . . or more than friends with Rafe again.

Science Fiction & FantasyYA FictionYAFantasy

A supernatural romance intertwined with a family mystery

Review by Jill Ratzan

Preacher’s daughter (dresses modestly, doesn’t date, never goes to parties) is the only identity Leah Roberts has—in public, anyway. But when she sneaks out to the woods behind her house, she can be her true self: a girl who’s grieving over a tragedy that splintered her family 10 years ago. And in these woods, she watches a family of fantastic creatures who officially don’t exist. They’re large, vaguely humanoid, covered in hair and known in legend as Bigfoot or Sasquatch.

One night a newcomer arrives with the Bigfoot family—a young man who’s surprisingly close to being human. As Leah finds herself drawn to this mysterious stranger, the outside world shifts, too: Her brother’s best friend starts making romantic overtures toward her, and her mother’s perpetually odd behavior becomes stranger than usual. As details of her family’s dark history are slowly revealed, Leah finds herself in a place where the past and the present, humans and non-humans, love and loss coexist . . . and sometimes violently clash.

Part supernatural romance, part mystery and part contemporary realism, The Shadows We Know by Heart blends the psychological suspense of Stephanie Kuehn’s Charm & Strange with traditional legends of Bigfoot, adding a flavor of “Beauty and the Beast” along the way.

 

This article was originally published in the March 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Preacher’s daughter (dresses modestly, doesn’t date, never goes to parties) is the only identity Leah Roberts has—in public, anyway. But when she sneaks out to the woods behind her house, she can be her true self: a girl who’s grieving over a tragedy that splintered her family 10 years ago. And in these woods, she watches a family of fantastic creatures who officially don’t exist. They’re large, vaguely humanoid, covered in hair and known in legend as Bigfoot or Sasquatch.

Science Fiction & FantasyYA FictionYAFantasy

Dangerous delights

Review by Jill Ratzan

For seven years, Scarlett writes letters to Legend, the head of the mysterious traveling half-carnival, half-game Caraval. And for seven years, she gets no reply. Then, just before Scarlett is supposed to wed a count she’s never met—an arranged marriage that will rescue herself and her sister from their abusive father—three Caraval tickets appear. Soon Scarlett, her sister, Tella, and a new acquaintance find themselves swept into the magical world of Caraval, where they have five nights to win the game and its tempting prize: the granting of a single wish.

Caraval is full of sensory delights, from glittering castles to carousels made of rose petals to edible silver bells. But darkness lurks below the surface-level gaiety: Caraval’s magic traps its players inside their lodgings from sunrise to sunset; nightmares and lies serve as currency; and a labyrinth of underground tunnels intensifies players’ fears.

Debut author Stephanie Garber weaves a suspenseful mystery as Scarlett interprets (and misinterprets) clues, navigates hidden identities and attempts to solve the puzzles of Caraval. But Garber’s true strength is her use of multisensory imagery. When Scarlett first enters Caraval, for example, “soft golden lights licked her arms,” heat envelopes her that “tasted like light, bubbly on her tongue,” and she finds herself surrounded by “a canopy of crystal chandeliers,” “plush cranberry rugs” and “golden . . . spindles that arched around heavy red velvet drapes.” A teaser at the book’s end promises a follow-up novel that readers will fervently anticipate.

 

Jill Ratzan matches readers with books in a small library in southeastern Pennsylvania.

For seven years, Scarlett writes letters to Legend, the head of the mysterious traveling half-carnival, half-game Caraval. And for seven years, she gets no reply. Then, just before Scarlett is supposed to wed a count she’s never met—an arranged marriage that will rescue herself and her sister from their abusive father—three Caraval tickets appear. Soon Scarlett, her sister, Tella, and a new acquaintance find themselves swept into the magical world of Caraval, where they have five nights to win the game and its tempting prize: the granting of a single wish.

YA FictionYA

A teenage girl in Nazi-occupied Norway

Review by Jill Ratzan

Ilse Stern knows in her heart that everything will start this autumn. She’s hoping for a date with Hermann Rød, the handsome boy who lives across the hall. But for a Jewish teenage girl in Oslo, Norway, in 1942, fate has something other than a night at the cinema in mind. What starts with hateful words scrawled on windows of her father's tailoring shop soon escalates into the mass arrests, forced labor and death camps of Nazi-controlled Europe.

Shifting between five different points of view, author Marianne Kaurin tells a multifaceted story. There’s Hermann, pretending to apprentice for an artist while secretly helping smuggle Jews to safety in Sweden; their neighbor, a taxi driver who finds that his work for the Nazis is increasingly challenging his sense of morality; Ilse’s devoted father; Ilse’s scared but ever-practical older sister; and Ilse herself. Between them, they demonstrate the intersecting stories of Holocaust-era resistance fighters, bystanders and victims—as well as those who managed to survive through pure luck.

Like many Holocaust books, Almost Autumn doesn’t flinch at showing the harsh realities of life and death in and around Hitler’s concentration camps. Despite errors in her descriptions of Jewish practices and a plot and format that fail to stand out in a saturated genre, Kaurin composes her difficult story with sensitivity and balance. Inspired by her family’s experiences during the Second World War, she shines a light on a dark historical time.

 

Jill Ratzan matches readers with books in a small library in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Ilse Stern knows in her heart that everything will start this autumn. She’s hoping for a date with Hermann Rød, the handsome boy who lives across the hall. But for a Jewish teenage girl in Oslo, Norway, in 1942, fate has something other than a night at the cinema in mind. What starts with hateful words scrawled on windows of her father's tailoring shop soon escalates into the mass arrests, forced labor and death camps of Nazi-controlled Europe.

YA FictionYAScience Fiction

Two sides of a story

Review by Jill Ratzan

Lyra is a replica, one of thousands of clones bred as research subjects at Haven, a top-secret medical research facility on an island off the coast of Florida. Gemma, once a sickly child but now a curious teen, longs to know about Haven and the secrets that her wealthy father might be hiding there. Both Lyra and Gemma are sure that these are the only lives they’ve ever known. And yet both have snippets of memories—a decorated cup, an unusual statue—that don’t quite fit. When an explosion destroys Haven, Lyra and another replica escape, and they soon connect with Gemma and her new friend Jake. As the four teens learn more about Haven and its terrible purpose, they find themselves chased across Florida by secret agents determined to silence them—and revisiting what they thought they knew about their own identities.

The ethics of biotechnology would be enough to make Replica a compelling read, but what truly makes it stand out is its narrative format: The book is arranged so that readers read one girl’s story and then must physically flip the book over to read the other’s. (In an author’s note, Lauren Oliver writes that each story can be read independently, or both can be read together in alternating chapters.) The two stories intersect, with mysteries in one solved by information in the other. Part adventure story, part narrative experiment and part reflection on what it means to be human, Replica forms a cohesive and satisfying whole.

 

Jill Ratzan matches readers with books in a small library in southeastern Pennsylvania.

This article was originally published in the October 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Lyra is a replica, one of thousands of clones bred as research subjects at Haven, a top-secret medical research facility on an island off the coast of Florida. Gemma, once a sickly child but now a curious teen, longs to know about Haven and the secrets that her wealthy father might be hiding there. Both Lyra and Gemma are sure that these are the only lives they’ve ever known. And yet both have snippets of memories—a decorated cup, an unusual statue—that don’t quite fit.
Children's & YAMiddle Grade

Searching for answers in a parallel world

Review by Jill Ratzan

In the land of Ferenwood, rainlight pours through the air, magic is currency and color is everywhere. Alice Alexis Queensmeadow covers her embarrassingly colorless body with billowing skirts and bangles, but nothing can cover the pain she’s felt ever since her beloved father disappeared three years ago. The highlight of her world is the upcoming Surrender, a ceremony in which 12-year-olds are given assignments based on their magical abilities. 

When Alice’s Surrender offering goes wrong, she’s consoled by a boy named Oliver, whose mysterious task (and even more mysterious talent) could bring her father home. Alice and Oliver must travel through the parallel world of Furthermore, a wonderland where doors appear out of nowhere, rulers measure time and pocketbooks are books made of actual peoples’ pockets.

In language drenched with the pain of loss—and then the joy of recovery—Tahereh Mafi presents a novel that’s unique in its emotional resonance. An omniscient narrator intervenes with occasional observations as Alice and Oliver negotiate challenging physical landscapes and the even more challenging landscapes of the heart.

 

Jill Ratzan enjoys sharing stories with readers of all ages in central New Jersey.

This article was originally published in the September 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

In the land of Ferenwood, rainlight pours through the air, magic is currency and color is everywhere. Alice Alexis Queensmeadow covers her embarrassingly colorless body with billowing skirts and bangles, but nothing can cover the pain she’s felt ever since her beloved father disappeared three years ago. The highlight of her world is the upcoming Surrender, a ceremony in which 12-year-olds are given assignments based on their magical abilities.

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