Jill Ratzan

YA FictionYA

A-L-I-E-N-S, what’s that spell? Aliens!

Review by Jill Ratzan

It’s just an ordinary high school football game. Mana, a flyer on the cheerleading squad, is ready to cheer with her neighbor and crush, Lyle, the reliable cheerleading base. Their friend September will be cheering, too, and it seems like it’ll be a nice, normal game. That is, until the band’s cute drummer is revealed to be an alien in disguise.

During the ensuing chaos, Mana meets the enigmatic China, who introduces himself as Mana’s mother’s partner and tells Mana the truth: Her quiet, mousy mother is really an alien hunter. And not only has her mother disappeared, but she may be carrying a computer chip with vital information that could save—or destroy—all of humanity. Not that the stakes are high, or anything.

Who’s really human? Who’s an alien? Who’s been replaced by a bad doppelgänger? And why does Mana suddenly have the ability to land spectacular jumps—and maybe even to really fly? As Mana, Lyle, Seppie and China search for Mana’s mother, dodge aliens who may or may not be friendly and navigate a town that’s suddenly become an interstellar obstacle course, they face these questions and more. (Does Lyle want to kiss Mana as much as Mana wants to kiss Lyle?)

Funny and playful, with a diverse cast of characters and a bit of romance and adventure, Flying is the perfect light summer read.

 

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

It’s just an ordinary high school football game. Mana, a flyer on the cheerleading squad, is ready to cheer with her neighbor and crush, Lyle, the reliable cheerleading base. Their friend September will be cheering, too, and it seems like it’ll be a nice, normal game. That is, until the band’s cute drummer is revealed to be an alien in disguise.

YA FictionYAShort Stories

Short tales of summer love

Review by Jill Ratzan

What could be better than summer . . . and love? The answer is summer, love and Stephanie Perkins. Perkins, known for happily-ever-after YA romances like Anna and the French Kiss, edits this volume of 12 short stories, all written by luminaries in contemporary YA lit. Opposite-sex love, same-sex love, love between unexpected partners and seemingly inevitable love all find voice in these tales, which range across genre lines from realistic fiction to science fiction to magical realism and beyond. There’s summer classes, summer jobs—at camps, resorts and amusement parks—and surprising summer visitors. There’s love that blossoms quickly and love that takes its time. There’s love that might last forever and love that might just end with summer’s fading days.

Some stories, like Jon Skovron’s “Love is the Last Resort” and Jennifer E. Smith’s “A Thousand Ways This Could All Go Wrong,” are sweet and funny. Others, like Libba Bray’s “Last Stand at the Cinegor” and Cassandra Clare’s “Brand New Attraction,” have a darkly funny twist—and others, like Veronica Roth’s “Inertia” and Lev Grossman’s “The Map of Tiny Perfect Things,” are tearjerkers.

Issues like neurodiversity, mental health and complicated family dynamics are explored even while romance takes central stage. Throughout, as Perkins fans might expect, there’s sweet and sexy kissing . . . but nothing more. Fans of Perkins’ previous anthology, My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories, won’t want to miss this further seasonally themed volume.

 

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

What could be better than summer . . . and love? The answer is summer, love and Stephanie Perkins. Perkins, known for happily-ever-after YA romances like Anna and the French Kiss, edits this volume of 12 short stories, all written by luminaries in contemporary YA lit. Opposite-sex love, same-sex love, love between unexpected partners and seemingly inevitable love all find voice in these tales, which range across genre lines from realistic fiction to science fiction to magical realism and beyond.

YA FictionYAHistorical Fantasy

Bearer of dangerous fruit

Review by Jill Ratzan

BookPage Teen Top Pick, May 2016

It’s the middle of the 19th century. Darwin’s On the Origin of Species has shaken up the scientific world, new photographic technology has led to creepy death photography, and fossil hunting is all the rage. Faith Sunderly and her family have just moved to the British island of Vale so that her father, the disgraced scientist Reverend Sunderly, can participate in a local dig. When her father is found dead after a mysterious nighttime adventure, Faith—who far prefers science to society drama and babysitting her needy brother, Howard—isn’t convinced that her father’s death was an accident or a suicide. She thinks that someone on the island is guilty of murder.

While investigating, Faith comes upon a plant that her father may have died to protect: a Lie Tree that, when fed lies, grows a fruit that reveals secrets to those who eat it. Soon, rumors of vengeful ghosts and hidden treasure begin to circulate on the island. Are these lies, spread by Faith in pursuit of justice for her father—a questionable means to a worthwhile end? Who killed Faith’s father—and why? Author Frances Hardinge gives readers enough clues to solve these mysteries, but like the Lie Tree itself, they’re well hidden.

Part historical fiction, part mystery, part gender study and part reflection on the tangled relationship between science and religion, The Lie Tree is a must-read for any teen who loved Jacqueline Kelly’s The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate.

 

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

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

It’s the middle of the 19th century. Darwin’s On the Origin of Species has shaken up the scientific world, new photographic technology has led to creepy death photography, and fossil hunting is all the rage. Faith Sunderly and her family have just moved to the British island of Vale so that her father, the disgraced scientist Reverend Sunderly, can participate in a local dig.

YA FictionYA

Blackmail leads to sweet love

Review by Jill Ratzan

She’s the town brainiac, fifth of nine children, the good girl who constantly hides her mental acumen. He’s a biker and a member of the Reign of Terror, the motorcycle club that everyone in town knows to avoid. When an accidental encounter at senior year orientation leads to an unexpected agreement, Breanna and Thomas—or Razor, as he’s known on the road—find themselves falling for one another. Both have depths of character that their outward personalities don’t always reflect, and both are haunted by past secrets that threaten to overwhelm them. Breanna’s family disapproves of the Terror, and the Terror in turn is skeptical of outsiders. When a fellow teen with an agenda of his own threatens to publicize an innocent but incriminating photo of them, the stakes become even higher. Can Breanna’s code-breaking skills help Razor resolve the mystery surrounding his mother’s death? Is Razor exactly what Breanna needs to break out of the box she’s intentionally built around her identity? Will their relationship blossom, or will conflicting loyalties tear them apart?

Told in alternating points of view, this second Thunder Road novel weaves timely issues like neurological differences, families of choice and social media bullying into the classic good-girl/bad-boy love story fabric. The rituals, rules and unflinching faithfulness of the Reign of Terror motorcycle club is portrayed with loving nuance, and Breanna and Razor’s interactions are sensuously, but not graphically, described. This is a great choice for a teen seeking a steamy but non-explicit contemporary romance.

 

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

She’s the town brainiac, fifth of nine children, the good girl who constantly hides her mental acumen. He’s a biker and a member of the Reign of Terror, the motorcycle club that everyone in town knows to avoid. When an accidental encounter at senior year orientation leads to an unexpected agreement, Breanna and Thomas—or Razor, as he’s known on the road—find themselves falling for one another.

YA FictionYA

Becoming part of the magic

Review by Jill Ratzan

Just before teenage Samuel’s mother died, she told him to go to the Brazilian town of Candeia, to find his estranged family and light a candle at the feet of the statue of St. Anthony. When Samuel arrives in the dilapidated town, circumstances lead him to take up residence in the statue’s head, long separated from its body. Inside the head, Samuel hears voices of women praying to the saint for husbands . . . and a mysterious voice singing sad but lovely songs. Playing matchmaker helps Samuel revitalize the town (and earn a tidy profit), but as happy couples flock to the church, secrets from the past begin to weigh on the present. Why did Candeia become all but a ghost town? Why isn’t St. Anthony’s head attached to his body? Who is the mysterious singer, and why does she sing such sad songs? Like the advice Samuel gives out in the name of the saint, Samuel’s mother’s last requests have implications far beyond their surface meanings.

This slim YA novel exemplifies the best of magical realism—as it should. Brazilian author Socorro Acioli had the opportunity to workshop the manuscript that would become The Head of the Saint with renowned Latin American author Gabriel García Márquez. If you like Márquez's work—or more contemporary multigenerational tales with a touch of magic (like Leslye Walton’s The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender)—you’ll also like The Head of the Saint.

 

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

Just before teenage Samuel’s mother died, she told him to go to the Brazilian town of Candeia, to find his estranged family and light a candle at the feet of the statue of St. Anthony. When Samuel arrives in the dilapidated town, circumstances lead him to take up residence in the statue’s head, long separated from its body. Inside the head, Samuel hears voices of women praying to the saint for husbands . . . and a mysterious voice singing sad but lovely songs.

YA FictionYAScience Fiction

Is Earth worth saving?

Review by Jill Ratzan

If you could press a button to stop the upcoming destruction of the world, would you? Henry’s been abducted by aliens and offered this choice, and he has 144 days to decide. On one hand, the world as Henry sees it doesn’t particularly seem worth saving. He’s haunted by his boyfriend Jesse’s suicide and estranged from their mutual friend Audrey. A purely physical relationship with the class bully ultimately leaves him hollow. And at home, his mother has put her dreams on hold, his father hasn’t been in touch in years, his grandmother is slowly losing her mind to Alzheimer’s and his older brother’s girlfriend is pregnant. But then Henry meets Diego, a teen with secrets of his own. With Diego’s perspective and those of his teachers, family and friends, Henry starts to wonder if maybe he should press that button and save the world after all.

At first, We Are the Ants seems to be magical realism with a slightly silly premise and a theme of resilience in the face of tragedy. And it might be that, or it might be a meditation on the power of storytelling. Or an experiment in a blended style of realistic and fantastical fiction. Or all of these combined. Either way, it promises to be one of the most talked-about YA books of 2016.

 

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

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

If you could press a button to stop the upcoming destruction of the world, would you? Henry’s been abducted by aliens and offered this choice, and he has 144 days to decide.
YA FictionYA

An imaginative urban fantasy

Review by Jill Ratzan

In a universe just slightly different from our own, small spheres in a rainbow of hues are hidden throughout the world, wherever people live. When matched with another sphere of the same color and “burned” by holding them to one’s forehead, spheres increase human abilities: A common pair of Army Green spheres promotes resistance to the common cold, while rare Mustards grant high IQ.

Sphere hunting has become a global business, where multinational corporations coexist with small-time flea-market sellers. Sully is one of the latter, trying to earn enough in his afterschool sales to help his mother pay the rent on their small apartment. When he meets Hunter, a teen girl in even worse economic straits, they team up to look for spheres, knowing that billionaire Alex Holliday will use any tactic to acquire the most valuable spheres . . . especially the match to the one and only Midnight Blue. The results of Sully and Hunter’s searches will change the world in ways that no one could predict.

The high-action ending, while unexpected in some ways, is appropriately set up throughout the story, making for a surprising yet satisfying resolution. Hugo Award-winning author Will McIntosh ventures into YA lit for the first time with this combination of urban fantasy, magical realism, science fiction and adventure. In this world, the bizarre seems normal, the fantastical follows its own rules and within these rules, anything can happen.

 

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

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

In a universe just slightly different from our own, small spheres in a rainbow of hues are hidden throughout the world, wherever people live. When matched with another sphere of the same color and “burned” by holding them to one’s forehead, spheres increase human abilities: A common pair of Army Green spheres promotes resistance to the common cold, while rare Mustards grant high IQ.
YA FictionYA

Hope in traveling west

Review by Jill Ratzan

Leah Westfall can sense the presence of gold. It sings to her, thrumming and tingling. This secret talent helps keep her family afloat in their fading mining town in 1849 Georgia. When news of boundless California gold reaches town, her best friend Jefferson dreams of joining the burgeoning gold rush. Leah ignores the news—and Jefferson’s invitation to marry her and travel west together—until a sudden change of circumstances forces her to rethink her plans.

Dressed as a boy to avoid the dangerous man who’s searching for her, Leah begins her westward journey, first alone and then in the company of others. On this long and sometimes slow path, Leah and her companions face threats from buffalo, disease, raiders and the unforgiving landscapes of plains, mountains and the desert.

Rae Carson, author of the Girl of Fire and Thorns series, uses Leah's disguise to tease out subtle issues of gender and identity, a process echoed by the ambiguities of Jefferson's mixed ethnicity. Like many books about American expansionism, Carson's depiction of Native Americans can be problematic. But the focus of the story is on Leah's evolving relationships with her traveling companions—as her secret gold-witching talent lurks in the background, springing up at odd times to both frustrate and assist her.

Teens looking for the fast-paced excitement of The Hunger Games won’t find it here. But those hoping for a thoughtful and satisfying work of historical fiction can anticipate two more volumes of Leah’s adventures.

 

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

Leah Westfall can sense the presence of gold. It sings to her, thrumming and tingling. This secret talent helps keep her family afloat in their fading mining town in 1849 Georgia. When news of boundless California gold reaches town, her best friend Jefferson dreams of joining the burgeoning gold rush.

Children's & YAMiddle Grade

A spectacular sideshow mystery

Review by Jill Ratzan

Fantasy lovers proceed with caution when publishers promise a book will be “the next Harry Potter,” as so many new titles given that moniker ultimately disappoint. But Lauren Oliver’s latest—billed as co-written by the shadowy H.C. Chester—may be the closest thing to another Potter book to hit shelves in a long time.

Of course, that depends on what aspects of Harry’s adventures attract a reader most. There are no epic battles between good and evil here; instead, four children with unusual abilities live in a place where magical goings-on (both real and faked) suffuse their daily existence. The scene is 1930s New York City, and Pippa the mind reader, Sam the strong man and Thomas the extraordinarily foldable boy have lived in Mr. Dumfrey's Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities, and Wonders for as long as they can remember. They’ve recently been joined by knife thrower Max (don’t call her Mackenzie!), as well as by Dumfrey's strangest attraction yet, a shriveled and ugly object purporting to be a famous shrunken head. The head draws much-needed crowds to the museum, but when it disappears—and everyone associated with it starts turning up dead—the four children decide to investigate. As in Rowling’s classic stories, details planted in unsuspecting places turn out to be important clues for solving the mystery.

Best of all, Curiosity House: The Shrunken Head is the first in a planned series—so watch for more humor, friendship, marvels and magical adventures coming soon.

 

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

Fantasy lovers proceed with caution when publishers promise a book will be “the next Harry Potter,” as so many new titles given that moniker ultimately disappoint. But Lauren Oliver’s latest—billed as co-written by the shadowy H.C. Chester—may be the closest thing to another Potter book to hit shelves in a long time.

YA FictionYA

Coping, bizarrely enough

Review by Jill Ratzan

BookPage Teen Top Pick, October 2015

Every once in a while a book comes along that inspires readers to rethink everything they thought they knew about how fiction works. Given author A.S. King’s talent for writing boundary-pushing YA lit, it’s no surprise that her latest offering does exactly that.

Gustav is building a red helicopter that the biology-obsessed Stanzi—which isn’t her real name—can only see on Tuesdays. China, a poet, has turned herself inside out. Lansdale’s hair grows every time she tells a lie, which is often. All four teens, hiding their pain behind elaborate defense mechanisms, are desperate to escape a life in which parents tour the sites of school shootings, abusers walk free and daily bomb threats disrupt their classes . . . especially as the time for high-stakes testing looms. And all the while, a strange man who lurks in a bush sells letters (like A, B, C, not the kind with stamps) in return for kisses and other favors.

When Gustav’s helicopter is finished, he and Stanzi fly it to the haunting Place of Arrivals—where, in theory, there are no departures. But one resident has already departed, and another hopes to be next. 

References to cultural icons such as “M*A*S*H,” Amadeus and “Sesame Street” (at least in my interpretation of the letter-selling man) give characters a language to express the inexpressible. Surreal and unsettling but ultimately redemptive, this piece of magical realism—if that indeed is what it is—will speak to fans of Francesca Lia Block and anyone seeking a thoroughly postmodern read.

 

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

This article was originally published in the October 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Every once in a while a book comes along that inspires readers to rethink everything they thought they knew about how fiction works. Given author A.S. King’s talent for writing boundary-pushing YA lit, it’s no surprise that her latest offering does exactly that.
YA FictionYA

Eponine’s ‘Les Misérables’

Review by Jill Ratzan

I admit it: In junior high I had the soundtrack from Les Misérables on permanent replay. I saw the musical on Broadway and even read the unabridged book by Victor Hugo, all 1,500 pages of it. So when I heard that adult author Susan Fletcher’s debut YA novel would retell this classic novel from Eponine’s point of view, I jumped at the chance to review it.

Fletcher’s story opens just as Eponine’s closes, on a French street the night of the failed Paris uprising of 1832. It then backtracks to Eponine’s childhood as the oldest daughter of the amoral Thenardier family, who become the guardians of Cosette, a girl Eponine’s age whose mother cannot afford to keep her. At first, Eponine and her sister have lavish clothes and dolls (for which they help their family steal) while Cosette sweeps floors, fetches water and endures the endless taunts of her foster sisters. Fortune changes, and 10 years later Eponine, not Cosette, finds herself begging and dressed in rags. The teenage Eponine is determined to be a good person despite her family’s thieving ways, but amid swirling political unrest, can she expect to find forgiveness for her past crimes—let alone love?

Fans of the book (and the musical) know this story well and will recognize familiar characters like Marius, Inspector Javert, Jean Valjean and even little Gavroche. The magic of Fletcher’s work is in the way she weaves in and out of Hugo’s classic tale, giving a voice to one of literature’s most tragic, voiceless characters.

I had to dig up my old Les Mis tapes (yes, tapes) as I read; I dare any other Les Mis fans not to do the same!

 

Jill Ratzan teaches research rudiments in central New Jersey. She learned most of what she knows about YA lit from her terrific grad students.

I admit it: In junior high I had the soundtrack from Les Misérables on permanent replay. I saw the musical on Broadway and even read the unabridged book by Victor Hugo, all 1,500 pages of it. So when I heard that adult author Susan Fletcher’s debut YA novel would retell this classic novel from Eponine’s point of view, I jumped at the chance to review it.

YA FictionYAFantasy

A twist on the Fates

Review by Jill Ratzan

Chloe was born a teenager and will always be one. Like her sisters, the middle-aged Serena and the elderly Xinot, she exists only to spin, measure and cut the threads of human lives. Chloe and her sisters are the Fates of Greek mythology, living and working on an island far from human entanglements—until a desperate teenage girl, Aglaia, seeks shelter in the Fates’ home.

Aglaia’s village was destroyed, and she alone knows why. Soon Chloe and her sisters are driven to follow the refugee as she pursues a new life on the mainland. There, the Fates are tempted to intervene in human affairs for the sake of their friend—despite prophesies that their involvement will cause the weaving to come unwound and the sun to sink into the sea.

Chloe’s narrative voice is stunning, especially when she speaks of the dark power that she and her sisters channel, the mystery that fills and guides them. This is a story to savor and discuss, especially in multigenerational groups.

 

Jill Ratzan teaches research rudiments in central New Jersey. She learned most of what she knows about YA lit from her terrific grad students.

This article was originally published in the September 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Chloe was born a teenager and will always be one. Like her sisters, the middle-aged Serena and the elderly Xinot, she exists only to spin, measure and cut the threads of human lives. Chloe and her sisters are the Fates of Greek mythology, living and working on an island far from human entanglements—until a desperate teenage girl, Aglaia, seeks shelter in the Fates’ home.
YA NonfictionYAMemoir

Between Cuba and California

Review by Jill Ratzan

BookPage Teen Top Pick, August 2015

Novels- and memoirs-in-verse are always welcome additions to the young adult canon, especially those that show world history through diverse voices. In Enchanted Air, poet Margarita Engle introduces readers to her “Two countries / Two families / Two sets of words” and her own “two selves.” She spends each school year in California with her Ukrainian-Jewish father’s family and summers in Cuba, her mother’s homeland. Together with her grandparents in both countries, she explores nature, admires horses and devours books that fill her mind with tales of heroes and faraway adventures.

Eleven-year-old Margarita’s days are filled with switching between her two worlds and navigating the social politics of middle school—until October 1962, when international events suddenly become personal. American spy planes have found Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba, setting off what will become known as the Cuban missile crisis. While the world nervously waits to see if nuclear war is imminent, Margarita finds her dual identities in conflict. As FBI agents question her parents and her American teachers speak of Cuba as the enemy, how can she continue to honor her love of both countries?

The author of Newbery Honor-winning The Surrender Tree once again presents a sensitive, descriptive, free-verse work that blends Cuban history, intergenerational stories and the daily challenges and triumphs of emerging adolescence. If you’re looking for something to read after Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming or Thanhha Lai’s Inside Out and Back Again, Enchanted Air is the book for you.

 

RELATED CONTENT: Read a Q&A with Margarita Engle on Enchanted Air.

This article was originally published in the August 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Novels- and memoirs-in-verse are always welcome additions to the young adult canon, especially those that show world history through diverse voices. In Enchanted Air, poet Margarita Engle introduces readers to her “Two countries / Two families / Two sets of words” and her own “two selves.”

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