Norah Piehl, Author at BookPage | Discover your next great book!

by Norah Piehl

There's been a lot of talk lately about "literary" novelists turning their pens to writing genre fiction, from crime procedurals to zombie thrillers to vampire novels. Perhaps what we're seeing is not just a rediscovery but a reinvention of these classic genres, as writers find new ways to explore big themes in creative, often unexpected places.

Daniel Nayeri seems to have caught this playful mood in his new collection of novellas, Straw House, Wood House, Brick House, Blow. Here he provides his own whimsical take on not just one but four different genres. In the first novella, a scarecrow sheriff desperately tries to protect his home turf—a farm that grows toys—from unimaginable dangers. In the second (reminiscent in some ways of Gary Shteyngart's Super Sad True Love Story), Nayeri imagines a not-too-distant future in which the line between "virtual" and "reality" may be permanently blurred. In the third, Wish Police detectives try to apprehend a deadly wish before it can reach its target. And in the final story, a surprisingly sweet and romantic novella, Death narrates the story of star-crossed lovers who have more than their fair share of brushes with Death.

Nayeri's voice is chameleon-like, easily adapting to the conventions and expectations of each genre without losing a bit of its edge or its wit. Although it might be easy to dismiss his latest project as an experiment or an exercise, it's far more than that, as Nayeri thoughtfully stretches the boundaries of each genre to include considerations of such universal topics as loyalty and sacrifice, hope and betrayal, love and loss. Straw House is a delightful amalgam of the high and the low, the silly and the sublime.

Children's & YA, YA, YA Fiction

Children's & YA YA Fiction YA

An age-old conflict plays out among the stars

Review by Norah Piehl

by Norah Piehl

Trillions of miles from Earth, a massive spaceship, the Empyrean, hurtles toward a goal they only know as New Earth. On board are dozens of families, their children destined to settle and repopulate New Earth with the next generation. For 43 years the Empyrean has traveled without seeing any of the other ships that are traveling the same journey.

All that is about to change.

Traversing a nebula that disrupts their communication and navigation tools, the Empyrean catches sight of a second ship, the New Horizon. But the messages coming from the ship are confusing and contradictory. Are its inhabitants friends or foes? Soon the two ships are engaged in a disorienting power struggle, wrapped up in the desire to perpetuate the next generation.

At the center of the conflict are young lovers Kieran, the untested heir apparent to the role of Empyrean's Captain, and Waverly, who loves Kieran but still has doubts about becoming a wife and mother at age 15. When Waverly and the rest of the Empyrean's girls are taken aboard the New Horizon, these two must determine whether they can trust anyone—even each other.

On the surface of things, Glow is a cracking good science fiction tale, full of action and nonstop plot twists. It's also, however, an exploration of philosophical and historical concepts. The New Horizon's philosophy and way of life—down to the sermons proclaimed by their leader, Anne Mather—are inspired by Puritan principles. Meanwhile, as indicated by its name, the Empyrean abides by a more rational approach. Reason vs. faith—how will this conflict play out when the future of the human race is at stake? Readers will have to wait for the next installment in the tension-packed Sky Chasers trilogy.

YA Fiction

YA Fiction

Friendship and family secrets

Review by Norah Piehl

by Norah Piehl

Fifteen-year-old Pearl (known to all as Bean) and her best friend Henry spend afternoons watching “Days of Our Lives” at Henry’s house. Bean and Henry are both misfits, united by their absent fathers and weird mothers. Henry’s mom—who watches soap operas religiously—is obese and agoraphobic, afraid to leave the house since Henry’s father disappeared. Bean’s mom, who was 15 herself when she had Bean, is an unhappy waitress, spending her nights drinking too much, fighting with Bean’s grandfather Gus and making Bean feel guilty for having been born.

When Gus dies unexpectedly, Bean fears that she’s the only one who truly loved her grandfather. She can’t understand her mother’s celebratory attitude, the constant presence of her mom’s best friend or her own feelings of anger and loss, not to mention her increasingly complicated feelings about Henry. As she starts to ask questions—and get some unwelcome answers—Bean starts to feel like her life is becoming one giant soap opera.

In Jo Knowles’ latest novel, little is as it seems in the novel’s first pages. Yet the substantial revelations that occur over the course of this brief novel are, in the end, less compelling than the smaller moments that define the constantly shifting relationships that form the foundation of Bean’s life. In particular, Bean’s relationship with Henry is a compassionate, realistic portrayal of a sustaining, loving friendship. Although there are times when Bean’s whole life—from her name to her paternity to her very sense of herself—are thrown into question, some things, like genuine friendship, withstand even the craziest changes life throws her way.

Children's & YA, YA Fiction

Children's & YA YA Fiction

Rhythm of the queer hip-hop revolution

Review by Norah Piehl

by Norah Piehl

If ever there was a candidate for the current “It Gets Better” campaign supporting gay and lesbian teenagers, Esme Rockett is it. The heroine of Sister Mischief is a smart, gorgeous and funny high school junior, and she can throw down some mad rhymes with the other members of her all-girl hip-hop group. But it’s hard to hear that she’ll be loved and appreciated someday, when the girl she loves right now wants to keep their relationship a secret, and when neither the students nor the school administrators at her prestigious public school in suburban Minneapolis understand the righteous importance of a gay-straight alliance—not to mention the cultural relevance of hip-hop.

Esme’s burgeoning political passions burn just as hot as her secret love affair with fellow band member Rowie. But when the “thinking Christian” in their group discovers the relationship before Rowie is ready to go public, Esme must own up to the feelings of abandonment she’s been hiding ever since her mom left when Esme was in preschool. Is Esme doomed to be left by women forever? Or can she use the example of her countless hip-hop heroes to turn her pain and anger into emotionally searing art?

Esme and her friends sometimes talk like a veritable encyclopedia of rap music, but they (and author Laura Goode) clearly know their stuff—and although their conversations can veer toward the polemic, their verbal acuity also results in snappy banter that can be pretty darn funny. In the end, Esme’s story demonstrates to her friends, to the reader and, most importantly, to herself that despite her tough-girl persona, she can love—and live—passionately, openly and well.

Children's & YA, YA, YA Fiction

Children's & YA YA Fiction YA

Girls gone radical

Review by Norah Piehl

by Norah Piehl

Libba Bray’s last novel, the award-winning Going Bovine, was heralded as a departure for the author, who had previously been best known for a trilogy of Victorian-era supernatural romances. Now, in Beauty Queens, Bray further pushes the boundaries in a work of social satire that skewers race, gender, standards of beauty and our hyper-saturated media culture. Oh, and did I mention that it’s also wicked funny?

When a plane carrying 50 contestants in the Miss Teen Dream pageant crash-lands on a (seemingly) deserted island, will it turn into Lord of the Flies? Or something else entirely? At first, the girls do split up into tribes—the Lost Girls and the Sparkle Ponies—but before long, they come to see their isolation as something of an opportunity. “There was something about the island that made the girls forget who they had been. . . . They were no longer performing. Waiting. Hoping. They were becoming. They were.” But what happens when these self-actualizing (and very, very fetching) young women encounter the hunky stars of reality TV’s “Captains Bodacious IV: Badder and More Bodaciouser”?

The surviving Miss Teen Dream contestants comprise a veritable United Nations of diversity—there’s the black girl, the Indian girl, the transgender contestant, the uptight virgin, the deaf one, the lesbian . . . but each girl’s remarkably distinctive voice and deeply personal backstory results in a narrative that’s equal parts compelling and crazy. Beauty Queens is pointed, riotous and unapologetically feminist, with each swerve toward preachiness cleverly counterbalanced with a hilarious barb or perfectly placed one-liner. “Do you think my new feminism make me look fat?” one character asks. Turns out, Bray shows us, feminism can look pretty darn hot after all.

YA, YA Fiction

YA Fiction YA

The interconnection of life

Review by Norah Piehl

by Norah Piehl

The course of true love, as Shakespeare wrote, never did run smooth, and nowhere is that truth more apparent than in Holly Goldberg Sloan’s debut novel, I’ll Be There. From the moment Emily—wracked with nerves while (badly) singing a solo at church—spots a scruffy but undeniably handsome boy in the back pew, her heart is his. And Sam, quiet and mysterious though he is, seems to really like her, too.

Sam and his near-mute little brother, Riddle, are taken aback by the generosity, kindness and normality of Emily’s family. After all, the only lessons they’ve learned on the road with their violent, thieving father are, according to Sam, “if you cared about something, it would be taken away. If you stood up for yourself, you would be beaten down. If you spoke out, you would be silenced.” The two boys have learned to keep secrets, stay out of the way and look after each other. So when they’re forced to go on the move again, can Sam find his way back into a normal life—and real love?

Holly Goldberg Sloan might be a first-time novelist, but she’s an experienced writer and director of many popular family films. No surprise, then, that I’ll Be There has a cinematic feeling, rapidly shifting setting and perspective in a free indirect style that helps reinforce the novel’s themes of interconnection. Are coincidences meaningful? What motivates people to help others, become friends, fall in love? Can those who have been deeply damaged seize a fresh start? Emily and Sam’s journey is a rocky one—literally so, for Sam—but it’s also romantic, heartfelt and deeply satisfying.

YA, YA Fiction

YA Fiction YA

A delicious—and deadly—treat

Review by Norah Piehl

by Norah Piehl

In Tantalize, Cynthia Leitich Smith introduced readers to Quincie Morris, the budding vampire and plucky teenage owner of Austin’s hottest dining spot, Sanguine’s: A Very Rare Restaurant. In Eternal, she introduced them to Zachary, a guardian angel in mourning for his lost love. Now, in Blessed, Smith brings these two stories together, as Quincie—with Zachary’s invaluable assistance—must delve into one of the oldest, most classic tales of vampire lore.

Just before he disappeared (hopefully) forever, Sanguine’s chef and secret vampire Bradley Sanguini served dozens of adventurous restaurant-goers his signature dessert—baby squirrels simmered in orange brandy and covered with a honey cream sauce. This delicacy was also laced with the infection that would turn these unknowing diners into vampires in a matter of weeks. Inspired by her new chef—who is also Zachary’s mentor—Quincie turns to Bram Stoker’s Dracula for clues about how to reverse the effects of the infection. Of course, this is only one of her problems. What with the protests of the Bat Anti-Defamation League, the struggles to find decent help and her own insatiable thirst for human blood, Quincie feels like she’s up to her neck in problems. If only she could get a little divine intervention….

As in the previous installments of this smart, sexy trilogy, Cynthia Leitich Smith doses every page with winking pop-culture references and groan-worthy one-liners. In this final volume, her homage to Stoker’s classic novel is most apparent, as she uses the book’s characters for inspiration, its plot for structure and its themes for a rich background that will lead many readers to (re)discover the original Dracula even as they enjoy this darkly humorous send-up.

YA, YA Fiction

YA Fiction YA

The complicated life and loves of Ruby Oliver

Review by Norah Piehl

by Norah Piehl

Over the course of her high school career—and three previous novels—Ruby Oliver has developed quite a reputation, at least in her own mind. She’s the unstable girl, the one who has to see a shrink, the constant worrier who’s prone to panic attacks. As readers have also discovered, however, Ruby’s also very, very funny, a hyper-verbal observer of high school and family life, and a vulnerable, endearing heroine who’s both realistically flawed and thoroughly likable.

Not surprisingly, as Ruby starts her senior year in Real Live Boyfriends, her life is in crisis yet again. Senior year’s scary for everyone; Ruby compares it to being on the edge “of this precipice . . . of the end of high school, of college, of love, of scary, complicated, adult-type relationships.” As if that weren’t frightening enough, her parents are both acting less mature than Ruby herself, her friends can’t be trusted, and her very own “real live boyfriend” has come back from New York all cagey and weird. When Ruby’s the most level-headed person in her life, something must be very wrong. Or maybe Ruby’s just discovering that she might have to rewrite her own opinion of herself after all.

E. Lockhart’s novels featuring Ruby Oliver have all been startlingly perceptive, genuinely poignant and extremely funny. Ruby’s genuine empathy and whip-smart narration belie her many self-doubts. Readers long ago figured out that, in spite of everything, Ruby Oliver was going to be just fine; now, in the fourth and final volume in her story, Ruby’s finally figuring that out, too.

YA, YA Fiction

YA Fiction YA

Their own brand of justice

Review by Norah Piehl

by Norah Piehl

Themis Academy is the kind of high-powered boarding school where the students take on extra projects, perform challenging music for the faculty and volunteer their time for worthy causes. In short, it’s a school where the students can do no wrong—or so the teachers think. They’re so convinced they’re teaching the best and the brightest that they turn a blind eye to bad behavior. So what’s a student to do if she or he is the victim of injustice?

That’s where the Mockingbirds come in. It would be tempting to call their brand of justice “vigilante,” but that would misrepresent their vast organization, efficient tactics and strict codes of conduct. The group of students known as the Mockingbirds (inspired by Harper Lee’s famous novel) serve as judge, jury and jailer for the perpetrators they try in their laundry/courtroom.

When Alex is date-raped after a party, she can barely remember the event, let alone stand up to her attacker. But when he starts spreading rumors about Alex, her older sister—the founder of the Mockingbirds—encourages her to take her case to the secret society. Alex, who usually feels most comfortable sitting at a piano, must find her memories—and her voice—if she hopes to feel like her old self again.

In The Mockingbirds, Daisy Whitney effectively captures the simultaneous disorientation, guilt, embarrassment and fear that arise in the wake of rape. Even if some of the details of Themis life, or Alex’s musical knowledge, seem a little unrealistic, Alex’s story—her self-doubt, slow recovery and reliance on old friends and new supporters—rings true. Readers will be cheering for Alex to recapture her old life, and to discover a new one that might be even better.

YA, YA Fiction

YA Fiction YA

What makes someone extraordinary?

Review by Norah Piehl

by Norah Piehl

Phoebe is the youngest in a long line of Rothschilds, the eminent Jewish family that, over the course of more than 200 years, has attained wealth, power and a degree of protection even as the world has been in turmoil around them. Everyone agrees that the Rothschilds are an extraordinary family, filled with those, like Phoebe’s mother Catherine, who hold positions of power and prestige.

But what if Phoebe is nothing special? Just ordinary? Would she still be worthy of her family’s name? These questions haunt her, especially once she meets Mallory, an odd new girl at school who seems desperately in need of Phoebe’s friendship and support. By the time the girls are juniors in high school, they are more like sisters than friends. Phoebe is sure nothing could separate them—that is, until Mallory’s aloof, alluring brother Ryland moves to town. Phoebe falls under his spell, and Mallory must stand by, helpless, as Ryland not only drives the best friends apart but does his best to destroy Phoebe’s self-confidence.

For Mallory, too, is complicit in Ryland’s devious plans, as the otherworldly siblings intend to use Phoebe to fulfill a longstanding debt owed to the inhabitants of Faerie by one of Phoebe’s Rothschild ancestors. When faced with a horrific choice, will Phoebe prove herself extraordinary? And can the girls’ friendship endure through the lies and betrayal?

With Extraordinary, Nancy Werlin, long known for her Edgar Award-winning suspense novels, returns to the faerie realm she first began to explore in her last novel, Impossible. Both books stand alone but share thematic interests in human responsibility, loyalty and the persistence of history. Werlin adeptly explores the interconnections between the realms of humans and faeries, creating not only a rich fantasy world but also an examination of family, religious heritage and friendship that transcends genre. Werlin’s faerie novels are haunting, suspenseful and provocative; readers are sure to hope for another opportunity to venture with her into the faerie realm.

YA, YA Fiction

YA Fiction YA

A brother’s death sets his sister adrift

Review by Norah Piehl

by Norah Piehl

Andi Alpers is desperately sad—or perhaps just desperate. Ever since the death of her little brother, she’s been adrift. Her mother has come unhinged, her dad has left his damaged old family for a new life, and Andi is barely holding it together. Only when she’s playing her guitar does she feel sane. When she’s warned that without a stellar senior thesis, she’ll be expelled from her exclusive Brooklyn prep school, her father whisks her away to Paris, where he’s investigating a 200-year-old genetic mystery.

Andi’s ostensibly there to do her own research on a remarkably prescient 18th-century composer and his musical heirs. But almost as soon as she arrives in Paris, she becomes far more invested in the city’s history than she could have imagined. In an antique guitar case, she discovers an ancient diary written by a young woman very much like herself. Alexandrine Paradis was a performer, too, one who got swept up in revolution—and love—despite herself. As Andi reads Alexandrine’s diary, she becomes more and more immersed in the drama of a dead girl and the little boy for whom she sacrificed everything.

As in her previous novel for young adults, the award-winning A Northern Light, Jennifer Donnelly combines impeccable historical research with lively, fully fashioned characters to create an indelible narrative. Revolution is a complex story, moving back and forth in time and including allusions not only to historical events but also to literature (especially Dante’s Divine Comedy) and to music from Handel to Wagner to Radiohead. Yet this undeniably cerebral book is also simultaneously wise and achingly poignant. Alexandrine writes in her diary, “After all the blood and death, we woke as if from a nightmare only to find that the ugly still are not beautiful and the dull still do not sparkle.” Just as Alexandrine comes to terms with her country’s dashed hopes, Andi must find a place where hope—and love—can flourish despite disillusion and despair.

YA, YA Fiction

YA Fiction YA

Gaining the Freshman Fifteen, and a new life, too

Review by Norah Piehl

by Norah Piehl

Bee should feel like the luckiest girl in the world: She’s a first-year student at Columbia University, pre-med; she lives in New York City; and she’s got a handsome, older, politically active boyfriend who seems really into her. Until . . . he’s not. Suddenly, Bee’s book smarts don’t mean a thing, and in traditional broken-hearted fashion, she’s stuffing her face when she’s not crying her eyes out.

Turns out, though, that gaining the Freshman Fifteen (plus some) is exactly what Bee needs to break into a whole new career. She’s always been a pretty girl, but the newly curvalicious young woman is getting a lot more attention—even from a modeling scout. Virtually overnight, Bee not only has a modeling contract; she’s also being featured as one of the faces (and voluptuous bodies) of an ad campaign for a new clothing line, with her own billboard in Times Square.

But will fame turn Bee’s head? In her new jet-setting lifestyle, will she forget about her best friend, not to mention the very cute and talented guy she tutors, with whom she has a seriously confusing relationship? And what about the cutthroat world of modeling? Does Bee have what it takes to make a name for herself?

Thanks to popular television shows like America’s Next Top Model and Project Runway, the glamorous but grueling world of modeling has never been so in the spotlight. Author Veronica Chambers cleverly capitalizes on the Cinderella-story potential of an overnight discovery while also using Bee’s plus-sized physique to comment on industry and societal standards of beauty.

At times Plus goes over the top in its depictions of Bee’s glamorous new life, especially her ongoing feud with a crazily jealous model and her klutzy on-set mishaps. It’s also hard to believe that Bee could remain on the dean’s list at an Ivy League school while jetting to international photo shoots several days a week. But Bee’s story is, after all, a fantasy, and readers looking for a frothy beach read about wish-fulfillment, self-discovery and really fierce shoes will be more than happy to suspend disbelief.

YA, YA Fiction

YA Fiction YA

A dangerous new world

Review by Norah Piehl

by Norah Piehl

The power-hungry computer HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey seems like a harmless teddy bear compared to the truly horrific technological threat in Catherine Jinks’ latest novel, Living Hell. But as the novel begins, life aboard the space station Plexus is predictable and routine, even dull, and life on Earth is just a distant memory. For 17-year-old Cheney and his friends, born aboard the ship, Plexus is the only world they’ve ever known.

Soon the ship’s trajectory needs to be adjusted to avoid a dangerous band of radiation. But what starts as a fairly routine course adjustment turns into everyone’s worst nightmare, as Plexus gradually morphs from a self-contained, protective ecosystem into something resembling a living, breathing organism, a creature that sees the humans that occupy it as dangerous invaders to be annihilated. Not experienced enough to be a seasoned problem-solving specialist like his parents and their friends, yet not young enough to simply cower in a corner, Cheney must protect the younger kids while trying to figure out how—and why—Plexus seems so fixated on destroying them all.

With cinematic descriptions and nearly nonstop action, Living Hell begs to be adapted for the big screen. In the meantime, the large cast of characters—including the ominous Plexus itself—will play out their parts in readers’ imaginations, even as their adventures illustrate both biological concepts and philosophical concerns. “Life is a force that cannot be tamed,” observes Cheney, and readers will likely spend a long time—after their heart rates have gone back to normal—reflecting on just how true that is.

Norah Piehl

Jack of all genres

An age-old conflict plays out among the stars

Friendship and family secrets

Rhythm of the queer hip-hop revolution

Girls gone radical

The interconnection of life

A delicious—and deadly—treat

The complicated life and loves of Ruby Oliver

Their own brand of justice

What makes someone extraordinary?

A brother’s death sets his sister adrift

Gaining the Freshman Fifteen, and a new life, too

A dangerous new world

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