BookPage Teen Top Pick, May 2015

Characters with a mental illness often find a place in literature, but they are infrequently the main character and seldom found in young adult novels. Although teens with psychoses garner plenty of attention in the news today, the fictional world is still catching up. Award-winning author Neal Shusterman takes the topic head-on in his new book, Challenger Deep, and does so with sincerity.

In his own voice, Caden Bosch tells the story of how he slowly loses his connection to reality and how his world starts to look very different from everyone else’s. The chapters fluctuate between “real time”—going to school, talking to his parents, hanging with his friends—and “ship time,” when he finds himself on a galleon at sea that seems to be his waking dream. As Caden spirals further into mental illness, the lines between these two realities blur and merge seamlessly, pulling readers ever closer to the sensation of a psychotic episode.

Shusterman’s personal experience of his own teenage son’s mental illness lends a powerful and genuine tone to the book. His son, Brendan Shusterman, penned the illustrations for the story, many of which were drawn during the worst of his illness.

Challenger Deep is difficult to read at times—as it should be—as readers are drawn into the depths along with Caden, but it is also extremely compelling and hard to resist. Shusterman is a master storyteller and it shows.

Jennifer Bruer Kitchel is the librarian for a Pre-K through eighth level Catholic school.

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

Set within the historical Persian empire of Khorasan, The Wrath and the Dawn is an enrapturing tale of love, loss, loyalties and longing—and the stakes couldn't be higher.

When 16-year-old Shazi offers herself up as the next wife to Khalid, the 18-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, many are baffled by her sacrifice. The caliph’s cruelty is known throughout the land, as he repeatedly marries beautiful young women and then murders them the mornings after their wedding nights. But Shazi is determined to exact revenge upon the caliph, whose most recently murdered wife was her childhood best friend. Yet something strange happens when Shazi lives past the first dawn: She begins to see the humanity of the monster king, and as her hate starts to subside, her fierce loyalties to her family and friends also waver, and all dare to question her love.

The Wrath and the Dawn is Renée Ahdieh’s second novel and the first in a forthcoming trilogy that will follow Shazi’s adventures across Khorasan. The author draws inspiration from centuries of collected tales in One Thousand and One Nights to weave this engrossing tale of dire straits in an ancient empire. Strong, emotional Shazi proves to be an immensely captivating, smart, beautiful and blunt character who has come to know herself, even at such a young age. She is fearless in all her pursuits, regardless of however impossible they may seem.

Justin Barisich is a freelancer, satirist, poet and performer living in Atlanta. More of his writing can be found at littlewritingman.com.

Nothing signals the start of summer like the publication of the latest Sarah Dessen book. Unlike many of Dessen’s previous novels, Saint Anything isn’t set during the summer, but its riveting premise and cast of characters still make it the perfect little reward for a successful school year.

Ever since her charismatic older brother Peyton got in trouble with the law, and especially after he seriously injured a boy in a DUI accident, Sydney has felt like no one in her family pays attention to her. The only one who seems to notice Sydney is Ames, Peyton’s best friend, whose creepy attention Sydney would rather not attract.

Desperate for a change of scene, Sydney transfers to a different high school, where she becomes enamored of the close-knit Chatham family, who couldn’t be less like her own. Embraced and buoyed by them, Sydney sees the opportunity to find friendship and love like none she’s known before. But her family history—not to mention her own sense of guilt over her brother’s actions—might jeopardize everything she’s found.

Although she’s often categorized as a romantic novelist, Dessen writes as adeptly about family and friendships as she does about love, and all three facets of her talent are on display in Saint Anything. Sydney asks hard questions about what it means to be a good daughter, sister and friend. The mistakes she makes and lessons she learns make for an absorbing and rewarding read—exactly the kind of thing you want to tuck away for the first lazy weekend of summer.

Seventeen-year-old Echo is human, but the feathered Avicen are her only family. Ten years ago, the Ala, leader of the Avicen, caught her pickpocketing in the New York Public Library and, rather than punish the small child, took her under her magical wing. When the centuries-old war between the Avicen and the Drakharin—scaled descendants of dragons—suddenly heats up, Echo is eager to prove her loyalty by tracking down the legendary firebird. If she is successful, she will end the violence and bring peace to the two warring tribes. But her mission is not as clear-cut as it seems, and along the way Echo comes to question everything she once believed.

Catnip for fans of Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series, Melissa Grey’s debut novel (the first in a promising trilogy) weaves a strong coming-of-age tale into a beautifully rendered urban fantasy. Sassy Echo’s no-nonsense attitude and hard edges are tempered by her very realistic teenaged insecurities (which mostly revolve around boys and belonging). The supporting characters—friends and foes alike, all as vividly developed as Echo—also toe that line between fantastical warrior and emotional human as they navigate the Avicen- and Drakharin-run streets of New York, Strasbourg, Paris, London and Kyoto. Echo’s quest is full of action, self-discovery and even a little romance, and leads to an epic climax of feathers and flames that will have young audiences clamoring for the sequel.

The Martial Empire is an ancient, Rome-like civilization where the military rules with unwavering violence. Two heroic characters occupy the heart of this tale: Laia, a member of the oppressed Scholar class, and Elias, an elite soldier on the brim of desertion.

Laia’s parents died fighting for the Resistance, a now-fractured rebel group. After her grandparents are murdered and her brother is arrested, Laia seeks help from the Resistance, but their help comes with a price. If they are to save her brother from execution, Laia must pose as a slave to spy on the Commandant, the military academy’s ruthless leader—but doing so puts Laia at risk for rape, disfigurement and death.

Elias is the Commandant’s son and one of the academy’s best soldiers. Hours after graduation, Elias plans to escape the military—but he and his best friend are unwillingly entered into a competition to choose the Empire’s next ruler. When Elias meets Laia, he’s immediately attracted to the slave girl and puts his own life at risk to protect her. Elias dreams of freedom, and Laia wants to save the only family she has left, but together they will change the fate of an empire.

Like Suzanne Collins with the Hunger Games series, debut author Sabaa Tahir doesn’t write around the violence, which may be too extreme for some readers. The Commandant’s cruelty has no limits, and children are often the targets. Laia and Elias’ risky close calls will give readers heart palpitations. Be warned: An Ember in the Ashes ends on a cliffhanger, but with all the buzz surrounding this page-turning novel, including publication in more than 20 countries and snapped-up movie rights, a sequel is most likely in the works.

Kimberly Giarratano is the author of Grunge Gods and Graveyards, a young adult paranormal mystery.

Romy Grey’s story could be any girl’s—your girlfriend, your daughter, your best friend. When she wakes up on the side of the road, her shirt unbuttoned, words written in lipstick on her stomach, dirt in her nails and no recollection of how she got there, her world is turned upside down. The last she can remember, she was at the party of senior year. And so begins one of the most powerful, heartbreaking and emotionally charged stories about rape, interracial relationships and friendship.

Romy and her former best friend Penny had a falling out junior year, leaving Penny as the most popular girl in school and Romy as the outcast. Both Romy and Penny go missing the same night, but when Romy is found, she is accused of wasting everyone’s time and diminishing the search for Penny at the most crucial of times.

Enter the Turner family, one of the most influential in town: Sheriff Turner; his wife, Helen, owner of Grebe Auto Supplies; and their two sons, Alek and Kellan. Alek is Penny’s boyfriend, but Kellan remains a mystery—until a fateful conversation between Penny and Romy that occurs before they go missing.

Author Courtney Summers intricately weaves mystery, lies and heartbreak throughout this powerful novel. Readers will pull for Romy, rooting for her to speak and for her voice to be heard. Reminiscent of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, All the Rage grabs hold and won’t let go. Romy’s story is violent in nature and language, but there is no other way to convey the hurt, anger and heartwrenching emotional and psychological issues that she faces. This is a beautiful story that speaks to all women, particularly teenage girls and their mothers.

Amber, Vee and Orianna aren’t necessarily the girls next door. Well, they might have been at one time, but now these teens find their lives inextricably linked through the common denominator of Aurora Hills Secure Juvenile Detention Center.

Amber’s doing time for killing her stepfather; Vee is an aspiring, yet tormented, ballet dancer; and Orianna is the curious link that binds them. As Amber notes, “Each of us had our own monster, distinct to us.” And indeed, the girls must deal with their own demons as well as those of the other inmates who share their dismal fate. Author Nova Ren Suma uses highly refined and eloquent prose to unveil—slowly—how these tragic lives intersect, as each girl's alternating story dips back and forth through time.

Unexplained phenomena, dark back stories, bloody flashbacks, creepy characters and a shocking denouement are enough to keep the sinister suspense going, much to the thrill of today’s YA readers. The female characters are well drawn, compelling and complex, and things aren’t always as they seem, but sharp readers will want to unravel their complicated connections.

Suma shares in the book’s publicity materials that “this book haunted me like one of the ghosts found in its pages.” The Walls Around Us will certainly haunt readers as well, but the journey will be well worth the scares. This is an intense, hypnotic and absorbing read. A movie can’t be far behind.

Note to self: Don’t forget to log out of your personal email on a public computer. That’s the lesson 16-year-old Simon Spier learns the hard way after a high school classmate reads his emails to his secret, anonymous boyfriend, Blue. Simon hasn’t come out to his friends or family, and now he feels pressured to keep this fact, as well as the identity of Blue, a secret. 

Moments of teen life, drama and angst are well drawn by debut novelist Becky Albertalli, a clinical psychologist who previously worked with gender-nonconforming children. Her insights are spot on, from the dialogue to the raw emotions Simon and Blue experience. As the book alternates between daily life and the emails between Simon and Blue, readers are immediately and magnetically pulled into this story of coming out, being true to oneself and challenging the societal status quo, or the “homo sapiens agenda,” as Simon refers to it. 

Topical relevance aside, this book stands in the YA canon as an outstanding book about teens coming of age, where several of the characters just happen to be gay.

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

In this sprawling, emotionally enrapturing and mostly autobiographical tale, a talented lad comes of age in the harsh shadows of Northern England’s shipyards.

Dominic Hall was born in a hovel along the River Tyne in the 1960s. His severe father is still embittered from fighting in World War II, and his kind mother always wanted more for her sweet boy. Readers get key glimpses of Dominic’s growth and maturation over more than a decade as he befriends the two most disparate people his age in town—the artistic, free-spirited Holly Stroud and the tormented, reckless Vincent McAlinden. Dominic, a weaver of words, can’t help but be drawn to Holly’s self-expression and caring—but he can’t seem to suppress the darkness that attracts him to the wildness of Vincent’s uninhibited and dangerous life. When these two worlds inevitably collide, he is faced with making choices no one would ever want to make.

British author David Almond is an immensely gifted storyteller and a receiver of a Hans Christian Andersen Award, a Carnegie Medal and a host of other honors. The Tightrope Walkers is perhaps his most personal work, with so many similarities between the author and Dominic that fiction and reality become indistinguishable from one another. Almond’s phenomenal, philosophical writing balances well with his incisive clarity and arresting narration, making it immensely relatable.

Justin Barisich is a freelancer, satirist, poet and performer living in Atlanta. More of his writing can be found at littlewritingman.com.

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

BookPage Teen Top Pick, April 2015

I promised myself I would write this whole review of Susan Juby’s latest novel without using the word “quirky.” There’s so much more to the author of Alice, I Think than just her knack for writing about eccentric characters and borderline outlandish situations. There is plenty of both in Juby’s latest, but that’s hardly the whole story.

The Truth Commission is (supposedly) a book-length work of creative nonfiction, submitted as part of Normandy Pale’s Spring Special Project at Green Pastures, a prestigious art high school in a small Vancouver town. Normandy starts off by telling the story of how she and her two best friends prompted (or cajoled, or outright pushed) their classmates to tell the truth about themselves.

But all this compulsive truth-telling has Normandy wondering whether it’s time to tell the truth about her own family: Her older sister Keira, Green Pastures’ most notable alum, has built a wildly successful career on a series of graphic novels portraying Keira as a heroine and Normandy and her parents as grotesque losers—and, in many ways, serving as a self-fulfilling prophecy for their real life.

For Normandy, it is a frightening but essential process to force her family to confront the realities of Keira’s brand of “truth”-telling and the damage it has inflicted. Along the way, readers get a lively course in storytelling, the ethics of producing art and how (not) to write creative nonfiction, all delivered in Normandy’s hilarious, heartfelt and (yes) brilliantly quirky voice.

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

Beautiful and rich, 17-year-old Grace Fontaine can charm her way into the midst of any high school clique. But Grace makes friends only to betray them. Her family—Mom, Dad and older brother Parker—comprise a team of con artists, infiltrating the inner circles of the wealthy only to steal their millions. When one job is complete, off they go to a new location, a new mark and a new masquerade.

This time, the Fontaines have arrived in tony Playa Hermanos, a California neighborhood located on a small peninsula. Grace’s role is to befriend Logan Fairchild, teenage son of wealthy Warren Fairchild. Grace, already weary of the endless cons, breaks the Fontaine’s cardinal rule by making real friends at her new school, as well as by falling for the goodhearted Logan. Her family’s downfall is foreshadowed in Grace’s introduction, but there are still surprises in this suspenseful tale of cat and mouse.

Zink, author of The Prophecy of Sisters series, creates an intriguing backstory for Grace and her criminally inclined family. Grace and Parker adopted by the Fontaines in their early adolescence, after each had spent years in foster care. As the story concludes, questions about their past and future remain unresolved. Could there be more adventures to come? A fine blend of teen drama and high-end deception, this novel should appeal to fans of Ally Carter’s Heist Society or Mary Elizabeth Summer’s Trust Me, I’m Lying.

Diane Colson works at the Nashville Public Library. She has long been active in the American Library Association's Young Adult Library Association (YALSA), serving on selection committees such as the Morris Award, the Alex Award and the Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award.