Ice

I’ve been reading a lot of cold books lately: First Light, some nonfiction global warming stuff and now Sarah Beth Durst’s latest, Ice. Does this mean I am ready for winter? Don’t think so. I am enjoying my 14 degrees today, thank you very much.

I had planned on saving Sarah’s book for the Christmas holiday, but I just couldn’t wait after reading Laini Taylor’s recent rave recommendation. So, with very high expectations, I started reading last week. The verdict? Yes Laini, I agree. This one is a winner, and it would indeed be perfect winter reading, especially if you happened to have a giant magical polar bear to snuggle up to.

Cassie Dasent has had an entirely unusual upbringing. She has grown up at an Arctic research station, where her father is a research scientist who studies polar bears. Add to this rare sort of home life the fact that Cassie’s mother has been gone from her life since Cassie was only a little girl. Cassie’s grandmother used to tell Cassie a fairy tale about her mother, saying that Cassie’s mother struck a bargain with the Polar Bear King and then was swept away to the ends of the earth and imprisoned in a troll castle. Cassie always thought that her grandmother’s story was just something exciting and entirely imaginary that her grandmother created for Cassie rather than telling the little girl the tragic truth that her mother had died. Turns out, granny wasn’t lying. The proof? On her 18th birthday, Cassie meets a talking polar bear, the Polar Bear King, and he agrees to rescue Cassie’s mother from the trolls on one condition. Cassie must marry him. Cassie agrees to the deal, and so begins an astonishing adventure as Cassie journeys to the Bear’s ice castle and eventually, across the Arctic and into the boreal forest, on a rescue mission of her own. Her life changes in ways that no fairy tale could have prepared her for.

If you’ve read and loved East by Edith Pattou or Jessica Day George’s Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow then absolutely, you’ll want to read this one. But I have to say, it’s different. It’s not just a straight up expansion or development of the East of the Sun, West of the Moon tale. Sarah’s novel feels entirely modern. The scientific aspect of the story, with the detailed evocation of life on a research station and Cassie’s interest in becoming a scientist who studies the polar bear population feels especially timely. I liked how this emphasis really made the magical element, when it arose, feel all the more fantastical. You could appreciate Cassie’s initial disbelief and then her ultimate wonder at the situation she found herself in, because she is very much situated in the “real world” at the outset. I imagine that Sarah did a lot of research about the experience of being a scientist in an arctic environment. The descriptions of the landscape, its brutal power and beauty, really shine in the narrative. The landscape is a character in the book, for sure. You can see why Cassie is in love with the Arctic. Another strength of the book is the creative explanation for the Polar Bear King’s animal form. I don’t want to reveal too much, but Sarah has come up with something pretty interesting to explain the bear’s ability to transform from animal to human. Cassie is as gutsy as they come, and her adventure is absolutely non-stop. This is a page-turner that goes way beyond the standard fairy-tale revisited. Full marks for a novel full of creativity, perfect evocation of setting, and an unexpected but entirely believable romance.

Ice is published by Simon and Schuster, Margaret K. McElderry Books

(and thanks to Sarah for sending me her copy to read!)

Soap opera in audio form (one cure for feeling yucky)

I have been feeling yucky all week long. Yucky. Achy. Grouchy. Dizzy. Dopey. All that.

So I have been lying in my bed, with cat on my pillow, kleenex clutched in my tiny fist, listening to this:

I will not feel ashamed of my secret delight in this audio soap opera. I know it is over-the-top, formulaic and a little trashy. I really like the pretty dresses on the cover and I’ll bet you do too, so don’t pretend you don’t. The dialogue is killer. For example:

His tone, when he spoke, had a ring of destiny, “I’ll never be so careless with you again.” She inhaled sharply, “It feels more true than ever now, doesn’t it?”

Even the cat can’t wait to find out what will happen next.

Perfect Witchy Combo

Saturday is one of the best nights of the year in my neighborhood: Halloween. It’s the best because my street is one of the premium attractions in the city (in my unbiased opinion) due to the fact that six houses down from us is a full-on Halloween-inspired musical production staged on the front lawn. Each year it’s a different theme, but the show always has lights, sound, costumes, a stage, backdrop and usually a giant screen attached to the front of the second storey of the house. A bunch of families on the street get together to put on the show, so there are kids and adults involved and it’s always hilarious. They do about 4 shows throughout the night and the street is basically shut down to traffic the crowd gets so big. Since we’re so close, we get a lot of trick-or-treaters. A lot. Like 250+ a lot. It’s great. For us it’s pizza and mini chocolate bars on the porch with friends who bring pumpkins so that we end up with a whole bunch glowing up and down our front steps.

Inspired by the year’s spookiest holiday, I present two witchy reads that I delighted in over the summer: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe, and Witch Child by Celia Rees. I had read Rees’ book before, and loved it, so this time I thought I’d get the audiobook for something different. Can I tell you how excited I was when I found out that it is narrated by Jennifer Ehle? (If you don’t know why that is exciting, then I’m guessing you’ve never watched this, say, 5 times. Go. Watch). I ended up listening to the one while reading the other, which was perfect, and I highly recommend this approach if you’re in the mood to immerse yourself in all-things witchy this Halloween.

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane is an adult title, but I think it has some crossover potential with the right, academically-inclined sort of teen. It has a past/present structure that I often find appealing, when it’s handled well. In the present the story centres around Harvard graduate student Connie Goodwin, who is just about to choose a subject for her doctoral dissertation and then spend the summer researching. Her mother asks her to take care of selling her grandmother’s old house close to Salem, and when Connie arrives at the run-down place, she finds herself falling under its spell. She discovers a key hidden in an old Bible and inside the key is a small piece of parchment with a name written across it: Deliverance Dane. Connie begins investigating and as she learns more about this mysterious woman she wonders if there are ties that bind her to Salem in ways she had never imagined. She begins hunting for a book that she believes belonged to Deliverance – a physick book containing secrets, both medical and spiritual, of days long gone. Set against the present day narrative is the story of Deliverance and her family and their struggles as they get caught up in the witch trials of the 1690s.

This is a good book to cosy down with on an afternoon when you don’t have anything to do (because I know we’ve all got lots of afternoons like that, right?), preferably a chilly afternoon involving a couch, a blanket, a cat and a cup of tea. It will draw you in and Howe creates an atmosphere of mystery right from the start. The descriptions of the grandmother’s old house, almost completely closed off from the world by vines and ivy and garden, are especially vivid. I thought it was an interesting and innovative idea to approach this oft-used historical period from the perspective that witchcraft may indeed have been real, just not in exactly the way you might imagine. Two tiny complaints in an otherwise completely enjoyable read. First, the sections of the book set in the 1680s and 90s felt outweighed by the narrative in the present day. At times, I was frustrated that more attention and length wasn’t given to the plot thread in the past, since it was sometimes more compelling than the events with Connie. I found myself flicking ahead to see when the next “past” section was coming up. Also, I felt like it took too long for Connie to find the physick book, almost to the point that the tension dissipated. I can see why Howe might have chosen to delay, but there was some lag in the momentum about 3/4 of the way through the book. Overall, a moody, semi-suspenseful look at a popular historical period, with a new angle that will make you rethink the witch trials.

Witch Child is the perfect teen warm-up for Deliverance Dane, in the way that it presents witchcraft as a real practice, but not a devilish one. Mary Nuttall witnesses her beloved grandmother hung as a witch and then a mysterious and beautiful woman whisks her away from this nightmare to safety. The woman has arranged for Mary to travel to the New World, where she will become a part of a community of Puritans. Too bad those Puritans aren’t any keener on witches than the English folk Mary left behind. It really is too bad, because Mary is a witch. She admits to it. When she arrives in the New World she ends up in Salem and she learns that keeping her power secret is as difficult and important as ever. I found Witch Child to be completely gripping (you might say, bewitching… ha ha). It is in diary format, bringing you right inside Mary’s thoughts and point-of-view and Rees’ writing is evocative. I like it when you find a character in historical fiction who feels somehow contemporary in her perspective and concerns, but who remains true to the period. I suggest reading it and then listening, the way I did. Jennifer Ehle’s performance is exceptional. Too bad she hasn’t recorded the sequel.

There is a sequel to Witch Child, called Sorceress, but I haven’t read it for some time. Maybe I’ll get my hands on it before tomorrow. Perfect reading for when the candy runs out and we close down shop for the night.

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane is published by Voice. Witch Child is published by Candlewick (paperback edition).

Nothing but Ghosts

About one and a half chapters into Beth Kephart’s Nothing but Ghosts I started to get this tingly feeling. Honestly. I’m not kidding. I was standing on the corner on Saturday, waiting for a streetcar to come and reading Beth’s book and I actually stopped reading because I was aware of this tingly feeling. I took a second and stared off down the street and I realized, “Hey, I know this feeling. It’s the “wow this is going to be good” feeling.” Then I put my nose back down into my book and kept on reading. A couple days later and I’m practically still tingling. Nothing but Ghosts is that good. It’s about as beautiful as a book can be.

Since her mother’s death, Katie has been learning to live with this feeling that her mother is gone, but not gone. She can’t wrap her head or her heart around the fact that someone as vibrant as her mother can just vanish, could just be there and then not be there forever. She and her artist dad are trying to keep on living, and salvage something of their family. Katie takes a job working at a local garden estate. The owner of the estate hasn’t been seen for decades. It’s said that she shut herself away more than fifty years ago just after a violent storm ripped through town. Katie becomes fascinated by Miss Martine’s mysterious past, and when Ms. McDermott, the dazzling town librarian, offers Katie the chance to sift through a bunch of boxes of local lore that have recently come to the library, Katie thinks the boxes might get her closer to the real story behind the lost heiress. At the same time, Katie’s dad is working on restoring a strange dark painting that turns out to be linked to the estate mystery. Nothing but Ghosts follows Katie through one summer as she chases ghosts and memories, looking for a way to keep close to those who are gone and find some peace living with loss.

Beth writes characters tremendously well. By the end of chapter one, after only 9 pages, more has been revealed and suggested about Katie and her Dad than many authors could manage in entire novels. (I think that was about where the tingling started). Chapter one was so perfect that I read it a few times before heading on into the rest of the book. Just read how Beth describes Katie’s thoughts about her bike,

“My bike is the ten-speed, thin-wheeled kind, a perfect silver streak. If you were looking down on me and my bike from a cloud above, you’d think we were a zipper. That’s how fast we go, how straight down, all the way to Miss Martine’s.”

I love that. I will now look at speedy bikes and think silver zippers. Beth’s writing will change the way you look at bicycles and it will change the way you think about grieving. She writes,

“…maybe I don’t know how you put regret inside a painting, maybe I can’t figure out Miss Martine, maybe I can’t really save my dad from sadness, but maybe so much time goes by that you start to understand how beauty and sadness can both live in one place.”

I’ve read all of Beth Kephart’s books for Young Adults, and one of the highest compliments I can offer about them is that Beth writes about the quiet miracles of real life. She helps readers to see that ordinary experience, all of it – the trouble and sadness and simple day-to-day joy of it – is worth noticing. Some of my favourite parts in Nothing but Ghosts are the scenes where Katie is just hanging out with her dad, eating with him and doing dishes with him and talking to him. It’s the authenticity of the emotion, and the perfectly placed poetic details that make the story sing. I can’t think of a YA novel about loss that is more worth reading, and that I know I will want to read again, later on in my life.

And the cover? Don’t you think it is just right for a book about memories and vanishing and grief? Perfect. Here is a lovely behind the scenes cover story from Melissa at readergirlz.

A few more reviews:

Bookslut

Presenting Lenore

Book Nut

Things Mean a lot

Em’s Bookshelf

Nothing but Ghosts is published by Harper Teen (every gorgeous word).

Silverfin: the Graphic Novel

I thought Charlie Higson’s first Young Bond novel, Silverfin was all kinds of fantastic – the suspense, the atmosphere, the bad guys, the action sequences and narrow escapes. All parts of it made me into an instant Bond fan. This is saying a lot because I was a girl who had at that time never (yes, never), watched a Bond movie. I knew nothing of Sean or Pierce or Daniel. I do now. Since Higson’s first book, I’ve not only caught myself up on the films, I’ve tried to keep up with the rest of Higson’s series (now at 5 books), but I’m a tad behind. I’m thinking the best plan is a Bond marathon over Christmas break? Until then, I picked up Silverfin – the Graphic Novel to get me back in the spy spirit.

Now, for fans of the novel, there’s quite a bit that isn’t in the graphic version in terms of plot. That’s understandable of course, since given the length of the original, a whole lot of exposition and dialogue had to be cut out. I like exposition and dialogue. That’s the kind of reader I am. I wonder if I had not read the novel beforehand, would I still have felt that the graphic version moved a bit too rapidly, without quite enough time spent on each of the various plot threads and character development? Perhaps not. But that’s how I felt. I found myself rounding the characters out, filling them in in my mind based on my memory of the novel. There’s an interesting interview with Higson, in which he comments on the challenges of converting his text to the new format, and he notes that it wasn’t easy to do, that ideally, more length would have been nice. Still, it works quite well, and most definitely the pages keep on turning. The brisk pacing and excitement is still there in full force.

The art work by Kev Walker and the layout design pack a real the visual punch. I loved the way the colour palette shifted as the story moved from one place to another, signaling a new sequence and setting. The opening section at the loch, all red and black, is super creepy and matches the horror of the events to perfection. The Eton sections are pale, quite muted, as if you’re watching an old film – just right in spirit for the classy and legendary school. When James comes face to face with the true evil secret of Hellebore’s Castle, everything suddenly turns deep shades of bright green, you know the “scientist gone bad” green colour (think Hulk). The colouring supported the text the same way music might in a film, changing as the mood changed, but not in a way that was heavy-handed.

My overall assessment? Well worth reading. Good fun for those who are already fans of the novels, who can fill things in a little along the way. You might be wondering about the first chapter? I know I was. The first chapter of Silverfin has to be one of the spookiest, most suspenseful openings I’ve ever read, period. Let’s just say the graphic version of the opening was good enough to inspire an immediate second reading. If you’re not shuddering by page 5, you should have your head examined.

Silverfin – the Graphic Novel by Charlie Higson & Kev Walker is published by Puffin.

(This is cross-posted at Guys Lit Wire).

Author Interview: Sara Zarr & Once Was Lost

It is my absolute pleasure to be hosting Sara Zarr today for a second interview at Shelf Elf, this time to chat about her latest YA novel, Once Was Lost. Welcome Sara!

If you had to sell Once Was Lost in a sentence, what would be your teaser?

Thank God I don’t have to sell books on one sentence, because I’m terrible at this, but:
When a local tragedy overlaps with a series of personal tragedies in the life of a pastor’s daughter, she begins to question everything she was once sure of.

I’d like to know more about the origin of the title, Once Was Lost. How did you come to choose this phrase from Amazing Grace for the title and in what ways do you think it resonates with the book as a whole?

There was actually quite a little scramble to get a title in time for the book to go in my publisher’s catalog. I think we had two or three days to settle on it. My working title had been Home Enough, from the line, “I’m home enough to know I’m lost,” from a Jars of Clay song. It didn’t really work as a title, ultimately. I put the word out to almost everyone I know to help me title this thing. I talked about heat, home, desert, resurrection, broken things, missing people, mystery, youth group, family. I mentioned that I’d thought maybe there could be a line from a hymn that would work. There were hours of brainstorming, and brainstorming always involves blurting out some good-but-wrong-for-this-book and also, shall we say, less than perfect ideas. Some of the more amusing (to me) rejected titles: The Good Samara, Home Is Where the Hurt Is, On the Blink, Story of Another Girl.

About 45 seconds before I had to call my editor to really settle on something, my friend and writer Tara Altebrando emailed me the title Once Was Lost and it just immediately felt right. I think it felt right because 1) it’s poetic without being overwrought, 2) it’s from a fairly recognizable Christian hymn, which worked at the level of the story being narrated by a girl steeped in church culture, and 3) so many people in the book are lost—not just Jody, the missing girl, but Sam, her father, her mother, and all of the people trying to make sense of tragedy. It also implies the second part of the line, “but now am found,” and suggests that there might be some hope.

Sam is caught in a real period of turmoil in this story, and I think that a lot of teens will connect to her sense of being lost. She says, “This is different than doubt. This is something I’ve never felt before, a total absence of whatever it is that’s made me who I am, on the inside, all my life.” Do you think that this kind of crisis tends to fundamentally change who you are, or just bring you closer to who you’ve always been, your true self?

I think it can go either way, and I think it can happen at a number of different points during a life. We’re always going through this process of shedding things and picking up other things, and always changing. At least, that’s kind of how I see life and our job in life. We’re not made of stone, we’re never “finished,” and there’s always something to work on. Young adult fiction is so often about firsts—this just happens to be about one person’s first dark night of the soul.

You describe yourself as someone with “sincere but conflicted” religious faith. I wonder how much you identify with Sam, her questioning and doubt? Also, if you could give advice on faith to Sam at any point in your novel, what do you think would be the most important thing you’d want to say to her?

I identify with Sam a lot. I’ve definitely gone through periods of hopelessness and anger, when I’ve felt like I was shouting into the void and getting only silence in return, or coming up against the same brick wall over and over and nothing would give. I’ve been through other times when my faith has felt very real to me, and I’m sure of everything and have these moments of clarity and peace that are unexplainable. If I could give advice to Sam I guess I would say to rest. Life is hard, and there are all these things we wrestle with, and sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and say it’s okay that I don’t know these things for sure and if it hurts to beat my head against the wall looking for answers, then maybe I could give it a rest for awhile. Maybe I can kind of figure out a way to peacefully coexist with my doubts.

Once Was Lost

If I had to make a list of my top ten writers of realistic fiction for young adults, Sara Zarr would certainly be on it. Sara’s books are not only beautifully crafted, they are memorable and have a unique quality that is neither showy nor gimmicky. They’re contemplative, but compelling. Speaking of authenticity, Sara is such an honest, down-to-earth gal, who is thoughtful and super-intelligent to boot. How could you not be a Sara Zarr fan? I’ve loved her past two books (my review of Sweethearts, my review of Story of a Girl) and I’ve had the good fortune to interview Sara about Sweethearts. Tomorrow, she’ll be here to talk about her latest novel, Once Was Lost.

In advance of Sara’s visit, I’m reviewing Once Was Lost today, but first, a few video-y treats. Here’s Sara, talking about her books:

Now, I’m excited to present my first book trailer ever!!! (Be kind people, be kind):

(Not bad for a first go, I’d say. Yay for the miracle of iMovie!)

Once Was Lost is powerful. Like the character’s in Sara’s previous books, Samara feels immediately as true and real as your closest friend. Sara is really good at creating characters who are struggling without turning them into simple pity-cases. You empathize with Sam straight away, as you witness her sadness at her mom’s absence (who is in recovery after a DUI incident), and her frustration as her father continues to give so much of himself to his congregation that there’s little left for his family. You never feel that Sam is just her sadness, however. She has strength and opinions and she thinks about who she is now and who she wants to become.

I was impressed at the way the mystery element of the plot (Jody’s disappearance) wove into Sam’s family story so seamlessly. This thread of the plot echoed and drew out the themes Sara introduces from the outset in Sam’s story: loss, doubt, hope and uncertainty. By using the mystery element as a kind of counterpoint to Sam’s experiences, what might otherwise have been a mostly interior narrative becomes all the more gripping. The kidnapping enhances our awareness of the themes being explored, and provides further opportunity for us to understand Sam more deeply, in her responses to the tragedy, and its effects on her already fragile faith.

As in both of Sara’s earlier books, the ending of Once Was Lost is not simple, or neat and tidy, or too-good-to-be-true. I won’t say much about it, because I wouldn’t want to spoil it. But it’s an imperfect ending. That’s the only imperfect aspect to this novel, I promise you, and even that feels just right.

Pop back again tomorrow to learn more from Sara about Once Was Lost.

Here are a bunch of links about the book, very much worth looking at:

Publishers Weekly starred review
A wonderful playlist for Once Was Lost at Largehearted Boy
An essay by Sara on writing the book
readergirlz Cover Story
YA Lit Bitch interview at Bitch magazine

Liar

Justine Larbalestier’s Liar is a one-of-a-kind book. It will shock you, confound you, captivate you and leave you with the feeling you’ve read something truly original and thought-provoking. I couldn’t put it down.

Micah is a liar. She doesn’t pretend to be anything else. There’s a reason she lies, she claims, and let me tell you, it’s big. You’d lie too if you had this secret. (Then again, you can never be sure if the secret Micah’s hiding is actually true…) Micah tell us lies are easier than the truth and explains, “If you’ve got a big secret, it’s best to paper it over with lots of little ones.” In Liar, Micah narrates her experiences before and after the disappearance of Zach, a fellow-senior at her high school. She claims to have inherited her lying problem, as well as a family illness, the real reason for her constant lies. But even when she says this story she’s telling is the truth, pages later she’ll admits she wasn’t always sticking to the facts, and then when she ‘fesses up, sometimes even then she’s lying. I dare you to sort it all out.

In the FAQ section on LIAR at Justine’s site, she writes, “I deliberately wrote the book to be read in at least two different ways, which means that there is no one ending, and thus no way I can tell you what really happens. You’re on your own.” I love this. It doesn’t drive me crazy, the ambiguity. Rather, it delights me with the possibilities it offers. The themes in Liar change depending on your reading of the book. Is it about identity? Sexual identity? Mental Illness? (There are lots more options, but I can’t go there without giving things away!) I think it’s going to be impossible to reach consensus on one reading on this book. People who like neat and tidy and endings with everything sorted out nicely will probably freak out if they read Liar. The completely unreliable narrator makes reading Liar an intensely personal experience and also makes you itch to talk about the book with other people. Luckily, the author has provided a forum for this discussion at her blog. Go ahead and share your POV at Justine’s Liar Spoiler Thread.

There are many other rave reviews out there. Here are just a few:

bookshelves of doom (watch out for spoilers)
Bib-Laura-graphy
Reading Rants

My Invented Life

Part of the great fun and excitement in reading debut authors is that if you find a really good one, you feel filled up with happiness in thinking of all of the great reading that is in store for you down the road, as this writer keeps on writing. This is exactly my feeling about Lauren Bjorkman. Her first novel, My Invented Life, is a fantastic look at sisterhood, drama geeks, and the far-from-simple subject of sexual identity. Funny with depth = my idea of pure reading delight.

Roz and Eva have always been as close as sisters can be. They share interests and friends and secrets. Sometimes, they’ve shared boyfriends (though not at the same time). In fact, currently, Roz would be more than happy if Eva would hand over her guy, sexy skate god Bryan. Roz hasn’t ever minded much that Eva is the prettier sister, the more talented sister, the more popular sister. She loves Eva like crazy, and that’s why it’s driving her nuts that Eva seems to be shutting her out. When Roz gets the idea that Eva has fallen hard for her friend and cheerleading partner, Carmen, she tries to get Eva to come out, but it isn’t so simple. So Roz comes up with a crazy scheme hoping to inspire her sister to open up. She decides to pretend she’s lesbian, to try coming out just to see what happens and gauge the response of their group of friends. Needless to say, her plan gets a lot of attention, and far from making things easier, just ends up turning everything upside down. Toss into the mix all of the gender-bending action in their school production of As You Like It, and Roz can barely keep up with the general insanity. It turns out that her invented life is no easier to manage than her real life, but it sure makes her think about labels and trust and the course of true love.

There is a wild and crazy energy to this book, and Roz is at the heart of it all. Whether she’s skidding into dangerous territory with the sleazy-but-hot Bryan, or designing a new “femme lesbian” style for her starring role in “The Lesbian of Yolo Bluffs High”, or reading sentimental coming out stories online, she’s always going about 100 miles an hour. She springs off the page. She’s one of the most “alive” characters I’ve come across lately, like a gust of fresh air. You won’t always agree with her choices, but you can’t stop yourself from wishing she was your best friend in high school. Think of all the fun/trouble you’d have had.

Another great pleasure in My Invented Life is the cast of quirky secondary characters. Just when you think you’ve got each one figured out (“Oh yeah, there’s the nice guy love interest…” “OK, here’s the damaged but cool girlfriend…”) Bjorkman twists things around to show you a side of a character that you hadn’t predicted. Nobody is one dimensional (except maybe Bryan, “the sleazeball”). You know you’ve arrived at a whole different level of YA fiction when you find yourself imagining novels following the lives of several secondary characters.

If you’re feeling a little bit uncertain about the playful way in which Roz responds to her sister’s sexuality, I hear ya. At the beginning I was uneasy about Roz “pretending” to be a lesbian, just for the fun of it, treating coming out as a game, or as acting practice. But fear not! Bjorkman takes Roz from her prankish and somewhat disrespectful starting place towards real insights about the complexity of sexual identity. I was happy with the “all’s well that ends well” spirit of the ending, but perhaps there might be readers out there who feel it romanticizes the reality of teens who question their sexual identity. I’m curious to see what others say.

My Invented Life is a romp, but the issues it plays with are certainly worthy of discussion. I’ll be reading whatever Lauren Bjorkman writes next. (I’ll also be playing with the Elizabethan Curse Generator I found linked at her blog. Thanks Lauren!)

My Invented Life is published by Henry Holt tomorrow (September 29/2009).

You Are So Undead to Me

I started listening to this a few weeks back and it got me through my first cold of the academic year, a mountain of unfolded laundry and yucky housework, and some very early morning dog walks, all with a smile on my face. Gotta love audiobooks for adding a tiny element of self-spoiling to otherwise mundane / unappealing chores. I chose this one because I had a feeling it would blend tongue-in-cheek humour with a fast-paced, don’t-have-to-think-too-much plot. Not having to think too much is essential at the beginning of the school year. Stacy Jay’s You Are So Undead to Me is perfect when you’re after light reading with smart characters, some great humourous scenes, and a whole lot of zombie action. If fun is something that’s required, then look no further.

Megan is a Zombie Settler, descended from a long line of Zombie Settlers, one of the more unusual skills one might inherit. The idea here is that a dead person becomes a zombie when she or he has unresolved issues at the time of death, and in order to rest in peace, the zombie seeks out a settler who listens to the problem, and promises to fix things up. Then the zombie goes away for good. Unlike the zombies in the movies, these zombies are fairly polite and patient and don’t try to eat you. They groan a lot. They stink, but they aren’t in relentless pursuit of human flesh. At 15, Megan’s settling powers are becoming stronger than they ever were before and this means that a whole lot of zombies are seeking her out to solve their problems. This isn’t so great when a girl is trying to maintain a social life, and she must keep her powers secret so that her family won’t be relocated by Settlers’ Affairs. Megan may not like it, but she’s trying to make all of this work, and take her responsibilities as a Settler seriously. Things aren’t so bad until someone at her school starts working some seriously black magic, threatening Megan and all the kids at school with a brutal zombie attack on the night of the homecoming dance. Now it’s Megan’s job to fix everything, to save homecoming and herself before the undead win the day.

Phew! I am kind of a tired Elf tonight, so the rest of my review is presented in point form (as my students say, “Can I just do it in point form?”):

Why I liked it:

• Funny parts (especially when the zombies showed up on Megan’s doorstep and she would greet them, “Hello, welcome to your after death session.”)
• There’s a cute Zombie Settler boy (he comes in handy)
• It reminded me in tone of another favourite funny & adventurous series that doesn’t take itself too seriously: Ally Carter’s I’d Tell You I Love You But Then I’d Have to Kill You (this is a major compliment because I am such a fan of Ally’s books)
• Awesome zombie attack sequences

What I wish was different:

• I was having trouble guessing the identity of the villain all the way to the end, but then it was hinted at way too loud and clear for my liking. It killed the suspense that had been so well-sustained for the whole narrative. I think the revelation should have been done all-of-a-sudden, with zero warning, for more impact.
• Nothing else. It’s just right. It’s fully entertaining as is.
• That I had an ARC of Jay’s next book, the follow up title, Undead Much?

You have a shot at winning your own ARC of Undead Much? Just take a look at the fan art at Stacy’s blog and then create your own masterpiece to send to Stacy for a chance at one of her ARCs. (I can’t draw, but I can write nice reviews…)

You are So Undead to Me is published by Razorbill.