Book Warriors

“When Alice fell down the rabbit hole, she fell slow. She had time to notice things on her way down–Oh, there’s a teacup! There’s a table! So things seemed normal to her while she was falling. Then she bumped down and rolled into Wonderland, and all hell broke loose.”

I love this quote from the opening chapter of What I Saw and How I Lied, not only for its imagery but also for the way it tries to prepare you for the story to come. The narrator, 15 year-old Evie Spooner, is looking back, trying to figure out how her life unraveled in just a few short months. She goes back to the beginning, the day it all started, on a warm day in Queens just after World War II has ended. Joe, the step-father she adores, has returned from the fighting to open appliance stores for a country ready to buy “not only what we needed but what we wanted.” Evie and her gorgeous mother are trying to make home life the picture of perfection for him, with roast beef and mashed potato dinners and everything neat and tidy, though it is a strain living under Joe’s mother’s roof.

Joe comes home from work that day with a wild idea to pack up and drive down to Florida for a vacation…that night. He convinces Evie and her mom with his slick sales skills, and in a few days they find themselves in a half-empty Palm Beach resort during the off-season. There Evie meets Peter, a dashing soldier who makes Evie feel like a woman, her mother light-hearted, and Joe strangely moody. As Evie plots to spend more time with Peter, her mother and step-father’s relationship grows tense, and Joe becomes increasingly erratic. Soon events spin into a downward spiral of passion, blackmail, and secrets, and Evie finds the adults in her life are not what they seem. Evie must choose her own path and make a decision that will control all their destinies.

Author Judy Blundell won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature for this suspense-filled, noirish, dramatic novel. Those who love attention to detail will revel in the vivid depictions of post-war America, from the fashion (Revlon’s Fatal Apple lipstick and nail polish and full-skirted evening gowns) to the dialogue (”Don’t be in such a hurry to grow up, baby…it’s not all polka dots and moonbeams, you know.”) Those who love crime dramas and Bogey and Bacall movies will delight in the stylish mystery and suspense. And for those who appreciate album covers as much as albums, check out the cover, which I thought stunning (and an accurate depiction of the story, something becoming more rare in the book world). I loved this book, which brings me to two years in a row where I thought the National Book Award winner was better than the Printz Award winner.

Not gonna lie to you, reading The Possibilities of Sainthood felt cleansing after the last two uber-dark books I posted on. First time author Donna Freitas brings us the story Antonia Lucia Labella, a 15-year old Catholic school girl who’s never been kissed. Antonia lives with her very strict, very Catholic, very Italian mother and grandmother above their speciality food store in Rhode Island. While she spends most every hour at school or working in the store, Antonia dreams of two things–becoming the first living Catholic saint and getting kissed by her secret love, Andy Rotellini.

Sounds contradictory right? I found Antonia sweet and completely naive at first, and therefore pretty unbelievable as a modern teen protagonist. But I gradually gave into her charms and realized that though her obsession with sainthood was not typical of most teens, her optimisim and longing to believe are not completely unheard of in 15-year girls. Besides, her monthly suggestions to the Vatican for new saints are darn funny and her vision of sainthood is decidedly modern (e.g. she puts herself up for Patron Saint of Kissing, among others).

All told, a sweet story about a girl’s first forays into romance, one that stands out in the genre for its humor and warm-heartedness.

I seem to be reading thematically of late because the book for this post, like the last one, deals with dark, emotionally disturbing subject matter. However, unlike Living Dead Girl with its chilling realism, Tender Morsels uses fantasy and fairy tale to explore issues like abuse and violence.This Printz Award Honor winner by Australian writer Margo Lanagan is a compelling revamping of the fairy tale “Snow White and Rose Red.” The novel begins with a short scene narrated by a vulgar and earthy dwarf in a setting that resembles the Dark Ages of Europe. This is a prologue of sorts and the story line quickly shifts to the story of the mother of Snow White and Rose Red…a dreadful story as Lanagan reveals with great subtlety and drawn out suspense.

Just when you can’t take any more of the cruelty the girls’ mother endures, the tone lightens and she and her daughters find peace and loveliness in a magical “other” world. Snow White and Rose Red grow up, and of course, begin to explore the forbidden, the world which their mother would do anything to protect them from. At this point, the sense of inevitability pervading the novel had me by the throat…that delicious sense you get in a horror movie that something bad is about to happen. But I definitely didn’t foresee the twists and turns the story would take as it spun out and in this way the novel proved its maturity…it is literary and complex and worth the effort. It reminded me a little of reading Toni Morrison or Louise Erdrich.

Though this is based on a fairy tale, the story telling is original and innovative, using fantasy to explore how violence and ugliness exist along side innocence and love. Fairy tale or no, this is a most human story.

I write this post still feeling emotionally devastated by the experience of reading Elizabeth Scott’s Living Dead Girl. This terrifying novel is the account of 15-year old “Alice,” a young woman who has been in the clutches of a sexual predator since he kidnapped her at age 10. Ray has named her Alice…the same name he gave his last victim. Now Alice is nearing the age when Ray tired of the previous girl, and despite the fact that he starves her to keep her looking like a child, Ray grows angrier with her every day. She longs for the release of death, but Ray has something much more sinister, much more sadistic in mind.

The prose in this novel is so sparse and lyrical it feels like poetry. The author convincingly portrays not only the physical but the psychological damage Ray inflicts on Alice; Alice seems barely human at times, incapable of any but the basest instincts.

I usually avoid this type of book, put off by the “movie of the week” feel of the plot description, but this one just drew me in despite (or maybe because of) my intense feeling of horror on reading the inside cover. I feel wrung out having finished this novel, and still slightly nauseated…but I can’t deny it was a powerful reading experience. Certainly a must read for those who liked The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.

If you’re looking at trends in teen literature of the last few years, you can’t deny that fairies/faeries/faerys are BIG. They come in all shapes, sizes, and personalities–flawed and humanesque in the works of Melissa Marr (Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange), good versus evil faeries in Herbie Brennan’s Faerie Wars, dark and wild in Holly Black’s realm (Tithe, Valiant, Ironside), and fluffy and dim-witted in the world of Harry Potter.

Well, late 2008 brought us another take on the concept of “fairy” in How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier. The novel takes place in a world that isn’t, according to the author’s note, “Australia or the United States of America but in an imaginary country, perhaps a little in the future, that might also be an amalgam of the two.” Specifically in a city called New Avalon “the greatest city in the world” according to the residents, who never would want to leave…why would you when, as you in learn in school, New Avalon is graced with the highest mountains, the deepest oceans, the most famous artists, the best sports stars…you get the idea. But best of all, here in New Avalon people have their own personal fairies–unseeable charms that help you excel at something. There are loose-change fairies, good hair fairies, never-drop-a-ball fairies…but 14-year old protagonist Charlie (Charlotte Adele Donna Seto Steele) has a fairy she hates–a parking fairy. Charlie can’t drive yet, but she is constantly being used by family and classmates to get prime parking spots. Why couldn’t she have gotten a shopping fairy like her best friend she wants to know? And though there is no scientific proof that you can get rid of your fairy, Charlie sets out to do just that.

When I saw the cover of this book, I thought it was going to be a fluffy bit of romance, nothing more (I know, I know…never judge a book…). I’m glad I went ahead and read it because there’s more going on here than that. Yes there is a romantic interest with a boy from outside New Avalon, but when an all-the-boys-like you fairy starts making trouble, some interesting ethical questions arise. Plus, his outsider status allows him to speak for the reader and ask why are all you people so arrogant? Larbalestier also likes to play with language and the New Avaloners have a whole range of words that outsiders don’t use (you may find yourself turning to the glossary yourself on occasion). There’s also interesting tension built around the prestigious sports school that Charlie attends, where life is regimented and rule-driven…and all the kids love it?

All told, this fairy tale is a modern story of love, friendship, and choices with elements of science fiction sprinkled throughout–and a tale with several subplots left unfinished so be looking for a sequel to come. Fans of Maureen Johnson and E. Lockhart will especially want to check this out.