Book Warriors

I’m back from a loooong break and rarin’ to go. For my first review of the year, I snagged Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd, a collection of short stories edited by well-known authors (and good friends) Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci. If you haven’t noticed, we’re currently in the middle of a Geek-Chic Phenomenon wherein, geekiness, nerdiness, dorkdome, etc. have come in to their own and suddenly, being an outsider is a very fashionable brand indeed. I happen to agree with Wikipedia’s astute analysis of the geek chic trend, which points out that the Geek-Chic label is largely superficial. However, as a rather dorky person (I heart reading, Star Trek NG, Star Wars, LOTR; I was in band and 4-H in high school, as well as the forestry team), I couldn’t resist the premise of this book.

The editors have gathered an all-star team of YA authors to write stories in which the protagonists are all geeks of one ilk or another. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I was surprised by the variety of tone and theme offered in these stories, which ran the gamut from dark, social commentary to silly, entertaining romps. I have to say, I expected better from some of the authors whose work I know and love, but was not let down by John Green and David Levithan. I thought Libba Bray’s “It’s Just a Jump to the Left” was an interesting commentary on growing up which channeled Judy Blume’s ability to nail the fears of a teenage girl while covering more mature concerns. I also enjoyed Sara Zarr’s “This is My Audition Monologue,” whose intriguing narrarator surprises with her blunt honesty (and, I might add, this story would make for an interesting audition monologue, even if it is long). The majority of stories contain some mature content, mostly language (a lot of which I felt was unnecessary and self-conscious) and some themes. Admittedly, I didn’t enjoy every story in the collection, but, found the collection entertaining on the whole. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone with a little geek in them, whether they let it show or not. To read an excerpt or play the game “The Great Geek Escape,” check out the publisher website: http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/features/geektastic/index.html.

“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.

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.