Fiction — Someday My Printz Will Come

Dying to Know How this Is YA

October 19, 2012 By Karyn Silverman 13 Comments

Dying to Know You, Aidan Chambers
Amulet Books, April 2012
Reviewed from ARC

Look, Aidan Chambers is an immensely accomplished writer. He was one of the early Printz winners, people write critical essays about his books, and he plays quite impressively with form in many of his novels. He certainly has a a steady command of his language, and while there are aspects of Dying to Know You I don’t like, when it comes down to it a lot of this is stylistic quibbling and reader preference, which is not a Printz-worthy argument.

Not stylistic? The decision to have this ostensibly YA book narrated by a 75-year-old man.

75. Let that sink in for a moment.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Contenders, Fiction Tagged With: Aidan Chambers, Amulet Books, April pubs, four star books, Not really YA, P&P

The Obsidian Blade

October 17, 2012 By Sarah Couri 6 Comments

The Obsidian Blade by Pete Hautman
Candlewick, April 2012
Reviewed from an ARC

I have a feeling this is going to be a short review, in part at least because I didn’t finish reading this one. Yes, we’ve gotten to my first DNF of the year (at least, my first public blogging about a DNF title; rest assured, there have been others). (Er. We all know that DNF is Did Not Finish, yes? I first saw Liz B use that acronym at Teacozy, so I’m assuming it’s a thing. A Thing, actually.)

Can I also just mention that I’m super bummed to out myself as someone who did not finish a Pete Hautman book? Because I would really prefer, as a fan, to be raving about this book — it’s science fiction! It’s full of action! It’s Pete Hautman! National Book Winner Pete Hautman! He will write any book and make it pretty awesome! Pete Hautman, people! [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: April pubs, Candlewick, Pete Hautman, the obsidian blade, three star books

Radiant Days?

October 15, 2012 By Karyn Silverman 6 Comments

Radiant Days, Elizabeth Hand
Viking, April 2012
Reviewed from final copy (that I bought for myself the day it came out)

I’ve probably said this before, but by and large I love this blog. I love talking to intelligent, passionate people about books. I love disagreeing and I love having my mind changed. I even love, although sometimes the way we love shots for keeping us disease free, the way the responsibility of the blog makes me a more honest librarian, by which I mean someone who has to leave her reading comfort zone behind regularly.

But here’s what I don’t love: having to go on record talking smack about books I want to defend but in the end, just can’t.

The Children and the Wolves

October 11, 2012 By Sarah Couri 9 Comments

The Children and the Wolves by Adam Rapp
Candlewick, February 2012
Reviewed from a final copy

I’ve never read an Adam Rapp book before, so I volunteered for this one. Volunteered! I said, sure, I will read it. Oh, you guys. I mean, I thought I was prepared. I tried to be ready. And this book was exactly what I thought it would be, so…I guess that means I was as ready and prepared as I could be? Maybe? I might also be a little broken inside, though.

So: Bounce, Orange, and Wiggins are three middle schoolers who meet in detention. Bounce is the ring leader who provides drugs from her rich, successful, and usually absent parents. Her latest plan: to kidnap a four year old (whom they call the Frog), chain her in the basement, and go door-to-door raising money for her rescue. The Frog spends her time in the basement playing a video game that gives the novel its title. Orange is happy to go along with any idea Bounce has — and she has more of them as the book goes on. Wiggins is uncomfortable with their actions, but isn’t quite sure what to do. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Contenders, Fiction Tagged With: adam rapp, Candlewick, the children and the wolves

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

October 10, 2012 By Karyn Silverman 10 Comments

The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Emily M. Danforth
Balzer + Bray, February 2012
Reviewed from ARC

There’s a lot to discuss here. A lot of win and a lot of flaw, really.

Let’s start with win, which is the writing.

The writing is mature, sophisticated, free of unnecessary embellishments. There are marks of the author’s MFA; there is a style of writing that always seems to have the fingerprints of advanced writing coursework and workshops all over it. Words that fall like pebbles, and ripple outward, although you can’t always tell why. Chapters that read like short stories, the kind you might find in The New Yorker. Language that is deceptively simple. MFA writing.

No Crystal Stair: Significant & Worthy, but…

October 7, 2012 By Sophie Brookover 3 Comments

No Crystal Stair

No Crystal Stair: A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux, Harlem Bookseller, Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, with artwork by R. Gregory Christie
Carolrhoda Lab, an imprint of Carolrhoda Books, February 2012
Reviewed from final copy (courtesy of my public library)

Vaunda Nelson, author of the Coretta Scott King Award-winning Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal, has produced a truly significant work of documentary fiction in No Crystal Stair. It is particularly noteworthy in the categories of accuracy, story, theme, and illustration, but is shaky in terms of voice and style. Voice is especially important to me — a dealbreaker, in fact — so while I can see it as a nominee, I doubt it will make the Final Five when it comes time to vote.

First, the good (and there is a lot of good here):

After the Snow, Questions

October 6, 2012 By Karyn Silverman 8 Comments

After the Snow, S.D. Crockett
Feiwel and Friends, March 2012
Reviewed from ARC

I’ve got that feeling again, the one I had about There Is No Dog, that sense of bafflement because the book I read may not be the book others read. This is a 3-star book* that also made it into the New York Times. It’s ambitious for sure, but I’m beginning to think I only notice ambitious writing when it doesn’t quite pull itself off. It’s original, except that somehow it reminds me almost unbearably of Patrick Ness’s Chaos Walking Trilogy, all inverted.

(I should note that most of the time I try really hard not to read the actual text of the reviews in journals or on other blogs until AFTER I’ve done my writeup, to try to avoid being influenced by others. As soon as I press publish, I’ll be off to read away.)

I am hoping that a conversation will illuminate this novel, so I’ll start by laying my cards on the table.

Gone Fishin’

October 4, 2012 By Karyn Silverman 6 Comments

Catch and Release, Blythe Woolston
Carolrhoda Lab, February 2012
Reviewed from final copy

Blythe Woolston’s debut (The Freak Observer) won the Morris. Her sophomore effort is getting some buzz (especially from Kelly over at Stacked), although it didn’t do so well on the star collecting. Then again, my research shows zero stars for The Freak Observer, and the Morris is nothing to sneer at.

The premise is a bit high concept: teen survivors of a MRSA infection on an epic, not entirely planned road trip (the Booklist reviewer referenced “nearly Kerouacian moments,” which is a lovely way of pointing to sometimes episodic moments that are pregnant with potential meaning but might just be the result of the vagaries of life. Then again, I’ve never really seen the charms of On the Road). There is a lot here that works, and a lot to respect from a literary perspective; the concept might be high but the execution is often tight.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Contenders, Fiction Tagged With: Blythe Woolston, Carolrhoda Lab, Catch and Release, Feb pubs, fishing, one star books

Froi of the Exiles

October 3, 2012 By Sarah Couri 3 Comments

Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta
Candlewick, March 2012
Reviewed from ARC

Melina Marchetta! Chronicles of Lumatere! Part two! Froi! Yes, I was pretty excited to read this one. With three (? check my math on that) starred reviews, and a real affection for Finnikin of the Rock, I was ready for a fabulous read. And I did enjoy Froi as a personal read, just for me, but I’m not totally convinced of its contenda-ness for Printz Purposes.

As you might recall from Finnikin, order has very recently been restored to Lumatere; only three years ago, Finnikin and Isaboe were able to break the curse on their homeland and retake their land from the evil king of the neighboring country Charyn. Froi was an important part of that story, and is now a member of the Lumateran guard with a gift for languages. He is training as an assassin, and heads off to Charyn, where he’s expected to kill the evil king. The country of Charyn has suffered under a terrible curse of their own — no one has born any children for the past 18 years, and the land and people suffer from their barren condition. Froi finds an altogether more complicated situation, however, and killing the king becomes the least of his problems, as he meets the emotionally unstable Quintana and confronts the truth of his own past.

So. Many. Books.

October 1, 2012 By Karyn Silverman 9 Comments

Remind me to never ever make a schedule. Because here we are, October first, and do you know how close we are to posting reviews of Q2 books?

About 2 weeks.

In a possibly misguided attempt to get caught up — in general, this year is so rich with multiply starred books that getting them all covered is going to be rough regardless (and that despite reading like a madwoman all year already!) — I’m going to hit lots of birds books with one stone post tonight. These are books that made the 3-star cutoff but that I’m not seeing as serious contenders. I’d hate to skip them, though, because then there’d be no room for anyone to fight for them and propose contrary ways of looking at them.

So one big old roundup post it is.

Dying to Know How this Is YA

The Obsidian Blade

Radiant Days?

The Children and the Wolves

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

No Crystal Stair: Significant & Worthy, but…

After the Snow, Questions

Gone Fishin’

Froi of the Exiles

So. Many. Books.

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