Welcome to my new blog dedicated to teen readers! I am a youth librarian in Trumbull and an avid reader of teen fiction. Visit often for my reviews, reviews by teens and news of upcoming noteworthy YA releases! Feel free to comment and add your own reviews. Happy reading!
If you’re a science nerd, or a lover of historical fiction,
try Jepp,
Who Defied the Stars by Katherine Marsh. Jepp is a dwarf born in the
1500s in Spain. Raised by his innkeeper mother and band of friends/helpers, he
is a curious and intelligent young teenager. When an emissary from the castle
of the Infanta arrives at the inn and expresses an interest in taking young
Jepp to live at the castle, his mother feels it would be an improvement in his
life so encourages him to go. Here he
becomes one of many “pet” dwarves kept to entertain the court. Thus begins Jepp's long journey towards
finding his identity and place in this world. The “science nerd” stuff comes a
bit later, but hold on because it’s definitely worth the wait. (ever hear of
Tycho Brahe? Only a true science nerd has. Read more about his incredibly
bizarre life here http://io9.com/5696469/the-crazy-life-and-crazier-death-of-tycho-brahe-historys-strangest-astronomer
) The premise of this historical fiction novel is unusual and the writing is
quite striking. Jepp is based on a real historical figure, albeit a very
obscure one of which little is known, and Marsh takes those few known facts and
creates his story piece by piece in beautiful language.
For the die-hard horror fan, there’s no other author like
Daniel Kraus. His latest book, Scowler,
is a true nightmare inducing scare fest! (a fellow teen librarian tells of waking from
a nightmare smelling smoke and positive that there was someone in her room
after falling asleep while reading it) When he was 9, Ry Burke fought off his
abusive father, Marvin, with the help,
whether real or imagined, of three cherished toys. Dad ended up in prison.
Now10 years later, he's escaped, and is
terrorizing his family at their farm--when a meteorite falls into their field
and Marvin sees dollar signs. In order to protect his mother and little sister
Ry must resurrect his three childhood “friends”, kindly Mr. Furrington, wise
Jesus Christ and bloodthirsty Scowler. This one is not for the faint of heart.
It gets a 98 out of 100 on the creepy meter.
For the fantasy lover there’s Jasper Fford’s new series for
younger readers The Chronicles of Kazam. The first book is The Last Dragonslayer .
Kazam is an employment agency run by 15 year old Jennifer Strange for sorcerers
and magicians who have sunk to using their powers for the likes of pizza
delivery and fixing clogged drains. But
something’s brewing lately, the visions are starting again and a prediction has
been made that the world’s last know living dragon will soon be slain by a
Dragonslayer. This would leave the
Dragonlands , a once powerful kingdom where all dragons lived, up for grabs and
cause a war between two kingdoms who both want the land. By the end, everyone
will want their very own Quarkbeast! Jasper Fford’s signature wit is all over
this book, his first for younger readers. (Adults know him from the Thursday
Next series). Not exactly high fantasy, but very entertaining and a clever and
amusing story. (Jennifer drives a rusty old VW Beetle) The second book in the series is already on
our shelf: The Song of the Quarkbeast and there will be two more coming
out. They are highly recommended, quick fun reads.
On to realistic fiction.
One of the best and most unique authors to come along in a while, in my
opinion, is Matthew Quick (of Silver
Linings Playbook fame). His latest book
for teens is Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock, a darkly disturbing but somehow
uplifting tale of a severely depressed and angry young man determined to kill
his former best friend and then himself on his 18th birthday. But
first he must deliver 4 gifts to people
who have had an important role in his life: his elderly neighbor Walt, with
whom he shares a love of Humphrey Bogart movies, a musical prodigy who Leonard
has been listening to practice for 4 years in the school auditorium, a fundamentalist
Christian girl he met and tried to woo at a train station where she was handing
out religious tracts, and a beloved teacher of Holocaust history who has some
secrets of his own. At the suggestion of
the aforementioned teacher, Leonard has written
letters to himself from future people he has not yet met as a sort of
therapy to get him through his roughest days.
These letters are scattered throughout the story, the majority of which
takes place in one day. Leonard does an
awful lot of growing up in that one day and I was literally in tears by the end
of this book.
On a happier note, still with realistic fiction, try The
Disenchantments by Nina Lacour, a sweet road trip story that takes
place right after high school graduation.
For years, best friends Colby and Bev have known that, as soon as they
graduate, they're off to bum around Europe, after a West Coast minitour with
Bev's (not very good but really enthusiastic) girlband, The Disenchantments. They borrow an ancient VW bus from Colby’s uncle who
toured in it with Colby’s dad’s band “back in the day”. Little by little, truths come out during this
road trip that will change the course of a few lives. Nothing earthshattering here, just a sweet
fun read. Some (not graphic) sex and a bit of language.
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