ALAN’s Picks is a monthly book review column compiled and edited by Dr. Pam B. Cole of Kennesaw State University. Be sure to check ALAN Online each month for a fresh look at the latest in YA Lit.
Reviewed this month:
Backtracked by Pedro de Alcantara
Cold Skin by Steven Herrick
Firefight by K. Wild
Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork
Morning in a Different Place by Mary Ann McGuigan
Shadowed Summer by Saundra Mitchell
Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon
Sophomore Switch by Abby McDonald
Surface Tension: A Novel in Four Summers by Brent Runyon
Backtracked by Pedro de Alcantara
Delacorte Press/Random House, 2009, 272 pp., $15.99
Time Travel/History/Coming-of-Age
ISBN: 0-385-73419-6
Living up to an older sibling can be difficult, especially when that sibling was a heroic fireman who died during the September 11 attack in New York City. Fifteen-year-old Tommy Latrella is tired of hearing about how he is nothing like his older brother. In fact, Tommy tries very hard at being the opposite of what everyone expects of him. This defiant attitude leads Tommy to run away from home and causes him to perform one last prank in the New York subway he loves so much. Gone horribly wrong, Tommy’s prank creates a panic, and he is knocked unconscious.
Tommy wakes up to find himself somehow in the year 1918 in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. In order to survive, he finds shelter and work with Italian immigrants digging the subway tunnels of New York. Just when Tommy is getting comfortable with his new life in the past, another accident sends him forward in time into the depths of the Depression. Forced to find some form of work, Tommy must accept a job at a speakeasy working for gangsters collecting money. Common sense seems to elude Tommy, and he takes a third trip through time; this time, Tommy cannot escape the depths of World War II without first learning how to make the right decisions. Will Tommy ever grow up? Or better yet, will Tommy ever get back to the home and life he has taken for granted?
Pedro de Alcantara creates a heartwarming story of loss and self discovery. This work allows its audience to gain true perspective for what really is important in their lives. Readers will find themselves fascinated with de Alcantara’s use of true historical events and his obvious adoration for New York. Overall, this is a fantastic read for young and old alike.
Reviewed by Ignacio Guerra, Marietta, GA
Cold Skin by Steven Herrick
Front Street, 2007, 279 pp., $18.95
Adolescent/Coming-of-Age/Violence
ISBN: 978-1-59078-572-0
Eddie Holding works hard to fly under the radar of his power-hungry teacher and to capture the love of his life, Sally Holmes. He is biding his time in school until he is old enough to work for the most lucrative town employer, a coal mining company. Although Eddie is the biggest man in his class, Mr. Butcher (his teacher) frequently makes a spectacle of him by bullying him in front of his peers. Eddie and Sally begin to experiment physically and emotionally to better understand their sexual feelings for one another. All the while, Eddie begins to question Mr. Butcher’s lifestyle and follows him by train to the city; what he finds is not what he expected. Once Eddie has returned to his small town, the unimaginable has occurred: a schoolmate has been murdered. The entire town mourns this loss while asking, “Who could have done this?” Sergeant Grainger, the only police officer in town, works diligently to solve this case. His work finally comes to fruition after Eddie’s father, Albert Holding, suggests looking for a coward.
“Every story has two sides” is the best way to describe this work; ergo this story is told through nine characters’ perspectives. Herrick’s tantalizing free verse poetry eloquently depicts the perceptions of the community members. This contemporary realistic fiction piece must be added to reading lists, as it allows the reader to think critically about different perspectives, while ultimately leading the reader to question his/her own self-perceptions.
Reviewed by Aimee L. Morewood, WV
Firefight by Kate Wild
Chicken House/Scholastic, 2009, 340 pp., $16.99
Action Adventure/Supernatural/Fantasy
ISBN: 978-0-439-87176-1
“Genes can affect the color of your hair…make you strong or weak. But nothing we’re born with makes us act badly, take my word for it.” –Freedom Smith
In the follow-up to Fight Game, K. Wild brings back the unlikely hero of Freedom Smith to do battle with the vampish demons on Malta, an island off the coast of southern Italy. Freedom is an unlikely hero—despite his hereditary Hercules gene, which gives him uncompromising strength in battle—because he is a gypsy who follows no rules. But after being recruited by an underground police force named Phoenix, he is forced to come to terms with his dysfunctional family and his attraction to the rich girl, Java, whom he saved in the first novel.
For fans of the action-adventure novel and stories of beings with superhuman abilities, this is a great novel that will soothe the craving for excitement and fast-moving action. Wild’s super being is a cross between Wolverine of the famed X-Men series and a teenage boy coming to terms without knowing where he comes from and where he is going. Buckle up and get ready for the twists and turns of a massive Firefight.
Reviewed by Ray Engle, Dayton, OH
Marcelo In The Real World by Francisco X. Stork
Levine/Scholastic, 2009, 312 pp., $17.99
Coming-of-Age/Relationships/Disabilities
ISBN-13: 978-0-545-05474-4
Marcelo hears music. Music so beautiful, entrancing, and intoxicating that he would like nothing more than to drift away in it, to lose himself in its sonorous sounds forever. Trouble is, he is the only one who can hear it. Marcelo’s form of autism is unique, and the constant allure of the music that plays in his mind has always kept him, to some degree, in his own little world. But now, as he approaches his senior year of high school, Marcelo’s father has decided that he must join the “Real World”—he must learn to socialize, to interact, and, most importantly, to work with “normal” people—something Marcelo resists until he meets a rather unique co-worker, Jasmine. As their friendship grows, Marcelo learns the value and the promise of living in the “Real World,” discovering that the harmony of friendship is just as sweet, if not sweeter, than the symphonies of his mind.
An intriguing story, whose invitation to consider life through the eyes (and ears) of an autistic teen is as remarkable as the prose in which it is written, this book is truly an inspiring read. Told from the point of view of Marcelo, this book invites its reader to consider how compassion—and surprisingly, not just compassion for the disabled, but the compassion of the disabled—has the power to make the “Real World” a better place.
Reviewed By Adam C. Bradford, Iowa City, IA
Morning in a Different Place by Mary Ann McGuigan
Front Street/Boyds Mills Press, 2009, 195 pp., $17.95
Race Relations/Friendship/Alcoholism/History
ISBN: 978-1-59078-551-5
October, 1963: A month before JFK is assassinated, Fiona (white) and Yolanda (black) are tested in their friendship. Fiona longs to be “normal,” longs not to have to worry about being evicted, not to have to worry about whether the next time her dad beats her mom, she will go down for the count. Yolanda longs for a sense of place; her mom abandons her to start a new life with a new man and new baby in a different state. The two girls share a love of tutoring and of learning, and give each other a sense of belonging. Then a group of popular girls invites Fiona into their circle, which isn’t big enough to encompass anyone with dark skin, and for a time, Fiona gives into the temptation—even though she finds their concerns over boys and fashion rather shallow given her own reality. But, looking to President Kennedy as a model of someone who truly acts on his beliefs, Fiona figures out how to stand up to her alcoholic and abusive father and help her mother find a new beginning. She finds the courage, too, to stand up for Yolanda—who has long encouraged her to take charge of her life. In this sparsely written novel, the sense of history and devastation over JFK’s death is palpable, leaving everyone awaking to morning in a world that is a different place than it was the day before.
Reviewed by Lois T. Stover, Tall Timbers, MD
Shadowed Summer by Saundra Mitchell
Delacorte Press/Random House, 2009, 183 pp., $15.99
Social Issues/The Occult
ISBN: 978-0-385-73571-1
“Where y’at, Iris?” begins the ghostly encounter that Iris experiences during the summer she turns fourteen years old. Iris stumbles across the truth behind the disappearance of Elijah some thirty years earlier, but not without some adroit plot turns and paranormal meetings. Set in a small town in Louisiana, the storyline and characterizations reflect the local dialect and superstitions. This is a supernatural coming-of-age adventure that deftly hides the complete story until the very end. As an added bonus, the author created a supporting Website with music, vlogs, blogs, and behind-the-story anecdotes (www.shadowedsummer.com).
Reviewed by Susan Wegmann, Orlando, FL
Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon
HarperCollins, 2009, 352 pp., $17.99
Fantasy/Chinese History/Epic
ISBN: 978-0-06-173021-4
The book’s prologue immediately creates a conflict: Jin Lian, one of the Emperor’s concubines, gives birth to a son, but the baby is mixed blood—half Xian and half foreign, not the Emperor’s son.
The opening chapter of Silver Phoenix introduces Ai Ling, who experiences several arranged betrothals, but is rejected three times. Ai Ling’s greatest sadness arises, though, when her father is summoned to the Emperor’s palace. His parting gift to Ai Ling, a jade pendant with the word Spirit engraved, and his words that she is special forewarn of the turbulent journey she experiences as she tries to rescue her father. When the unscrupulous Master Huang tries to coerce Ai Ling into marriage, she is driven to escape, leaving her mother.
Ai Ling’s odyssey is the classic hero’s journey and is wrought with an attempted rape, eel-like creatures dragging her under water, and evil spirits assuming human appearances. She is aided by Chen Yong—who nineteen years earlier was the baby smuggled out of the Emperor’s palace—as he seeks his own father, Immortals, and wisdom figures. Above all, her own special ability to enter the bodies and spirits of others both to heal and harm helps her triumph.
Fantasy lovers will find echoes of Meg Murry, Lyra Belacqua, and Harry Potter in Ai Ling’s adventures. Silver Phoenix is a captivating read, but will particularly appeal to those who enjoy the intrigue and mystery of ancient Chinese culture.
Reviewed by Mary Warner, San Jose, CA
Sophomore Switch by Abby McDonald
Candlewick Press, 2008, 297 pp., $17.99
Identity/Feminism
ISBN: 978-0-7636-3936-5
College sophomores Tasha and Emily find themselves trading lives between Tasha’s film program at University of California Santa Barbara and Emily’s political science program at Oxford University in England. The switch is because of an initial mix up with the exchange program at Oxford, coupled with a seemingly scandalous hot tub incident with Tasha caught on film. Both Tasha and Emily need a change of pace and, after struggling in their new environments, learn to delve into another side of their personalities to discover who they truly are and to define what direction they really want their lives to go.
Through Tasha’s courses in Emily’s program at Oxford, some basic tenets of feminist theory are introduced in this novel, making it an easy starting point for guiding adolescent readers in applying this literary lens to texts and the world.
Both Tasha and Emily demonstrate a reasonable growth from the experience, making them relatable and likable for adolescent readers. While this novel is a relatively easy read, it is enjoyable and adolescents will identify with the girls’ struggles to define themselves outside their family and peer groups.
The book contains no inappropriate language and relatively innocent intimate encounters. It offers lessons regarding the long-term consequences of one’s actions. It also weaves in pop culture references and genres such as email, instant messaging, and Facebook, which will make it appealing to adolescent readers.
Reviewed by Jennifer Dail, Kennesaw, GA
Surface Tension: A Novel in Four Summers by Brent Runyon
Knopf/Random House, 2009, 195 pp., $16.99
Change/Coming-of-Age
ISBN: 978-0-375-84446-1
For as long as he can remember, Luke Weeks and his parents have spent two weeks each summer vacationing at their lakeside cottage in upstate New York. Over the years the cottage remained the same. Luke, on the other hand, changed considerably. At the age of thirteen, he revels in the adventures that await him at the cottage, be it hiking to a nearby waterfall, fishing in a local pond, or honing his ability to skip stones on the lake. At fourteen, he quarrels with his parents and fantasizes about a flirtatious young woman who befriends him. At fifteen, he grows increasingly critical of the adults in his life, and at sixteen, having fallen in love, he is loath to accompany his parents to the cottage that he once adored, but which he now believes he has outgrown. Consumed by his own concerns, Luke struggles to empathize with (or even understand) the problems that confront others. When he is forced to set aside his interests and risk his well-being for another person, however, he takes a significant step toward understanding what it means to be an adult.
Like other young adult novels, Surface Tension explores the difficult, often times painful, transition from adolescence to adulthood. The manner in which Runyon structures his narrative, however, is unique. The novel consists of four parts, each of which begins with Luke arriving at the cottage, albeit at four different points in his life. Though he laments Luke’s loss of innocence, Runyon encourages readers to embrace change, and celebrate the potential for personal transformation. A beautifully written, captivating narrative, Surface Tension speaks to the loneliness and isolation that exist at the heart of adolescence.
Reviewed by Sean Connors, Columbus, Ohio
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