ALAN Online

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:

Blessings Bead by Debby Dahl Edwardson
Broken Soup by Jenny Valentine
Gringolandia by Lyn Miller-Lachmann
The Guardian by Joyce Sweeney
Jane in Bloom by Deborah Lytton
Neil Armstrong is My Uncle & Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me by Nan Marino
Libyrinth by Pearl North
Lyonesse: The Well Between the Worlds by Sam Llewellyn
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick
Radiant Darkness by Emily Whitman
Slob by Ellen Potter
Tell Me Who by Jessica Wollman
Waiting for You by Susane Colasanti
Wild Things by Clay Carmichael
Wings by Aprilynne Pike

Blessing’s Bead by Debby Dahl Edwardson
Kroupa/Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2009, 178 pp., $16.99
Legend/ Family/ Alaska
ISBN: 978-0-374-30805-6

This touching story of generations of one Alaskan family may leave readers in tears by the end. The book is enhanced by Iñupiaq chapter titles and dialogue and is written in a slight dialect. It is broken into two sections: “Nutaaq’s Story (1917)” and “Blessing’s Story (1989).” The connections between Blessing, her story, and her great-grandmother’s story will not disappoint.

Nutaaq’s life is happy and fulfilling until a Russian comes to take her sister, Aaluk, away in marriage, and a sickness comes to claim the lives of almost the entire village. Her sister sails away not long before the sickness hits, leaving Nutaaq with a single blue bead and promising her one for every member of their large family upon her return. Unfortunately, the Iron Curtain descends and Aaluk is unable to visit Nutaaq as promised.

Blessing received her name from her grandma, but her Iupiaq name is Nutaaq. Her life is in constant peril due to her mother’s drinking and stepfather’s violence. When the police come to take her and her brother away, to put her stepfather in jail, and place her mother in rehab, she ends up living with her grandma. This almost-blind woman gives her something else: a beautiful blue bead that they place on a string. Blessing’s bead provides her with courage and lots of luck.

This heartwarming story is richly told in the tradition of storytelling and its characters grow up in and come to love.

Reviewed by Cynthia Mitchell, Satellite Beach, FL

Broken Soup by Jenny Valentine
HarperTeen/HarperCollins, 2009, 217 pp., $16.99
Loss/Death/Family/Romance
ISBN: 978-0-06-085071-5

An attractive boy hands fifteen-year-old Rowan a photographic negative that he says she dropped—but she hadn’t. Rowan accepts the negative and begins a journey from “despair to hope.” Readers are drawn into Rowan’s life of caring for her six-year-old sister, Stroma, and her grieving mother as they learn that Rowan’s beloved brother Jack has recently drowned. Her father has moved out, leaving behind a trio of sad women. Rowan begins to unravel the mystery of the photo negative with the help of her new best friend, Bee. She also begins a romance with the boy who gave her the negative, an American named Harper. As the two young women become closer, Rowan learns that her brother and Bee were lovers. While Rowan processes the news of her brother’s secret romance, her mother attempts suicide. These traumatic life events bring Rowan closer to the adult she will become, and they leave readers with a powerful sense of how life’s events can be met with grace and grit and perseverance.

The strength of Valentine’s complex characterization of Rowan makes the novel a compelling narrative. The title is a mystery itself—what on earth is broken soup? At one point Stroma tries to make breakfast in bed for her big sister Rowan—after she drops her creations on the kitchen floor, shattering the dishes, she laments, “I tried to make things all nice and now look at this broken soup!” Broken Soup suggests the rearrangement of something that can’t really be broken—like a family—just changed into a different form. This novel does a lyrical job of illustrating that kind of change.

Reviewed by Beth Younger, Des Moines, IA

Gringolandia by Lyn Miller-Lachmann
Curbstone, 2009, 290 pp ., $16.95
Historical Fiction/Realistic Fiction
ISBN: 978-1093189-49-8

It’s been five years since Daniel’s father was imprisoned and tortured by the Pinochet regime. After being exiled, Daniel’s father joins him, his sister, and their mom in Madison, Wisconsin. Suffering from pain inflicted by years of torture and alcohol, Papà is consumed with returning to Chile to continue his revolutionary activities. This story chronicles the relationship of seventeen-year-old Daniel and his girlfriend Courtney with Papà, who was once known as the underground journalist, Nino. Daniel and Courtney follow him back to his home country so that he can continue the fight to liberate Chile.

Committed to publishing multicultural young adult novels that focus on social justice, Curbstone Press has found an author who creates believable characters. Gringolandia is a journey through the past that offers a stark glimpse into life under a ruthless dictator and his regime. Just as compelling is Miller-Lachmann’s depiction of family and friends torn apart and then brought back together by a revolution.

Reviewed by Jacqueline Bach, Baton Rouge, LA

The Guardian by Joyce Sweeney
Henry Holt, 2009, 192 pp., $16.99
Relationships/Loss
ISBN: 978-0-8050-8019-3

Thirteen-year-old Hunter has lived in four foster homes since his mother gave him up at the age of four. When Mike (his foster father) dies, Hunter finds life with his foster mom and his three foster sisters tougher. He and the other children are sent out to earn money on the weekends for Stephanie, his foster mother. The only time that she treats Hunter like a human is when he hands over his hard earned money at the end of each Saturday; the rest of the time, she is abusive. Life is tough for Hunter, until his so-called “guardian angel” returns after nine years. When Hunter discovers the truth about the “angel,” he isn’t sure if he is in good hands.

The Guardian is another great book by Joyce Sweeney, author of Headlock. Hunter is a character that readers want to help right away. Middle school boys and girls both will find this book easy to get into and hard to put down.

Reviewed by Frankie Huff, Orlando, FL

Jane in Bloom by Deborah Lytton
Dutton/Penguin, 2009, 182 pp., $16.99
Hope/Loss/Suicide/Anorexia
ISBN: 978-0-525-42078-1

After her sister, Lizzie, dies suddenly, and quite tragically—perhaps self-inflicted—Jane must cope with the unraveling of her family, while also coming to grips with growing up. Jane must learn how to accept herself through the darkness that has engulfed her life and how to rely on her own gifts that were perhaps overshadowed by her sister’s “perfection.” She blooms into an amazing adolescent. The motif of blossoming is one that weaves itself from the beginning of Jane and Lizzie’s sisterhood to the beginning of Jane’s self-reliance. Lizzie was the one to teach Jane how to draw flowers, while Jane was the one who learned to grow. This book is a bit dark, but realistic. Many teens will find a friend in both Jane and Lizzie, both characters with which young people can relate. While Lizzie is full of the self-loathing with which many teens can identify, Jane is a fabulous heroine in that she doesn’t fall prey to it, which is what readers will appreciate. Deborah Lytton does a marvelous job of relating the title of her book, Jane in Bloom, to Jane’s life.

Reviewed by Jaime Williams, Acworth, GA

Neil Armstrong Is My Uncle & Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me by Nan Marino
Roaring Brook, 2009, 154 pp., $16.95
Friendship/Family Issues/Social Change
ISBN: 978-1-59643-499-8

Tamara Simpson lives in a quiet suburban town of Massapequa Park with her soap opera- addicted mother and her quiet, detached father. The summer of 1969 has just begun to grace Ramble Street with hot days, Mr. Softee’s ice cream truck, and kickball games in the neighborhood. The sights and sounds set up the beginnings of a beautiful summer. However, young Tamara has a problem—Muscle Man McGinty, a foster kid who lives with Mrs. Kutchner across the street. Muscle Man and his brother, Greg, have been taken under wing by Mrs. Kutchner after the two are unexpectedly orphaned. He is also a compulsive liar who is constantly telling tales about day-to-day events on Ramble Street. Tamara must discover a way to trap Muscle Man in his lying, so that the whole neighborhood will understand. As her plan begins to unfold, several life-changing events take place, including her best friend moving without saying “goodbye,” and family feuds between her working-class father and her estranged hippie brother. As Neil Armstrong prepares to take the first steps on the moon, Tamara’s view of the world, relationships, and her life begin to take a different shape.

Marino’s novel brings a true voice to the pre-teenage girl of the 1960s. Tamara is both lovable and naïve, yet Marino creates a strong young woman who is set in her principles and unrelenting in achieving justice during a historic summer in America.

Reviewed by Ray Engle, Dayton, OH

Libyrinth by Pearl North
Tor, 2009, 331 pp., $17.95
Science Fiction/Fantasy
ISBN: 978-0-7653-2096-4

Humanity is divided into two rival cultures: the Libyrarians and the Eradicants. The Libyrarians are curators of humankind’s collected written heritage, preserved in the massive Libyrinth. The Eradicants preserve the knowledge of the Ancients in song, believing that the written word murders wisdom and separates humanity from the Song that unites and guides all living things. They wield technological superiority over the Libyrarians, yet lack the knowledge of how to create Eggs, the chief power source without which all civilization would collapse. According to their mythology, this knowledge remains locked inside the fabled Book of the Night, which is buried somewhere in the Libyrinth, uncatalogued and awaiting discovery by a Redeemer who will one day liberate its wisdom in song and deliver to the Eradicants a final victory over the Libyrarians.

Could Haly, who serves as a clerk to the Libyrarians and who has the secret ability to hear books in her mind, be the Redeemer? What will the discovery of the Book of the Night mean for the future survival of the Libyrarians? Can Clauda, another Libyrarian servant, save the Libyrinth when Haly falls into the hands of the Eradicants? In her debut novel for young adults, Pearl North conjures a rich futuristic world that is not as alien to our own as it might seem. Resonances of real historical and contemporary struggles run throughout the novel’s chief conflict between oral and literate cultures, and readers will enjoy recognizing dozens of snippets from classic and modern literature as the books in the Libyrinth speak to Haly. With enough story to fill a trilogy of novels, Libyrinth provides vivid action, political intrigue and thoughtful commentary on the power of books and reading to enrich lives.

Reviewed by Sean Kottke, Battle Creek, MI

Lyonesse: The Well Between the Worlds by Sam Llewellyn
Orchard/Scholastic, 2008, 341 pp., $17.99
Dark Fantasy/Coming-of-Age/Environmentalism/Arthurian Legends
ISBN: 0-439-93469-9

Since the death of its High King several decades ago, the Land of Lyonesse has been slowly sinking, drowning in the gush of dark water that has continually spilled from the Wells that sit at its center. But for Idris Limpet, living at the edge of the realm, the dark waters, the Wells, and the creatures that are rumored to live in their depths have always been little more than myths—until a whirl of unforeseen circumstances bring him to the brink of the Wells themselves. Here Idris learns the truth: the Wells are much more than mere shafts connecting the underground to the surface, rather they are portals linking two very disparate worlds. Through these portals regularly pour not only the watery ichor of the Darkgardens, but a steady stream of creatures thirsting for the lifeblood of all Lyonesse and especially Idris Limpet.

Perhaps one of the most interesting themes of this novel is environmentalism. While not overly didactic, it nevertheless continually prompts readers to make connections between the accumulation of wealth and power and the destruction of the natural environment. Some readers might be surprised to find such a contemporary political concern driving what is essentially a re-conceptualization of the Arthurian legends, but the incorporation of the two seems rather natural and unobtrusive. Besides the environmentally conscious teen, this book will most likely appeal to those familiar with Arthur, Merlin, Guinevere, and Mordred, whom they will readily recognize in Idris, Ambrose, Morgan, and Murther. More gothically reconceived than even Susan Cooper’s The Dark Is Rising series, it may also appeal to those whose love of dark fantasy will allow them to overlook occasional lapses that mark the quality of this novel’s prose.

Reviewed by Adam Bradford, Iowa City, IA

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick
Blue Sky/Scholastic, 2009, 224 pp., $16.99
Civil War/ Coming-of-Age/Adventure/ Historical Fiction
ISBN: 10-0-439-66818-2

Whoppee! A real BOYS’ book! Our hero, Homer P. Figg, is a genuine descendent of Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. A “small boy of twelve who never owned a pair of shoes” (217), Homer is an orphan who is regularly oppressed by ill-humored adults, and often in mortal danger at their devious hands. Loyal and resourceful, Homer is an inventive liar—sometimes out of necessity, sometimes from habit; his lies are often recognizable by their kinship to the classic American tall tale.

When Homer’s older brother Harold is illegally sold into the Union Army, Homer travels from Maine to Gettysburg to find him and set him free. En route he encounters a Quaker stop on the Underground Railroad (and bounty hunters determined to return escaping slaves to the south), a pair of quick talking charlatans who deceive his guardian and abscond with funds designed to support Homer’s search, and Professor Fenton J. Fleabottom, a Confederate spy gathering information about troop movements under cover of his travelling medicine show.

After a dogged search, Homer finally locates his brother, just in time for them to find themselves in the midst of one of the deadliest battles of the Civil War—the famous bayonet charge led by Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, commander of the 20^th Maine.

Humorous and fast paced, this lively novel gives readers an engaging taste of America in the 1860s as experienced by a backwoods youngster who is both plucky and humorous. Pulled along by plot twists and engaging characterization, readers may never notice how much American history they are learning as they read!

Reviewed by Kathleen Dudden Rowlands, Northridge, CA

Radiant Darkness by Emily Whitman
Greenwillow/HarperCollins, 2009, 274 pp., $16.99
Greek Mythology
ISBN: 978-0-06-172449-7

Radiant Darkness is a story born from Greek mythology, with a new twist. Persephone, daughter of the harvest goddess Demeter, is hidden from the world in a garden veil created by her mother. Through all her mother’s attempts to prevent Persephone from growing up, Persephone discovers an unwelcomed visitor to her garden. The visitor is the powerful Hades, ruler of the Underworld. Following her heart, Persephone makes a decision that changes her life forever: She takes the one-way journey to the Underworld and becomes Hades’s bride. In the Underworld, Persephone discovers herself and her abilities and befriends a mortal. However, Demeter is stricken with grief, which causes a huge famine to come upon the Earth.

Emily Whitman has created another version of a well-known Greek myth. Instead of continuing with the traditional perceptions of a Greek god, she creates a character that seems more mortal than goddess. Throughout the story, Persephone comes to find herself, true love, and independence. This book is a great read for mythology lovers. By giving a new twist to an old favorite, readers see Persephone’s side of the story.

Reviewed by Sarah Edelman, Holly Springs, GA

Slob by Ellen Potter
Philomel/Penguin, 2009, 199 pp., $16.99
Grief/Overweight/Orphans/Brothers and Sisters/Inventions
ISBN: 978-0-399-24705-7

Twelve-year old genius Owen Birnbaum is the fattest kid in the seventh grade, or for that matter, all of his middle school. IT is not a distinction that he loves, and everyday becomes a struggle for survival. For him, school life is defined by kids who pick on him—especially a school psycho who carries a switchblade and a cruel and twisted gym teacher. And then there is his annoying and perplexing sister who dresses like a boy and wants to be called Jeremy.

Owen was not always fat, though. Recently, something bad happened and he sought food as his comforter. His problem? His parents were killed when he was just ten years old and he does not know how. Anxious to discover the truth, Owen uses his extraordinary smarts and tries to invent a television that can show the past so he can find out what happened the day his parents were killed.

To be sure, Owen tries to see beyond his troubles, but it takes a personal revelation, not his “television time machine,” for Owen to see the real reason for his parents’ death and, of course, his own suffering. Slowly, Owen realizes that no matter how fat he becomes, he does not have to feel “tiny” inside. Knowing the meaning of his own self-worth becomes the true rite of passage for Owen to come into his own.

Using an engaging laugh aloud tone, Ellen Potter tells a realistic and cautionary tale of a clumsy, overweight, bullied young boy who learns the true meaning of the words perseverance, courage and love.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kaplan, Orlando, FL

Tell Me Who by Jessica Wollman
Penguin, 2009, 261 pp., $15.99
Friendship/Family/Middle School
ISBN: 978-0-525-42087-3

Imaginative and heart-warming. Twelve-year-old Molly and her best friend, Tanna Walker, find a mysterious antique television screen in Molly’s basement that claims to tell the future marriage partner of the name typed onto the screen. There’s just one catch—only Molly has the power to make the machine work. When Tanna convinces Molly to turn their discovery into an after-school business, Molly’s life is turned upside down.

Middle school children will be drawn to Molly’s adventures, which are packed with typical sixth grade problems. Molly struggles to relate to her father, while attempting to compete with his fiancée. Molly’s worst school subject is P.E., which sparks several misadventures until Julie agrees to give her basketball pointers, and Molly is invited to popular Sophie’s Valentine’s Day Pool Party that can make or break her reputation.

Jessica Wollman delivers a realistic picture of adolescence with the awkwardness of physical, psychological, and social changes coupled with the not-so-friendly formation of cliques. Readers encounter the popular iPhone-toting Sophie with her entourage, Tessa and Anne; a modern day Steve Erkel, Glenn (Aaron) Borack; sports enthusiast, Julie; and book-nerd, Daisy. Each person has a different point-of-view, which leads to ever-changing roles in friendship, family and school life. Delve into this surprising quick-read novel and connect to your inner adolescent self.

Reviewed by Sandy Beck, Orlando, FL

Waiting for You by Susane Colasanti
Viking/Penguin, 2009, 322 pp., $17.99
Interpersonal Relations/Dating/Anxiety Disorders
ISBN: 978-0-670-01130-8

Marisa and her best friend Sterling have vowed to reinvent themselves for their sophomore year of high school. Ready for boyfriends and excitement, they are totally psyched about the start of school. Sterling is hankering for older more mature guys; Marisa is convinced that the ideal boyfriend is out there somewhere. Marisa sets her sights on Derek, an already-spoken-for classmate, while Sterling goes searching online for the ultimate someone.

Having come back from a battle with depression and anxiety the year before, Marissa frequently frets over her relationships with family and peers. An annoying younger sister and parents whose marriage is not what it seems contribute to her agitation. Questions torment Marissa: Where does Nash—long-time friend and geeky neighbor—fit in? And who is Dirk, is the mysterious person on the All-Talk-No-Action program who seems to know everything that goes on in their school?

Colasanti transports her readers directly into the mind and emotions of her characters; they are authentic individuals accurately representing the incongruent thinking of young teens, where they are deeply compassionate one minute and unable to see one another’s perspective the next. Jealousy, misunderstanding, rejection, and apprehension combine with joy, encouragement, support, and understanding for a roller-coaster ride of a year.

A lighthearted tale with surprising depth, Waiting for You is sure to be a hit with teens looking for an interesting read with quirky characters just like themselves.

Reviewed by Susan M. Landt, De Pere, WI

The White Witch by Janet Graber
Roaring Brook, 2009, $17.95
History/Superstition/Survival
ISBN: 978-1-59643-337-3

It’s 1665 and the plague has hit London. Gwendoline Riston is a unique girl whose unearthly looks and healing abilities have always been followed by whispers of witchcraft. In the dour society of a post Cromwell rule, standing out is the last thing a motherless girl wants to do. When death, superstition and fear arrive at her small village outside London, Gwen is left alone to face the blame for events outside of her control that may well lead to her death. How does a young girl keep her wits when the world around her is going up in flames and seems to be losing its mind?

Janet Garber’s novel is an appealing and engaging novel seamlessly supported by historical events. Readers will enjoy the suspense and twists and gain insights into England’s Civil War between King Charles I and Cromwell’s Roundheads. The plague becomes a living and threatening villain, complete with rich and vivid imagery. The roots of homeopathic medicine provide a subtle authenticity to Gwen’s character and abilities, and the author’s notes add depth and insights into true events. I have just completed a historical fiction unit in my class and this is an excellent novel I guarantee will be included as one of next year’s possible selections.

Reviewed by Sandra Fisher, Hiram, GA

Wild Things by Clay Carmichael
Front Street, 2009, 240 pp., $18.95
Coming-of-Age/Family/Art
IBSN: 978-1590-76627-7

Orphaned after her neglectful mother commits suicide, eleven-year-old Zoe goes to live with her Uncle Henry, a famous sculptor, in Sugar Hill, North Carolina. Zoe’s first-person narration reveals her smart, funny, and refreshingly honest perspective as she overcomes her reluctance to grow attached to Henry and his close friends for fear of being abandoned again.

Zoe comes in contact with wild things, independent and strong-willed individuals like herself: Henry, the “prickly as a cactus” sculptor; Wil, a mysterious abandoned boy; and Mr. C’mere, a feral cat Zoe yearns to win over. Remarkably, Zoe cares tenderly for each wild thing, even though she had not been cared for or loved herself until arriving at Henry’s home.

Neighbors, friends, and a teacher recognize Zoe’s storytelling ability and encourage her to pursue her own craft, alike but different from Henry’s. In her journal Zoe begins to “sculpt” her own stories about her new life in Sugar Hill. Wild Things is a coming-of-age story of hope and promise told by a decidedly likable heroine who makes readers laugh, wonder, and dream alongside of her wild things.

Reviewed by Kelly Byrne Bull, Baltimore, MD

Wings by Aprilynne Pike
HarperTeen/HarperCollins, 2009, 304 pp., $16.99
Urban Fantasy/Coming-of-Age/Romance
ISBN: 978-0-0616-6803-6

Fifteen-year-old Laurel Sewell has always been a little bit different. She hardly ever gets hungry; most foods besides fruits and vegetables make her sick, and she’s only seen a doctor once in her life. She’s never even been to school, but now that her father has purchased a bookstore in Crescent City, she and her parents have left their woodsy cabin and acreage in Orick, and Laurel must endure the confines of being stuck inside a building all day, which seems unnatural.

Laurel finds a friend in a boy named David and adjusts quickly to her new life until she wakes up one day with a bump on her back. Afraid to tell her parents that her “first zit” is growing, Laurel keeps hoping it will go away. One morning it does, but it leaves behind a large flower with whitish blue petals sprouting from her back!

She confides in David, who helps her determine that the strange growth is, indeed, plant life. Laurel manages to hide the wing-like petals, but when she and her parents return to the land in Orick, she meets a mysterious man who tells her that not only is she a plant herself, but she is a faerie. Like him.

As Laurel comes to terms with her new identity and responsibility, her motivation and strong will carry the story through to an emotional ending, when she has to make some difficult decisions. Fans of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga and Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely books will enjoy this mix of romance and folklore, as well as the author’s original take on the nature of the faerie folk.

Reviewed by Allison Franclose, Tucson, AZ