ALAN’s Picks is a monthly book review column that is compiled and edited by Dr. Pam Cole of Kennesaw State University. Be sure to check the site often to see a preview of the latest titles in YA Lit.
Reviewed this month:
Addicted to Her by Janet Nichols Lynch
Alex Van Helsing: Vampire Rising by Jason Henderson
Callie’s Rules by Naomi Zucker
The Carbon Diaries 2017 by Saci Lloyd
Epitaph Road by David Patenaude
Finally by Wendy Mass
The Karma Club by Jessica Brody
Love Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur
Never After by Dan Elconin
Spells by Aprilynne Pike
Touch by Francine Rose
Addicted to Her by Janet Nichols Lynch
Holiday House, 2010, 220 pp., $17.95
Immigration/Relationships/Wrestling/Delinquency/Ethnic Identity
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2186-2
Rafa is a Hispanic boy who is trying to get through high school. He gets good grades; he places in state wrestling events, and he manages to be a good older brother. Things go haywire for him, however, when he starts pursuing Monique. Under her spell, Rafa starts behaving dishonorably. He stops wrestling, gives up on school, lies to his mother, and even breaks the law. It is not until his stepfather, an illegal immigrant, is taken away in the middle of the night and his sister is put in harm’s way that Rafa sees that Monique is bad news.
Lynch does a good job helping readers understand the complexity of the lives of her characters. She addresses issues of language, ethnic identity, opportunity, and citizenship in a way that garners attention without being didactic. The story unfolds in such a way that readers will feel sympathy for the characters, while hoping they receive retribution. The most striking aspect of this book is attention to relationships: how they form, how they are maintained, how they fade, and how they are destroyed.
Reviewed by Mary Rice, Springville, UT
Alex Van Helsing: Vampire Rising by Jason Henderson
HarperTeen/HarperCollins, 2010, 224 pp., $16.99
Vampires/Coming of Age/Horror
ISBN: 978-0-06-195099-5
Alex Van Helsing is new to Glenarvon Academy, a school where the privileged are placed to make their mark on future society. Yet, Alex does not fit the mold of the wealthy thoroughbreds attending Glenarvon. He has a mysterious past, including his recent expulsion from a previous school, the myth of the Van Helsing name, and an uncanny curiosity that places him in hostile situations. Less than a week into the school year, Alex battles his new roommates, infiltrates a secret society of vampire hunters, and befriends two outcasts with a healthy interest in stories of the macabre. Follow Alex as he learns his true family history, while battling the forces of the underworld.
Henderson has crafted a sound retelling of a legendary story set in modern day Switzerland. Drawing heavily from classics such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and the works of Lord Byron, Henderson creates a character (Alex Van Helsing), who is at a crossroads in his life. As Alex discovers that myths are becoming realities, he is forced to join the fight against creatures of the underworld. Henderson has molded an action-packed novel with a wonderfully rich history. Lovers of horror will devour this book. An excellent springboard into the literature of Shelley, Byron, and Stoker.
Reviewed by Ray Engle, Indianapolis, IN
Callie’s Rules by Naomi Zucker
Egmont, 2009, 225 pp., $15.99
Coming of Age/Relationships/Middle School
ISBN: 978-1-60684-027-6
With a name like Calliope, Callie Jones faces immediate challenges of acceptance by her peers as she enters middle school. Additionally, she’s the middle child of seven in a family with creative and unconventional parents. Her mother is an artist and creates weirdos, metal figures she solders for Halloween. Halloween becomes the lightning rod for Callie’s problems when Sandy Van Dine, mother of Callie’s classmate, Valerie, crusades to eliminate the town’s Halloween celebration in lieu of Autumn Fest. Mrs. Van Dine is convinced that Halloween harms children. When the efforts of her parents fail to sway the City Council members’ thinking about prohibiting the traditional celebration of Halloween, Callie saves the day.
Callie’s voice will resonate most strongly with tween girls. Naomi Zucker’s book addresses the world of middle school, mandated testing, community conflicts over the “un-American” nature of Halloween, and the power of words and writing—issues of importance not exclusive to middle schoolers. Callie’s rules for life echo Melinda Sordino’s in Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, though Callie’s rules are most appropriate for tweens navigating the middle school years.
Reviewed by Mary Warner, San Jose, CA
The Carbon Diaries 2017 by Saci Lloyd
Holiday House, 2009, 326 pp., $17.95
Social Issues/Ecology/Relationships
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2260-9
The Carbon Diaries 2017, Saci Lloyd’s sequel to her 2009 ecological thriller The Carbon Diaries 2015, continues the story of university student/punk rocker Laura Brown. In the first novel, Laura’s Great Britain was thrown into chaos by flooding, drought, and government “carbon rationing,” which severely limited citizens’ access to travel, basic utilities, and food. Two years later, London has become a hot bed of political unrest. Though she resists, Laura’s friends draw her into the fight for personal freedom. Though Laura wants only to care about school, music, and her boyfriend Adi, she is forced to confront the horrifying reality faced by minorities. Laura undergoes a metamorphosis much like London itself—from privileged, to empty and broken, to a force fueled by righteous anger.
This fast-paced novel will appeal to fans of works like M.T. Anderson’s Feed or Meg Rosoff’s How I Live Now. The narrative is woven through Laura’s diary and is complemented by gritty slang, emails, text
messages, and pictures that tell the story of things Laura leaves unsaid. Though the book is largely a cautionary tale about what can happen in the wake of ecological crisis, it is also a story about friendship, love, and the revolutionary power of music. Readers will identify with Laura’s life, which eerily mirrors what is happening or could happen in today’s world. The story never drags because of heavy subject matter, and character relationships are the heart of the book.
Reviewed by Adrienne Kisner, Boston, MA
Epitaph Road by David Patenaude
Egmont, 2010, 266 pp., $16.99
Thriller/Post Apocalyptic/Utopia/Relationships
ISBN: ISBN: 978-1-60684-055-9
The year is 2097 and Kellen is a fourteen-year-old boy living in a world with few males. Nearly thirty years previously, a super virus wiped out 97 percent of the males living on Earth. Now, the world is run primarily by women, and Earth is an idyllic place to live—free of the aggression that brought Earth to the edge of complete oblivion. Kellen is resigned to be one of the lone outcasts (a male’s potential is now considered limited and untrustworthy) until he overhears his mother, a powerful leader in this new world order, speaking of a new outbreak of the deadly virus that had wiped out the previous male population. This time, Kellen learns, that the virus is headed toward a community of “loner men” that includes Kellen’s estranged father. With the help of female friends, Kellen escapes his mother’s dominion and races to warn his dad of the incoming danger; in the process, he learns of the real reason for the spreading of this dreaded male disease.
This book is a real-page turner, filled with just the right mixture of action sequences and thought-provoking conversations. It is most suitable for middle and high school readers as the author concentrates on the morality of the tale, leaving most graphic scenes to the reader’s imagination. Teen readers will delight in this highly accessible adventure tale, and teachers and parents alike will relish the notion that the author is an engaging and serious novelist with a strong and definitive moral compass. Readers who like Suzanne Collin’s The Hunger Games and Michael Grant’s Gone will enjoy another entry in this best-selling genre.
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kaplan, Orlando, FL
Finally by Wendy Mass
Scholastic, 2010, 296 pp., $16.99
Rites of Passage/Birthdays/Preteen Issues
ISBN: 978-0-545-05242-9
Rory Swenson has been counting down the days to her twelfth birthday because every time she has asked her parents to allow her to do something or to buy her something she has been told “not until you are twelve.” Rory has compiled a list of all of these things, and now that she is twelve, she is working her way through the list. However, Rory soon realizes that perhaps all the things she was excited about are not really things she wants anymore (ex., staying home alone). For example, Rory finally gets a cell phone; however, her parents won’t allow her to get the one she wants, and Rory discovers that a cell phone takes responsibility and is sometimes a nuisance. Rory’s first attempt at shaving her legs leaves her covered in band-aids and blisters and unable to walk. Over the course of the novel, Rory realizes that her list doesn’t necessarily reflect what she wants.
Finally is a humorous book with important messages. It is a fabulous novel for preteen girls who are looking forward to growing up, but who are still young enough to remember the pleasures of childhood such as beloved teddy bears and blanket forts.
Reviewed by Aimee Rogers, Tucson, AZ
The Karma Club by Jessica Brody
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2010, 258 pp., $16.99
Relationships/Social Issues/Consequences/Service
ISBN: 978-0-374-33979-1
Maddy Kasparkova learns the consequences of meddling with the universe when her life begins to implode. The chain reaction of her unfortunate events begins the day Maddy and her two best friends, Jade and Angie, form the Karma Club. The purpose? Give people who have wronged them exactly what they deserve; after all, it’s Karma, right? Now that Maddy has taken Karma into her own hands, she is learning the importance of focusing inward and balancing her own life, as opposed to forcing her perceived vision of balance on the rest of the Universe. Maddy just hopes that looking inward will actually undo everything she’s already set into motion—before it is too late. Maddy is encouraged to experiment with Karma and learn just how much establishing balance and peace within can have a positive and influential impact on others as they learn how to “pay it forward.” Educators will appreciate the creative bridge this novel can lend to classics such as Pygmalion, while at the same time offering ideas for service learning.
Reviewed by Kristie Jolley, Pleasant Grove, UT
Love Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur
Wendy Lamb/Random House, 2009, 262 pp., $15.99
Death/Family Relationships
ISBN: 978-0-385-73774-6
Eleven-year-old Aubrey Priestly describes how she does her own grocery shopping and housekeeping and buys a pet fish for company. Her experiences of loss, death, grief, and abandonment are revealed through flashbacks and the letters she writes, which she always signs, “Love, Aubrey.” Aubrey and her mother survived an auto accident that killed Savannah, Aubrey’s seven-year-old sister and her dad. Lissie, Aubrey’s mother, who was driving at the time of the accident, suffers so deeply from guilt and grief that she leaves, abandoning Aubrey and telling no one where she is going. Gram, Aubrey’s maternal grandmother, comes to Virginia and takes Aubrey to Vermont. In the subsequent months, Gram and the neighbors help Aubrey move through a range of complex emotions.
Though Aubrey is eleven, this book speaks powerfully and poignantly to readers far beyond that age. LaFleur has created a gripping story and in Aubrey a particularly compelling, but realistic character; LaFleur’s hard-to-put-down novel will appeal to readers much older than eleven. Aubrey’s story is haunting and captivating.
Reviewed by Mary Warner, San Jose, CA
Never After by Dan Elconin
Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster, 2009, 295 pp., $9.99
Fantasy/Adventure
ISBN: 978-1-4169-7967-8
This amazing young adult fantasy written by a college student takes our hero, Ricky Darlin, on a fun-filled, romantic, suspenseful and sometimes creepy journey in the tradition of Peter Pan. The protagonist is a typical teen filled with angst, humor, anger, confusion, self doubt and enthusiasm,
making him a near-perfect teen hero. Ricky is trapped on an island relying on a unique and bizarre cast of characters to keep him alive and help him on his quest to escape. The book is filled with plot twists, unexpected adventures and narrow escapes, all leading to a surprise ending that will leave readers feeling quite amazed and satisfied. This fast-paced book should be a perfect choice for the older reader who really enjoyed the Harry Potter series. An outstanding first book.
Reviewed by John Jarvey, Cleveland Heights, OH
Spells by Aprilynne Pike
HarperCollins, 2010, 359 pp., $16.99
Fairies/Schools/Trolls/Plants/Interpersonal Relations
ISBN: 978-0-06-166806-7
Laurel Sewell may seem like a typical teenage girl, plagued with the difficulties that come along with being a teenager, but she faces an even bigger challenge than her friends—she has recently discovered she is a faerie. Not only is this a startling discovery, but she also has to deal with the fact that her life and the lives of the humans she loves are in danger. Trolls, particularly Jeremiah Barnes, are after her, seeking revenge for a battle they previously lost. In this sequel to Pike’s debut novel, Wings, Laurel must face the challenges of learning about her fae heritage, fulfilling her role as a Fall faerie, and making the choice between the faerie world and the human world. Through fast-paced and realistic dialogue, Pike takes a supernatural topic and makes it very understandable to readers. In this exciting page-turner, the adolescent reader is constantly wondering which world Laurel will choose—the faerie or human world—and if her choice will be right.
Reviewed by Jane Monnat, Baldwinsville, NY
Touch by Francine Rose
HarperTeen/HarperCollins, 2009, 262 pp., $16.99
Adolescence/Coming of Age/Identity
ISBN: 978-0-06-137517-0
“Maisie, do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?” Maisie discovers this question is not simply answered “yes” or “no.” Even though Maisie was on the school bus during an incident with her three good male friends, she is finding it difficult to remember the truth. Maisie, like many other high school students, is searching to fit in. Her struggle is compounded by her parents’ divorce and the addition of stepparents and a stepbrother. Maisie begins to change physically, and she and her friends start having difficulty relating to one another. Her three childhood male friends (Shakes, Chris, and Kevin) begin commenting about her womanly physique. Maisie, although uncomfortable with this type of attention, rationalizes their behavior as joking among friends. It is not until physical contact and the emotional connections experienced by Maisie and Shakes during their early morning bus rides that she begins to question who she is, who she wants to be, and who she wants to surround herself with in life. After an incident on the bus, Maisie begins to make some hard decisions about herself and her friends, while at the same time questioning, “What is the truth?”
Rose positions the reader to experience innocence, anxiety, isolation, and comfort through a series of actions and consequences. Before finishing this book, the reader will be questioning his/her own idea of truth.
Reviewed by Aimee L. Morewood, Morgantown, WV
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