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:
Leaving Gee’s Bend by Irene Latham
The Less-Dead by April Lurie
Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
The Orange Houses by Paul Griffin
Out of the Blue by S.L. Rottman
Pod by Stephen Wallenfels
Quaking by Kathryn Erskine
Split by Stefan Petrucha
Tangled by Carolyn Mackler
Leaving Gee’s Bend by Irene Latham
Putnam/Penguin, 2010, 230 pp., $16.99
Rural South/Great Depression/Quilting
ISBN: 978-0-399-25179-5
Leaving Gee’s Bend is a female coming-of-age story set in the rural south in 1932. The protagonist, Ludelphia Bennett, comes to realize that her family’s long-term stability is in danger when her mother delivers a baby early and then falls ill. The only way for Ludelphia to help her mother get the medicine she needs is to leave her home in Gee’s Bend for the closest town and find a doctor. When Ludelphia arrives in Camden, which is over forty miles away, she discovers that her family isn’t alone in their precarious position. In fact, the whole town of Gee’s Bend may be destroyed unless Ludelphia can think of a plan.
This book is written in rural dialect that captures the setting and characters, but the language is not so unfamiliar as to distract readers. There is a range of characters in this story that exhibit a range of responses to the various events that unfold both in Gee’s Bend and in Camden. The overarching metaphor of quilting as a symbol for the interwoven nature of stories and life is discernible for younger readers, but it does not overtake the plot. In addition to the obvious themes of enduring family relationships, sacrifice, and honor, there is a more subtle message about materialism and social class—what it means to have and what it means to have not. Readers who are interested in books with understated social justice messages will likely enjoy this story.
Reviewed by Mary Rice, Springville, UT
The Less-Dead by April Lurie
Delacorte/Random House, 2010, 229 pp., $16.99
Relationships/Spirituality/Social Issues
ISBN: 978-0-385-73675-6
Noah Nordstrom is the less-than-angelic son of a popular Christian radio show host. He and his father often butt heads over their opposing religious views and Noah’s rebellious behavior. Tension comes to a head when three local gay teens are murdered, one of them Will, a friend of Noah’s, and Noah believes the killer to be a caller on his dad’s show. He embarks on his own
investigation of the crimes and uncovers many unnerving and dangerous new questions. In doing so, Noah unwittingly ties his own fate to his ability to find and confront Will’s murderer before another young man is killed.
The Less-Dead is a complicated novel. It positions evangelical Christianity not in direct condemnation of homosexuality, but in conversation with it. Differing religious perspectives strain relationships, but do not break them. Part fast-paced thriller, part spiritual reflection, The Less-Dead tells the story of teenagers forming faith-infused worldviews under the guise of a mystery story. As such, it is a formidable, yet approachable text that will keep readers engaged and thinking about their own beliefs well after they finish reading the novel.
Reviewed by Adrienne Kisner, Boston, MA
Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
Scholastic, 2010, 368 pp., $17.99
Relationships/Science Fiction/Fantasy
ISBN: 978-0-545-12328-0
Northern Minnesota’s March brings warmer weather, allowing winter’s wolves to return to their human forms in this sequel to Shiver. However, since last year’s harrowing meningitis injections (meant to allow wolves to remain fully human), Sam has not shifted. He and his soul mate, Grace, yearn for his cure’s permanence to begin their lives together. While mourning her brother’s death, their friend Isabel encounters Cole, a volatile new wolf who defiantly wants to remain so, carefree from his problematic life as a near-suicidal rock star. As Sam gains confidence, he warily befriends Cole, while confronting terrible childhood memories, and the two increasingly mature. Cole’s fans locate him and Isabel’s father begins hunting wolves, threatening all.
Sam surreptitiously stays with Grace nightly; but once discovered, he is permanently ousted and Grace grounded. Grace ignores her parents’ rules, but not her escalating illness that she desperately, and unsuccessfully, tries to hide. Grace is eventually hospitalized, and her condition mystifies doctors. Cole traces her condition to her long-ago wolf bite cure that prevented her from ever shifting into a wolf. His treatment provides a shocking and heartrending ending.
Narrated with wit and candor by its protagonists, this fast-paced novel is nearly impossible to put down. Grace and Sam’s Romeo and Juliet romance provides increasing anxiety and poignancy, as does Isabel’s agony regarding her role in her brother’s death. Reasons for Cole’s angst and anger are revealed, with raw scenes portraying him hunting prey as a wolf.
The novel is stand-alone and doles back-story in tantalizing bits, although sometimes scantily or rather late, causing occasional confusion. Doubtless, readers have—or will immediately—read Shiver, with this story’s explosive conclusion screaming for the series’ next entry.
Reviewed by Lisa Hazlett, Vermillion, SD
The Orange Houses by Paul Griffin
Dial/Penguin, 2009, 147 pp., $16.99
Relationships/Social Issues/Violence/Drugs/Friendship
ISBN: 978-0-8032-33460-6
The West Bronx serves as the setting of this urban fable, which takes place during one month. It is an edgy story focusing on three adolescents brought together by friendship and respect. Meet Jimmy Sixes, a struggling street poet, just back from the Iraq War. His life is filled with rage, despair and depression. He exists with the help of “happy drugs” administered by the local VA hospital. Fifteen-year-old Mik Sykes, intelligent artistic and hard of hearing, has turned inward in order to survive her life in a hell hole of an urban school. She survives in a world of nearly total silence since her hearing aides are seldom turned on. Fatima, recently arrived from and unnamed African country with no green card or any chance of getting one, yearns to see the Statue of Liberty. She views America as a country exemplifying richness, kindness and opportunity. Fatima is a positive change agent for Mik throughout the story. The Orange Houses is told in alternating chapters focusing on one of our three protagonists. Each chapter begins with a sentence telling us how many days are left before a hanging. What a way to draw the reader into this suspenseful, fast-paced tale! We know the ending but not the victim.
Paul Griffin has created a realistic world in which three isolated young people come together creating an environment of hope where only tension and violence formerly existed. The writing is deceptively poetic and the characters are so well drawn that they will live in the reader’s mind long after the book is put down. Themes of family, alienation, loyalty, sacrifice, and friendship make this book memorable.
Reviewed by John Jarvey, Cleveland Hts, OH
Out of the Blue by S.L. Rottman
Peachtree, 2009, 297 pp., $16.95
Children of Military Personnel/Trust/North Dakota
ISBN: 13-978-1-56145-449-0
Fifteen-year-old Stu and his mom, soon to be commander of the Minot, North Dakota Air Force Base, are facing their seventh move in fifteen years. Stu’s older brother is off to college, and his father has abandoned the family to take care of his ailing mother. Stu, an Air Force brat, has made such moves before and is used to the drill, but this time things are different for the family of two. Stu, who is on the cusp of adulthood, has way too much time on his hands as he struggles for independence. The family next door is dysfunctional and somewhat mysterious. Stu, in his desire to help, is drawn into the family’s drama, leading to trouble with the law and the loss of his parent’s respect.
This fast-paced novel deals with issues of trust, angst, and responsibility, while maintaining an interesting story for the reader. The novel starts at a slow pace, but once the action picks up, it is a real page turner leading to a great ending. Male readers will probably relate to the authentic voice of Stu as he searches for independence in a world containing much uncertainty.
Reviewed by John Jarvey, Cleveland Hts, OH
Pod by Stephen Wallenfels
Namelos, 2009, 212 pp., $$9.95
Science Fiction/Global Destruction/Relationships/Aliens
ISBN: 978-1-60898-010-9
Twelve-year-old Megs and sixteen-year-old Josh are two teens who are in the wrong place at the wrong time—victims of a global cataclysmic event. What’s wrong? Alien spacecraft are filling the sky and destroying any human being who ventures outside. Is the world coming to an end? Told from the alternating point of view of our two trapped teenagers—each living in
different cities—this is a captivating tale of the struggle for daily survival in a world torn upside down. Trapped in a hotel parking garage in Los Angeles, Megs is scared, bewildered and is searching for her mother. Stuck in a house in Prosser, Washington, Josh hunkers down with his increasingly obsessive-compulsive father—desperate for food, water, and a plan.
What makes this read so good is that these teenagers are real people. They approach their problems with realism and common sense—defying most predictable teen stories of youth in panic. Readers will relish learning why they make the real choices they do. Fast-paced, absorbing, and unpredictable describe Pod, an engaging story of two young teens who keep their wits about them as the world crashes around them. Suitable for all ages, but particularly good for anyone who enjoys science fiction with a realistic bent.
Reviewed by Jeffrey S. Kaplan, Orlando, FL
Quaking by Kathryn Erskine
Speak/Penguin, 2010, 236 pp., $7.99
Patriotism/Toleration/High schools/Quakers/Family
Life/Self-Actualization/Fiction
ISBN: 978-0-14-241476-7
Love and hate. Peace and war. Fear and safety. These are the common threads that link humankind. In Quaking, Erskine portrays the raw emotions of Matilda (Matt), who has never known love, peace, and safety. Matt has moved in with extended family members, Sam, Jessica, and their son Rory. Sam and Jessica are passionate Quakers who strongly exhibit their beliefs in peace, tolerance, and love. In spite of Matt’s reluctance to let them love her, her tough exterior slowly melts away because of Sam’s persistence to be friends and Jessica’s efforts to provide a happy home for Matt. Having problems with the school bully and a teacher who is determined to fail Matt solely based on her disagreement with his pro-war, pro-violence stance, Matt must learn that Sam and Jessica (and their Quaker family) are now her family, and they are willing to stand up for and protect her. It is not until Matt herself chooses to stand up for what is right and face her bullies head-on that she realizes she has finally found her home.
Matt is a character with a tough exterior that prevents anyone from getting close. If she can avoid closeness, then she can avoid being hurting again (her family has repeatedly pushed her off on one relative and then another). Quaking is real and the majority of young people can relate to it.
Reviewed by Holly Arnold, Acworth, GA
Split by Stefan Petrucha
Walker, 2010, 237 pp., $16.99
Fantasy/Parallel Universes/Loss of Parent
ISBN: 978-0-8027-9372-0
Ever wonder what would happen if you chose a different path? After Wade’s mother dies, he is torn between being the smart, hard-working, “A” son and the reckless, guitar-playing, free spirit. Or is he torn? It’s more like a split of Wade’s selves that readers experience as he lives parallel lives. Super-Wade worries and works to try and fix the Prometheus Particle Collider. Trickster Wade falls into a heist that goes wrong. Only the parallel Wade can solve each problem, but what happens once they meet?
Initially, the time-space “inter-dimensional rift” is hard to follow as readers slowly piece together the puzzle, despite the help of the changing narrators. Petrucha gives each Wade a strong voice and demeanor, but readers will question whether one is a dream and the other real. It is, however, fascinating for us to consider “what if …” and to see Wade’s parallel lives played out before us. We learn how his father, best friend, and girl friend’s lives are all shaped by Wade’s choices. Super-Wade marvels, “It’s like that movie Mom made us watch at Christmas, It’s A Wonderful Life, only backward—everyone’s life isn’t in danger because I quit.” Who is real? Which reality is real? Split, Petrucha’s fantasy/mystery, prompts readers to question Wade’s and our own choices in a fast-paced narrative.
Reviewed by Kelly Byrne Bull, Baltimore, MD
Tangled by Carolyn Mackler
HarperCollins, 2010, 308 pp., $16.99
Romance/Social Issues/Relationships
ISBN: 978-0-06-173104-4
When sixteen-year-old Jena Gornik is invited to spend her spring break in Paradise, a five-star resort in the Caribbean, she can’t believe her luck. Tired of her painfully mediocre and anonymous existence, she longs for romance and adventure, experiences of which she has only dreamed. Jena’s hopes are dashed, however, when she discovers she’ll be spending the week
with Skye Wainscott, the rich, beautiful, perfect daughter of her mother’s best friend. With Skye in the picture, Jena knows she will simply slip into the shadows. Once at the resort, Jena’s self-confidence is quickly buoyed by the unexpected attention she receives from Dakota, who is visiting the island with his mother and his reticent, Internet-addicted brother, Owen, a
self-proclaimed “Loser with a Laptop.” Although cocky and brazen, Dakota is also gorgeous and charming, and his seemingly genuine interest in her bolsters Jena’s self-confidence. He is everything she thinks she is looking for, everything she thinks she needs…until he deserts her in the middle of a date to spend the rest of the afternoon with Skye.
Four very different teens with four very different stories. For Jena, Skye, Dakota, and Owen, Paradise is merely the beginning. The story is told over a period of four months with each month narrated by a different character; however, it is unclear at first how their individual stories will continue to intersect. And yet, they do. Slowly, deftly, and sensitively, Mackler weaves their lives together in significant ways. As Jena learns to love herself and Dakota learns to slow down, as Skye comes to understand herself and as Owen begins to reach out to others, the novel gently rolls toward a romantic, satisfying resolution.
Reviewed by Emily Meixner, Ewing, NJ
