Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Paper Towns by John Green

Quentin has loved Margo Roth Spiegelman since childhood. Even when she completely ditches him for the popular crowd, he can't seem to shake this feeling. But Q is a smart, reserved young man, while Margo runs their high school and is a total badass. It's obvious the two aren't meant for each other.  Until one day, Margo appears at Q's window late at night and invites him on a trip of justice. She wants to fix and ruin a couple things (or people) through brilliantly thought-out pranks.  Q agrees and quickly begins to realize that the Margo everyone, including himself, sees is not the real Margo. Margo might not be this beautiful, untamable creature. Maybe she's lonely and depressed and has no clue about any of her life.  After this outrageous and pivotal night is over, Q can't wait to once again be a part of Margo's life.  But the next day Margo is gone, and Q is sure she's left clues as to how to find her.  With his best friend Radar in tow, Q begins his quest to recover where Margo is hiding, and who she really is.  Is she the wild, gorgeous, fantastical leader, or the sad, scared, lost little girl?  And will Q find her in time for her to still be alive?

Let me get this out of the way now: John Green is a wonderfully talented author.  I whizzed through "Paper Towns" being so empathetic to Q and thoroughly intrigued by Margo.  The whole idea of who we see when we look at people, and who they are behind the mask is portrayed beautifully by Q's inability to let go of his childhood image of Margo and Margo's desperation for people to both see and not see her.  After finishing, I questioned my own way of assessing people through what they've said to me and their actions, and I wondered if any of that was real.  Who are the people around us? Who are they to their parents, their friends, their lovers? Are they the same person to everyone? If not, is that okay? Are we all liars?  These are the kinds of questions Green brings up throughout "Paper Towns."  But Green also looks at the selfishness of identity, and the struggle to satisfy our own sense of self. Is what we want ourselves to be more important than what others need us to be? Is there a middle ground? Green creates Q and Radar and Margo each with similar and different wants and needs and allows them to all intertwine and crash.  Readers of any gender (as far as I can tell, since Q is a boy and I am a girl) will be able to understand and sympathize with Q's frustration and obsession and desperation for finding Margo and discovering how important it is to find out who she actually is.

"Paper Towns" is the perfect novel for ages fourteen and up. Both the beginning trip between Q and Margo and the road trip with Q and Radar are incredibly engaging and have the perfect amount of hilarity, seriousness, and teenage crises. You won't be able to stop thinking about the book until you finish it.  All the questions running through Q's brain will run through yours, too, and you won't be able to help looking at your own world differently.  Green wrote a simply inspiring piece that every teenager should pick up.

"Paper Towns" by John Green has the Abigail T stamp of approval: this is legitimate young adult fiction.


Buy "Paper Towns" on Amazon now!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Stolen by Lucy Christopher

Kidnapped. Abducted. Stolen. Any way you put it, it's not good. When sixteen-year-old Gemma steps away from her parents in an airport to grab a coffee, she finds herself face-to-face with a familiar stranger who kindly pays for her drink.  After some chit-chatting, Gemma is ready to go back to her parents, even though the stranger is not only kind, but also beautiful and intriguing.  But before she has a chance, her body feels light, her mind seems a million miles away-- she's been drugged, and she won't be returning to her parents.  Ty steals her away to Australia where he hopes they can stay together forever.  Gemma, on the other hand, doesn't want to be stranded in the empty Australian outback with her captor, and will do anything to get away, or die trying.

The best word I can think of to describe "Stolen" by Lucy Christopher is "captivating." I know, it's a bit of a pun, but it's also true.  Christopher wrote the novel from Gemma's point of view as a letter to Ty, and investing myself into the conflicted world of Gemma's mind was absolutely riveting.  Watching her need to get home, need to get away, but also discover who Ty really is as a person (instead of just a stalker/kidnapper) was definitely a roller-coaster. You're with her every step of the way. You understand her fear, you understand her desperation, but you also understand her basic need to learn more about her captor.  Getting to know Ty as a character was sad, difficult, and so worth it.  Gemma describes Ty's looks, personality, past, life, everything so well, and without having to literally describe any of it.  Christopher is a master of show-don't-tell.  Also, the land is a character.  Ty and Gemma are in the middle of nowhere in Australia-- no people, no houses, no buildings, except for what Ty created.  Because of Ty's obsession and love of the land, the desert, the sand, the trees, the animals, the plant-life, etc. are all a part of the story.  Without this exact setting being included in such a fundamental way, there would be no story.  Our two main characters couldn't have their story any other place.

This is a book for ages thirteen and up. The intensity of the situation is not so high that a young teen would be too upset by it, but it's still an intense situation. Following Gemma along in her letter to Ty is just unbelievably heartbreaking and powerful.  Every thought that runs through her head, you can understand and be on the same page with.  The pacing is wonderful, and you don't learn too much too quickly, and events occur at a solid rate.  For those of you who love reading about strong women in frightening situations and/or fantastic character development and/or the grey area between good and evil, then this is an absolute must-read. There's nothing like reading a story in which you get such a well-rounded and deep understanding and view of more than one character.

"Stolen" by Lucy Christopher has the Abigail T stamp of approval: this is legitimate young adult fiction.


Buy "Stolen" on Amazon now!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

The Deadly Sister by Eliot Schrefer

Imagine the moment when you realize that someone you love dearly may have committed a crime too terrible to comprehend. This is what happens to Abby Goodwin when her sister, Maya, is questioned for murder.  Abby has always been the "good" daughter, and Maya has always been the druggie, the drop-out, the lazy daughter unhealthily interested in her sexy tutor... the sexy tutor who will eventually find himself face-down in a creek.  Abby goes through everything trying her damnedest to prove that her sister is no murderer, just led off the beaten path, but every clue keeps leading her right back to Maya.  Is someone planting the evidence, trying to lead Abby down the wrong path, or can the terrible suspicion be true?

I don't know what is with me and suspense novels lately.  I think it's just that when suspense novels are done well, they are done really well, and ho-ly crap "The Deadly Sister" done well.  This is another example of a book I literally couldn't tear my eyes from.  I had never read anything by Eliot Schrefer before, but Scholastic's YA branch This Is Teen has this "book suggester" that suggested that I would find this book to be awesome.  And it was right. The reader is constantly in Abby's head feeling and coping with everything she needs to feel and cope with.  She is a sympathetic character you trust and don't mind being around, and you can't help but feel so sorry for her whenever she tried to prove Maya innocent and runs into yet another piece of evidence that doesn't look too good.  I don't think my heart rate slowed down even for a second (and neither did Abby's). The story twists and turns regularly, so the reader never quite feels safe within the story, but doesn't twist and turn so suddenly that we have to deal with whiplash.  Schrefer expertly uncoils the tale of Jefferson Andrews' murder steadily, leaving the reader constantly on-edge and trying to compute every possible outcome, just as Abby is.  As for the ending, I won't say anything except "wait... what... how... fgeuywhfksdmlkfeg."

If teens fourteen and up are looking for one of the best YA thrill-rides of their reading lives, then they absolutely MUST read "The Deadly Sister." Schrefer is a gem of an author, the kind you just so rarely get to read, but when you do, you couldn't be happier with the result.  His creation of Abby and Maya especially is so brilliant and captivating, which is great because you spend a lot of time with those characters.  I had a moment of "wow, that is ridiculously impressive" after realizing that Schrefer is a man. What can I say? I'm a sucker for men who can write female characters beautifully.

"The Deadly Sister" by Eliot Schrefer has the Abigail T stamp of approval: this is legitimate young adult fiction.


Buy "The Deadly Sister" on Amazon now!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson

What would you do if you one day woke up and couldn't remember a thing about yourself? Sure, you could remember the days of the week, your mother's birthday, and even a Shakespearean sonnet, but nothing about yourself.  This is exactly what happens to Jenna Fox.  One day, Jenna wakes up in a mind that she doesn't quite register with, in a body that seems just a little off.  She has no memories of the life she had before waking up, and was simply told that she was in a car crash a year ago and was lucky to be alive.  But Jenna doesn't feel very lucky as she stumbles around in her own mind trying desperately to put together pieces of her past. She tries to figure out why her parents won't tell her why they've moved from Boston to California, why her grandmother seems to hate her, the real reason behind her not being allowed to go to a real public school, when she'll get her memories back, and so many more questions about her past and current self.  In a suspenseful, twisted end, Jenna realizes exactly what her parents have been keeping from her...

I remember sitting down and reading this entire book in practically one sitting, only taking time to eat and give my brain a break (which just needs to happen sometimes with any book). I was absolutely hooked to Jenna and her story, and spent the whole time thinking about possible endings and secrets, and enjoying every minute of being inside Jenna's confused and conflicted head.  I also had a lot of fun guessing what time this book took place, and I decided that it's in the "not-so-distant future." Pearson did a wonderful job not giving the reader too in-your-face clues that this is definitely not the world we live in right now.  Jenna talks about new technology as if it's existed forever, and doesn't draw the reader's attention to the fact that we, as  readers, don't necessarily understand what she's talking about.  It's so refreshing to read a sci-fi novel that doesn't constantly have "HEY I'M GOING TO MENTION THIS THING THAT DOESN'T REALLY EXIST AND THEN EXPLAIN IT TO YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE OBVIOUSLY CONFUSED" and the like. I like figuring things out for myself. It's also refreshing to read a sci-fi novel that isn't in your face about how sci-fi it is. Thank you, Mary Pearson. Then there's the thoughtful (and frightening) exploration of identity without memories.  Who are we if not the lessons we've learned, and the memories we keep?

This is a suspenseful ride for teenagers fourteen and older (give or take). Pearson crafts a fantastic piece of work filled with hidden secrets that pull you every which way until finally presenting you with the powerful ending. After I was done reading, I just sat there and took a good twenty minutes to process what just happened.  It's a book that makes you think about the use of technology, medical ethics, identity, and where our world is heading when it comes to what humans are rapidly learning to do with science (and how frickin' scary that is).

"The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary Pearson has the Abigail T stamp of approval: this is legitimate young adult fiction.