About Sonia Gensler

Sonia Gensler grew up in a small Tennessee town and spent her early adulthood collecting impractical degrees from various Midwestern universities. A former high school English teacher, she now writes full time in Oklahoma. So far, her husband and cat are putting up with this. The Revenant is her debut novel.

A Monster Calls

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Sonia Gensler

The monster comes just after midnight.

13-year-old Conor is confused — this is not the nightmare he was expecting. The monster at his window is wild and fierce, but nowhere near as scary as the dark dream that has plagued him lately.

Conor’s world is falling apart. His mother isn’t responding well to cancer treatments. His father is in America with a new wife and family. Conor’s friends have betrayed him, and his enemies bully him. The burden of his present and future solitude weighs heavily upon him. A monster who wishes to tell him three stories, and demands one in return from Conor, is the last thing he needs.

Fortunately, the monster is persistent.

Some might say this is a good book for children coping with impending loss and grief. I say its appeal is much broader than that. A Monster Calls is gripping on many levels and appropriate for various age groups. It is a story of loss and healing, but it’s also a mystery with mythic qualities and a realistic portrayal of a contemporary teen’s struggle for autonomy and stability. Add gorgeous illustrations to this complex narrative and you have a very memorable book indeed.

Be sure to start with the author’s note from Patrick Ness. Once you’ve read that and the first chapter, you won’t be able to put the book down. Just be sure to keep your tissues handy.

Who’s that girl?

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Sonia Gensler

Everyone is raving about Daughter of Smoke and Bone, the latest YA novel by National Book Award finalist Laini Taylor (Lips Touch, Three Times) – and I’m no exception!

Karou leads a double life. At the outset, we see her as an art student in Prague trying to shed herself of a worthless boyfriend. Before long we see her secret life – perhaps her truer life – in which she speaks multiple languages, works minor magic, and travels the world procuring teeth for Brimstone, the unearthly creature who reared her from birth and is the only family she knows. Karou understands that Brimstone uses the teeth for a deeper magic, but doesn’t question further. Not at first, anyway.

This changes when ominous black handprints appear on the doors leading to her secret realm. Karou’s violent encounter with one of the winged creatures responsible for those handprints leads to revelations that fracture her understanding of the world. These revelations also allow her true journey of self-discovery to begin.

In the past I have steered away from stories of angels and demons, not to mention protagonists who are so achingly beautiful that it hurts to look at them. That stuff was too outlandish for me. Too over-the-top. This novel is over-the-top, but in a really fabulous way. The prose is exquisite, the characterization nuanced, and the pacing grabs you by the throat. Add to this a hauntingly gorgeous setting and an epic romance (literally EPIC) and you have the makings of an unforgettable first novel in a potentially stunning series.

I can’t stop thinking about this book!

A Trouble Shared

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Sonia Gensler

In The Day Before, the latest YA novel-in-verse from Lisa Schroeder, a young woman’s life is on the verge of a dramatic change. The details and significance of this change are unclear at first. All we know is that Amber has claimed a day just for her, no friends or family allowed. On this day before everything changes, she goes alone to the beach.

Turns out she’s not the only one taking a day. While at the beach, she meets Cade and immediately senses a kindred spirit. The two drift toward each other and end up spending their day together. We learn fairly quickly what Amber is trying to escape, but Cade protects his story for a while longer. His reticence lends a touch of mystery and suspense to this coming-of-age story of family conflict, compassion and burgeoning romance.

Schroeder’s verse style is streamlined and accessible, with a lovely sense of immediacy. It felt as though I were experiencing the story as a participant — breathing in each fragile burst of joy and reeling at each blow right along with the characters. Amber and Cade are authentic and dynamic protagonists, and their story will pull your hearstrings in all the right ways. Just make sure to have a box of tissues at hand!

If you enjoy The Day Before (and I know you will!), there’s plenty more where that came from. Lisa Schroeder’s debut novel, I Heart You, You Haunt Me is a gripping and poignant ghost story that I devoured in one sitting. Far From You and Chasing Brooklyn are sitting on my shelf, waiting for my next free afternoon. (It’s nearly impossible to read her books in bits and pieces.) If you’re looking for a beautifully told story with a lot of heart, you can’t go wrong with Lisa Schroeder.

Time is of the essence

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Sonia Gensler

Last year at about this time I was in England, doing most of my reading on trains. This year we’re back in Oxford, and once again I’ve done the bulk of my reading on public transport. There’s just not that much time, what with there being so much to do and see on top of the work we brought with us. (My husband teaches in the Oxford summer program for the University of Oklahoma law school.)

So . . . I’m going to have to make this quick. And interestingly enough, the two YA novels I am featuring in this post each have a unique emphasis on time.

Ransom Rigg’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children has one of the most captivating covers I’ve seen in years. The novel’s premise, in which the protagonist travels to a remote island off the coast of Wales to investigate his grandfather’s “peculiar” past, is just as unusual and engaging as the cover promises. When Jake was a child, his grandfather shared tall tales of the home in which he was raised — tales supported by unsettling photographic evidence. After his grandfather’s violent death, Jake searches out the home and actually encounters the very children he saw in the photographs. But how can these children still be so young after all these years? I’ll only reveal that a time loop is involved — you’ll have to read to learn the details! With its engaging male protagonist, this story should appeal to male readers just as much as to female (which one might argue is rare in YA paranormal fiction).

Like Miss Peregrine’s Home, Myra McEntire’s Hourglass (which also has a smashing cover) is uniquely captivating and also has a focus on time. With this book, however, we have a strong and sassy heroine and a bit more emphasis on romantic tension. For many years Emerson has struggled with the consequences of her unwanted ability to see apparitions from the past. But when she meets a young consultant from an organization called Hourglass, she learns she is not the only one to experience these time ripples (or “rips”). Furthermore, she may have the ability to alter the future. The chemistry between Emerson and Michael is electric (literally!), and the mystery will keep readers hooked until the end.

Happy Summer reading!

Calling all Anglophiles!

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Sonia Gensler

The title of Melissa Jensen’s 2011 YA novel Falling in Love with English Boys could describe my life.

Except . . . I’ve never actually dated an English boy. Never even kissed one. But I’ve fallen for ever so many in films and novels. When I learned of this novel about an American girl living in London who falls for an English boy, all while she’s reading the journal of a 19th century girl falling for an English boy, I knew I’d found a book perfectly suited to me.

Trapped in rainy London while her mother researches a 19th century female poet, Cat passes her days haunting the local news agent (they sell chocolate & trashy mags) and easing the pain of her exile through blogging. Soon enough she meets the handsome young descendent of her mother’s research subject. At first, Will Perceval only seems to be spending time with Cat because her (s)mother asked him to. Before long, however, actual sparks are flying. Or are the sparks only on her side? Could a girlfriend be standing in the way?

When Cat needs a distraction from Will, she reads the diary of Katherine Percival, daughter to her mother’s beloved poet. The diary contains girlish ruminations on Regency fashion and society, budding friendships and the trials of family, but it is Katherine’s preoccupation with a dashing poet that truly captures Cat’s attention. Handsome Mr. Baker seems interested in Katherine, but will he actually propose? Or is he merely playing with her affections?

With its contemporary twist on familiar Jane Austen romance plots, this is a book for readers who enjoyed Bridget Jones’ Diary, Clueless and other Austen updates. While Cat’s confessional style brings to mind Louise Rennison’s Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging, the alternating contemporary and historical plots, along with the pleasing hint of literary mystery, recall A.S. Byatt’s Possession. Falling in Love with English Boys is clever, entertaining and ever so romantic. I rushed through to the end, desperate to know how it would all be resolved, and within hours I already missed Cat, Katherine and their worlds.

If only there could be a sequel!