Tag Archives: Young Adult

A Trouble Shared

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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.

Born at the sixth and seventh chimes

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Chime, by Franny Billingsley, is the story of Briony Larkin, one of the most tortured — and at the same time most lovable — characters I’ve encountered in YA fiction. As the flap copy says, “Briony has a secret.” In Briony’s mind, this secret explains her stepmother’s death, her sister’s mental fragility and the outbreak of deadly swamp cough in her community. Briony is a witch — a hanging offense in the Swampsea. For years she’s been resigned to the fact of her own evil nature and inevitable doom. This changes, however, when Eldric arrives on the scene and proceeds to question everything Briony has held as truth.

I loved this book. So did the many reviewers who called it “a darkly beguiling fantasy,” “exquisite to the final word,” “both lushly sensual and shivery,” “extraordinary and moving,” and “an entirely original concoction” (as quoted on Billingsley’s website). Not sure what I can add to that lavish list of starred reviews, but perhaps I’ll just mention four of my favorite things about the novel:

  • The voice — so vivid, authentic and captivating. If you are a fan of “voicey” narrators, this book’s for you.
  • The world building — many fantasy novels incorporate clunky chunks of exposition to introduce their worlds. Chime just tosses you into the story and reveals the world of the Swampsea so organically that you are no longer an observer, you are there. (And you never doubt the existence of a Boggy Mun or Chime Child.)
  • The mystery — don’t want to give too much away here, but I loved the way details and secrets were scattered like crumbs at perfect intervals. It kept me guessing, and I was never less than gripped by the narrative.
  • The romance — Briony’s relationship with “bad boy” Eldric develops in a fresh and compelling way. Their chemistry is palpable, but at the same time the barriers to their love are plausible. This part of the story was wonderfully unpredictable, and I never once felt manipulated.

I hope you’ll pardon my bullet-point recap. Even though I loved the book, this was a hard review for me to write — it was a struggle to tame the wildly gleeful thoughts running through my head. I highly recommend Chime!

A story of suffering and hope

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They took me in my nightgown.

On a June evening in 1941, a year after Russia has annexed the Baltic states, Lina Vilkas and her family are taken from their home by the Soviet secret police. Given no hint as to her father’s destination, Lina joins her brother, mother and other “subversive” Lithuanians on a horrific and seemingly endless train journey to the Altai Labor Camp. There they are forced to live in filthy, crowded conditions and work until near collapse. When her mother refuses to sign a paper condemning the family to a twenty-five-year sentence for “counterrevolutionary activities,” they must eek by on the skimpiest of rations.

Despite these hardships, hope survives. Lina quickly learns to work hard, stifle her complaints and think creatively. Bartering, sharing and even stealing provide the family with extra scraps of food and comfort. Their bond with the community deepens, and Lina grows particularly close to a young inmate named Andrius. Her strength and faith are put to the ultimate test, however, when her family is sent with other prisoners to build a new camp at Trofimovsk in the Siberian Arctic. Starved and weakened as they are, how can they survive half a year of polar night?

The horrors of Stalin-era genocide may not seem the most alluring topic for a YA novel, but Between Shades of Gray is so compelling you won’t be able to put it down. (I literally read it in half a day. When I had to move to another room for food, etc., I held the book in front of me, reading as I walked.) Ruta Sepetys, herself the daughter of a Lithuanian refugee, has created vivid characters whose fierce strength, creativity and instinct for survival keep you in the grip of the story. There is much darkness and sorrow here, but I assure you that the narrative offers an uplifting and cathartic reading experience. I cannot recommend this novel highly enough and have no doubt it will become a staple in high school classrooms and libraries throughout this country and abroad.

Learn more about the history behind Between Shades of Gray here:

You’ll find a longer version of the video at the BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY website — it may be more meaningful to watch after finishing the novel.

Visions at vespers

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Last month I wiggled out of my comfort zone by reading (& enthusiastically recommending) a YA scifi/dystopian novel. This month I’m safely back in familiar territory with an atmospheric and lushly romantic paranormal historical.

Saundra Mitchell’s The Vespertine is the story of young Amelia van den Broek, who in the summer of 1889 is sent to Baltimore to stay with a fashionable cousin. Her brother intends her to partake in the frivolities of society life in order to find a respectable husband. What actually ensues is much more exciting . . . and considerably more dangerous.

Amelia has a special ability – at sunset she experiences visions of the future. Soon after her cousin Zora learns of this, friends and strangers alike scurry to the house, wishing to have their fortunes told. Amelia has never been so popular. Deep down, however, she knows this is not the sort of society life her brother intended for her. The problem with her visions is that while they are often pleasing in their beautiful vagueness, they can also be morbidly specific. Further complicating matters is the fact that she’s fallen for penniless artist Nathaniel Witherspoon, a young man with dark secrets of his own. The more visions she has – and the more time she spends with Nathaniel – the more firmly she pushes herself into the path of peril.

There is so much to love about this book. The setting is evocative and mysterious. The protagonist’s voice is captivating. The narrative unfolds at a somewhat leisurely pace, but rest assured the story is thoroughly absorbing — I certainly had trouble putting it down. Best of all, the sexual tension is certifiably swoon-worthy. Let’s just say this is the sort of story you sink into, as one would into a warm, scented bath or a silken blanket – a luxurious sensory experience, to be sure. (At least until the you-know-what hits the fan! At that point your spine will tingle with dread.)

Learn more about Saundra Mitchell at Making Stuff Up for a Living. Also, go to my blog for an interview with Saundra AND check back on Monday for a giveaway featuring her book!

A story set among the stars

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Today’s YA recommendation is a departure for me. While I LOVE science fiction films and TV shows, I’ve never been one to read in this genre. Seems like when I tried in the past, I would get mired in the technical details, not to mention what I perceived as a preference for plot over characterization. So . . . I generally avoided Scifi novels like the plague.

But when I first heard of fellow Elevensie Beth Revis’s new Scifi dystopian Across the Universe (already a NYT Bestseller), I had to give it a try. Fans of wildly varying genres were all raving about it! Seemed like a good time to give Scifi fiction another chance.

The story alternates between two narrators, Amy and Elder. Amy’s story begins with her being cryogenically frozen for a 300+ year journey to a new planet. The cryogenic process is harrowing enough, but things take an even more dangerous turn when Amy is unfrozen in the middle of the journey. Who tried to kill her? Who is continuing to “unplug” members of the frozen cargo of scientists and military tacticians? And since she can’t be refrozen, how will Amy ever fit into the eerily submissive society on the spaceship Godspeed?

Elder, on the other hand, has only ever known life on Godspeed. He is being groomed as its next leader . . . only he’s not completely engaged by his training. In particular he resents that Eldest, the current leader, seems to be keeping secrets from him. When Elder encounters Amy and learns of the danger posed to the ship’s frozen cargo, he decides it’s time to uncover Godspeed‘s hidden secrets once and for all. Soon he will learn that murder attempts on the cryo level are only the tip of the iceberg (if you’ll forgive the strained pun).

The novel is beautifully written and extremely suspenseful, with elements reminiscent of Brave New World and other classic dystopian tales. I have to say that one of the things I admire most is that the central conflict or problem — the reason why everything “went wrong” in Godspeed‘s society – is something I never would have predicted. Across the Universe is engaging, clever, and nearly impossible to put down.

One last note — you gotta go play on the interactive Across the Universe website. SO COOL!