I bet Mystery at the Ski Jump makes the PETA people very unhappy. Furs. Furs. Furs. Youch. I, on the other hand, enjoyed it quite a bit. I apparently enjoyed it quite a bit as a child too, since I practiced writing my name several times on the inside of the front jacket.
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If you’re expecting The Prince of Mist to be anything like Shadow of the Wind or Angel’s Game, change your expectations before you start reading. This is not a book in this series and the writing is completely different from the series. It’s a YA novel – a scary YA novel with a clown. A very evil clown. It’s not the best scary YA novel I’ve ever read nor is it the worst YA novel I’ve read (scary or otherwise). It was good. I enjoyed it. I read it straight through last night and was glad. The use of the home videos was brilliant. The scary doggone clown pretty brilliant, too. I’d read another YA novel by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. He’s not out of his element, though his forward explaining that this book is YA was trying a little too hard. I kept picturing Neil Gaiman adding some sort of explanation to the front of his YA/kids books. It’s just not necessary and if I was a teen, I’d probably wonder what the heck the guy’s problem was….
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I was really pleasantly surprised by Blue Plate Special. I reserved it purely because it was a Cybils shortlist book and I knew nothing about it. The first few pages, I wasn’t sure what I was getting to – three different characters, set in slightly different time periods, in slightly different places. All of the girls were about the same age 16-18. All of them were in difficult situations, related to their relationships with their mothers – and with guys.
There were two big surprises for me, both of which really made me love the book. First, it has a Gainesville story line and I had no idea! Gainesville, Cedar Key, Ocala all mentioned in part of the story and I’m a sucker for books that talk about places I’ve lived (and loved.) Second surprise… I won’t tell you. You need to read the book to see how all of these girls’ stories come together. Brilliant work.
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I loved Jane Slayre – a lot more than I liked Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. Maybe because I liked Jane Eyre more than I liked Pride & Prejudice? Or maybe because it was about zombies and vampires and werewolves and not just zombies? I don’t know, but I liked it – a lot. I didn’t want to put it down. I think Charlotte Bronte would have been amused by it.
I did not want to read Wintergirls and for a long time I thought I was going to get away with not reading it – or just put down my foot and say “No. I’m not reading any more books like Wintergirls.”
Hah. No. That’s not what happened.
It kept calling to me and I don’t think it’s just because I’m a stickler for reading all of the Cybils short list books. Then again, I don’t really understand the call so it could have been something as simple as that in which case I should never vow to read the Cybils again because…
Damn it, I’m tired of this story. I’m tired of it because it is real. Because there’s a little bit of wintergirl in every woman or girl I’ve ever met. Because I have four daughters all of whom have experienced some tiny (or not so tiny) bit of this story.
Laurie Halse Anderson is a brilliant writer and storyteller but I’d really like it if she didn’t have to tell these particular stories anymore.
I stayed up way too late reading Maybe This Time. I could not put it down – this might just be my favorite Jennifer Crusie book…. It’s certainly my favorite solo book. Agnes and the Hitman is probably still my favorite… Crusie fans have to read this one immediately. Non-Crusie fans, what are you waiting for? Read this one and then go back and read everything else she’s written – you’re in for a lot of fun. A wee bit longer post here.
I saved Tiger Moon for last, from the Cybils shortlist YA Science Fiction & Fantasy list, because I was afraid I wouldn’t really like it. I don’t know what caused me to feel that way – but I did. Sure enough, I had a really hard time getting into it. After two days, I was only on page 59 (and it’s a pretty long book.) On day three, I didn’t even pick it up. Day four – I finished it. It improved. Or maybe my mood improved? Or I wasn’t as tired – nah, couldn’t be that because I’m really tired. I think the story improved as the “hero” grew into his hero status. The story had more depth, the characters more interesting, the storytelling more compelling. In the end, I did like it – but this wasn’t much competition for the others in the category.
Ah I loved this one, The Clue in the Crumbling Wall. No idea why, really. But I did. I remember loving it when I was a kid too. I think it was Salty. I like Salty old seamen.
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Book two in the A Resurrection of Magic series was better than the first book. Much, much longer which scared me at first. Sometimes book two isn’t so great, particularly when it’s more than twice as long as book one. But Sacred Scars was excellent. I couldn’t put it down and of course I’m dying to find out what happens in the third book. I love how it ended. (Sassymonkey is in shock right now…)
Huh. I just went to peek to see if I could find out when the third book will be out and there’s a note from the author on her Amazon page saying someone complained about the language in this series… there isn’t much profanity at all. In fact, almost none particularly if you compare it to most other YA books published now. I will say that on the rare occasion that a Damn or a Shit appears – it’s glaring because there’s so little of it. And… I like that. It felt real, not like gratuitous profanity.
I sat down with these four books, from the Cybils shortlist, and was prepared to smile. Well. That didn’t quite happen. The first book I read ticked me off. The second, I liked better but was left wishing for a slightly different story. The last two, no complaints.
Jeremy Draws A Monster is the one that ticked me off. Jeremy is a little boy who lives in the top floor of an apartment building. He doesn’t ever go outside. In his room, you see that there are drawings around the room. Obviously, he prefers to stay inside and draw, as some children do prefer. One day he draws a very large monster – and that monster comes to life. The monster begins to demand he draw other things for him and the monster never says please or thank you. After a day of Jeremy drawing things for the monster, the monster decides to go out. And this makes Jeremy happy. He goes to bed… only to be woken by the monster banging on the door to come in. Jeremy lets him in, the monster takes his bed, and Jeremy draws him a one way bus ticket out of here. The next day, Jeremy walks the monster to the bus and sees him off… and on his way home, the children ask him to play soccer… and he does. The end.
So the moral is what? If you are one of those weird kids who doesn’t like sports or isn’t good at them and would rather stay inside and draw because you are good at that… then your art turns into a monster and takes over your life and that’s bad? And if you just went outside like a normal kid, nothing like that could ever happen? And if you’re one of those kids who doesn’t understand art or artists, then this story tells you that those kids are weird and it’s better to play outside than it is to be an artist? (the illustrations were excellent though… in case you were wondering.)
Then there was Silly Tilly – a silly goose who drives the rest of the barnyard insane with her antics. She’s always goofing off and the other animals got sick of it and told her to cut it out. This made Tilly sad… and eventually the other animals realized that she was fun to be around and they missed her sillyness. So they apologized and Tilly went back to being an annoying clown. Well ok I added that annoying part… but that’s what it felt like, nobody learned moderation here. Because it’s true that people who are silly all of the time are fun some of the time but they are also annoying some of the time. That’s what the message should have been, not an all or nothing thing. Kind of similar to Jeremy and his monster, don’t you think?
Next, All the World – nice rhyming picture book showing kids and adults doing lots of different things. Even a storm that sends folks running for their cars is part of the world and how the world works. Nice. I like this one.
The Lion & the Mouse is a retelling of Aesop’s Fable. Lion could eat the mouse but decides not to. Later, lion is snared by a trap and the mouse comes and frees him. Nice illustrations, no words. I liked it.
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