Andrews, Jesse. The Haters.

Andrews, Jesse.  The Haters.  Harry Abrams  2016      324p  $18.95  ISBN 978-1-4197-2078-9        hs  Realistic fiction  VG-BN   

Inspired by the years Andrews spent playing bass in a band himself, The Haters is a fast-paced road-trip adventure led by a trio of jazz-camp escapees who, come to form a successful band against all expectations. Fans of Andrews’ debut novel, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, will enjoy his second stand-alone volume, which tackles important but relevant themes such as music, love, friendship, and freedom. 

Andrews’ unique voice stands out: he is witty yet whimsical. Publishers Weekly describes the novel as “a love letter to music and following one’s dreams”, and says “it’s just right."   

Summary: When a trio of campers escapes from a music camp, they are surprised to find that they can form a successful band.     

Music-Fiction, Friendship-Fiction                           --Hilary Welliver

Redgate, Riley. Seven Ways We Lie.

Redgate, Riley.  Seven Ways We Lie.  Amulet see Harry Abrams  2016      343p  $17.95  ISBN 978-1-4197-1944-8      hs      Realistic fiction  VG-BN

Seven flawed high-school students narrate the events begun when a rumor circulates of an affair between a student and a teacher in this cleverly-knit-together piece about the trials of adolescence and life in general. Each student faces their own internal struggles, and the way their lives are interwoven leads them to confront their obstacles and either triumph or crumple.

Author Riley Redgate manages to infuse a realism to these characters that makes readers connect easily to them, whether it is the girl with a reputation for being easy or her rage-filled theater-geek sister, or the young man who knows who he is but doesn’t dare to admit it, or the girl he used to date who constantly compares herself to others and finds herself wanting. The characters’ flaws, their “sins” as it were, are not their defining traits so much as they are the result of their pasts and their relationships, and in connecting to them, readers may make some discoveries about their own issues and how they might handle them.

It is an engaging, tangled story of strained friendships, sordid secrets and discovering what truly matters at an age when everything seems like the end of the world. There are adult elements to this book, including a romantic relationship between a high-school student and her teacher, drinking, and marijuana use, but they are handled tastefully. 

Summary: Seven flawed high-school students narrate the events begun when a rumor circulates of an affair between a student and a teacher in this cleverly-knit-together piece about the trials of adolescence and life in general.    

Identity-Fiction, Relationships-Fiction, Family-Fiction     --Bethany Geleskie

Hardinge, Frances. Cuckoo Song.

Hardinge, Frances.  Cuckoo Song.  Harry Abrams  uncorrected proof   2015  409p  $17.95  ISBN 978-1-4197-1480-1  ms/hs  Fantasy  E-BN

Triss is a sickly eleven-year-old child growing up in post-World War l England and is very much doted on by her parents.  Pen is Triss’s younger sister and is very jealous of all the special attention that Triss receives.  To make matters worse, the girls’ older brother has been killed in the war.

As the story begins, Triss is found coming out of a pond into which she has apparently fallen.  As the doting parents put her to bed and prepare for a new illness, Pen becomes even more difficult and vengeful.  Consequently, Triss begins having very strange symptoms, including an insatiable appetite, even for non-food items, and incidental memory loss.  She questions her symptoms and seems to become less fragile. She begins following her sinister sister Pen, who is behaving even more erratically.

In this well-written book, the adventure and suspense never stop.  The plot takes many turns that the reader never sees coming.  The relationship between the girls and the way the changes in their characters are resolved will surprise and thrill the reader.  This is definitely a thriller, and a delightfully unique fantasy novel.  Readers will not want to put this book down.

Summary: Fragile and sickly eleven-year-old Triss is found coming out of a pond, which she had apparently fallen into, and begins to exhibit strange symptoms, while mystery and revenge seem to emanate from her sinister younger sister Pen.          

Mystery-Fiction                                             --Virginia McGarvey

Sheinmel, Courtney. Edgewater.

Sheinmel, Courtney.  Edgewater.  Amulet see Harry Abrams  uncorrected proof    2015  317p.  $17.95  ISBN 978-1-4197-1641-6  hs  Conflict  E

Lorrie is dismissed from her elite riding camp for nonpayment of fees.  When she gets home to squalid Edgewater, she realizes that the money that was in a trust established by her mother has disappeared without a trace.  Her sister Susie, two years younger, collects stray animals and a questionable boyfriend.  Without supervision, the animals leave the house, looking and smelling atrocious.  The girls’ aunt and guardian suffers from mental illness and is not concerned about their destitution.  The house is an eyesore in a wealthy area, and Lorrie feels the stigma of living there.  As she struggles with finding a way to bring in money, including selling her beloved horse, she comes into contact with the wealthy and influential Copeland family, especially Charlie, the teenage son of a senator.  Worlds collide in most unexpected ways, and many surprises await the reader of this novel, with superbly drawn characters.  This is a wonderful book about family, love, secrets and the effects on a person of having lavish amounts of money.  The mystery of the missing inheritance builds continuously throughout the novel. 

How hard it is for Lorrie to reconcile her life, attending a posh private high school and summering at elite riding camps, with the rundown house in which she, her sister and her scatterbrained aunt live.  Character-driven plot with many surprises. Gr 8-12.          

Poverty-Fiction                                                   --Lois McNicol

Winters, Cat. In The Shadows of Blackbirds.

Winters, Cat.  In The Shadows of Blackbirds.    Amulet see Abrams, Harry      2013  387p  ISBN 978-1-4197-0530-4    jr/sr  VG-BN Historical fiction

In 1918 San Diego, the Spanish flu and World War I have left no one unscathed.  Sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black watches desperate mourners flock to sceances and spirit photographers for comfort.  Despite her scientific leanings, she must consider if ghosts are real when her first love, killed in battle, returns.

Viewers of Downton Abbey will be thrilled by this historical piece, which describes the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 through the eyes of sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black.  Author Cat Winters has devoted a great deal of attention to the historical facts of the era, creating a wholly believable set of characters cast against a backdrop of pervasive fear.  This novel deals with fear on many levels, but at its heart it is about the fear of the unknown.  Mary Shelley is afraid of what will happen to her father, who has been imprisoned as a political dissident, necessitating her relocation to her Aunt Eva's house in San Diego. She is afraid of the nightmares she has about her sweetheart, presumed dead in battle overseas.  She is afraid of the growing influence of a spirit photographer over her grief-stricken aunt and the conspiracy she is certain he is involved in.  Throughout the novel, readers are drawn into Mary Shelley's narration as she investigates her suspicions regarding the nefarious activities of her lost love's brother, the spirit photographer who has charmed and bamboozled her aunt and countless others.  The Spanish flu and Mary Shelley's investigations both reach a fever pitch and come to an ending that is as surprising as it is fitting, piecing together the clues that have been provided throughout the book in a resolution that will surely ssatisfy readers.  The characters are sometimes two-dimensional, but given that the narrator is a teenage girl, it is not ridiculous to suppose that the protagonist only sees people as two-dimensional "extras" in her life, and would depict them as such. The climactic scene reads like a fever dream, exactly as it ought to do, but it is Mary Shelley's nightmares that will really stay with readers long after they have put the book down.  One of the few books written about this time period for a primarily female audience that does not deal with the war directly, this is a fantastic book for any library to own, and well worth the cover price.  Just make sure not to call it “steampunk”, because it is not that.

Summary: In 1918 San Diego, the Spanish flu and World War I have left no one unscathed.  Sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black watches desperate mourners flock to sceances and spirit photographers for comfort.  Despite her scientific leanings, she must consider if ghosts are real when her first love, killed in battle, returns.

California, 1918-Fiction, Occult-Fiction              --Bethany Geleskie