Demetrios, Heather. I’ll Meet You There.

Demetrios, Heather.  I’ll Meet You There.  Macmillan/Henry Holt  2015  388p  $17.99  ISBN 978-0-8050-9795-5  hs  Realistic fiction  E-BN

Skylar Evans works at a motel and wants to escape her small town to attend art school in San Francisco.  But her mother loses her job, and school and escape both seem impossible.  Josh escaped the town by joining the Marines.  Now he is back from the war, sporting a prosthetic leg.  He tries to be the loud, party leading, self-assured boy who left, but he isn’t any more.

Skylar and Josh both work at the Paradise motel.  Their relationship starts as bantering and teasing, and then grows into friendship and maybe more.  By their actions, each deeply hurts the other.  Throughout the story, they learn to be honest with themselves and each other.  The story ends with possible hope for the future.

The themes of loss of limb and post traumatic stress disorder, the sexual innuendo and the eventual act (though very tastefully written) make this novel suitable for high school.  Beautifully written, it takes on timely and sensitive issues.  It holds the reader to the end and leaves him or her begging for more. 

Summary: A story about hopes and dreams shattered and rebuilt.  A wounded vet comes home, and the story is about his friends, their troubles,, and the ways they help each other.  Some sex and quite mature themes make this appropriate only for high-school collections.       

Post traumatic stress disorder-Fiction                      --Joan Theal

Oppel, Kenneth. This Dark Endeavor.

Oppel, Kenneth.    This Dark Endeavor.      

Simon & Schuster/Little Brown 2011  304p  17.99 978-1-44240315-4  

jr/sr        Horror (Mild)           E-BN  

Victor Frankenstein and his twin Konrad are inseparable. They everything together and

enjoy each other’s company. Then the day comes when Konrad falls ill and the

doctors can not find what is wrong with him. It is up to Victor to try and save

his brother.      Victor and Konrad Frankenstein are twin look-a-like and they

are inseparable. They live in a castle that also has a dungeon. Their distant

cousin, Elizabeth, who younger than they are lives with them and have grown up

together. They all share good times together and enjoy exploring  their

surroundings. They one day come upon a secret door in the library and walk down

a very dark and creepy staircase and encounter a locked door. When they manage

to open the door they discover a library full of books about magic and alchemy.

Their father discovers them and makes them promise to never go back into the

room. Then the day comes when Konrad who always seemed fit and healthy falls ill

with a mysteries illness that saps his strength.  It is then that Victor decides

that it is possible he may be able to find the answers to Konrads' illness in

the magic books hidden in the forbidden room.

What happens next is a story unlike any you have read. The book is full of

mysteries, love, magic, adventures and secrets. Very enjoyable. Could be a

prequal to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

 There is however a very strong scene where Victor loses his fingers that might

be to much for some children.       Diaz, Magna

Bartok, Mira The Memory Palace

Bartok, Mira.      The Memory Palace

Free Press (Simon & Schuster) 2011  305p  25.00

978-1-4391-8331-1 hs/adult                E-BN 

 

Bartok, artist and children’s author, has written a memoir about having  an

increasingly mentally ill mother and the effects of this on her life. This well-written narrative is disturbing, well-written, and heart wrenching.     Bartok, an artist and children’s author who has published 28 books, has now written a memoir about having an increasingly mentally ill mother. She offers vignettes of what it was like for her and her sister living with a musically gifted mother who descends into madness. Her mother’s diagnosis, paranoid schizophrenia, played out in  nightmarish ways. As they got older and went to college, things got worse. The mother would threaten them and appear at their jobs and cause outrageous scenes, so they finally severed all contact with her for many years. 

When Bartok had a serious car accident that caused a brain injury; she had to

relearn certain skills and wanted to reconnect with her former life. So, she

contacted the homeless shelter that she thought her mother was in and she found

that her mother was dying. Then, Bartok and her sister returned home and

reconciled with her mother. While they were there in the hospital, Bartok

discovered a key that opened a storage unit that her mother had kept for years

and discovered a plethora of family memorabilia that created new meanings to her past life. 

This narrative is compassionate, disturbing, well-written and heart wrenching. This title is recommended for Tristate Books of Note for its

sensitive portrayal of debilitating madness, its affects on a family, the power

of love, and the need for a better mental health system. This book would be most appropriate for mature readers at the high school level.          Weinraub, Tina

 

Amadine

deBlasi, Marlena. Amadine
Ballantine see Random 2010 319p 25.00
978-0-345-50734-1 hs/adult Historical E
Amadine grows up in a French convent in the 1930s, left there by her grandmother to be raised as an orphan. Amadine makes the lives of many richer while struggling to define herself. Food and aromas of nature make this a delectable read. Grades 10+.
At only a few months of age, Amadine is cruelly left at a French convent by her aristocratic grandmother who cannot bear to look at her. Amadine’s 16-year-old mother is told that she should move on and never mention the birth and that the baby died. Throughout the book, perspective shifts between Amadine and her convent life to the life of the Polish aristocracy and the fate of the 16-year-old mother. As Amadine charms all who come to know her, she also struggles with being an orphan and wondering who her mother is. As World War II begins, Amadine and Solange, her caregiver, set out for northern France only to be caught up in the war. Resistance workers help them in their journey and as always Amadine charms those she meets. Pervasive throughout the novel are the aromas of flowers and herbs and the depiction of food fresh from the garden, the smells of the kitchen and the wonderful delectable meals in the convent. As the war goes on, the sparsity of food is in stark contrast to former meals. All women in the novel have been tainted by cruelty or deception and that impacts their actions toward Amadine who often is on the receiving end of cruelty. Gripping reading. An adult novel with young adult appeal due to the age of the characters. Grades 10+.
Outstanding look at life in Europe from 1930-1945 focusing on women, aromas and food. Amadine, an orphan, must come to grips with who she is and longs to know her ancestry. Cruelty and deception affect all females and impact their actions. Grade 10+. McNicol(3),Lois
World War II and Orphans - Fiction

The Girl Who Chased the Moon

Allen, Sarah Addison. The Girl Who Chased the Moon
Bantam see Random 2010 269p 25.00
978-0-553-80721-9 hs/adult Fantasy VG
Emily moves in with the grandfather she never knew after her mother’s death. Secrets spill out including the suicide Emily’s mother was blamed for, the reason why a family stays inside after dark, and an unknown teen pregnancy. For older teens and adults.
The cast of characters seems overwhelming at first but as the novel progresses, the reader realizes all the story lines intertwine. After Emily’s mother’s death, Emily goes to live with a grandfather she has never visited. This eight foot giant of a man has quirks as do members of the local small town community. Magical lights at night are caused by Win, the nephew of a man whose suicide has been blamed on Emily’s mother, who glows with a warm embracing light when moonlight hits him. The attraction between Emily and Win raise the hackles of the community. A neighbor, Julia, has returned to the small town she left as a teenager to run her father’s restaurant. Julia confronts the now grown man who got her pregnant in high school. As Julia’s secrets are revealed, her baking skills draw in the community. A hot steamy love scene between Julia and her now grown teenage love may limit this book to grades 10 and up. Adults who like fantasy based in reality will also be drawn to this book. Grab a piece of cake and settle into the magical world of Mullaby and be startled yet reassured that the secrets will all sort themselves out. The cover features a dark haired young lady that words describe as Julia, but actually seems more to be Emily from the pose - part of the intentional magical confusion? A magical read about needing to be accepted for who you are! Recommended where books about fantasy based in reality are popular. The characters are quirky and numerous, but the story line hooks the reader. Page 183 has a grammar problem: “Emily was beginning understand”. McNicol,Lois
Fantasy

Citizen You

Tisch, Jonathan M. Citizen You
Crown see Random 2010 274p 24.00
978-0-307-58848-7 hs/adult VG
Tisch, of Loews Corporation, highlights the new social activism that is changing communities for the better by solving problems rather than just throwing money at the problem. A book to inspire action and hope. Grades 10 to adult.
The new social activism puts people to work actively solving community problems related to education, sanitation, disease, energy, and poverty. Examples of individual people and corporations doing good in the community inspire hope as well as show that anyone can make a change if they get actively involved. The philosophy behind the good works of Tufts University, Loews Corporation, Doctors Without Borders, Engineers Without Borders, and IBM is explained as well as the projects initiated. Whether purchasing from local businesses/farms, helping out in disasters, providing employees with paid time to do volunteer work, or designing energy efficient tools/equipment for third world nations - it all started with one person and one idea. With so many news stories of violence and despair, this book is a beacon in the current economic downturn shining a light on people who are doing good in the community without expecting a monetary profit in return.
The reader will emerge with a feeling of hope for the world and be inspired to look at his own community to see what he can do to make the lives of his fellow citizens a little better. The cover of the book is outstanding relaying the same feeling that each person has the ability and duty to change the world. For adults and students who feel a connection to their community. Recommended for public libraries, civic groups, and high school students who want to turn altruism into action. An inspiration and call to action for every reader. McNicol(3),Lois
Social change - citizen participation

The Unwritten: Tommy Taylor & The Bogus Identity

Carey, Mike & Peter Gross. The Unwritten: Tommy Taylor & The Bogus Identity
DC Comics 2010 unp 9.99
978-1-4012-2565-0 hs/adult Graphic novel E
Tom, the son of a fantasy writer, is a media celebrity since his father disappeared. Tom wonders if he is really his father’s son. And, who is the villain capturing the minds and pens of famous writers? What a teaser to the rest of the series! Rated R for language.
Outstanding art work mirrors the questions raised in this first book of five episodes about Tommy Taylor, a fictional character in a fantasy novel. The fictional character is said to be based on Tom Wilson, the son of the author who has disappeared. Tom’s real life celebrity status is starting to wane and he is concerned for the future. A villain appears at a writer’s conference housed in the mansion where Shelley received inspiration and where Tom’s father kept a secret room. This villain appears to control the minds and pens of famous writers as far back as Milton, Kipling,and Shelley. Could Tom be the one to resolve his father’s suspicions about stories written around the world having a connection? Fiction and reality collide and interweave elements of fantasy (unicorns and a winged cat who is a familiar to Tom) and literary allusions. The details in the drawings offer insight beyond mere words. Sometimes there is quirky humor attached as in the news ticker that runs at the bottom of the DNN headline news. Also included are web pages, newspaper stories, maps, blogs, and other visuals that make the reader turn into a sleuth finding clues in words as well as pictures. Outstanding visuals and writing will make the reader clamor for more. A caution for school libraries - pervasive crude language. For grades 10+.
Recommended for public libraries as this book contains a mystery story coupled with literary references and philosophical statements. A thinking person’s first choice for a graphic novel. Outstanding art work that goes beyond the written word. Grades 10+. McNicol(3),Lois
Mystery

Fagerholm, Monika. The American Girl

Fagerholm, Monika The American Girl
Other Press 2009 507p 15.75 978-159051-304-0 hs/adult
Mystery/Detective VG
Told from varying viewpoints and times, the disappearance of an American girl in Finland possibly caused the deaths of others. A new generation of girls seek to unravel the complex relationships in the community and the deaths. For mature grades 10+.
An American girl goes to visit a relative in Finland. She becomes romantically involved with at least one boy in the community and suddenly disappears. Rumor has it she died in the marsh. Another death and a boy’s muteness are related to her death. A generation later, two young girls decide to delve into the mystery of the American girl. One of the young girls, Sandra, lives in a house “in the darker part of the wood”. She is neglected by her traveling parents and lives in a most unusual house. She spies on the hunting parties and sexually free lifestyle of her father. The lack of a mother present in her life causes her to reach out to her father’s girlfriends for advice. Doris, abused by her mother, befriends Sandra and the two invent games and role play the lives of adults. Their sexual experimentation mimics that of the adults in their lives. Doris ultimately kills herself while Sandra eventually moves to America. Through much of the novel, the writing style floats between viewpoints and times and the reader feels like there are gossamer layers precluding a clear understanding of what actually happened to the American girl and Sandra’s mother. As the novel ends, another girl from the next generation is set to replay the mystery of the American girl. A sequel will follow. For mature high schoolers who want a literary novel instead of a quick read.
The teenage characters may draw in high school readers who are looking for a literary read instead of a “beach read”. This novel has it all: reality, fantasy, and mystery. Determining what really happened is the reader’s responsibility. For mature readers. McNicol(3),Lois
Adolescent Girls

O’Dell, Tawni. Fragile Beasts

O’Dell, Tawni Fragile Beasts
Random House/Doubleday/Ballantine 2010 401 25.00
978-0-307-35168-5 hs/adult VG
This epic saga covers about 50 years in the life of Candace Jack and her connections to Spain and Western Pennsylvania. Two orphaned teenage boys, Kyle and Klint, come into her life and give fulfillment to her later years. Candace Jack met and fell in love with a matador while visiting Spain as a young woman. She was at the bullring when he was killed in the bullfight. Returning to her family home near Pittsburgh, PA her entire life is consumed by her loss.
Late in her life, her niece pleads with her to take in two teenaged boys when their father dies. The boys want to stay in their hometown and not go with the mother who deserted the family several years ago. As Kyle, the younger one gets to know Miss Jack and her servant Luis, he discovers a whole new world as she opens her heart to the past for the first time in years. Klint, on the other hand is withdrawing further into himself. Eventually the reader learns that he was abused by his mother and that is why he would rather die than go live with her.
This is a story of unreconnciled love, boys coming of age, and definitions of true love and family. The flashbacks and telling the story from multiple viewpoints point to a mature, sophisticated audience. There are also some sexual encounters which make this novel at least high school.
Recommended for high school to adult, especially someone with an interest in Spain or bullfighting. Theal(1), Joan

Aw, Tash. Map of the Invisible World

Aw, Tash Map of the Invisible World
Spiegel&Grav see Random 2009 317p 25.00
978-0-385-52796-5 hs/adult E
This award winning author’s second novel is set in Indonesia. Intrigue, suspense and interpersonal relationships build the story of sixteen year old Adam who is caught in the political turmoil of postcolonial Indonesia and family upheaval . This award winning author’s second novel is set in Indonesia. Intrigue, suspense and interpersonal relationships build the story of sixteen year old Adam who is caught in the political turmoil of postcolonial Indonesia and revolves upon the upheaval it presents in his life. Adam had been abandoned by his mother as a child. His brother was adopted by another family and his voice is part of the story, too. Adam is being raised by Karl, a man of Dutch descent. When Sukarno, the leader of Indonesia, wants to rid the country of any remnants of its colonial past,Karl is arrested and taken away. Adam tries to find Karl and goes to the city of Jakarta with little to go on. He has some letters and photos. One contact, an American woman, Margaret, who has had a past with Karl, enters the picture. The characters are fully delineated and the plot moves along at a pace that will keep the reader turning pages to find out what will happen next. Lives are changed by politics, betrayal, and love in this title with a surprising ending. Both poignant and thrilling, this book will be of interest to mature readers in high school and above. It could have been a Tristate Book of Note, but it has a 2009 copyright date and now we are reading for the 2010/2011 list. Recommended for high school libraries and above. Weinraub, Tina

Ness, Patrick. The Ask and the Answer.

Ness, Patrick. The Ask and the Answer.
Candlewick Press 2009 519 18.99 978-0-7636-4490-1 ms/hs This sequel to The Knife of Never Letting Go continues the story of Todd and Viola, as they are separated, each with an uneasy allegiance to warring sides in this devastating look at ideology and psychological domination. Confusing, at first, to those who have not read The Knife of Letting Go, this novel soon takes on its own relentless personality, fast becoming a such a compelling story that readers will not be able to put it down. It ultimately proves difficult for teens Todd and Viola to decide where the allegiance lies, except to each other. Two opposing charismatic leaders use the teens’ unyielding desire to find and care for each other to disastrous advantage. The Mayor, a sociopath, from whom the teens were fleeing, coerces Todd into believing him and, at times, committing horrendous acts. Viola begins to believe in the cause of Mistress Coyle, and begins bombing sites as part of the Answer. Both finally realize that they are being used, as the novel rushes headlong to a cliff-hanger ending. Brilliant, dark and unrelenting, this title is definitely for more mature readers. Fans of dystopic fiction will want to read the entire series. Nominated for 2010 ALA Best Books for Young Adults. Note: I had conflicted ideas about recommending this book because we only received an advance reading copy. However, the story and the characters were so compelling that I felt that it should be nominated for Books of Note.
Naismith, Pat

Laish.

Applefeld, Aharon Laish.
Schocken Books 2009 231p 23.95 978-0-8052-9159-4 hs/adult

This is the story of a pre-WWII pilgrimage of Jews through Eastern Europe to Jerusalem. Told through the perspective of a teen boy in the convoy of horse drawn wagons, the lives of those making this trip show the trials and tribulations of this precarious journey to the promised land. Translated from Hebrew. This is the story of a pre-WWII pilgrimage of Jews through Eastern Europe along the Prut River to Jerusalem. The tale is told through the perspective of a young teen boy, Laish, orphan in this convoy of horse drawn wagons. As he relates what he observes, the reader is drawn into the trials and tribulations of the people making this perilous journey to the Promised Land. The Jews on this trip are people who are escaping persecution, poverty, and other hardships. There are divisions in the caravan: the harsh, hard drinking ex-con drivers; the devout old men; and the dealers, who trade, bargain, try to earn money, and sometimes delay the journey. There are others too: the blind, the mentally ill, the women who cook, mend, and clean. Although they are sometimes revered by the Jewish communities they pass along the way, they all encounter adversity on the way to the sea. They are often preyed upon by thieves (even some within the caravan), thugs, police, the corrupt, and even typhoid. The longer they travel, and it is years; their numbers dwindle. Some die and some run away. Will they get to Jerusalem and be free from all the burdens they suffer? Or not? Those questions are for the reader to decide. Translated from Hebrew, this book is excellently written and for mature readers. T. Weinraub

Slipping. by Cathleen Davitt Bell

Bell, Cathleen Davitt. Slipping.
Bloomsbury see St. Martins, 2008, 215p, $16.99, 978-1-59990-2586

A first novel by Cathleen Davitt Bell, Slipping is an unbelievable masterpiece. It is about relationships and how we allow them to go away. The relationships are between friends, between brother and sister, and between father and son. There is humor, adventure and emotion from cover to cover. Contemporary teen language combines with a protagonist who is real to make a controversial topic like life after death believable. Redemption is possible as we explore a topic that has been studied since the beginning of man.
Slipping blasts the lid off the can of worms that contains the notion of life after death. As Michael slips into and out of the cold river between life and death, pulled there by his recently deceased grandfather, he could die or survive. His love for his grandfather has to be strong enough to help his grandfather come to terms with his own shallow, lonely life and death. Along the way, underachiever Michael pulls others aboard his journey as he navigates the river of the dead. First, he meets Ewan, the pathetic outcast and loner at a small private school in New York City. Ewan’s area of expertise is anything related to ghosts, and he helps Michael understand what is happening to him. Gus is Michael’s soon to be ex-friend. Michael has been feeling Gus pull away for a while, yet is helpless to save the friendship until they are thrown together in a basketball game with the school jock, Tripp. Grandpa steps into Michael to show Michael that he has all of the talent and drive to play ball, and Michael is the hero of the game. After helping his grandfather share his regrets about his loveless last years, Michael almost perishes with his grandfather into a world of permanent death. In a dramatic, perilous ending, Michael is able to save himself with the help of his sister and a few of his friends, and most importantly, his own father.
The subject matter is for a mature teenager or adult who is willing to consider that life is not as we see it. The writing style is fast-paced and engaging. All teenagers, male or female will feel empathy with Michael, a character who is so pathetically compelling that as he weaves his tale, weaves the reader into his web. All teenagers have had an art teacher like Ms. Rosoff, an overachieving sister like Julia, a best friend who has pulled away at times, and a school jock who is characteristically like Tripp. Bell leaves the reader questioning his or her relationships with family and friends as well as acceptance of people for who they are. Just like Michael has his grandfather in his head at unexpected moments, the reader will recall parts of this book for a long time after closing the cover.
This book is best for a mature student in upper middle school or high school. The fantasy/dramatic component of the book makes it too difficult for an immature reader. MS