How better to ring in 2011 than with a book focused on changing our world for the better?
TISCH, Jonathan M. & Karl Weber. Citizen You: Doing Your Part to Change the World. 273p. Crown. May 2010. Tr $24. ISBN 978-0-307-58848-7. LC 2009053438.
Adult/High School–Tisch brings readers up to date on the many challenges and expanding opportunities of the 21st century’s most promising antidote to pessimism: the so-called “active-citizenship” movement. With help from business and current-affairs author Karl Weber, he presents his extensive knowledge of and enthusiasm for active citizen engagement. Citizen You, like social activism itself, is for young and old, rich and poor, post-graduate and high-school dropout, and everyone in between. The authors keep business school and other academic jargon and concepts to a necessary minimum and include fascinating, even at times gripping, stories of human achievement. By combining these accounts of active citizenship from a wide range of causes and world-wide locations with a brief, but thorough, explanation of the principles behind social activism, the authors enhance readers’ interest in and concern for the global effort to make the world a better place, one person, one neighborhood, one project at a time. It is all about moving past the handing over of fish to the hungry, as important as that often is, and teaching those same people to catch their own fish, and in turn to teach others. The book concludes with a list of 52 suggestions, with contact information, on how one might do one’s part to change the world. The list, like the book itself, is recommended for all readers and all collections.–Robert Saunderson, formerly at Berkeley Public Library, CA
The American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards are a highlight of the year for many librarians serving children and young adults. The winners of the ALSC and YALSA awards (including the Caldecott, Newbery, and Printz) will be announced at a live ceremony during the ALA Midwinter conference in San Diego on Monday, January 10th.
Of all the many winners announced during the Youth Media Awards, I have a special place in my heart for the Alex Awards. If you are not already aware of the Alex Awards, you are in for a treat! The Alex Awards are sponsored by YALSA, and given annually to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18. More information (criteria, procedures and past winners) can be found on the YALSA website. What do titles such as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, The Blind Side, The Kite Runner, The Glass Castle, and The Time Traveler’s Wife have in common? They were all Alex Award winners!
I am looking forward to seeing which of this blog’s Best Adult Books 4 Teens 2010 will make the list. I would never presume to predict the Alex winners. If there is one thing I learned while serving on the Alex committee (for four years, my friends) it is the unpredictability of the final list. So much depends on how persuasive members are in support of particular titles. Committee discussions and final voting still to take place at Midwinter will finalize the list, even though the committee will have, by then, gone through months of listserv discussion and straw poll votes. There are always a couple surprises. And soon after the award winners have been announced (later on Monday or on Tuesday), the nominations list will be made public as well.
If you are planning to attend ALA Midwinter, the Youth Media Awards will be held in the Convention Center Ballroom A-D at 7:45am on Monday, January 10th.
If you are not attending the Midwinter conference, you can still experience the awards live. Take a look at this page for directions, and tune in at 7:45am PST on Monday the 10th.
And of course I will blog about the winners (and nominees) here.
A Thousand Cuts was one of the most powerful books I read in 2010. Still, I went back and forth on whether to recommend it here, wondering whether it might be too disturbing for young adults. Considering the number of books published over the last several years that address school shootings, many written for the young adult market, the topic alone was not enough to make me hesitate. Especially as this is without a doubt one of the best. It is at least as effective as Project X by Jim Shepherd (Knopf, 2004), a 2005 Alex-Award winner, and Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (Atria, 2007), a title that often comes up as a recommendation among teen readers I know.
But this is not a book about a teenaged loner, it is about an adult, a teacher, and what drove him to violence against his school community.
I also needed to consider the criteria for this blog. One is that we assume mature content, that we not be put off by it. After all, we are reviewing adult books.
Like Nineteen Minutes, A Thousand Cuts presents multiple viewpoints. In this case, Lelic creates terrific tension and suspense around not only the question of why a teacher would resort to violence, but also around the fate of the woman investigating the incident. Harassment is shown to be as serious a problem in the adult world as in the world of teens. Which makes the school administration’s unwillingness to do anything about it all the more frustrating and tragic. The fact that teens are among the voices represented, both abusers and the abused, made up my mind. That and the excellence of the book as a whole.
LELIC, Simon. A Thousand Cuts. 304p. Viking. 2010. Tr $24.95. 978-0670021505. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–In a British high school, a teacher opens fire on students and adults during an assembly. Detective Inspector Lucia May is assigned to investigate the case. More truthfully, she is expected to make a cursory examination of the facts, confirm that history teacher Samuel Szajkowski was the shooter, and quickly close the case. What she finds is a toxic school environment where bullying had caused more than one tragedy. In this case, Szajkowski was tormented by students from his first day on the job, while the administration and fellow teachers turned a blind eye, and at times contributed. As the only woman in her department, Lucia is no stranger to harassment, and she insists on a prolonged investigation, endangering her job. The story, which reads like a thriller, is told from multiple points of view, including Lucia, teachers, administrators, and students, both the tormented and the tormenters. Readers of Jennifer Brown’s The Hate List (Little Brown, 2009), Jim Shepard’s Project X (Knopf, 2004), and Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes (Atria, 2007) will find an intense, even brutal experience in these pages.–Angela Carstensen, Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York City
Vicki León writes for both young adult and adult audiences, and is best known for her humorous Uppity Women and Outrageous Women series. Her latest adult title is sure to please history and science readers of all ages who enjoy their nonfiction in short bites. A great title and colorful cover add to the appeal.
LEÓN, Vicki. How to Mellify a Corpse: And Other Human Stories of Ancient Science and Superstition. 308p. Walker. July 2010. Tr $17. ISBN 978-0-8027-1702-3. LC 2009044773.
Adult/High School–In breezy, studiously unserious, and extraordinarily teen-friendly prose, León alternately marvels at and gently ridicules the ancient denizens of the Mediterranean for their knowledge (or lack thereof) of the physical world. Of her 87 very loosely organized and seemingly randomly selected vignettes, some take on the construction of the Coliseum and are superb pieces of short-form. But most offer a more glancing, tangent-laden appreciation of their subjects, ranging from profound mysteries of the world to relatively minor factoids. One of her more compelling narrative techniques (one that effectively exonerates her more snarky comments about ancient ignorance) is her penchant for linking ancient superstitions and misunderstandings to modern ones–our ongoing love affair with poisonous lead products and astrology, as two examples. A more scholarly author might wish for a rigorous organization by subject matter or chronology. Such a structure would almost certainly add coherence and unity to the text, but it would also dampen the essential charm of a collection called How to Mellify a Corpse–a charm that speaks to its potential teen appeal. Encouraging serendipitous discovery over academic study, the collection presents teens with a fun, funny, eminently browsable account of the eccentricities of a culture too often encountered by teens only in stuffy textbooks.– Mark Flowers, John Kennedy Library, Solano County, CA
Looking forward to several hours of train travel on Christmas Day, I promised myself a mindless read. Nothing teen-related, nothing for a bookgroup. So I picked a Swedish mystery/thriller from my shelf. (Full disclosure: Last Christmas I bought my Dad a pile of Swedish mysteries to compliment his enjoyment of Stieg Larsson. I have since–surprise!–borrowed most of them.) Yesterday, about halfway through Missing by Karin Alvtegen, I realized what a perfect recommendation it is for teens who enjoyed the Millennium Trilogy. The homeless protagonist, Sibylla, teams up with a 15-year-old boy to find the killer, and flashbacks to her own teen years are central to the plot. The pace never slows and Sibylla is an appealing, interesting character. Originally published as Saknad in Sweden in 2000, the English translation was published by Felony and Mayhem Press in 2008.
Zombies are the subject of Handling the Undead, the latest U.S. release by the Swedish author of the popular vampire novel made into two very popular film versions, Let the Right One In. Handling the Undead was first published in Sweden in 2005, translated into English in 2009, and finally released in the U.S. this year, perhaps in order to coincide with the American movie version of Let the Right One In.
LINDQVIST, John Ajvide. Handling the Undead. tr. from Swedish by Ebba Segerberg. 364p. Thomas Dunne Bks. 2010. pap. $24.99. ISBN 978-0-312-60525-4. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–In this completely new twist on the zombie novel, Lindqvist presents readers with an interesting dilemma. Everyone in Stockholm who has died within the last two months is suddenly reanimating. Whether in the morgue, a hospital bed or in the grave, they have come back to life–and all they want to do is go home. Instead of being presented as anonymous, shambling masses, these zombies are loved ones who are desperately missed. Through the struggles of several characters trying to cope with their “reliving” family members, the author poses some interesting questions. If you refuse to let the government take your relative, what exactly do you do with him? Is this reanimation a prelude to something bigger? What does it mean to be alive? Though a few ends are left dangling, Lindqvist’s thoughtful approach to the issue of the undead is a fresh entry into a genre with proven teen appeal.–Carla Riemer, Berkeley High School, CA
As we reach the end of the year, I want to be sure to present reviews of books that should not be missed, that need to find their way into school and public library collections for teens.
The Other Wes Moore is nonfiction that reads like a novel, a book that shows teenagers how much their decisions matter. The author does not present his life story for a teen audience specifically, and he resists any desire to preach. His book will appeal both to teens who might see their own lives reflected back at them, as well as those who read it more to understand another way of life.
It is incredible how much the two Wes Moores had in common as young teens. And the fact that they carried on a correspondence across prison walls for several years. This is a personal story that reveals truths about American society, and especially the consequences of growing up in a home without a father.
MOORE, Wes. The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates. 256p. Spiegel & Grau. 2010. Tr $25. ISBN 978-0-385-52819. LC 2009041663.
Adult/High School–Growing up African-American in Baltimore and the Bronx in the 1980s was like growing up in a war zone for the two boys named Wes Moore. Crime, violence, and drugs were rampant, and a hopeful future seemed impossible. One Wes Moore made choices that led to a life sentence in the penitentiary. The other one turned from crime toward a life that included a Rhodes scholarship and a successful career. The Wes Moore who escaped the fate of the criminal reflects on how two young men in similar circumstances make often thoughtless and impulsive choices that determine first their reputation and then their fate. What differentiates these two fatherless boys is that one had adults to guide, counsel, love, and discipline him through bad choices and the other did not. For much of their youth, it is not clear that this is enough to save one boy from the fate of the other. All teens are familiar with bad choices, and will find in these parallel life stories a compelling demonstration of consequences. Without being preachy or judgmental, Moore describes the divergent paths of two lives in a way that will offer hope to those who feel overwhelmed by circumstances that seem hopeless. The book includes an ample resource guide to national and local organizations that provide services to troubled youth.–John Sexton, Westchester Library System, NY
One of the joys of a blog like this one is the opportunity to draw attention to titles that might be overlooked in the crowd of books published every year.
Today’s review of Broken Glass Park by Alina Bronsky highlights a first novel offered in translation from the German, published by Europa Editions. This coming-of-age immigration story could not be more different than the last example reviewed here, Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok. While both deal with survival, Broken Glass Park is much more raw; it is about revenge.
The setting, the voice of the teen narrator, and the excellence of the translation that allows that voice to shine through as intended all warrant special attention. Bronsky knows of what she writes — she moved from Russia to Germany as a young teen herself. Just last week, she discussed her novel at the Goethe Institut in Washington, DC, recorded by NPR. Or take a look at this interview on the Words with Borders site about her creative process and background.
BRONSKY, Alina. Broken Glass Park. tr. from German by Tim Mohr. 221p. Europa. 2010. pap. $15. ISBN 978-1-933372-96-9. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–Sascha, 17, begins telling the story of her life by sharing her two goals: she wants to kill Vadim and she wants to write a book about her deceased mother. Just as readers wonder who Vadim might be, she charges forward with more tantalizing information about her life: the dangerous housing complex she lives in, home for many Russian émigrés to Germany; her two half-siblings; and the exploits of her beautiful but naïve mother. This, at last, brings us back to Vadim. The book moves without breaking for chapters, swirling around past and present incidents as Sascha passionately searches for a way to assuage the grief of losing her mother, who was murdered by Vadim. Bronsky lets the story out in a great rush that envelopes many characters and situations, but is satisfyingly full and complete in the end. The novel is translated into an American English that will feel familiar, even if the experiences of a Russian girl in Germany are delightfully exotic. Teens who are drawn to books with a strong, offbeat narrative voice (think Rachel Cohn) will enjoy the literary ride. Also, fans of suspense novels will enjoy the many subplots in Sascha’s life that are charged with mystery and danger. For many teens, this may be a first introduction to a contemporary European voice.–Diane Colson, New Port Richey Library, FL
A fun combination of past and present today. First, Dracula’s Guest, a compilation of stories and excerpts from the past, which nicely presage modern stories. Hand this one to young readers who enjoyed Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Even the original fans of Twilight, now older and reading more sophisticated literature, should be persuaded to take a look.
Second, one of the blockbusters of the year — The Passage by Justin Cronin. So much has already been written about this first in a projected trilogy, nearly 800 pages long. As for potential teen interest, it is definitely there. Comparisons have been made to Stephen King’s The Stand, and teens are no strangers to the patience needed to wait out a trilogy. The movie version is already underway.
The Passage is a mix of character development and big action set pieces. The principle draw is the mystery of how the virals communicate and how Amy is connected to them. My favorite part of the book by far was set in the present, as Amy and her rescuer wait out the end of the world as we know it in an abandoned summer camp high in the mountains. Cronin’s writing in this section captures the hush and the dread, the approaching nostalgia and knowledge that this is probably the last peace either of these people will know. As a fan of post-apocalyptic fiction, I was disappointed in later sections of the book, but I will definitely be returning for the next installments. The mystery is just too great.
It is worth noting that Cronin pays homage to Stoker’s Dracula by interspersing diary entries, newspaper articles, and other documents.
SIM, Michael, ed. Dracula’s Guest: A Connoisseur’s Collection of Victorian Vampire Stories. 467p. Walker. 2010. pap. $17. ISBN 9780802719713. LC 2010004449.
Adult/High School–In 22 chronologically arranged short stories, excerpts, and semi-factual accounts, Sims relays 150 years of vampire tales, years during which a motley assortment of folktales and superstitions from Eastern Europe evolved into a hugely popular literary genre. The quality of these tales is intentionally varied–the inclusion of an excerpt from Varney the Vampyre, for example, reminds us that Charlaine Harris is not the first hack to write trashy vampire novels–as are the styles and themes. Nevertheless, certain generalizations are possible. One notices, for example, that authors again and again hide their vampires beneath layers of narrators, each of whom attests to the story’s truth. At the same time, one finds that almost uniformly the authors presume that their readers, their characters, or both are entirely ignorant of the vampiric tradition. This delicate balance between skeptical literary rationality and credulous superstitious belief results in vampires that are at once more myth-shrouded and more horrifyingly real than our postmodern age generally allows. For teens whose interest in vampires goes beyond forbidden romance, the menace, horror, sexuality, and death in this outstanding collection should leave them clamoring for more.–Mark Flowers, John Kennedy Library, Solano County, CA
CRONIN, Justin. The Passage. 784p. Ballantine. 2010. Tr $27. ISBN 978-0345504968. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–The epic begins with Amy, six years old when she is abandoned by her mother and kidnapped by a government group. She is taken to the mountains of Colorado where they have gathered several death-row inmates and infected them with a virus that results in superhuman strength, increased violent tendencies, and vampirelike symptoms. Amy has a different reaction to being infected. When the original 12 virals escape the compound, she and her rescuer hunker down in an abandoned summer camp, experiencing the end of the world as readers know it through the occasional newspaper report. Skip ahead to 92 A.V. and readers slowly get to know a colony of humans in California, protected by high walls and bright lights. During an expedition outside the walls, Peter is pursued by virals when Amy suddenly appears and saves him. Days later she arrives at the colony, coinciding with its collapse. A small, brave group (including Peter and Amy) flees east across post-apocalyptic America in a desperate attempt to find other survivors. The virals are monsters, completely unrelated to the romantic creatures so popular in recent literature. They do not drink the blood of their victims, they decimate them. They do not speak, they communicate soundlessly as they hunt the few remaining humans. By the end, it is clear that Amy and Peter are key to humanity’s survival. But how? Cronin’s confident writing, action-packed narrative, and focus on a small group of engaging survivors make most vampire fare seem insubstantial.–Angela Carstensen, Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York City
Today’s book is the second in a series, which began with The Magicians and Mrs. Quent (Bantam, 2008). The first was not reviewed in SLJ, but found many fans over the last two years. While it was hailed (and marketed) as a debut novel, that was not quite true. Galen Beckett is a pseudonym for Mark Anthony, who has several fantasy novels to his name, most notably The Last Rune series.
The original conceit of The Magicians and Mrs. Quent series is “What if there was a fantastical cause underlying the social constraints and limited choices that confront a heroine in a novel by Jane Austen or Charlotte Brontë?”
These titles have great potential for both fantasy and romance fans.
BECKETT, Galen. The House on Durrow Street. 404p. Spectra. 2010. pap. $16. ISBN 978-0553-80759-2. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–The long-anticipated sequel to The Magicians and Mrs. Quent (2008) features the same older-than-she-should-be cover model, and it’s a shame if that deters younger readers. While Mrs. Quent was a (perfectly executed) mashup–a little Austen (mostly Pride and Prejudice), a little Bronte (mostly Jane Eyre), and a nice dose of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell–this second volume is more original and possibly better than the first. Still full of Regency overtones, the story expands: Rafferdy continues his exploration of magic; his friend Mr. Garritt takes center stage (literally; he joins a group who weave light into plays) and also deals with his burgeoning, tender love for another young man; and Ivy finds herself vaulted to the heights of society and more deeply enmeshed in her own magical heritage and noble plotting than she might have wished, given her desire and tendency to be a bluestocking but otherwise respectable member of society. There is much here to appeal: young characters, a play on familiar tropes and texts, a thwarted romance (Ivy and Rafferdy are clearly meant to be together, but Ivy is also happily married to Mr. Quent, and it’s all so polite and heart-breaking), and some really original magic. The first volume was largely overlooked, but this series (do start with the first) is great for fans from both the romance and fantasy ends of the spectrum. A good booktalk might even convince some paranormal romance fans to try something a bit more sophisticated.–Karyn Silverman, LREI (Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School), New York City
Breakthrough is an historical medical adventure, made all the more appealing to teens because it was a young girl who participated in the experiment that lead to the discovery of insulin.
Related books that might interest teens?
Another Day in the Frontal Lobe: A Brain Surgeon Exposes Life on the Inside by Katrina Firlik (Random, 2006).
Great for readers interested in the day-to-day life of a surgeon.
And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic by Randy Shilts (St. Martin’s Press, 1987).
A classic about so much more than medicine.
Last Breath: Cautionary Tales from the Limits of Human Endurance by Peter Stark (Ballantine, 2001).
This book really does take my breath away. It describes in detail how the body and mind react to life-threatening situations, from hypothermia to the bends to being stung by a venomous jellyfish.
I cannot possibly leave out Richard Preston. Both The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story (Random, 1994) and The Demon in the Freezer: A True Story (Random, 2002) require subtitles because they read like thrillers.
And finally, always leave ‘em laughing: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach (Norton, 2003).
COOPER, Thea & Arthur Ainsberg. Breakthrough: Elizabeth Hughes, the Discovery of Insulin, and the Making of a Medical Miracle. 306p. St. Martin’s. 2010. Tr $24.99. ISBN 978-0-312-64870-1. LC 2010021662.
Adult/High School–Insulin really is a miracle drug, and anyone who doubts it need only read this book and look at the photographs included. One hundred years ago, most people with diabetes simply died within a fairly short time. Those who survived for any length of time literally starved themselves, existing on a few hundred calories a day, with fat, protein, and carbohydrates carefully monitored. Such was the case with 12-year-old Elizabeth Hughes. The authors alternate between the story of Hughes, daughter of President Harding’s Secretary of State, Charles Evans Hughes, and the somewhat wild and wooly account of the temperamental team of scientists and doctors who discovered and manufactured insulin. It’s a gripping tale, made perhaps more dramatic than necessary by the authors’ decision to invent some conversations, incidents, and motives to “illustrate” the facts. These inventions are detailed in the “Notes and Sources” section at the end of the book, but appear in the text as facts. Teens with a personal interest in diabetes and those who like medical adventures will find this book fascinating.–Sarah Flowers, formerly of Santa Clara County Public Library, CA
Angela Carstensen is Head Librarian and an Upper School Librarian at Convent of the Sacred Heart in New York City. Angela served on the Alex Awards committee for four years, chairing the 2008 committee, and chaired the first YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adult committee in 2009. Recently, she edited Outstanding Books for the College Bound: Titles and Programs for a New Generation (ALA Editions, 2011). Contact her via Twitter @AngeReads.
