There’s a good chance you’ve heard of Chris Wooding. Perhaps you’re familiar with his gritty realistic YA titles, Crashing and Kerosene, published in the U.S. under Scholastic’s Push imprint—the first when he was just 19. Or maybe you’ve read one of his fantasies: The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray and Poison still circulate regularly among my readers, and Alaizabel has been optioned and may make it to a screen near you one of these days. More recently, the creatively packaged novel-graphic novel mashup Malice (and sequel Havoc) brought Wooding to the attention of tweens. The guy is prolific!
In his native England, he’s published even more, including quite a few fantasy titles for the adult market. Retribution Falls, book 1 of The Tales of the Ketty Jay is the first of these to cross the pond, and it should make a splash—solid action and plenty of steampunk elements. Fun! You can start enjoying the crew and adventures even before you pick up the book thanks to the Logbook—17 short entries from the Captain’s own logbook, available at Suvudu.com. And once you’ve finished the first two novels and then passed them on to every teen you know (they’ll lap them up; I’ll have them on display to show off the awesome cover art along with lots of other airship and steam tales come September), don’t despair: at least two more are already contracted.
Hopefully I’ve already whet your appetite to read some Wooding, but if you need more, check out Chris talking about his writing on YouTube, or just visit his site for anecdotes, news, and more. (I lost quite a few hours poking around, so consider yourself warned!)
WOODING, Chris. Retribution Falls. 480p. ISBN 978-0-345-52251-1.
––––. The Black Lung Captain. 560p. ISBN 978-0-345-52250-4.
ea vol: Spectra. (Tales of the Ketty Jay Series) 2011. pap. $16. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–Airships, anti-heroes, and hijinks, oh my. Captain Darian Frey loves the Ketty Jay, his airship, and he’ll do whatever it takes to keep flying, even when what it takes is illegal. He and his crew of not-quite-lovable misfits (an inhuman navigator, a drunken doctor, a daemonist on the run, a former slave from an enemy nation, a golem, and two socially inept pilots, along with womanizing, slightly drug addicted Frey) have a talent for falling into bad business and tangling with the fearsome Trinica Dracken, the scariest air captain around and Frey’s onetime fiancé. In Retribution Falls, adventure trumps character development, but what an adventure: after a job gone horribly awry, the crew find themselves taking on a conspiracy and maybe saving the day. Black Lung Captain has more heart: Frey found that he likes it when his crew is, well, a crew, and this time they willingly enter into the adventure, delivering lots of satisfying backstory along the way. The series is strongly reminiscent of the TV series Firefly and its feature-film companion “Serenity”–indeed, the opening scene of Retribution Falls walks a fine line between plagiarism and homage–but teens who have seen those will enjoy the funhouse mirror similarities (more swearing, less niceness) while others will enjoy the books for the same reasons the show keeps finding new viewers. The books are perfect read-nexts for those who came of age with Kenneth Oppel’s Airborn (HarperCollins, 2004) or Philip Reeve’s “Hungry City Chronicles” (HarperTeen), and are exactly on target for the teen boy inside all of us.–Karyn N. Silverman, LREI (Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School), New York City
When her parents split, Blessing is moved from the comforts of a modern apartment complex to a poor rural village in the Niger Delta. The American teens we serve are certainly familiar with changes of circumstance – often due to parents who divorce, lose jobs or relocate. Blessing experiences all of those changes in one blow.
What I like about Tiny Sunbirds is that it is set in the present, and that it is easy to be hooked by Blessing’s voice and point of view, especially her disorientation. She is used to a modern way of life, much like ours, when she is suddenly uprooted. One day she cannot imagine life without running water, without electricity and school and plenty to eat. The next day she is learning to cook over a fire, carry clean water home from the village, and share a room and a bed with her mother and brother.
Nigerian writers of note include Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, whose novels Half of a Yellow Sun (Knopf, 2006) and Purple Hibiscus (Algonquin, 2003) are probably in most of our libraries. Both are coming of age stories. And of course Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart (Holt, 1958) is frequently assigned in high schools around the country.
Watson is not African, she is British. Yet she brings a clear understanding of the issues of present-day Nigeria to her fiction, without letting them overwhelm the story. Add this to your list of go-to global fiction.
WATSON, Christie. Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away. 438p. Other. 2011. pap. $15.95. ISBN 978-159051-466-5. LC 2010054187.
Adult/High School–Blessing is 12 when her mother takes her and her 14-year-old brother, Ezekiel, away from their cheating father and their comfortable apartment in Lagos. They move in with Mama’s parents, Alhaji and Grandma, who live in a rural compound with no running water or electricity. Blessing is appalled by their change in circumstance, but at least Mama insists that they continue to attend school. Ezekiel is determined to be a doctor. The countryside is in political upheaval thanks to the foreign oil companies and the government-sponsored “Kill and Go” squads that regularly destroy villages and kidnap oil executives for ransom. The compound scrapes by on Grandma’s earnings as a midwife, Mama’s wages working in an oil-company club and, later, gifts from her white boyfriend, Dan. When Alhaji uses their fees for yet another unlikely money-making scheme, Ezekiel and Blessing stop going to school. Ezekiel loses hope and turns to other disaffected youth, while Blessing finds her calling as Grandma’s apprentice birth attendant. Blessing’s involving story brings home issues of cutting (female circumcision), polygamy, environmental degradation and its effects on the health of the poor, the causes of poverty in rural Nigeria, and the contrast between traditional and new ways of life. Only after surviving a terrible tragedy does Blessing learn that her childish perceptions of family were an illusion. She finds a better life, connected to her country, her extended family, and her own destiny. Teens will especially appreciate the struggles and joys of the sibling relationship, and the lyrical, yet clear, writing style.–Angela Carstensen, Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York City
This novel has an interesting genesis. British editor Lydia Newhouse had the idea of writing about Jo March’s great-great granddaughters, combining their stories with found original letters by Jo. Gabrielle Donnelly won the commission to write the novel. Her author website, and particularly an interview in the About section, covers her love of the original novel (indeed, the original trio of novels) and her approach to creating this sequel.
DONNELLY, Gabrielle. The Little Women Letters. 368p. S & S. 2011. Tr $25. ISBN 978-1-4516-1718-4. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School– This tender homage to Alcott’s enduring classic is the perfect summer read for teenage fans of the original. This story presupposes that Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, as well as Marmee and Mr. March, are not fictional characters but actual ancestors of Emma, Lulu, and Sophie Atwater and their American mother, Fee, who now all live in London. There is sensible, organized Emma, about to be married to her dependable boyfriend, Matthew (readers will see plenty of Meg in her). Then there is the odd duck, Lulu, struggling to find her place in the family and in the world, and readers are sure to find more than a bit of Jo in her. Aspiring actress Sophie, the scatterbrained, self-centered youngest daughter, will bring to mind a young Amy March as she matures from the girl who sleeps with a clothespin on her nose to the caring, beautiful artist who marries Laurie at the end of Little Women. Jo March is the great-great-grandmother of the Atwaters, and when Lulu is sent up into the family’s attic to look for a long-lost recipe book that one of her great aunts wrote, she finds boxes of letters written by Jo and her sisters, including letters Jo has written to Beth, even after Beth’s death. The juxtaposition of Lulu and her sisters’ present struggles to cope with life as young, independent women in modern-day London with the problems and concerns that Jo and her sisters share in their correspondence works well here. The story is a bit predictable, but comforting, and certainly a step up from most chick lit. The only thing that detracts is the final letter of the book, which feels out of place and takes the quality of the story down just a small notch.––Caroline Bartels,Horace Mann School, Bronx, NY
Claire Holden Rothman’s debut novel was a bestseller in Canada, where it was originally published in 2009. I am excited to post this review because The Heart Specialist has not received the attention it deserves, and it is not a book that necessarily screams teen appeal from its description or cover.
But this is a story that will certainly appeal to historical fiction readers, and to those interested in pursuing a medical profession. And of course teens tend to love stories about young people defying societal expectations and overcoming their circumstances to succeed against the odds. I predict that this will make a great booktalk.
ROTHMAN, Claire Holden. The Heart Specialist: A Novel. 325p. Soho. 2011. Tr $25. ISBN 978-1-56947-945-2. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–When Agnes White’s grandmother discovers her knee deep in the blood of an autopsy she is performing on a squirrel, it is only with the intervention and guidance of her enlightened governess that she is allowed to continue her studies to become a doctor. It’s not easy being a smart, inquisitive woman in late 1800’s Canada but Agnes is determined to follow in her missing father’s footsteps and to seek out the truth of his life. Her father’s colleagues, the specimens he saved–especially the “Howlett Heart”–and the laboratory she manages are all clues to understanding him; and while her single-minded attention to matters of the heart remain scientific, she ultimately ignores the matters that really count. Loosely based on the real life story of Dr. Maud Elizabeth Seymour Abbott, a pioneering Canadian doctor, this book captures the tone and setting of its time. The frustration of wanting to attend medical school and being told that it is impossible is clearly shown. The book will show teens the hardships that women faced as they attempted to make their way into professions dominated by men. Agnes’s determination and perseverance will draw in readers, who will root for her all the way.–Connie Williams, Petaluma High School, CA
There is a sweet and accessible aesthetic shared by a small contemporary cadre of French Canadian cartoonists that allows them to present difficult and realistic stories sweetly rounded by genuinely light moments and almost childlike visual appeal. Philippe Girard, a Quebecois cartoonist who first saw publication nearly 35 years ago, when he was eight, manages to tell his own soul searing adolescent experiences of coming acropper of a molesting priest and his adult reflections on the trauma without offering any tawdry visual content but by making the innocence of childhood visibly open and expressive. Like Alfred and Olivier Ka’s Why I Killed Peter (NBM, 2008), the priest is one who has charmed adults with his carefully groomed iconoclasm. Girard moves his story along at a much faster clip than did Alfred and in youth, unlike Alfred, managed to tell an adult who took action on his behalf. Both memoirs show what happens in the adult years of the abused boys in terms of psychological wars with their memories. Girard has added another layer to the straightforward narrative, however, by showing how, as a boy in fear and trouble, he turned to fiction and literally read himself into taking his brave stand against the molester. And, in a truly generous bit of truth telling, he shows how one of his allies was another priest, a trustworthy one. Religious layers aside, Girard’s message about gathering courage—both in the moment and years later when recalling memory publicly takes a different type of bravery—is effective and rare.
GIRARD,Philippe. Killing Velazquez.tr. from French by Kerryann Cochrane. 215p. Conundrum. 2011. Tr $20. ISBN 978-1-894994-54-5. LC C2011-901238-3.
Adult/High School–Sixteen years after his own confrontation with a child molester, the author is faced with both the opportunity and threat of discussing the event as part of his journalism job’s coverage of a news event. In clear, flat black and white cartoons, Girard walks readers through the original traumatic events as well as his confrontation with memory as an adult. Intercutting the narrative of remembered and current events, he folds in snatches of an adventure story that helped him by offering solace in his loneliness as a new kid in town and courage and direction when he was accosted by the molester. An end note includes the author’s original desire to show the importance of books by including these snatches of adventure fiction in his memoir; he is fully successful in fulfilling that desire. While some of the details of young Philippe’s experiences are shared in other memoir and realistic fiction works, as well as news stories, his great gift to readers here is to move past the trepidation and disgust of coping with a priest abusing the power of his office to molest young boys to the valedictory both of telling on the priest, as a youth, and deciding to out himself, as an adult, as one of the priest’s intended victims. Frontal nudity of both adult and juvenile males appears, but teens will not find anything salacious here. Rather, they’ll find reassurance that reporting abuse can have a good outcome. – Francisca Goldsmith, Infopeople Project, CA
I wrote a bit about the BookExpo “YA to Adult Panel” a few weeks ago when we reviewed Graveminder by Melissa Marr. Today, we review the first adult book by another YA author, Melissa de la Cruz.
In answer to the question of why she decided to write an adult novel, de la Cruz answered that many of her Blue Bloods series fans are in college or just out. She thought it would be fun to write for them. When asked what was different about writing this book, she said she wrote all of the sex scenes first. Actually, it was a fabulous moment – her first reaction was, “Woo-hoo, I can write sex!” The audience loved it.
She continued by admitting that she did struggle at first, but then realized that it’s the same as writing for a YA audience, but the issues are different. This book isn’t about finding yourself. She is hoping her Blue Bloods audience will follow her, and does include characters from that series in this one (which is set in the same universe).
As for social media, she enjoys Twitter, especially the sense of community it creates. (Her handle is MelissadelaCruz.)
And finally, upcoming projects. The 6th Blue Bloods novel, Lost in Time, arrives in October. She has a new young adult “Wolf Pact” series launching Fall 2012, and she is writing a new fantasy series with her husband, the Otherland Chronicles. Busy lady!
For more on the success of Witches of East End, check out the author’s blog, and this terrific interview posted in Kirkus.
DE LA CRUZ, Melissa. Witches of East End. 323p. Hyperion. 2011. Tr $23.99. ISBN 9781401323905. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–De la Cruz, author of “The Au Pairs” series (set in the Hamptons) and “Blue Bloods” (featuring rich New York vampires) has written her first novel for adults, one that has hints of both of these popular YA series. In fictional North Hampton, witches Joanna, Ingrid, and Freya make their home without magic, as they were forbidden to use their powers by the council thousands of years ago. All of them begin to break the “rule” slowly, Freya by making love-potion cocktails at the pub where she bartends, Ingrid by making her infertile coworker able to bear a child, and Joanna by entertaining the young son of her housekeeper with parlor tricks. But the illegal magic isn’t the worst of their problems. There seems to be some type of poison loose in North Hampton that shows itself to the magical three as a silver presence. Romance enters the picture as Ingrid denies her attraction to the local police detective, and Freya tries to decide between two brothers and has steamy sexual encounters with both. The novel has many of the traits of paranormal romance, including the ability to see people’s thoughts and desires. There is even a crossover with “Blue Bloods,” as vampire Mimi Frost comes to consult with Ingrid (and her storyline remains unresolved, so she may pop up later in the series). A shocking cliffhanger will propel readers to the next book. Fans of teen paranormal stories will find a lot to like in the spellcasting and secret identities, even with older, more sophisticated characters.–Jamie Watson, Baltimore County Public Library, MD
With ALA Annual approaching, where we all begin to look forward to fall books, this is a good time to look back at the best of the best of the year so far.
Each blog reviewer was asked to choose up to 3. We aimed (as always) to highlight books that offer a combination of quality and teen appeal. Some reviewers offer a reason for choosing the book as a “best,” others a brief plot summary. Either way, click on the link for the full blog review.
Agree or disagree? Please share your own favorites in the comments!
Fiction
After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn
Probably the most teen appeal of the three I’ve chosen. Really fun, but thought-provoking at the same time. (Mark Flowers)
Alice Bliss by Laura Harrington
Alice’s idyllic small-town life is interrupted when her father’s army reserve unit is called up for active duty in Iraq. (Angela Carstensen)
Among Othersby Jo Walton
A love of reading permeates this mesmerizing fantasy about Mori’s life after her twin sister’s death and surviving her mother’s attempts to destroy her. (Angela Carstensen)
Big Girl Smallby Rachel DeWoskin
Sixteen year-old Judy has the body of a little person, but the fiery drive of a dragon master, until the day she finds herself in the center of a sex scandal. (Diane Colson)
Blind Sight by Meg Howrey
Seventeen year-old Luke is amazed to discover that his biological father is a famous television star. Even more amazing is the bond that develops between father and son, and Luke’s gradual understanding of his family. (Diane Colson)
The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells
A rousing fantasy about a lost boy who can shift from “groundling” to a winged form, and who discovers he has a role to play in saving the world. (Karyn Silverman)
The Glass Demon by Helen Grant
The development of mood, setting and rising tension pay off in a harrowing climax. The savvy and complex teen characters have an original point of view that keeps readers caring about their story. (Priscille Dando)
Jamrach’s Menagerie by Carol Birch
Jaffy leaves behind a life on the streets of 19th-century London for adventure on the high seas in this enormously satisfying novel of friendship, survival, and redemption. (Connie Williams)
The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card
This speculative fiction coming of age tale has Danny discovering his mettle when he learns he may be the most powerful gatemage ever born. Too bad his family wants him dead. (Charli Osborne)
Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson
This will be a go-to book for librarians wanting to satisfy reluctant teen readers – a barely plausible war thriller told in brief episodes of relentless action. (John Sexton)
Sister by Rosamund Lupton
A really well told mystery with great characters and a *completely* unexpected ending. (Carla Riemer)
Spiral by Paul McEuen
Tight plotting, three dimensional characters and seamless integration of science make this a stand out thriller. (Priscille Dando)
Swamplandia!by Karen Russell
A dazzling, affecting, funny novel in which three abandoned siblings each journey away from their isolated island home at their own peril. (Angela Carstensen)
Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson
Haven’t had a chance to try this one out on teens yet, and I have a feeling it might be a hard sell, but the book is just too good not to include. (Mark Flowers)
The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht
In a war-torn Eastern European country, a young doctor remembers her grandfather and tells a series of interlinked tales both historical and magical. (Karyn Silverman)
Touch by Alexi Zentner
Grief and loss across generations in the Far North, Touch is story-telling at its best. (John Sexton)
The Uncertain Places by Lisa Goldstein
A gripping fantasy appealing even to non-fantasy fans like me. The story stays with you in a very haunting way. (Caroline Bartels)
The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss (Kingkiller Chronicles #2)
Nothing else manages this blend of genuine adolescent voice; sophisticated, beautiful writing; and heart-wrenching, pulse-pounding action. (Karyn Silverman)
History of a Suicide: My Sister’s Unfinished Life by Jill Bialosky
Teen readers, especially those impacted by suicide, will find insight in this unforgettable account of the tragic circumstances and aftermath of the death of the author’s sister by suicide. (John Sexton)
Little Princes:One Man’s Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal by Conor Grennan
A fast funny read with romance, adventure and a good cause. Teens will relate, enjoy reading and plot how to change the world if they aren’t already doing so. This book has taken off in schools across the country. (Amy Cheney)
The Listener by David Lester
Louise, a contemporary young Canadian sculptor, travels to Europe after an activist friend dies during a protest in Vancouver. There she confronts the influence of the Third Reich on international art and politics, past and present. (Francisca Goldsmith)
Vietnamerica by GB Tran
The best GN I’ve seen in a while. Intriguing story, perfect structure, excellent blending of art and words. (Mark Flowers)
Poetry
Ardency: A Chronicle of the Amistad Rebels by Kevin Young
A chorus of voices brings the story of the Amistad to life, from hymns and letters to speeches and a reading primer. (Karlan Sick)
Lisa Goldstein’s new, long-awaited fantasy brings to mind Grimm’s Fairy Tales.
More than one popular YA author gives The Uncertain Places a rave: Charles de Lint offers a perceptive, longer-than-we-are-permitted review here (scroll to the bottom of the page). And Cory Doctorow writes about it on Boing Boing.
Ron Hogan of Shelf Awareness wisely recommends giving this one to fans of Neil Gaiman and Lev Grossman. Agreed!
GOLDSTEIN, Lisa. The Uncertain Places. 240p. Tachyon. 2011. pap. $14.95. ISBN 978-1-61696-014-8. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–Goldstein’s inventive take on magical realism plunges readers into late 1960s Berkeley where college students Ben and Will become romantically involved with the two oldest Feierabend sisters, Maddie and Livvy. The boys are drawn inexplicably to the mysterious siblings; to their detached, absent-minded mother; and to the younger sister, Rose, the family historian. They find themselves visiting the Feierabends’ vineyard in Napa again and again, but each trip raises questions in Will’s mind about strange and mysterious events in the house. Unable to ignore the strange men he finds cleaning in the middle of the night, Will starts asking questions. The family explains that the clean house, the thriving vineyard that seems to happen without anyone working at it, and Maddie’s acting success are all part of a birthright passed down for hundreds of years. All of that luck comes at a cost–in each generation, a bondmaid must be given over to the faeries for seven years. When Will’s love, Livvy, is plunged into a sleep from which she cannot wake, Will makes his own bargains with the faeries to bring her back. For teens who liked Lev Grossman’s The Magicians (Viking, 2009) or Helen Grant’s The Vanishing of Katharina Linden (Delacorte, 2010), The Uncertain Places will be a perfect fit, though teens may be a bit frustrated by the end of the novel, which sums up events too quickly. The final question that Will poses makes the wrap up worth it, “If I had known that all this would happen, would I have chosen differently?” It’s a compelling question that will have teens asking the same.–Caroline Bartels, Horace Mann School, Bronx, NY
ALA can be overwhelming — the variety of programs and exhibit booths, author signings and the sheer number of people! I thought it would be fun, and maybe helpful, to come up with a short-list of author events in New Orleans that are relevant to this blog’s focus: adult books with appeal to teen readers. Keep in mind that there are undoubtedly many relevant author signings and appearances that are not listed here — I’m looking forward to having the full conference program in hand!
Disclaimer: While I have tried to include accurate times and locations when I could find them, please double-check the program upon arrival.
Friday, June 24
4–5:15 p.m. Dan Savage, co-author of It Gets Better, is the speaker for the Opening General Session.
A signing will follow.
5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Exhibit floor grand opening
I am only going to mention one ARC that you might want to look for. Obviously, there are many more. (Take a look at my BookExpo Summary for more upcoming titles.) I cannot recommend this book enough: Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell will be available at the Norton booth, #1326. There are a limited number available. And hey, the book comes out on July 5th — if you do not find an arc, go ahead and reserve it at your library!
Saturday, June 25
1-2pm Carrie Vaughn signing at the Tor/Forge Booth #1122
(see our review of After the Golden Age — though I believe she will be signing Kitty’s Big Trouble)
1:30–3:30 p.m. Celebrating Southern Writers (ALTAFF)
Convention Center, Room 335-336
John Hart (Iron House)
Tayari Jones (Silver Sparrow)
Kathleen Kent (The Traitor’s Wife)
Jennifer Niven (Velva Jean Learns To Fly)
Pat MacEnulty (Wait Until Tomorrow)
Kevin Wilson (The Family Fang)
led by Library Journal’s Barbara Hoffert
Book signing to follow, some free/some at discount.
Tayari Jones’ The Silver Sparrow was reviewed here and Kevin Wilson’s The Family Fang promises to be fascinating. Wilson earned an Alex Award for his short story collection, Tunneling to the Center of the Earth (Harper, 2009). Kathleen Kent is the author of The Heretic’s Daughter and The Wolves of Andover. John Hart is a personal favorite — definitely worth a try if you are a mystery fan.
4-5pm Catherynne Valente signing at the Tor/Forge Booth #1122
(see our review of Deathless)
4-5:30 p.m. Tales from the Heart: Literary Memoirs (ALTAFF)
Convention Center, Room 283
Wendy McClure (The Wilder Life)
Theresa Weir (The Orchard)
Brianna Karp (The Girl’s Guide to Homelessness)
Margaux Fragoso (Tiger, Tiger)
Rachel Hadas (Strange Relation) The Wilder Life could appeal to your Laura Ingalls Wilder fans, and The Girl’s Guide to Homelessness is one that I wish we had received and reviewed last year. Its buzz continues. The Orchard got a big push at BookExpo and sounds wonderful.
4–5:30 p.m. Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Information Science (LITA)
Convention Center, Auditorium C
Orson Scott Card (The Lost Gate)
Jim Ottaviani(T-Minus: The Race to the Moon)
John Scalzi (Fuzzy Nation)
Carrie Vaughn (Kitty’s Big Trouble)
David Weber (Out of the Dark)
An illustrious group!
Sunday, June 26
10-11am Orson Scott Card signing at the Tor/Forge Booth #1122
(See our review of The Lost Gate)
***10:30 – noon Alex Awards program (YALSA)***
Convention Center, Room 383-385
And the highlight of any Adult Books for Young Adults fan — the Alex Awards. While the deliberations of the committee are held behind closed doors, the program is open to the public. Every year one, two or more of the winning authors speak. This year Steve Hamilton, author of The Lock Artist, and Alden Bell, author of The Reapers are the Angels, are expected.
10:30- noon “From the Inside(rs) Out: Book Editors and the New Titles They Love” (also known as the AAP Editors’ Buzz Program)
Five or six editors will share their favorite upcoming titles. It is always a pleasure to hear from the editors themselves. One of the books being introduced is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, sure to be an Adult for YA hit in September (and another ARC to keep an eye out for — at the Random House booth).
11:00–12:00 pm Guy Gavriel Kay (Under Heaven) will sign at Penguin booth #1422
11:30-12:30 pm Eleanor Henderson (Ten Thousand Saints) will sign at HarperCollins booth #1316
11:30am Tayari Jones (The Silver Sparrow) will read on the LIVE! @ your library Reading Stage
12:30pm Eleanor Henderson (Ten Thousand Saints) will read on the LIVE! @ your library Reading Stage
1:30–3:30 p.m. First Author, First Book (ALTAFF)
Convention Center, Room 269
Neil Abramson (Unsaid)
Ellen Bryson (The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno)
Sen. Bob Graham (Keys to the Kingdom)
Eleanor Henderson (Ten Thousands Saints)
Rebecca Makkai (The Borrower)
Jon Michaud (When Tito Loved Clara)
Library Journal’s Barbara Hoffert is moderating.
Book signing, some free/some discounted.
2:30-3:30 p.m. Orson Scott Card (The Lost Gate) on the PopTop Stage
The Best of the Rest
Other recommended (YA) author events:
Friday, June 24, 8 – 10 p.m. Booklist’s annual Books for Youth forum. “Keep ‘Em Coming: Series Fiction Creators Talk Shop.”
Convention Center, Rooms 393–394.
A panel discussion featuring Jonathan Stroud, Lauren Myracle, Dan Gutman, David Levithan, and Booklist’s Children’s Books Editor, Ilene Cooper.
I am a long-time fan of the Friday night Booklist Forums. If you can make it, you will not be disappointed.
Sunday, June 26, 8–10 a.m. Nonfiction Book Blast: Booktalks and Activities for Your Library (ALSC)
Convention Center, Room 243
Loree Griffin Burns (The Hive Detectives)
Shirley Duke (You Can’t Wear These Genes)
Kelly Milner Halls(In Search of Sasquatch)
Deborah Heiligman (Charles and Emma)
Carla Killough McClafferty (The Many Faces of George Washington)
Carla Mooney (Explorers of the New World)
Darcy Pattison (Prairie Storms)
April Pulley Sayre (Rah, Rah, Radishes)
Anastasia Suen (Read and Write Sports)
Christine Taylor-Butler (Magnets)
An incredible group of authors. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.
Monday, June 27, 5:30–7:30 p.m. 8th Annual Poetry Blast (ALSC)
Hosted by LJ’s Barbara Genco, this annual gathering of poets and authors showcases contemporary North American poetry for children.
Convention Center 243
Mike Artell (Petite Rouge)
Stephanie Calmenson (10 Items or Less)
Margarita Engle (Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck)
Kristine O’Connell George (Emma Dilemma: Big Sister Poems)
Mordicai Gerstein (Parrots & Pirates)
Nikki Grimes (A Girl Named Mister)
Alan Katz (Mosquitoes Are Ruining My Summer! And Other Silly Dilly Camp Songs)
Joyce Sidman (Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night)
Marilyn Singer (Twosomes: Love Poems from the Animal Kingdom)
Lee Wardlaw (Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku)
Janet Wong (Me and Rolly Maloo)
Tracie Vaughn Zimmer (Cousins of Clouds: Elephant Poems)
Another event of which I have become very fond over the years. Highly recommended.
Monday, June 27, 8–10 p.m. Michael L. Printz Program and Reception. Sponsored by YALSA
Hilton, Napoleon BR (Ticketed event)
Paolo Bacigalupi (Ship Breaker)
Lucy Chistopher (Stolen)
A.S. King (Please Ignore Vera Dietz)
Marcus Sedgwick (Revolver)
Janne Teller (Nothing)
Have a wonderful time at ALA!
If you cannot attend, try following the Twitter feed at #ala11. I will tweet on occasion (AngeReads), but most of my time will be spent in meetings. There are many folks much better at Twitter than I who will be sharing their ALA experiences.
Do you have any recommendations? Please add them below!
Kamala Nair’s first novel was inspired by a trip to the tiny village in India where her father grew up. Nair describes her novel as a dark fairy tale, combined with a coming-of-age. Perfect choice for a teen summer read.
NAIR, Kamala. The Girl in the Garden: A Novel. 305p. Grand Central. 2011. Tr $24.99. ISBN 978-0-446-57268-2. LC 2010016492.
Adult/High School–Rakhee Singh is 10 when she journeys from Minnesota for a summer visit to her mother’s family in a remote area of India. A shy but curious child, Rakhee hardly feels welcome when her cousins taunt her about the darkness of her skin and her aunts deride her weak eyesight, both of which she inherited from her father. She knows little of the provincial customs and caste structures and even less about the secrets that compel her extended family to behave so mysteriously and rudely around her. When Rakhee sneaks into the forbidden forest behind the family home, she discovers an exquisite walled-in garden where a girl has grown up completely isolated from the world. Rakhee befriends the mysterious girl, but her covert visits set in motion events that will tragically alter her family. It is not until many years later when Rakhee abandons her betrothed and returns to India that she finally confronts the complex relationships and entangled loves that seem to be her family heritage. Wanting her boyfriend to know the reason she has abandoned him, she leaves behind a manuscript telling the story of that long-ago summer. That manuscript becomes Nair’s first novel. It is an engaging family drama of unspoken secrets that will satisfy teens who enjoy stories teeming with mysterious characters and set in exotic locales where wandering white peacocks, girls imprisoned in gardens, and doomed love all seem completely at home.–John Sexton, formerly at Westchester Library System
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.
The series is strongly reminiscent of the TV series Firefly and its feature-film companion “Serenity”–indeed, the opening scene of Retribution Falls walks a fine line between plagiarism and homage–but teens who have seen those will enjoy the funhouse mirror similarities (more swearing, less niceness) while others will enjoy the books for the same reasons the show keeps finding new viewers. The books are perfect read-nexts for those who came of age with Kenneth Oppel’s Airborn (HarperCollins, 2004) or Philip Reeve’s “Hungry City Chronicles” (HarperTeen), and are exactly on target for the teen boy inside all of us.–Karyn N. Silverman, LREI (Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School), New York City
