Top Ten Tuesdays is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish
Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True by Sarah Strohmeyer
The Reece Malcom List by Amy Spalding
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
The Luxe by Anna Godbersen
Bras and Broomsticks by Sarah Mlynowski
The Boy Next Door by Meg Cabot
Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman
I’d Tell You I Love You, But I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter
Title: The Lucy Variations
Author: Sara Zarr
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Release Date: May 7, 2013
Before she was old enough to drive Lucy Beck-Moreau was a well-known concert pianist. Her future was bright and her path certain until the day she walked away from everything, literally. Betrayed and grieving Lucy abandoned the piano completely leaving her younger brother Gus to fulfill their grandfather’s dreams. When Gus’s handsome new teacher asks Lucy if she’s ever thought of playing just for herself Lucy’s life becomes just as complicated out of the spotlight as in it.
Zarr’s protagonists are generally flawed, smart teenage girls with believable problems. Lucy is no exception. Despite her unusual talent she faces the very real challenge of deciding how something she loves will fit into her life beyond childhood and how she can avoid it being used by others to further their own fame.
As Lucy comes to understand these challenges in a very natural, authentic way the reader has the benefit of taking this journey with her. We are given such a rich understanding of Lucy’s world and of grandfather’s and Will’s manipulation that when Lucy finally sits down at the piano and plays what she wants we can truly appreciate the moment for what it is.
Lucy’s talent and unorthodox childhood have complicated every relationship she has. This plays out most noticeably in her relationship with Will, but it affects every connection she has from her family to the high school teacher she doesn’t quite understand the boundaries with.
It would be easy to let Zarr’s intriguing main characters overshadow the power of the writing itself, but that too is excellent. Powerful descriptions that read like they come from the mind of the teenage main character go hand in hand with thoughtful mood setting. All together I expect to see The Lucy Variations on many if not all of the year end best lists.
Readers who enjoy the story of a gifted teen learning to live on their own terms should try An Abundance of Katherines by John Green while fans of Zarr’s serious look at girls facing real issues should check out Sarah Ockler and Jennifer Brown.
*ARC provided by publisher
Title: Nantucket Blue
Author: Leila Howland
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Release Date: May 7th, 2013
Cricket is psyched to spend the summer on Nantucket with her best friend Jules’s family. After all, she’s basically adopted them as her own. She has her heart set on sandy beaches, parties, and a whole summer to make Jay Logan her boyfriend. Then Jules’s mother dies suddenly and not only is she uninvited for the summer, but Jules doesn’t want anything to do with her at all. Cricket finds a job and goes to Nantucket anyway, hoping to save her magical summer but nothing turns out as she plans.
Let’s start with a positive. Nantucket Blue truly delivers on setting. The reader can easily imagine themselves walking along quaint beachfront streets with Cricket and digging toes in the sands of beautiful beaches.
If this book had been a straight-up romance like the cover suggests that might have been one thing, but Nantucket Blue tries to be a book about grief, growing up, and family. Sadly, it leaves us well in the shallow end of ocean so to speak. Nothing is really explored deeply enough, and that lack of development is why this book just didn’t work for me.
In Kelly’s post about unlikable characters she notes that privilege often plays a role in making characters unlikable. That is certainly the case here. The problem is not so much that Cricket is unlikable, plenty of good books have flawed heroines, but that I get the impression we aren’t supposed to hate her guts. Despite turning 18 she is selfish and immature. Cricket is more worked up about the loss of her job-free party summer than a woman she claims is like a mother to her. She outright resents her three year old stepbrother because he has emotional problems as a foreign adoption and therefore needs a lot of adult attention. This is an eighteen year old, not another young child.
The hardworking woman who actually has to clean hotel rooms for a living instead of for a beach vacation is met with derision for wanting to do a superior job. No worries though, since only rich people go to the island there is no crime there……(Wow, really? is Chappaquiddick that far from Nantucket?). These are Cricket’s bonus activities when she’s not busy fat-shaming and slut-shaming most of the other girls she pays any attention too. To be fair, near the end of the book Cricket almost catches on that this is a bad idea but like everything else it’s just no developed enough to be a satisfying change of heart.
Title: Winger
Author: Andrew Smith
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: May 14th, 2013
It’s an urban legend than men think about sex every seven seconds, but you wouldn’t know it from being in the head of Ryan Dean West, known to his rugby teammates as Winger. Ryan Dean’s year is off to a bad start. If it wasn’t hard enough being a 14 year old junior he’s landed himself in O Hall; the dorm where his fancy private school locks up the trouble makers. He’s madly in love with his best friend Annie, but that doesn’t stop him from perving on nearly every other female he comes in contact with. Things are changing fast for Ryan Dean, though, and if he can change with them and grow up a little he might just be able to handle all this year has in store for him: both the wonderful and the horrible.
The majority of Winger is laugh out loud funny, though not without moments that will make you wince and break your heart. The text is supplemented by clever comics and graphs including “Ryan Dean West Loser Score Tally” and “Things Ryan Dean West is Afraid Of”. Ryan Dean’s voice is so strong it pulls you completely into his world. Only at the age of 14 can such a smart person be such a dumbass a lot of the time, and Smith does an amazing job of capturing the see-saw nature of Ryan Dean’s maturity. For example, though Ryan Dean befriends a gay classmate he quite often has to remind himself to ignore how he’s been socialized to think about people who are gay.
Despite a large cast of secondary characters each is as distinct and complex as their role allows. Though we only have teases of their backstory Annie and Joey are especially rich characters who feel like real teens with authentic motivations. Seanie is that one kid in every school that is just slimy and smart enough to creep you out. The only cliche comes in the form of the angry and homophobic football player, who is of course in the closet himself.
Though Winger is the very definition of a character driven novel in this case Ryan Dean’s development does not mean a lack of action plot wise. The start of Ryan Dean’s junior year is a whirlwind of rugby games, fist fights, late night shenanigans, quasi-romantic escapades, and most importantly shifting loyalties.
The only thing that might keep Winger from being the total package is the pacing. The entire story takes place between the start of the school year and Halloween. Ryan Dean changes so much in a short period of time it’s not hard to believe that when the worst happens, at the very end of the book, he nearly shuts down from emotional overload. His entire world view has just been changed in just two months.
This one may depend on some booktalking and reader’s advisory to get it moving, but I suspect it will gain some buzz once it’s in the hands of readers. The cover is suitable for the “very important life lesson” side of Winger, but will not attract readers who will enjoy the “teen sex comedy” aspects of the book. Winger is a great choice for fans of Brent Crawford’s Carter series, and the cartoons and unexpected depth make it a good match for readers of Stephen Emond’s Happyface and Winter Town as well.
*Digital ARC provided by publisher
Top Ten Tuesdays is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish
This week is actually Rewind week, meaning bloggers can pick any past Top Ten Tuesday Topic. I picked this one so I can share with you what I’m excited about and get some great books on your TBR lists as well. In no particular order:
The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen
I’m making myself get through the May galleys I have first, but I can’t wait.
Forgive Me Leonard Peacock by Mathew Quick
I have this sitting in a place of honor on my TBR shelf, just waiting to get through a few books with closer release dates.
Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
The third book set in the same universe as Anna and Lola!
Reality Boy by A.S. King
King is automatically on the to-read list.
Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan
Not only does this sound so good,a librarian whose opinion I trust says it’s Levithan’s best.
Wise Young Fool by Sean Beaudoin
Teen in detention tells about the last year of his life, and with Beaudoin you know it’s going to be a fresh take.
Sex and Violence by Carrie Mesrobian
Two five star reviews from Andrew Smith and Trish Doller, and you know Carolrhoda LAB books don’t pull any punches.
Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
From Amazon:
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
It’s about fandom. It’s by Rainbow Rowell.
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