Adult Books 4 Teens: April 2011

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April 1, 2011

Fiction

ADAMS, John Joseph, ed. Brave New Worlds: Dystopian Stories. 496p. Night Shade. 2011. pap. $15.99. ISBN 978-1-59780-221-5. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–Adams has put together another impressive collection. By the topic’s very nature, this is a dark group of short stories that examine issues prevalent in our society: birth control, conception, gender, sexuality, working conditions, living conditions, privacy concerns, and the power of technology. Many of the stories are about control: control of space, population, reproduction, aging, crime, worker output. J. G. Ballard’s “Billennium” takes place in a city where each person is allotted four square meters in which to live, taking crowded to a whole new level. In Paolo Bacigalupi’s “Pop Squad,” musicians practice for 15 years to perfect one bravura performance. They have all of the time in the world because they can live forever. Of course, in order to control population levels, having children is against the law, punishable by death. Neil Gaiman and Bryan Talbot present a short, powerful graphic story, “From Homogenous to Honey.” Classics by Philip Dick, Shirley Jackson, and Kurt Vonnegut sit beside new works by popular YA authors like Orson Scott Card and Cory Doctorow. Citizens of these bleak worlds who try to buck the system seldom survive for long. Many of the stories have a twist or surprise ending, not only for readers but also for the protagonists. This is an excellent introduction to dystopian writing, a genre currently popular in young adult fiction. The selections vary in outright teen appeal, but they are all thought-provoking and likely to lead readers to the authors’ longer works.–Angela Carstensen, Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York City

AHERN, Cecelia. The Book of Tomorrow. 312p. HarperCollins. 2011. Tr $21.99. ISBN 978-0-06-170630-1. LC 2010017858.
Adult/High School–Tamara is 16 when her father commits suicide. The teen and her mother leave their “seven-thousand square foot, six-bedroom contemporary mansion with a swimming pool, tennis court, and private beach in Killiney, County Dublin, Ireland and move to the country to live with her mother’s brother and sister-in-law. Her taciturn uncle is the groundskeeper of the nearby ruined castle. Her aunt seems to be keeping something from Tamara and trying to keep Tamara away from her mother. Family secrets, a local mystery, a bee-keeping nun, a sexy bookmobile driver, and a book that appears to be foretelling the future all combine to make an enjoyable modern-day Gothic novel, reminiscent of Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale (Atria Books, 2006). The story starts a little slowly, but the promise of intrigue is there from the beginning, and teens will be drawn into Tamara’s story and attracted by her name-dropping yet self-aware narration.–Sarah Flowers, formerly of Santa Clara County Public Library, CA

CARD, Orson Scott. The Lost Gate. 384p. Tor. 2011. Tr $24.99. ISBN 978-0-8653-2657-7. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–Danny North is not drekka or magicless, as his family believes; he is quite possibly the strongest gatemage ever born, but he can’t tell any of them. Creating inter-dimensional portals is an ability that caused war. Danny’s family was once so magically powerful that they were worshipped as gods. Now, after the mysterious Gate Thief closed all the gates from Westil and stranded the warring family clans as exiles on Earth over a thousand years ago, there is an uneasy truce. Any gatemage born is killed, so as not to shift the balance of power. Card sets a coming-of-age tale within an intricately built speculative fiction framework that includes trickster legends as well as Greek and Norse mythology, effortlessly weaving together Danny’s escape from a family determined to kill him with his discovery of life in contemporary American human society. In a parallel story set on Westil, an amnesiac named Wad discovers that he is a powerful gatemage as well and begins to use his power to further a royal plot. Danny’s and Wad’s machinations have repercussions that reverberate through both worlds. As in Ender’s Game (Tor, 1985), Card excels here at three-dimensional world-building and strong characters with believable motivations. Danny, especially, is a mischievous, flawed, highly sympathetic character that teens will relate to. Excellent secondary characters put flesh on the bones of a story that explores the hearts of two people looking and longing for a place to belong.–Charli Osborne, Oxford Public Library, MI

DATLOW, Ellen, ed & Nick Mamatas. Haunted Legends. 347p. Tor. 2010. Tr $27.99. ISBN 978-0-7653-2300-2. LC 2010032193.
Adult/High School–In concept, this collection mimics some of the best aspects of Datlow and Windling’s fabulous Fairy Tale anthologies for adults (Avon), featuring modern retellings of old legends. But instead of time-worn fairy tales, the often-obscure local legends upon which these stories are based–illuminated in afterwords by each story’s author–will be unfamiliar to most readers. Considering that the collection begins with a deeply disappointing take on the greatest and most famous of all American ghost stories (Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”), the relative obscurity of the other legends is probably to the collection’s advantage. In any case, nearly every story stands well on its own (the exception is “Fifteen Panels Depicting the Sadness of the Baku and the Jotai,” and after the rocky start, this stunning collection features one near-perfect story after another. Though many of the stories are scary, creepy, or just plain weird, the overwhelming tone–embodied by such masterpieces as “That Girl,” “Down Atsion Road,” “Return to Mariabronn,” and “The Redfield Girls”–is one of sadness and guilt, as is only right for a genre about the precariousness of death, and things left undone in life. Perhaps a bit heavy for teens looking for a good scare, but ultimately deeply rewarding.– Mark Flowers, John Kennedy Library, Solano County, CA

ESPACH, Alison. The Adults. 320p. Scribner. 2011. Tr $25. ISBN 978-1-4391-9185-9. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–Emily Vidal was the mostly quiet, do-the-right thing type when she nervously began high school. But when she was 15 a lot happened to change that. Her father had an affair with the next-door neighbor, and she watched the woman’s husband hang himself from her bedroom window. Her parents divorced. She set fire to the class bully in biology class. She kissed her 24-year-old English teacher and began a years-long affair with him. Under the premature burden of secrets, lies, shame, and guilt, she staggered from the life she imagined into an existence whose meaning and purpose seemed to derive from her acute and snide observations of those around her. The book follows the next 15 years of her life, which reverberate with the consequences of that fateful year. Her passage into adulthood also echoes the poem her English class memorized: T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland. Like that poem, Emily’s narrative is disjointed, sprinkled with opaque passages, foreign phrases, and ample ennui. But it is also teeming with clever insights, witty acerbic dialogue, and a helplessly loving acknowledgement of family quirkiness. Mature teens will find Emily’s voice impeccable. The story is both a captivating read and a challenging fable about the sometimes-haunting impact of adolescent choices.–John Sexton, formerly at Westchester Library System, Tarrytown, NY

MORAN, Michelle. Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution. 464p. Crown. 2011. Tr $25. ISBN 978-0-307-58865-4. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School– Madame Tussaud? The wax museum lady? Yes, indeed! This remarkable novel enters the life of Madame Tussaud in 1788, when she is still Marie Grosholtz, still in her twenties, still earnestly producing wax figures for display in her family’s Paris Salon de Cire. At the time, such waxwork displays were a way for people to “see” famous people and receive news of current events, much in the way of our evening news. The Salon de Cire also hosts gatherings that attract radical thinkers such as Maximilien Robespierre, Camille Desmoulins, and Jean-Paul Marat. When Marie is asked to tutor the king’s sister in the art of wax working, she hardly imagines that she will discover that the greatest fault of the much-maligned royal family is their hapless naïveté. As events run their horrifying course, Marie is forced to witness heroism and folly on both sides of the revolution. This is an excellent literary opportunity for teens. It provides an enhanced look at the French Revolution and the important ways in which it differs from the American Revolution. The French Revolution may be familiar to teens because of assigned readings such as Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities. And Moran explores themes of power and corruption illustrated by George Orwell’s Animal Farm, another oft-assigned novel. In addition, teens who have read Jennifer Donnelly’s entrancing novel, Revolution (Delacorte, 2010), will find here a more complete look at this dark chapter in world history.–Diane Colson, New Port Richey Library, FL

MURRAY, Paul. Skippy Dies. 661p. Faber & Faber. 2010. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School – A story that leads readers to unexpected revelations both fascinating and horrifying. The novel begins with the tragicomic description of 14-year-old Skippy’s death. While engaged in a donut-eating contest with his brilliant, obese roommate, Skippy falls from his chair, writing “Tell Lori” on the floor with a jelly donut before taking his final breath. This is a book for readers who find this situation both terrible and hilarious. It will be hundreds of pages before the author returns to the scene of Skippy’s death, and he fills them with the crazy schoolboy high jinks of a Dublin prestigious boarding school, Seabrook College, as well as ruminations on topics as varied as the role of Irish soldiers in World War I and the politics of intimate relationships. Skippy’s schoolmate Carl also loves Lori, but possesses a dark and twisted nature. Skippy’s roommate, Ruprecht, involves all of the boys in his quest to escape to another dimension. And Lori, lovely and mysterious to the boys, is hopelessly clueless in her interactions with them. Then there are the teachers, who have an entire scandalous back story that hovers in the background until it finally breaks through with dramatic consequences. Teens who are intrigued by the puzzle of Skippy’s death, and undaunted by thick, layered novels, will want to give this one a try. – Diane Colson, New Port Richey Library, FL

OBREHT, Téa. The Tiger’s Wife. 352p. Random. 2011. Tr $25. ISBN 978-0-385-34383-1. LC 2010009612.
Adult/High School–Natalia is a young doctor in a Balkan country recovering from years at war. She is on a journey to deliver vaccinations to an orphanage when she receives word that her grandfather, a celebrated doctor, has died in a remote village. Why did he travel there and lie to his wife and his granddaughter, knowing that he was dying? Trying to understand, Natalia recollects the hours they spent at the zoo when she was younger, sitting in front of the tiger’s cage while he read to her from The Jungle Book, or told her pieces of the two stories central to his life: the story of the deathless man and the story of the tiger’s wife. As the novel progresses, these stories from his past intersect with the present. Obreht’s writing is gorgeous, descriptive, and strong, creating vivid, unforgettable visions of unique settings such as the billowing curtains in the restaurant on a bluff overlooking a river, where Natalia’s grandfather dines with the Deathless Man while bombs explode in the distance, destruction approaching a place that will not exist by morning. It is up to readers to decide if the author employs magical realism or presents a world that has lived with war for so long that everyday life has moved beyond the commonplace. The Tiger’s Wife is a meditation on death, love, and war in the modern world that follows Natalia’s determined pursuit of the motives surrounding her grandfather’s last days and the Deathless Man himself. For mature teen readers, the time spent savoring the writing, the stories, and the intricacies of their connections will be well rewarded.–Angela Carstensen, Convent of the Sacred Heart. New York City

WELLS, Martha. The Cloud Roads. 288p. Night Shade. 2011. pap. $14.99. ISBN 978-1-59780-216-1. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–Critically acclaimed Wells is less-well-known than she should be, especially among teen audiences. Her work tends to center on coming of age, and if the ages of her characters are sometimes older than adolescents, the concerns aren’t. Moon has been a loner and frequently an outcast for most of his life. The Three Worlds are full of people of all stripes: scaled, feathered, brown, blue. But even so, Moon is unusual because he can shift from “groundling” to a winged form that looks worryingly like the Fell, the sentient predators who ravage their way across the worlds. When Moon is finally found by his own kind, the Raksura, he must learn who he is when he’s not hiding. The complex world-building (the many inhuman races, the politics, and the geography are fresh and wrought with skill) doesn’t detract from intrigue and adventure: can the Raksura escape the Fell, and can Moon survive the animosity of one queen and the love of another? Likable Moon sometimes remains unknowable; his past is parceled out according to plot imperative, and thus artificially withheld from readers. But this is still a rousing tale of a lost boy who finds his way home and discovers that he has a role to play in saving the world. High-octane fight scenes nicely contrast with Moon’s emotional growth and developing romance. Genre fans looking for something different will find this just what they needed.–Karyn N. Silverman, LREI and Elisabeth Irwin High School, New York City

Nonfiction

ALEXANDER, Elizabeth. Crave Radiance: New and Selected Poems, 1990-2010. 255p. Graywolf. 2010. Tr $28. ISBN 978-1-55597-568-5. LC 2010922921.
Adult/High School–This retrospective collection of 20 years of work is wonderfully readable. As Alexander tells stories with her poetry, readers learn about the Venus Hottentot, brought from Africa to London and treated as a tourist sight. Poems from Miss Crandall’s School for Young Ladies and Little Misses of Color portray the plight of the brave educator who could not keep her students safe when the town of Canterbury objected to educating young women of color by poisoning the well and setting fire to the boarding school. The poignant poems are written from teachers and students’ points of view. The Amistad poems movingly depict the rebellion of the slaves on board the ship and their trial in New Haven where Yale students volunteered to teach them English. There are also autobiographical poems about the poet’s life and family as she recalls her grandfather frying apples and summertime in Washington, D.C. where she grew up. Lines from “Summertime” make readers feel the heat. “A hydrant/illicitly opened, kids riding/the hard spray, caught in the rainbow/of water.” Alexander’s poem “Praise Song for the Day” was delivered at President Obama’s inauguration and is one of the 15 new selections. It is an inspirational piece with great appeal for all readers. “I know there’s something better down the road./We need to find a place where we are safe./We walk into that which we cannot yet see.”–Karlan Sick, formerly at New York Public Library

BIALOSKY, Jill. History of a Suicide: My Sister’s Unfinished Life. 252p. Atria. 2011. . LC 2010047134.
Adult/High School–In 1990, at the age of 21, Bialosky’s younger sister committed suicide. For the next two decades, the author was haunted by the unfathomable death and her inability to forgive herself for not having prevented it. As a way to understand, she studied suicide and wrote of her experience and her grief. Reading her sister’s journal and school writing assignments, she glimpsed aspects of an internal life that was not obvious to the family. Greek myths, and the works of Melville, Shakespeare, and Sylvia Plath provided insight. Research in the field of suicidology offered a perspective. Observations of her own child reminded her of life’s fragility and the limits of her ability to protect those she loves. Yet nothing could make sense of the incomprehensible decision her sister made to take her own life. Ultimately, the shame and disgrace that fill the void of the tragedy dissipate when experiences are shared in bereavement groups. The book is comprised of short passages that accumulate like shards from a shattered life that will never be made whole again. Bialosky, a gifted poet, crafts from them a mournful memoir that is reflective of both the vulnerability and the resilience of the human spirit. The book will have a profound impact on anyone affected by suicide. Older teens struggling for understanding in its aftermath will find solace in Bialosky’s experience. It will also serve as a useful research complement to teens studying classics such as Romeo & Juliet, Billy Budd, Moby Dick or The Bell Jar.–John Sexton, formerly at Westchester Library System

BROWN, Mike. How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming. 267p. Spiegel & Grau. 2010. Tr $25. ISBN 978-0-385-53108-5. LC 2010015074.
Adult/High School–Brown is a Professor of Planetary Astronomy at Caltech, where his specialty is searching for new planets on the edges of our solar system. Here he gives a charming account of his astounding series of discoveries that led to the down-grading of Pluto from planet status. With a great sense of self-deprecating humor, he communicates the excitement of discovery, as well as the simple love of gazing at the night sky. Brown discovered Sedna, which turned out to be something new to science, “a fossil left over from the birth of the sun.” Imagine learning about the sun by studying an entity present when it came into being. When he found Xena (named after Xena: Warrior Princess, later renamed Eris), he was the first person in more than 150 years to discover an object bigger than Pluto. But Xena’s very similarity to Pluto forced him to acknowledge that his discovery was not a 10th planet, and to reconsider the definition of “planet” altogether. The author’s account of the controversy surrounding Haumea, another possible planet, reads like a thriller. Brown and his team were about to announce their find when a Spanish scientist, José-Luis Ortiz, scooped them. They later learned that Ortiz used Brown’s own data without acknowledgement or permission. Throughout, Brown conveys the daily working life of a scientist and the scientific process, the hours spent scanning digital photographs of the sky taken by telescopes halfway across the globe, and writing software to make work more efficient. Brown writes with an energy, excitement, and sense of humor ideal for teens, making the science accessible to general readers.–Angela Carstensen, Convent of the Sacred Heart. New York City

DAVIS, Belva & Vicki Haddock. Never in My Wildest Dreams: A Black Woman’s Life in Journalism. 272p. PoliPoint. 2011. Tr $24.95. ISBN 978-1-936227-06-8. LC 2010048995.
Adult/High School–Davis is one of the San Francisco Bay Area’s most beloved public television reporters. Her insightful interviews have won her national acclaim, and she has been an anchor for CBS, NBC and PBS, where she currently hosts the news show, “This week in Northern California.” Even though Davis rose through the ranks to become the first black, female reporter west of the Mississippi, she relates the events of her life with a humility that exposes her unease with being in the spotlight. Growing up a neglected good girl in the early 1930s, she dreamed of a life outside her narrow world and abusive family. Even though she was forced to abandon her dreams of college, she found her niche within the world of news. As a young journalist, she positioned herself at the center of some of the 20th century’s most important events, including the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. This book is easily accessible to a teen audience, but unfortunately many of the historical events that impacted Davis’s life are not supported with back-story. Still, it is recommended for teens who enjoy reading about history, hardship, or success stories. The author faced down racism in both her career and personal life, and teens will be fascinated to learn how she moved from the poorest neighborhoods in Louisiana and California into the spotlight as the articulate, insightful reporter she is today. Her story will inspire readers to overcome obstacles, dream big, and work hard for those dreams. –Connie Williams, Petaluma High School, CA

DUBUS 111, Andre. Townie: A Memoir. 400p. Norton. 2011. Tr $25.95. ISBN 978-0-393-06466-7. LC 2010937513.
Adult/High School–Andre Dubus III was eight when his father abandoned the family. As his mother struggled to provide for her three children, Dubus realized that he lacked the size, strength, and attitude to protect himself and his siblings from bullies in their Massachusetts mill town. After his brother was beaten up, Dubus was inspired by the vigilante justice of films like Billy Jack, Death Wish, and Dirty Harry and began a strengthening work-out regimen as a first step toward vengeance. Eventually he became an amateur boxer and perfected the transformation of his anger into controlled violence. When he observed slights to others, he responded violently as if the transgression were personal. Fighting became his life. When a friend was knifed in an altercation, the violence of Dubus’s revenge became so frighteningly out of control that he knew he had to change. Dubus reflects on his youth with a novelist’s attention to detail that perfectly conveys the visceral rage of an adolescent confused and angered by his father’s absence. When his father again became a presence in his life, the faltering reconciliation that followed was transformational. Teens who want more of Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club (Norton, 1996) will find the cartilage-crushing depictions of fights, both in and out of the ring, to be breathtaking and unnerving. They will also discover a touching and hopeful story of an impoverished family fitfully finding their way through the challenges of drugs, alcohol, and violence.–John Sexton, formerly at Westchester Library System

JONES, Jeffrey Owen & Peter Meyer. The Pledge: A History of the Pledge of Allegiance. 214p. Thomas Dunne. 2010. Tr $23.99. ISBN 978-0-312-35002-4. LC 2010029258.
Adult/High School–Born of anti-immigrant sentiment, nurtured by the jingoism of war, beloved by vast majorities of Americans, the pledge of allegiance has had a strange and checkered history. And it is a history well worth telling, as Jones and Meyer show in this mostly outstanding book. Starting with an extremely sensitive examination of the Gilded-Age-origins of the pledge, with deft comparisons between the era of the robber barons and today’s nearly equivalent epoch of class disparity, the authors take readers through what amounts to a cultural and political history of 20th-century America. Though at times they allow their prejudices to show (they seem genuinely outraged by a school board member who compared the pledge to the Taliban forcing children to memorize the Koran), by and large, they offer a well-written and fair-minded account of the origins, development, and various struggles over the pledge. Why is the United States one of the only countries in the world to have such a strange ritual of allegiance? What does it mean to force someone to pledge an oath of allegiance? And why do Americans love the pledge so much? These are just a few of the questions that Jones and Meyer take on in this fascinating history.– Mark Flowers, John Kennedy Library, Solano County, CA

KIDSTON, Cath. Sew! photos by Pia Tryde. 160p. St. Martin’s/Griffin. 2010. pap. $24.99. ISBN 978-0-312-65294-4. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–Kidston, a successful British designer with a vintage flair, has put together 43 projects using her signature bright-colored floral fabrics. The first pages cover the basics: essential equipment, hems and edges, appliqué, and quilting. Some projects might take an hour, while others are more long-term, such as a patchwork crib quilt. Potential gift ideas include a wide variety of bags, an iPod case, and floor cushions. Most projects span two pages and include an eye-catching, close-up photograph, the skill level, necessary supplies, and clear step–by-step instructions. The layout is friendly to beginners, and a “top tip” will help those who are new to sewing. Four concluding pages provide addresses for finding all kinds of fabrics and notions, sewing classes, and Cath Kidston products. Potential management issues are the full-size pattern sheet tucked in the back of the book and the templates that users will need to trace. With the current DIY trend, this visually appealing book is sure to hit the mark with teens who are interested in learning to sew or those who already have experience.–Jane Ritter, Mill Valley School District, CA

OHER, Michael & Don Yaeger. I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness to TheBlind Side and Beyond. 250p. Gotham. 2011. Tr $26. ISBN 978-1-592-40612-8. LC 2010045531.
Adult/High School–Oher’s story was introduced by Michael Lewis in The Blind Side (Norton, 2006), and in the 2009 movie. Now it is Oher’s turn. He begins with his earliest memory and continues through life as a player in the NFL. Oher’s mother moved her large family around Memphis, constantly changing neighborhoods and schools, sometimes a caring parent, more often an absent, drug-addicted one. Oher was determined to change his life from the age of seven or eight, seriously pursuing and studying sports long before he made it to Briarcrest. Being adopted by the Tuohy family was the breakthrough he needed. Oher obviously hopes this book will reach teens going through similar difficulties, or the adults who might care for them. He gives credit to the people who helped him: the teachers, coaches, social workers, friends, and the parents of friends who fed him and let him sleep over before the Tuohys provided a more permanent solution. In the final chapters, Oher offers details of college life, being drafted into the NFL, his life during and between seasons, and how he chooses to spend and share his monetary success. He shares quibbles with the book and movie, and he writes a chapter advising struggling kids on finding role models, staying out of trouble, being true to their talents, and working toward success. He ends with a list of organizations for those who wish to get involved. This is an inspiring tale, sure to be popular with teens whether they are in need of help or in a position to provide it.–Angela Carstensen, Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York City

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