Bookmas Unleashed

Here’s the deal: it is the week before Christmas and there are last minute gifts to finish, review deadlines, and packing to do. You probably have a similar list. Anyway, due to the giveaway earlier this week I’ve fallen a bit behind on my book recommendations. Also, since I don’t really want to recommend a book on Christmas day (kind of late notice anyway) I’m going to give you three recommendations right now. One for yesterday, one for today, and one for Christmas.

Got it?

Great.

Bookmas Day 6:

Grandpa Green

Grandpa Green
by: Lane Smith
Roaring Book Press
Ages: 5 & up
2011 

The story about grandpa Green’s life is told by his young, great-grandson, who is traipsing through grandpa’s beautiful garden, full of topiary creatures. The greenery is the visual element to the story, so we see grandpa growing up on a farm, stealing a kiss in middle school, meeting his wife in Paris, serving in the Army, and on and on. What really makes this a great picture book (for me) are the topiary’s. I loved the creativity and inventiveness of telling a story through bushes. The story itself is sweet, but not very memorable. For me, it was the artwork that made me want to look at it again, whereas the story did not pull on my heart strings like I expected.

Rating: 6

Bookmas Day 5:

Divergent

Divergent
by: Veronica Roth
Katherine Tegen Books
Ages: 14 & up
2011

This is a perfect read for the teenage girl in your life, or for your inner teenager. If you read Hunger Games (and loved it) you’ll love this one. Dystopian Chicago is divided into five factions: Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the kind), and Erudite (the intelligent). At the age of 16, teenagers are required to choose a faction, and there is no turning back. When Beatrice chooses Dauntless, instead of the Abnegation faction she had grown up in, her life will never be the same.

Rating: 7

Bookmas Day 4:

Junonia

Junonia
by: Kevin Henkes
Greenwillow Books
Ages: 8 & up
2011 

Alice, soon to be ten, and her parents are headed to the coast for their annual visit. She can’t wait to collect shells (Alice really wants to find the rare junonia shell this time), play on the beach, and say hello to old friends. However, everything is different this year, and Alice struggles with all the change. This is such a tender, coming of age story that I got super choked up at the end. Not only is it beautifully written (some of the sentences are simply profound), but Henkes accurately portrayed one child’s process of moving from childhood into maturity.  This is one of my favorite reads of 2011.

Rating: 9

Filed under: Middle Grade, Picture Book, Young Adult

Daughter of Smoke & Bone

Daughter of Smoke & Bone

Daughter of Smoke & Bone
by: Laini Taylor
Little, Brown and Company
Age: Young Adult
2011

Genre: Young Adult, Horror, Fantasy

Keywords: Angels, Demons, Prague, Magic, Love

Summary: Karou is an art student in Prague who literally lives in two worlds. The first is inhabited by her best friend, art classes, and an annoying ex-boyfriend; the second is full of magic, secrets, and teeth. Karou has no recollection of her parents or how she ended up with the chimaera,* but no matter how many questions she asks the only answers she gets are not only vague but few and far between. Routinely, Karou is sent on errands to collect the teeth of humans and animals, but like everything else dealing with her second world, she is unsure of their purpose and meaning. When one of these errands brings her face to face with a  seraph (sworn enemy of the chimaera) she comes closer to knowing the truth about who she is and where she came from.

The good: I loved this book. L.O.V.E.D it. Laini Taylor quickly sucked me in to Karou’s world(s) and I was reticent to leave it. First of all, isn’t the cover gorgeous? Second, the book is so mysterious and imaginative. The blending of Greek mythology and Taylor’s imagination is complex and fascinating to read. The themes of love and good vs. evil are prominent, but instead of “ho-hum, I’ve read that before” they take on a fresh quality due in large part to Karou’s perspective. Love, to Karou, is an element, much like the classic elements of air or water, that is impossible to live without; however, she has lived most of her life feeling the lack of it, despite the bond she feels with the chimaera. Therefore, when love comes it is a beautiful awakening of belonging. I know, I know, you’ve read it all before; however, when it is written well I never get tired of reading it, and I appreciate when it encompasses more than romantic love, although there is plenty of that.  The battle between good and evil is murky and dependent on perspective. The seraphim believe they are good and the chimaera evil, but the vice versa is also true. Who is better – the master (seraphim) or the slave (chimaera)? The angel or the demon? The reader is constantly pulled between who is bad and who is good, ending with the uncomfortable resolution that neither is wholly one or the other. While Karou is ultimately a ‘good’ character, evidenced by her willingness to risk her own life for her family, even that act of supposed sacrifice clashes with her selfish desire to take a risk in order get answers and prove she is capable of the truth. This is getting too long, stopping now.

The verdict: I would recommend this to older teenage girls as well as people my own age. If you enjoyed books like Delirium by Lauren Oliver or Divergent by Veronica Roth, but then add a bit more of a fantasy twist you will love this book just as much as I did.

The rating: 9

*chimaera are usually composed of several different animal parts. According to Greek mythology a chimaera is a monstrous, fire-breathing female with the body of a lioness, a tail that ended in a snake’s head, and the head of a goat that came out from her spine (taken from Wikipedia). In this book, not all chimaera are the same. Some have the face of a man (or woman) with the legs of a gazelle, or legs like a wolf, etc.

Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Young Adult

The Monstrumologist

The Monstrumologist

The Monstrumologist
by: Rick Yancey
Simon & Schuster
Ages 12 & up
2009

Genre: Horror, Young Adult

Keywords: Monsters, Graveyards, Supernatural, Orphans, Apprenticeships

Summary: After a fire killed his parents in the late 1800s, 12-year old Will Henry is taken in by Dr. Pellinore Warthrop, a reclusive monstrumologist. Will Henry becomes indispensable to the Doctor as his apprentice, especially when a predatory species, which can only be categorized as monsters, are discovered in the graveyard outside of town feasting on the dead. The Doctor and Will Henry try to piece together how the monsters ended up in New England, but when the monsters start attacking the living rather than the dead the Doctor and Will Henry must quickly find a way to exterminate them — without becoming the next victims.

The good: This is the first book in an ongoing series and, as such, holds the attention of the reader with inventive and horrifying monsters, well-developed characters, and beautiful prose. To be honest, this is the first horror book I have read (not counting Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories) and am surprised by how much I loved it. While certain scenes are gruesome and had me quaking in my boots, those scenes are also highly creative and fascinating to imagine. The character of Will Henry is everything an orphaned boy should be, quickly capturing the imagination and heart of the reader. Dr. Warthrop is a fascinating and complex character who has a level of depth that I am sure the other books will further elucidate. The vocabulary is at times complex but perfectly suited with its historical setting and is accomplished without isolating the reader.

The verdict: I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a spooky read. In fact, it is a perfect October read and a perfect recommendation for boys who can’t get enough of R. L. Stine or similarly “horrorific” authors.

The rating: 7

Filed under: Horror, Printz, Young Adult