High School: The Non-Fictional Version

Since young adult literature often features young adults as protagonists, it's not really surprising that a number of the stories are set in high school. But what draws people to read about this setting? I know I've read a number of posts/interviews where bloggers and authors alike reveal that they hated high school.

I've got a secret: I loved it.

And yeah, I like college better, but I had no problems with high school. Academically, I was a total geek and something of a teacher's pet. I did various UIL Academic events, specializing in Number Sense and Mathematics. (For those who don't live in Texas, the UIL sets the rules for interschool competition, for everything from athletics to band to academics. Also, Number Sense is a ten minute, eighty question mental math test - no scratch paper, no crossing out or erasing. It's more fun than it sounds, promise.) Heck, I went to State in it. And most everyone in my class knew that I was going to be valedictorian because my GPA was too high to overcome.

I was also quasi-popular.

Really, I don't know if I would've been so socially accepted at another high school. (Example: My class's prom queen was also a drum major.) Cliques were pretty diffuse, with people belonging to a number of groups. I can, off the top of my head, name at least six different social circles that I was a central member of, and I can think of many more in which I was welcome. I don't recall there being a king or queen of the high school, nor someone everyone knew was unpopular. Generally, people had at least a couple of friends. And someone was once thrown through a window during a fight, but there wasn't a bullying problem despite the rising gang activity.

I played an acorn with a bizarre voice in my friends' skit in the Senior Show. It was an adaptation a children's story the guy playing the onion wrote, which we wrote an epilogue to in order to turn it into an allegory for the plight of the indepented male entreprenuer. The other characters were a baked good and the narrator. One of two "sets" consisted of a poster reading: The Dark Forest (You can't see it because it's dark.). We got a standing ovation.

Despite the fact I was social with a number of people, I never went to a "teen party" during high school. (I did go to some sleepovers and such, but the wildest things we drank were Pixy Stix in Sprite Remix.) From talking to my other friends, none of them did either. I was sort-of friends with a cheerleader, who I learned did drink for the first time the day before graduation while she was doing my make-up and hair for graduation.

So I think I like a lot of fictional high schools because they're nothing like my own, which wasn't a great catalyst for drama. There were some dramas, like when one of my groups of friends split because the two leaders got into an argument - it was awkward for a couple of months for the four or so of us that remained friends with both sides.

What were ya'll's high school (or equivalent) experiences like? Did it resemble anything in a book or movie, or was it completely different? Did you love it or hate it? How disjointed was my ramble?

Review: Carpe Corpus

No books read yesterday because I've been traveling like crazy and have no clue what I managed to read last week. I'll compile it next one. And boy, did I buy a ton of books today. (Okay, only twelve. Not bad for $38.)



By Rachel Caine
Read my review of Book Five, LORD OF MISRULE

I can't wait to review the next book, FADE OUT, since it begins a new arc in the series. It's difficult to review a book that finishes out an arc in order to bring new readers to the fold without giving away too much. (Anything given away on the back cover is fair game, so take warning.) I also look forward to it because the title of this one bothers me. (Seize the body?) Luckily, the contents bother me far less.

(Also, while I've been going all over Texas this past week, I am so happy I didn't end up anywhere similar to Morganville. If there are vampires in Texas, as Jaye Wells doubts, I hope they continue to stay away from my parts. The Morganville series shows how bad the good vampires could make it for humans, and CARPE CORPUS shows us the beginning of the bad guys running the asylum.)

Claire, Michael, Shane, and Eve are caught in the war between Amelie and Bishop. They'd prefer Amelie, since she cares about a sustainable community rather than destruction, but both Claire and Michael are compelled to work for Bishop. And while Eve's doing as well as she can under the circumstances, Shane needs help none of them are in a position to give. Happy seventeenth birthday, Claire.

I must say, I love that Myrnin's role keeps increasing. There's something about his insanity, and I believe there's an odd sexual tension between him and Claire, which doesn't bother me though it should. CARPE CORPUS reveals the kind of computer only Myrnin could build, and I like to believe Rachel Caine chose the computer's name as a tribute to Ada Lovelace. (If they didn't make you learn about her in junior high, now's your chance!)

Caine writes a great ensemble, believable human and inhuman emotion, and scary action scenes. She can overcome the "main characters survive" mentality to make you fear for the once and future residents of the Glass House. And it is affecting since I like all four of them. (Other characters, of various likeability, were put on a bus. We can only hope those less likeable ones don't return.)

I did feel the end, while clearing up a plot hole, didn't entirely fit with the rest of the book. It might have been better saved for FADE OUT, so that it could be better integrated into the overall storyline. But I was very satisfied with the end of the first storyline, even if it broke my heart a little, and I look forward to what happens next in Morganville, Texas, where the vampires are threatening and the humans need a spine to survive.

"Waiting On" Wednesday (9)

I love Rob Thurman's Cal Leandros books, so of course I'm excited about her new series beginning this fall (1 September 2009) with Trick of the Light. I'll get my fix twice a year instead of once!

Summary from DEATHWISH back matter:

There are demons in the world. Monsters. Creatures that would steal your soul. You might hide under your covers at night and pretend all's right with the world, but you know. Even if you don't want to admit it . . .

Las Vegas bar owner Trixa Iktomi deals in information. And in a city where unholy creatures roam the neon night, information can mean life or death. Not that she has anything personal against demons. They can be sexy as hell, and they're great for getting the latest gossip. But they also steal human souls and thrive on chaos. So occasionally Trixa and her friends have to teach them some manners.

When Trixa learns of a powerful artifact known as the Light of Life, she knows she's hit the jackpot. Both sides -- angel and demon -- would give anything for it. But first she has to find it. And as Heaven and Hell ready for an apocalyptic throwdown, Trixa must decide where her true loyalty lies -- and what she's ready to fight for.

Because in her world, if you line up on the wrong side you pay with more than your life . . .

It's set in the same universe and in one of my favorite real world cities. And maybe the female heroine will boost Rob's popularity. (The Leandros brothers series is my favorite, honest. Just read my review of DEATHWISH.)

Review: The Lost Hours

By Karen White
Read my review of THE HOUSE ON TRADD STREET.
Read my interview.

Piper's grandmother has Alzheimer's and has been in a home for awhile. But her grandfather just died, leaving her a charm and some other cryptic pieces to the puzzle that is her grandmother's past. But before she can even try to find out more from her grandmother, she dies as well. Her only key is to search out one of Abigail's closest friends, Lillian. Lillian is ashamed of the past and Piper must work to even meet with her. And there's a complication in her fairly recently widowed grandson, who is learning how to live with his guilt and his daughters.

This doesn't even get into the equestrian issues. There's a lot going on in this book, and it takes awhile to get going. My mother and I both agreed that the grandmother's death was very abrupt, as there is a timeskip in the book but it isn't clearly presented. My mom also helped me realize something else that bothered me about the death. The grandfather's death starts the book and is elaborated upon, but the grandmother's is barely mentioned in the action of the book. Yet THE LOST HOURS is all about Abigail's life and how Piper finds out about it. It seems odd that her death is so ignominious. (One of the other problems with the read wasn't a fault of the text. This was one of those ARCs with lots of typos, but that should be fixed in the final, though I haven't been able to flip through a final to confirm this assertion.)

Once THE LOST HOURS gets going, it is a very interesting read. Okay, it does take too long to read the scrapbook, but the revelations are interesting. Karen White brings the segregated South to life through the eyes of two different young women who aren't prepared for how people will react to their actions. Lillian in particular is a fascinating character. I want to read THE LOST HOURS again to pick more of her apart. Piper's a fine protagonist, but Lillian's more interesting because she's peculiar and enigmatic.

Helen, Lillian's granddaughter, is less intriguing but still a fun character. I liked that she was very functional and competent - moreso than many of the other characters - even though she was blind. (Though I am not the one to ask about how accurate the portrayal of blindness was.) Tucker, her brother and Piper's love interest, felt a little flatter. He served his purpose, but I didn't really connect to him beyond that.

Those looking for a classic whodunit mystery might be disappointed, but I thought the atmosphere and was well-done and the answers to the past satisfying. The beginning of THE LOST HOURS could use work, but it finishes strong. This novel is available now, and the sequel to THE HOUSE ON TRADD STREET, currently title THE GIRL ON LEGARE STREET, should be available in November. White is also the author of many other novels.

Books of Summer 5/7

Yes, I will finish this list, but there were other things I wanted to post first. (Did you enjoy a full week of reviews? There weren't very many comments, so I doubt I'll be repeating the experiment.)



HIGHWAY TO HELL by Rosemary Clement-Moore

So this one is a little less affordable and a little less wieldly than my previous choices, as it's only available in hardcover. I do know a lot of libraries carry the Maggie Quinn: Girl vs. Evil series, and a library copy is a good way to tide yourself over until the paperback becomes available. (Or maybe you're a little weird and like hardcovers better.) This one is also about Spring Break rather than summer, but we'll give it a close enough.

For those who haven't read the first two books in the series, don't worry. The only overarching plot so far is the main characters getting better at using their abilities and furthering their relationships. The books standalone quite well. Protagonist Maggie Quinn is snarky and capable, as is her best friend Lisa. (And Lisa is quite ready to call any guy out if he tries to be their white knight.) They're stranded in small town Dulcina, Texas when all they wanted to do is hang out on South Padre Island. Once more, Maggie has stumbled upon something that goes bump in the night.

What really struck me about this entry in the series is Rosemary Clement-Moore's addition of two new characters: a Catholic bruja and a seminary student. She does an excellent job of representing and respecting the theology without making it right or wrong. She applies the same weight to Lisa's New Age and science based ideas of how good should fight evil. It would be silly for a series about good and evil, set mostly in the real world, to ignore real theology. But it's also not the place of a YA novel to tell people what to believe. So I like that Clement-Moore handles the subject carefully and always puts telling the story first.

Funny, fresh, and fierce, HIGHWAY TO HELL will distract you from the boring parts of your own road trip. (And make you happy that the exciting parts don't include demons.)