Review: Brothers, Boyfriends, and Other Criminal Minds

By April Lurie
Released by Random House (Laurel-Leaf)



BROTHERS, BOYFRIENDS, AND OTHER CRIMINAL MINDS is April Lurie's semi-autobiographical tale of growing up in a Brooklyn neighborhood populated by made men and falling in love with a Dominick. However, she made quite a bit up in order to deliver an interesting and exciting story.

If you're into books about relationships, you should definitely consider finding yourself a copy of BROTHERS, BOYFRIENDS, AND OTHER CRIMINAL MINDS. April Lundquist has a plethora of suitors: Dominick, her brother's friend Little Joe, and her best friend's boyfriend's best friend with whom she was conned into going on a date with, Bert. Then her brother, a good Scandinavian boy, falls in love with Bettina, the daughter of a high-ranked Mafioso.

But romantic relationships aren't the only ones on display. April watches out for her both of her brothers, as well as Soft Sal's odd son Larry. She's close friends with Brandi, even if their friendship takes some hits in the book due to their divergent tastes in men. She also has an odd relationship with her English teacher, who recognizes her potential but dislikes her penchant to snog boys rather than show up to class on time.

The novel works well because these relationships ring true. Even though it is set in the 70s, the family, friend, and significant other dynamics are very familiar. (Although I never had to worry about a sibling getting whacked due to putting moves on the wrong person.) It's quick and funny, much like a Simon Pulse Romantic Comedy. The subject matter could be dramatic and angsty, but April Lurie keeps it light. And the world needs more light comedies involving La Costa Nostra.

I might not have noticed this if it hadn't been pointed out in the Local Authors panel, but I do appreciate the fact that BROTHERS, BOYFRIENDS, AND OTHER CRIMINAL MINDS is clean (no sex scenes or cussing). Lurie does a good job of creating a heroine who is comfortable with her sexuality and not condemning her for having three love interests. April's just a healthy teen girl learning how to maneuver in non-platonic relationships with boys. I love, love, love that Lurie manages this without sex scenes so that I can recommend it to certain girls I know in real life without their mothers showing up at my house with poisoned baked goods, saying "Mangia, mangia."

I don't regret my decision to pick up the cheapest book at the Austin Teen Book Festival. I'm not sure I'll read this one again, but I found it entertaining and think it's a good one to recommend to girls in junior high and high school. (Another great thing? April is brainy and athletic, with fab taste in music.) Despite the hot pink cover, some guys might like it too, given the criminal element.

Zombies vs. Vampires (vs. Pixies!)

Zombies vs. Vampires with Cynthia Leitich Smith, Daniel Waters, Carrie Jones, and Heather Brewer
First, a technical note: I wanted to use what I'm learning in school, so none of this is flash photography. I'm also in manual settings. I did use autofocus to take faster shots. (Focusing is one of my weak spots due to my eyesight.)

This panel began with a discussion of how to make fantasy characters work in an urban setting and what they wear. To the right, you can see Heather Brewer demonstrating her powers of imagination by choosing to make Vlad dress exactly like her. (Vlad is Vladimir Tod, the most recent release in the series being TENTH GRADE BLEEDS.)



She did dress for the panel, in a "Zombies Need Love Too" tee, since she was undecided about zombies vs. vampires and feeling generous in the morning. As for integrating her characters, she enjoys mentioning standard things from vampire lore that would be tricky and then subverting them. Besides, not being able to cross running water is just silly.

My favorite question of the panel was, "If the zombie apocalypse comes and you and three other authors are the only ones holding out, who would you choose to be holed up with?" Heather went with her panel members, since they were already with her and would thus survive due to her being prepared for this exact possibility. That sounded good to Carrie Jones, who was pretty sure she'd be dead meat when faced with zombies. (I think she could throw her totally cute shoes at them. It worked for Clara against the Rat King.) However, Carrie did when for most terrifying zombified supernatural, as pixie zombies would be unstoppable. (She wrote the pixie-laden NEED, which I reviewed here.)



Vampires couldn't be zombified, of course, since one must die first and vampires remain undead. Heather proposed that vamp blood could cure zombism, although the audience was divided on the issue. Cynthia Leitich Smith did see on satellite radio that salt can be used to restore zombies to their former humanity. Resident zombie expert Daniel Waters wasn't sure about that, but he said it couldn't hurt to add salt to your zombie kit. (Doubt his zombie credentials? Check out KISS OF LIFE, which I reviewed here.)



Speaking of Daniel, he didn't have a true preference for the three authors he'd take with him. He only knew that they needed to be slower and tastier, rather than more skilled. Cynthia, on the other hand, did have a team picked out. Her ringer? Local author April Lurie, who used to be a nurse. Her medical knowledge would be handy, though she would later disavow her use when told of being picked at a later panel.



Then, when questioned about what they could write about if they couldn't use zombies or vampires, the authors got creative. Cynthia noted that her series, containing TANTALIZE and ETERNAL, had a werearmadillo among many other creatures. Carrie noted that she'd started in contemporary YA . . . and then threatened to write about curtains (among other things). Sitting beside her, skeptical Heather was skeptical. Daniel was less so, but this is the man who admitted he would kiss Tinkerbell (but not a male vampire, whether he be Vlad or Edward).

It was a very fun panel, and Ms. Anderson of BookPeople did a great job moderating. (She also did her own write-up of the panel, which contains many things mine doesn't.) There's a reason everyone was laughing!

Winners!

The two Cirque du Freak winners are taay and celi.a. If you see this before I e-mail you, please contact me with your address.

I realize that I gave people less than a week to enter the contest for LOVE, MEG, so I am extending the deadline to Halloween, the same day the Nancy Holder contest ends.

Austin Teen Book Festival Write-Up

Monday: Zombies vs. Vampires with Cynthia Leitich Smith, Daniel Waters, Carrie Jones, and Heather Brewer
Wednesday: Fantasy with Libba Bray, Justine Larbalestier, Lisa McMann, and Rick Yancey
Friday: Local Authors with Jennifer Ziegler, Varian Johnson, Shana Burg, and April Lurie

What I Missed:

The Keynote Address by Libba Bray

I've been up late all week, so I was desperately tired last night and forgot to actually turn my alarm on when I changed when it would wake me up. So I woke up at 10:23, knowing it would take at least 15 minutes to get to the venue and I still needed to eat, dress, and otherwise make myself resemble a member of humanity.

Originally, I planned on videotaping the panels I attended, but I thought the panels were beginning at 11, as per the schedule on the site. That would be one panel I couldn't tape, due to showing up late. Then I knew I wanted to go to the whole of Zombies vs. Vampires, but I had contacted Cynthia Leitich Smith beforehand and she didn't want to be broadcast since she was recovering from a cold. That would be only one panel I could tape, which seemed pretty silly. Of course, they'd adjusted the schedule to the panels beginning at 11:15. ^_^;; I still took pictures!

Real YA Voices panel with Matt de la Pena*, Margo Rabb and Deb Caletti

There were four panels, but only time to attend three. I definitely wanted to attend Zombies vs. Vampires and Fantasy due to my own bent towards unrealistic fiction, but it was a toss-up between Local Authors and Real YA Voices. In the end, I chose Local Authors due to the good stuff I've heard about Varian Johnson's MY LIFE AS A RHOMBUS and because I bought April Lurie's BROTHERS, BOYFRIENDS, AND OTHER CRIMINAL MINDS. (I wanted to buy something so that I wouldn't be rude, and Lurie's was both the cheapest and had a fabulous title.)

*imagine a tilde over the n

A Prize

They had a raffle, in which they called out a ton of numbers since many people had already left, and I had two tickets, but still didn't win. I only saw the prize table when about seven books were left, but most of them were copies of CAPTIVATED by Carrie Jones. That tells you how much goodness was on the table.

Halloween Reviews

I would call this set one, but the way things will be going, who knows whether I'll get to the others?

Secret Society by Tom Dolby
Review copy provided by HarperCollins



You may wonder why I choose to include this book in a series of "Halloween" reviews. But I think what makes it stand out from the other rich kids behaving badly books is the horror element: bad things happen to people who cross the Society. For those who like this genre, SECRET SOCIETY is probably fast-paced and interesting. For me, I really only liked Patch, who becomes an outsider when his best friend is tapped and he isn't. Then he makes a series of dumb mistakes and at the end I completely did not understand his motivation. (That is, aside from not wanting to die.) SECRET SOCIETY wasn't terrible, but I found it blah.

The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan
Released by Simon & Schuster



Two brothers, a parent killed, fighting against demons. No, this isn't Supernatural. (But if anyone wants to lend me the third and/or fourth seasons, that'd be awesome.) I really enjoyed Nick's POV. It makes some of the twists obvious if you're paying attention, but it's an interesting headspace to get into and Sarah Rees Brennan does a very good job with it. Plus, she nearly broke my heart at the end. There's humor, action, sexiness, and humanity. While sometimes predictable, THE DEMON'S LEXICON never forgets to be diverting.

The Hollow by Jessica Verday
Review copy provided by Simon & Schuster



I've really been looking forward to THE HOLLOW, since Jessica Verday began promoting a year before it came out. It was not what I expected, which was a paranormal romance. There are no supernatural elements until the very end; instead, THE HOLLOW is like a standard teen story. As Abbey deals with her grief over the death of her best friend Kristen, she meets Caspian, who is the perfect guy except for his mysteriousness. That could have been a good story, but it feels like the only point of THE HOLLOW is to reach the end so that the fun stuff can be set up for the next book in the series. It moved slowly. I still want to read the next book, to see how Verday handles it when the supernatural elements are actually in play, but THE HOLLOW was disappointing.

Generation Dead: Kiss of Life by Daniel Waters
Released by Disney-Hyperion
Daniel Waters will be at the Austin Teen Book Festival this Saturday.



GENERATION DEAD was a polarizing book - some liked it, some didn't. KISS OF LIFE is more of the same, which means I liked it. I enjoy how Daniel Water's develops the zombies search for rights, while not making it exactly parallel to any real group. I did feel the villain, Pete, was less understandable in this book. (It's what makes the first book really get to me. His rationale made sense, as crazy as it was.) In this one, my emotional connection was to Adam, who is now having trouble expressing his since he can't control his body. I liked the almost poetic quality of his thoughts when he'd first returned from the dead. The books really strike true to me, despite being about zombies.