Review: Yes, Daddy

By Jonathan Parks-Ramage

Available now from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Review copy

Yes, Daddy looks like a salacious summer novel. Jonathan Parks-Ramage's debut is something much sadder. I'm not sure that the blurb does it many favors by promising decisive revenge.

The story starts with a glimpse of the trial of Jonah Keller's ex-boyfriend Richard, a famous playwright. From this glimpse, we know that when the time comes, Jonah is unable to tell the truth. He crumples on the stand and saves his own reputation, not letting anyone question whether he deserved it or what kind of victim he is. From there, Yes, Daddy starts an extended flashback detailing their relationship from beginning to end before revealing what happens after. (While taking some oddly meandering detours along the way.)

Jonah is a deliberately difficult protagonist to like. He's vain, shallow, selfish, and callow. Yes, Daddy forces a reaction to a victim who isn't likeable, who doesn't react like victim narratives say they should. I think it is a valid narrative avenue to explore, but I was pretty sick of Jonah before I made it even a third of the way through the novel. 

This is a dark novel, beyond the graphic scenes of sexual assault. Yes, Daddy also deals with harmful religious counseling, invasive and vicious tabloid journalism, incest, probable murder, and suicide. While it doesn't have a completely downer ending, it isn't very uplifting, either. All catharsis is minor.

I think Yes, Daddy is a well-written novel that tackles thorny issues and a prickly protagonist with sympathy. But I didn't much enjoy the experience of reading it.

Review: Labyrinth Lost

Brooklyn Brujas, Book 1
By Zoraida Córdova
Available now from Sourcebooks Fire
Review copy

Zoraida Córdova's The Vicious Deep trilogy is my favorite thing to come from the mermaid mini-trend in YA. I knew I wanted to read her next YA urban fantasy novel, so I was sold on LABYRINTH LOST even before I saw the gorgeous cover.

LABYRINTH LOST did lose me a little at the beginning. Alex is a bruja with great potential, about to step into her full power at her Deathday celebration. But she doesn't want the power, because she believes her power drove her father away. (I found it obvious that this wasn't the full truth, but it is understandable that Alex can't see past the trauma of childhood abandonment.) When she meets a mysterious hot boy named Nova who promises he can help her get rid of her powers, she instantly believes him. No one but Alex is surprised when the spell he gives her goes horribly awry.

Once Alex, Nova, and her non-magical best friend Rishi travel to the liminal Los Lagos to rescue Alex's family, I was fully onboard. I loved the quest through a magical, dangerous land filled with strange people who could be enemies or allies and had their own motivations and stories. But the journey to that point was a slog, with Alex making one obvious bad decision after another.

I'm pretty sure when I reread LABYRINTH LOST I'll skip over most of the beginning. Because the rest of the novel, honestly, was exactly what I wanted. I'd even idly thought, "Wouldn't it be nice if X happened?" and the book delivered. LABYRINTH LOST even recovers from the lame, cliche bad boy setup and develops a believable romance with sparkling chemistry.

I also found the world Córdova creates fascinating. Her brujas are of her own creation, and they stand out from the usual crowd since she syncretizes various Latin American myths and folklore. Fans of Daniel José Older's SHADOWSHAPER and Bone Street Rumba novels will find much to love. 

The beginning had me worried, but I was write to trust that Córdova would deliver a book that I found enthralling. I am eagerly awaiting the second Brooklyn Brujas novel.

Review Rerun: Returning to Shore

I recently traveled to St. Simons Island, Georgia. When you cross from the mainland to the island using the causeway, you might notice extra large holes in the highway dividers. These allow the terrapin turtles to make it across.

The nearby Jekyll Island is the home of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center.  This center offers a chance to learn about these animals and conservation efforts, and to participate yourself. Since it is currently nesting season, efforts to ensure that the turtle nests are protected are in high gear.

Thinking about these animals led me to remember RETURNING TO SHORE, which I first reviewed in 2014.

By Corinne Demas
Available now from Carolrhoda Books (Lerner)
Review copy

RETURNING TO SHORE is a brief book, not particularly fast paced but a quick read by virtue of its brevity.  It's cover is bleak, but the book is anything but.  It's a simple tale, enlivened with a touch of quirk and symbolism.

Clare has lived with her mother since her parent's divorce.  She loved her stepfather, and still misses him, even as her mother is marrying for the third time.  But she doesn't have much time to contemplate her dislike of her new stepfather before she's swept off to a small Cape Cod island to live with her father while her mother honeymoons.  Her father knows absolutely nothing about raising a teenager, and he's distracted by his work with turtles (terrapins, to be more specific).  It's egg-laying season, and he intends to make sure that those eggs survive.

Seriously, it's a book about a daughter and father finding each other and themselves, and the father is obsessed with turtles and ensuring that their offspring survive.  It's kind of absurd and obvious and it works.  It's partially because turtle conservation is a real, serious thing.  But it's more because the characters are richly drawn and their development is subtle.

In a novel as short and simple as RETURNING TO SHORE, everything hangs on the protagonist.  I think I was first drawn to the clear gulf between what Clare knows and what the narrative insinuates that she doesn't.  That her mother's relationships, particularly that with her first stepfather, are more complicated than she's been led to believe.  Then there's her father, who knows quite a bit that he holds too tightly - knowledge that he should tell his daughter, at least if they're going to have a real relationship.

There's also a small subplot about Clare making friends of necessity with the other teen girl who lives on the island.  There is, of course, inherent friction in the relationship made more out of proximity than true interest in what the other has to offer.  At the same time, it's not like it's two people hanging out who secretly hate each other.  Then, as Clare learns more about her friend, it conflicts with the things she's learned about her dad.  And it's more than just differing environmental views.

RETURNING TO SHORE is a novel that doesn't rely on romance to deliver deeply felt emotion.  It's a wonderful coming of age story, with a picturesque setting and a strong environmental message lurking not-far-back in the background. Is it strange to say that this is a book for Studio Ghibli fans?  Because it is.

Review: Summer Days and Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories

Edited by Stephanie Perkins
Stories by Leigh Bardugo, Francesca Lia Block, Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Brandy Colbert, Tim Federle, Lev Grossman, Nina LaCour, Stephanie Perkins, Veronica Roth, Jon Skovron, Jennifer E. Smith
Available now from
Review copy

Stephanie Perkins' follow-up anthology to MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME is another set of twelve strong stories by popular and up-and-coming authors, including adult author Lev Grossman.  The only repeated author is Perkins herself (who writes a sequel to her story from the first anthology).  The theme of summer is a little looser than the theme of winter holidays, and the stories range wider in tone and style as well.  There's contemporary, fantasy, science fiction, and historical stories.  The protagonists are diverse too, both in skin color and sexuality.

In fact, not all of the stories end happily.  "Sick Pleasure" by Francesca Lia Block tells of a doomed summer romance.  "Souvenirs" by Tim Federle tells of two boys who know they have to break up because one of them is going to college.  "Souvenirs" is one of my favorite stories in the collection, for how it gets lots of messy emotions into so few pages, including those little things that make you love someone even when you know they aren't the best person.

Of the speculative stories, my favorite might have been "The Map of Tiny Perfect Things" by Lev Grossman, a groundhog-day tale of a boy and a girl who are trapped in a loop and manage to find shocking beauty in a single mundane (but tragic) day.  Close behind is "Head, Scales, Tongue, Tail" by Leigh Bardugo, which taps into my love of mythological sea creatures.  The inventive ending gets my approval.  Okay, I loved "Last Stand at the Cinegore" by Libba Bray, too.  It's a trippy meta tale about a horror film coming to life and the apathetic cinema workers who are the only ones that can stop it.

The more mundane stories were a bit more uneven to me.  "The End of Love" by Nina LaCour is an adorable story about two girls finding their way to each other while one of them goes through a difficult time. "Love is the Last Resort" by Jon Skovron is a farce about multiple couples who need a few tricks to get them to take that leap of faith and ask each other out.

This made for a very fun read on my plane ride home from California.  (Can you get more summer than that?)  There was only one story I didn't think fit the anthology.  "Inertia" by Veronica Roth was a nifty sci-fi romance, but I'm not sure what it had to do with summer.  Overall, this was a strong set of stories, although not quite as strong as MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME.  I hope for fall and spring sequels!

Review: How Many Letters Are In Goodbye?

By Yvonne Cassidy
Available now from Flux
Review copy

HOW MANY LETTERS ARE IN GOODBYE? was originally published in Ireland in 2014, but Flux has now brought it to the USA.  It is the story of Rhea Farrell, who is homeless in New York when the story starts.  She moved to Florida to live with her aunt's family after her father died, but was kicked out.

The story is told in letters to Rhea's mother, who drowned when Rhea was very young.  This conceit did not work well from me, since the letters are usually very exact renditions of events (albeit through Rhea's biased point of view), complete with long passages of dialogue.  There's no commitment to the form.  Short letters between the narrative might've gotten the same point across and been more believable.

I did find the narrative compelling.  Rhea is highly annoying in her self-absorption: everything is about her, even when other characters are telling her it isn't.  At the same time, I understood why she was messed up.  She lost an arm in an accident as a child, her mother drowned, her father was an alcoholic, and her first serious relationship ended with her getting kicked out of the house because it was with a girl.  I thought it was wonderful that she got actual therapy.  But Rhea's journey wasn't always an easy one to read.

Part of that is because Yvonne Cassidy knows how to write secondary characters who are clearly the heroes of their own story.  I particularly missed her friend Sergei when he exited her life.  He was a hustler in a relationship with a cheating, abusive man who Rhea encouraged him to stay with so they could live in his apartment.  I got why their relationship ended, but I did hope for reconciliation once Rhea got some perspective.

HOW MANY LETTERS ARE IN GOODBYE? is a very weighty book.  It's got suicide, alcoholism, teen homelessness, teen prostitution, domestic abuse, coming out going terribly awry - and it definitely aims to tug at the heartstrings in many parts.  I thought it was a very realistic portrait of a teen girl who was struggling with her own identity and a need to accept help from others, and thought it succeeded on those grounds.

Review: Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir

By Maggie Thrash
Available now from Candlewick
Review copy

Maggie Thrash, a writer for online teen mag Rookie, writes about the summer of 2000 in her debut work, an autobiographical graphic novel.  That summer she went to Bellflower Camp, a Christian girls' camp in Georgia, as she did every summer.  She also came to realize that she was a lesbian due to her (requited) crush on one of the counselors.

Thrash does a wonderful job of capturing the time and place.  Backsteet Boys' Millenium is still on top, and everyone is passing around their copies of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. For Thrash, coming out is about as easy as you would expect at a Christian girls' camp in Georgia.  The title HONOR GIRL refers to the girl chosen at the end of each year who embodies the ideals of the camp.  It is an honor Thrash become less and less interested in pursuing as she struggles with her identity.

I thought the daily life at the camp was well represented.  More people than Thrash expects take her sexuality in stride.  She suffers from the attention of a bully, but more due to her skill on the range.  However, homophobia still rears its ugly head.  Tammy, one of the camp authorities, is right that letting a nineteen year old and a fifteen year old have a romantic relationship would be irresponsible of the camp no matter their genders.  Unfortunately, not much else about how she handles the situation is right.

HONOR GIRL is drawn in watercolors, a medium that suits the subject matter well.  The soft colors look nostalgic, and reminiscent of projects one might make at camp.  Thrash is better at drawing objects than people.  I thought the art was amateurish.  Everyone has pupil-less eyes and sloping noses.  It gets the story across, but isn't particularly engaging.

Thrash's story is one of first love, friendship, and alienation.  It's a little choppy and messy, with a somewhat unsatisfying ending, which reflects its autobiographical nature.  I thought it was well told, even if I wasn't enamored with the art.

Review: Cam Girl

By Leah Raeder
Available now from
Review copy

CAM GIRL starts with a crash on an icy road.  Vada is the only one who remembers what happened.  Her girlfriend, in the car with her, was drunk and can't remember the accident.  The other driver, a teen boy, was also drunk and died on the scene.  Everyone knows Vada is lying about how the accident happened, but not exactly what her lies are.

This is one of those books that I picked up to read and then forgot about for awhile.  It wasn't what I expected from the cover and description at all.  There are no real thriller elements, although every once in awhile the book convinced me that something sinister would happen.  It's much more of a character-driven story.

Although the crash is the final nail in Vada and Ellis's relationship, it soon becomes clear they had other problems.  Between losing her drawing hand and her relationship going horribly awry, Vada's self-esteem is low.  She's upset and carrying a lot of guilt.  She finds her way to working as a cam girl, for a new site that promises to pay better and be less predatory, but one that carves its market niche by taking things farther to the edge.  Vada is consenting to be exploited, but she's still be exploited.

At times, CAM GIRL felt like it was edgy just to be edgy.  Vada's specialty is breathplay, or auto-erotic asphyxiation.  The book eventually manages to ground it in Vada's character and past, but at first it seems like Vada is practicing hardcore BDSM with no buildup.  Surely it happens, but it was rather jarring.

Vada's life as a cam girl gets shaken up by several events: she starts falling for a big spender client, Ellis re-enters her life, and she finds out the driver of the other car might have been committing suicide.  Her complicated romantic life and search for answers about Ryan tangle together.  I felt everything was a bit too obvious and got frustrated with Vada quite a bit for not realizing what was right in front of her face.

Leah Raeder's CAM GIRL tackles many issues of gender and sexuality that society is really just beginning to discuss.  She's drawn a convincing portrait of a flawed character surrounded by equally flawed people.  (Including Brandt, Ellis's cousin who feels like he wandered in from the thriller I expected.)  It was a book I ultimately failed to connect to, but I expect its messages will connect to many other readers. 

Review: Beyond Clueless

By Linas Alsenas
Available now from Harry N. Abrams (ABRAMS)
Review copy

I keep passing BEYOND CLUELESS in my Kindle and thinking, "What book is that?  It's marked that I read it."  Then I open it up and remember.  "Oh yeah!  That one."  BEYOND CLUELESS was a cute little read (with a subplot about sexual assault), but the details just keep falling out of my head.

Marty and Jimmy always thought they'd be best friends for life, but two recent events have strained their friendship.  Marty's parents sent her to an all-girls school and Jimmy came out and started making new friends in the local gay community.  Marty finds a way to bridge the old and the new by joining her school's performance of Into the Woods.  Boys are needed for the musical, so some of Jimmy's friends can be in it and the rest can be crew.  And Marty definitely thinks things are looking up when she's cast as Little Red Riding Hood against the very attractive Felix Peroni as the Wolf.  (Clearly, she doesn't take that as a symbolic bad sign.)

I liked that both Marty and Jimmy made new friends once they were separated.  Jimmy takes to it a little bit better, but Marty does find other girls she can hang with, especially Xiang.  I also enjoyed Linas Alsenas explorations of her failures to be socially adept, such as when she ostracizes someone herself even though she didn't mean to be cruel.  Her difficulties navigating what other people are feeling felt realistic.  So did her trouble understanding and articulating her own feelings, especially when she got something she thought she wanted only to discover she wasn't feeling it at all.

I think BEYOND CLUELESS will appeal to young theater fans, especially since it doesn't ignore the importance of the crew.  Jimmy's relatively easy coming out probably holds more appeal than more dated portrayals.  Marty's difficulties with her relationship with Felix are handled well.  Generally, I can't point to anything in BEYOND CLUELESS I didn't like.  Remembering that I read it is the only problem.

Review: Femme

By Mette Bach
Available now from Lorimer
Review copy

SideStreets is Lorimer's series of hi-lo books.  I've written about these types of books before, but it has been awhile.  Hi-lo books are written to appeal to struggling readers.  They have content that appeals to teens, but are written at a range of lower reading levels.  FEMME is written at an approximately third-grade reading level.  I really appreciate that SideStreets and Mette Bach are making LGBT stories available for readers who are still developing their skills, since there isn't much reading material on the subject available below a high-school reading level.

Sofia, the protagonist of FEMME, doesn't feel like she has much going for herself aside from her popular boyfriend Paul.  When her English teacher pairs her with class genius Clea, Sofia is worried about being judged for being dumb.  But the two girls end up being fast friends and Clea helps Sofia nurture her study skills.  In fact, the two girls decide to take a trip to the US together and look at schools in Portland.  Clea wants to go to Portland because she's a lesbian - the only out one at their Canadian high school - and she wants to find a community that she fits into.  To Sofia's surprise, she starts to find where she fits too.

FEMME might be simply written, but it is also sensitively written.  Sofia and Clea feel like real teenage girls, particularly Sofia.  She begins the novel shallow, with low self-esteem, but she makes amazing strides throughout the story.  And even though the page count is short, Bach doesn't just tackle a romance.  She tackles issues of identity involving sexuality, race, and class.  There is a subplot about cyberbullying too.  It all moves by quickly.  However, while things are lightly covered, they don't feel lightweight.

FEMME is a novel that fills a niche that desperately needs something.  Fortunately, there's much more reason to read it than just because it feels a need.  It's got wonderful characters, a strong setting, and it tackles real-world issues in a manner that is positive but not treacly.  I found FEMME to be surprisingly sweet.

Review: Another Day

Companion to Every Day
By David Levithan
Available now from Knopf BFYR (Penguin Random House)
Review copy
Read my review of Every Day

Note: ANOTHER DAY can be read independently of EVERY DAY.  I have read EVERY DAY, so this review contains spoilers.

Spoilery note: A considers themselves to be the gender of the body they're currently in.  I could switch pronouns to reflect this, or default to one gender, but I intend to identify A gender neutrally.  This is not a reflection of how A identifies, just shorthand for this review.

ANOTHER DAY covers the same time period as EVERY DAY.  Rhiannon and A meet (although she doesn't know it), and their love story goes from there.  Some people may not want to read a repeat of events, but I think Rhiannon's point of view is sometimes more interesting than A's.  She's less philosophical, a normal girl suddenly faced with the unexplainable.  

I do wish ANOTHER DAY had started a little earlier.  Rhiannon and Justin's relationship has soured, but Rhiannon still thinks it is worth fighting for, so she doesn't give up even though Justin treats her horribly.  It makes more sense while inside her head than A's, but it might make even more if we got a glimpse at the good days.  I do like that ANOTHER DAY concludes with Rhiannon forging her own path, seeking what she wants instead of trying to deliver what her significant other wants.  It's also a great hook for a straight-up sequel.

I liked that Rhiannon had a mix of mundane and more fantastical struggles.  Her friends don't like her boyfriend - standard high school stuff.  Her significant other is a different body every day - not so normal.  Sometimes she isn't physically attracted to the person she's in love with?  Somewhere between the two.  (And I liked that David Levithan worked to course-correct the fat-shaming in EVERY DAY.  Rhiannon isn't turned off by that body, but she is turned off by the way A is ashamed of it.)

Rhiannon's growth throughout ANOTHER DAY is wonderful.  She's a bit of a doormat at the beginning, and struggles with respecting herself for a long time.  She's a terrifically real young woman, although A's instant and intense attraction seems rather inexplicable at times.  In the end, I thought Rhiannon's point of view was just as strong as A's.

Support LGBTQ Media: FIERCE! The Movie and Rainbow Boxes

I've been contacted recently about two great projects that you can support.

First, on Kickstarter, is FIERCE! The Movie. FIERCE! is a documentary by Zoe Davis, chronicling the journey of a group of British drag queens to an inaugural drag festival in Austin, Texas in a landmark year for marriage equality.

The crew says the following about the movie and their need for donations to finish production:

Throughout history, drag artists have been at the forefront of the fight for equality, tirelessly campaigning for the rights of LGBT people and using performance and humour to break through prejudice. We want to make a beautiful film that honours the rich culture of drag and the work of these artists who have been so instrumental in influencing and inspiring change. We also want to document this break-through time for LGBT equality, and perhaps even help change a few perceptions along the way!

In our lifetimes, history is rarely made in such a genuine, awe-inspiring and moving way. As the fight for equality continues, we will continue to film that inspiration and promise to deliver it the world over. But we need your help to do it!

Second, on IndieGoGo, is Rainbow Boxes by authors Cori McCarthy and Amy Rose Carpetta.  They've curated boxes of fifteen LGBTQ-interest young adult novels to send to community libraries, GSAs, and homeless shelters serving LGBTQ youth throughout the country.  They want to put books with messages of hope into the hands of the teens that need them most.  They'll also be buying the books from indie booksellers.

If you have a bit of spare change, both of these are wonderful projects that could use your support.

Review: A History of Glitter and Blood

By Hannah Moskowitz
Available now from Chronicle Books
Review copy

A HISTORY OF GLITTER AND BLOOD is an aptly named novel.  Half of it is a disco teenage fever dream and the other half is haunting violence and mutilated bodies.  It is a strange novel and I absolutely loved every second of it.

The narrator of A HISTORY OF GLITTER AND BLOOD is an unreliable fellow.  He centers the story around Beckan, although he isn't her and cannot know the minutiae of her days and thoughts.  (She points this out to him, even.)  He also admits frequently that he's making stuff up, or eliding a nasty bit of the story, or doubles back on himself because he's not telling it well.  It takes a bit to get into the rhythm of the story, but I thought the way it was told in fits and starts suited the subject matter.

Beckan and three other faerie teenagers were the only faeries who survived the war.  (Except not really, because Cricket is dead.  Not dead-dead, because faeries are immortal.  But he's been rendered into pieces so small, conscious somewhere, that his friends can't find them.)  Beckan, Cricket, and Cricket's brother supported the household through prostitution.  Of course, the main people they could sell themselves too were the trolls, who eat faeries.  It's taken a toll on them, both because they were all too young to handle any of it and they feel a mix of blame and shame and not regretting it at all because they survived.

There is such horror in A HISTORY OF GLITTER AND BLOOD.  There are images in this book that haunt me.  And the characters, faerie and troll and other, wormed their way under my skin.  The worldbuilding is both deft and dreamlike.  It is a tale of an impossible place, yet all the pieces fit together.  I loved the complicated situation between the races and the lengthy exploration of what happens after trauma and disaster.

I've been meaning to read Hannah Moskowitz's novels forever, and A HISTORY OF GLITTER AND BLOOD definitely convinced me that I need to give her backlist my full attention as soon as I get a chance.  This book shoved it's way into my heart like sudden violence following on the heels of laughter.

Review: The Porcupine of Truth

By Bill Konigsberg
Available now from Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic)
Review copy
Read my review of  Openly Straight

Last year I read a Bill Konigsberg novel for the first time.  OPENLY STRAIGHT was a good summer read, but not one of my favorites of the year or anything.  His recent release, THE PORCUPINE OF TRUTH, still caught my attention with its adorable cover and a blurb that promised an epic road trip.

The story starts when Carson's mom leaves him at the zoo.  They've come to Billings, Montana for the summer to help his dying father in his final days, and she needs to ditch him for a bit to take care of things.  At the zoo Carson meets Aisha, who has been kicked out by her father because she's a lesbian.  It's the beginning of a fast friendship between two weirdos with similarly off-beat senses of humor. 

Yes, there is an epic road trip.  Carson and Aisha set out to find what happened to Carson's grandfather.  He was a missing person, but they found evidence in the basement that he was in contact with his wife after he officially disappeared.  I liked that their road trip encounters a lot of problems, including car trouble and difficulty finding places to stay.  It's a pretty realistic road trip for two teenagers without many resources and rapidly dwindling parental approval.

There is a lot of religious discussion, which doesn't bother me, but I know isn't everyone's cup of tea.  Carson doesn't really believe in anything, and Aisha is turning against her childhood beliefs since her very Christian father treated her in such an un-Christlike way.  On their road trip, they encounter people who believe a variety of different things and discuss them.  I thought it was a good reflection of reality and very revealing of all the characters.

THE PORCUPINE OF TRUTH is a very funny novel that tackles tough subjects like alcoholism, homeless LGBTQ youth, and racism.  (Aisha is black.)  The irreverent tone balances the dark matter without being disrespectful of it.  Definitely worth a read.

Review: Anything Could Happen

By Will Walton
Available now from Push (Scholastic)
Review copy

Will Walton's debut novel ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN is sweet, if rather uneventful.  Tretch is closeted and deeply in love with his straight best friend, Matt.  Lots of people joke about them being gay, since Matt has two dads, and Tretch is torn about the fact that he secretly wishes it were true.

ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN is a terrific character study.  Tretch is a nice kid and it is heartening to see him grow confident in himself and open up to his family and friends (old and new).  I can see ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN being cathartic for teens struggling with the same issues that plague Tretch.  Do you tell someone you have a crush when you know they won't reciprocate?  Will your religious parents accept you?

There's potential for conflict in ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN.  Beyond the issue of coming out (or not), Tretch has another secret: he loves to dance and choreographs dances to his favorite songs.  There's also Matt's new girlfriend, who Tretch feels jealous of.  Or there's the girl whose abrasiveness is hiding her crush on Tretch.  But everything comes to a head in a soft, gentle manner.  This is just a very soothing sort of book, the kind that tells you things will work out alright even when they seem dire at the time.

ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN is a pleasant read, with its optimistic realism.  It is not for those who are looking for an eventful, plotty book, but it is not without its charms.  Sometimes short and sweet gets the job done.

Review: The Rise and Fall of a Theater Geek

By Seth Rudetsky
Available now from Random House BFYR (Penguin Random House)
Review copy

I haven't read MY AWESOME/AWFUL POPULARITY PLAN, the first book about Justin by veteran Broadway pianist Seth Rudetsky.  However, I was able to follow THE RISE AND FALL OF A THEATER GEEK just fine without it.  Justin is a rather abrasive narrator.  His mind is a little like a hamster running constantly around a wheel, and he thinks he knows best for everyone.  I still liked him.

Justin makes several mistakes at the beginning of THE RISE AND FALL OF A THEATER GEEK.  He pushes his boyfriend Spencer and best friend Becky too hard, and ends up alienating them.  He also lies to the woman who lined up an internship for him to get out of it because he got a better internship working directly for a heartthrob making his Broadway debut.  I found the second particularly naive of Justin, since most people understand you giving up one opportunity for another that fits your goals better.  Lying, however, is less understandable.

THE RISE AND FALL OF A THEATER GEEK weaves together Justin's personal growth over his internship in New York with a mystery about why his employer is making such terrible acting decisions and what his agent is up to.  The mystery is pretty obvious, so it's good that Justin's character growth is done with more nuance to balance it.  Although Spencer and Becky aren't seen much in the novel due to the fight, I liked that they're shown to have gone on their own journeys.  I like supporting characters with their own lives.

You might try reading a sample of THE RISE AND FALL OF A THEATER GEEK first, because Justin's voice might not work for you.  If it does, this is a fairly cute bildungsroman with some nice details about how a Broadway show comes to be.  It's pretty predictable, but I can see theater kids loving this one.

Review: More Happy Than Not

By Adam Silvera
Available now from Soho Teen
Review copy

Set in a near-future version of the Bronx, MORE HAPPY THAN NOT starts out like a contemporary coming-of-age tale.  Aaron Soto is even poorer than most of the other kids living in the projects, but he's happy.  He loves his girlfriend Genevieve and his great new friend Thomas.   But when he starts to think that he likes Thomas as more than a friend, things get complicated.

So what makes this a near-future story?  The Leteo Institute.  The Leteo procedure can remove those memories that have been plaguing you.  It's mentioned so frequently throughout the first half that you just know someone is going to get one.  It made me want to bite my nails, wondering what would happen to drive Aaron to get the procedure.  And then it came, and MORE HAPPY THAN NOT shifted.

I liked how debut author Adam Silvera sprinkled hints about what was to come throughout the first half of the book.  There are glimpses of people who seem off, for instance.  He sets up what is to come very well.  I also liked that he doesn't rely on one big twist, especially since many readers will probably sense what is coming.  The second half of MORE HAPPY THAN NOT unfolds in increasingly heartbreaking ways.


I felt immersed in this novel.  For all that Silvera resists setting MORE HAPPY THAN NOT at a specific time, the setting is very grounded.  You get a great sense of the life Aaron and his sort of friends lead.  Even though he doesn't quite fit in, he's still got a real sense of community with them.  (Okay, one touch I was bothered by: the mention of a new Avengers movie in December.  Those are summer blockbusters!)  I also liked the reality of the ways they hang out, going to comic shops, relaxing on the roof, playing made up games just outside the building.  The sci-fi premise makes the story go, but it is strongly grounded in realism.  This helps strike a good balance between the fantastical and the personal difficulties Aaron faces in his life.

MORE HAPPY THAN NOT is a striking debut.  The tech is similar to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but the questions the story asks are different.  Silvera ripped out my heart and stomped on it, yet I am already ready for his next book.  If he's this good now, what will he write next?

Review: The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley

By Shaun David Hutchinson
Illustrated by Christine Larsen
Available now from Simon Pulse

Andrew Brawley has a lot of guilt and a big secret.  His parents and sister are dead, and he should've died with them.  But he didn't, and now he's living in the hospital, hiding from the woman he calls Death.  He works in the cafeteria, volunteers the night ER shift, and otherwise hustles to keep people from noticing that he's around all the time.

The something happens to shake him up: a boy named Rusty is admitted.  He was burned badly in a hate crime, because he's gay.

THE FIVE STAGES OF ANDREW BRAWLEY takes on a lot of big topics.  There's death from accident, illness, and suicide - and that's just the beginning. Almost everyone in the hospital has a story, down to the cook that employs Drew in the cafeteria and the woman in a coma he's claimed as his grandmother.  The biggest stories are those of Drew himself, Rusty, and two teenagers with cancer: Zachary and Lexi.   Drew dreams of Zachary and Lexi realizing that they like each other and living the lives they could have, but he's afraid to act on his attraction to Rusty.

Between some chapters are graphic novel excerpts from Drew's story about Patient F.  Christine Larsen's stark black and white artwork, with its brittle lines, is startlingly dark.  It's a tale of people in bodies that don't belong to them, death and torture and repeating it again and again as Patient F travels through time to try to save his family this time.  As a priest who talks to Drew realizes, it reveals a lot about his state of mind and the issues he's trying to work through.

THE FIVE STAGES OF ANDREW BRAWLEY is not a happy book, although it has many humorous moments and a hopeful ending.  It was hard for me to read at times, since it seemed like bad things just kept happening.  I expected the twist involving Rusty, but not the ultimate fate of Zachary and Lexi.  It's definitely a strange book, one that will stick out in my mind as a unique reading experience.

I particularly liked how the stories each character told wove throughout the story.  THE FIVE STAGES OF ANDREW BRAWLEY is a novel about how we see ourselves and how others see us (among other things).  It's a portrait of its enigmatic eponymous hero, but also of the people in his life.

Review: The Hurt Patrol

Companion to Beau, Lee, The Bomb, & Me
By Mary McKinley
Available now from Kensington
Review copy

So many of the questions I had when reading THE HURT PATROL where answered when I realized it was a companion novella to a book I hadn't read, set during that book.   I honestly don't know how I manage to select this book for review without knowing that fact, but manage I did.

Even knowing that, I think some aspects could be improved.  The meat of THE HURT PATROL is layered between two frames.  The outermost layer is that Rusty is writing this down as an essay for her teacher.  The next layer is that Beau is telling Rusty this story in the car, on their way to Forks, Washington (AKA Twilight town).  Both of these layers add little to the story.  It neither comes across like someone writing an essay nor someone speaking about their experiences.  I assume Mary McKinley was trying to make it sound like BEAU, LEE, THE BOMB, & ME.  Given that this is a companion novella, however, I think she could've cut to the chase and just put it in Beau's point of view.

THE HURT PATROL is essentially one long, somewhat meandering flashback.  It covers Beau's past during his parents' divorce, figuring out that he's gay, losing his best friends, coming to find confidence in himself with the worst Boy Scout ever, and getting gay bashed.  It's certainly an ambitious novella.  Unfortunately, I can see why it didn't make the main book.  Beau's story is a touch shapeless, particularly when shoved into the frame of a road trip that goes nowhere because it happens in another book.

There are glimmers of greatness.  Beau's dad is a piece of work, admonishing his son not to be a sissy and otherwise berating him and his mother.  Yet, Beau still sides with him in a pivotal fight, unable to keep himself from seeking his father's approval and love.  It's an excellent glimpse of how complicated families can be, and how children can still unconditionally love parents who don't deserve it.

I think fans of BEAU, LEE, THE BOMB, & ME will probably enjoy THE HURT PATROL, especially if Beau is their favorite character and they want to know more about him.  It was a bit hard for me to get into without that knowledge, since it's mostly a character sketch.  It wasn't terrible, but I just kept feeling as I was reading that I was missing something big, something that would explain how this story was structured.  And I guess I was.

Review: Things I'll Never Say: Stories About Our Secret Selves

Edited by Ann Angel
Stories by Ann Angel, Kerry Cohen, Louise Hawes, Varian Johnson, erica l. kaufman, Ron Koertge, E. M. Kokie, Chris Lynch, Kekla Magoon, Zoë Marriott, Katy Moran, J. L. Powers, Mary Ann Rodman, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Ellen Wittlinger
Available now from Candlewick
Review copy

Ann Angel's first outing editing an anthology is an impressive venture.  She's gathered a wonderful mix of authors, from established award winners like Chris Lynch and Ellen Wittlinger to talented up to a debut author.  The authors aren't just diverse in their name recognition either.  THINGS I'LL NEVER SAY: STORIES ABOUT OUR SECRET SELVES dwells in those experiences that are hard to talk about, that people like to never think about.

It's fitting that it is a very diverse anthology, not only the authors, but also the main characters, who are black and white and Asian and gay and bisexual and transgender and suffering from mental illness.  Although not all of the stories are realistic, they do strive for a realism about the teen experience, and the multiplicity of points of view represented help support that anthology-wide tone.

I'll admit that the anthology started a little slow for me.  The usually reliable Ellen Wittlinger didn't knock it out of the park with "The We-Are-Like-Everybody-Else Game," the story of a girl with a mom who hoards and a friend who might not deserve the title (but one who does).  "Cupid's Beaux" by Cynthia Leitich Smith is charming, and a definite delight to me as a fan of her Tantalize series.  Will anthology readers who haven't read that series be a little lost?

"When We Were Wild" by Louise Hawes and "Call Me!" by Ron Koertge are both delightfully loose stories, slightly naughty and shaggy with narrators who struggle with their knowledge of their own cruelty.  Of the sadder stories, I think I liked "Easter" by Mary Ann Rodman best, for the way it captured loss and teenage confusion and dashed hopes.

"Quick Change" by E.M. Kokie is a little gem about a con artist in a family of con artists, and I want an entire novel about what happens next.  (Short stories have been made into novels before!  I can hope!)  "Storm Clouds Fleeing From the Wind" by Zoë Marriott is the standout of the collection.  It's an achingly lovely story set in a kingdom that isn't, about a dancer who cannot be matched, especially when furious.  Her bio in the back of THINGS I'LL NEVER SAY says that it is related to her novel SHADOWS ON THE MOON, which is now a must-read for me.

Honestly, I could tell you good things about almost all of the stories in the collection.  There were a handful that I didn't care for, but there were also two excellent stories and more than half of the stories were good-to-great.  I think that's a good ratio for an anthology.  With THINGS I'LL NEVER SAY, Ann Angel shows great promise as an anthologist as well as an author.

Review: Honey Girl

By Lisa Freeman
Available now from Sky Pony Press (Skyhorse)
Review copy

For a book from a small publisher, HONEY GIRL has been getting some strong word of mouth.  It came up in two totally unrelated forums that I frequent and I just knew that I had to read it.  Lesbian surfer girl?  Sign me up!  Of course, the problem with word of mouth is that the message can get a little garbled on the way.

I was sad when I started HONEY GIRL to discover that Nani Nuuhiwa doesn't surf.  She knows how to, but she doesn't, because she wants to be cool.  (And the consequences for being a girl that surfs can be way worse than a little social ostracism.)  I would've thought that the 1970s were more open to girl surfers; after all, Gidget was almost twenty years earlier!  But I do know progress can be slow.  Plus, the setting is so wonderfully done.

Lisa Freeman nails the setting.  HONEY GIRL takes place in a different time and place, one that doesn't exist any more.  It takes place on State Beach, whose denizens must follow any number of unspoken rules in order to be accepted.  Nani, moving to California from Hawaii, takes all the knowledge she learned from the coolest girl at her beach and puts it toward getting in with the locals at State.  It's historical Mean Girls.  Nani can be frustrating, with her dedication to a bunch of rules made mostly to keep girls in line, but it is such a true process.  Sometimes you have to color within the lines to gain social capital.

Nani is afraid of coloring outside the lines, not the least because she likes girls (as well as boys).  She's cool with who she is, but she knows what will happen to her if she comes out.  And maybe it's a moot point, since she falls pretty hard for one of the surfers.  (Even if she falls pretty hard for one of the girls on the beach too.)  She's got enough trouble from being mixed race, especially since her mother wants her to just be white since her father's death.

Nani, in other words, is dealing with a lot.  Her summer is something to behold, as she both comes closer to her original goal and to realizing who she really wants to be.  HONEY GIRL is a coming of age story with an immersive sense of place and a heroine caught between her strong sense of self and the knowledge that who she is inside will never quite fit in.