Titles From the Same Source

Earlier in the year I wrote about a few YA titles that sounded rather similar that had been popping up on my radar.  Since then I've noticed a few more.



THIS IS NOT A DRILL by Beck McDowell (Nancy Paulsen Books, October 25) showed up unannounced and I slipped it into my TBR title.  But I keep slipping when I say the title and calling it THIS IS NOT A TEST, like the Courtney Summers book from St. Martin's that I reviewed in June.  Both are set in schools, but have little in common aside from that.  Well, both also have a title referencing automated warning systems.  The titles might cause some confusion for shoppers, but since the subject matter is so different a little knowledge of the synopsis should be enough to tell them apart.  (This is a situation in which a good librarian or clerk is likely to be more helpful than a search engine.)



THE FAULT IN OUR STARS by John Green (Dutton) is already considered a modern classic and crossover success.  JEPP, WHO DEFIED THE STARS by Katherine Marsh (Hyperion, October 9) is getting some great reviews.  I'll be reviewing it for the official tour on October 2nd, as well as hosting a guest blog and giveaway.  Again, these are two very different books - one is contemporary; the other historical.  But both books' titles reference Cassius' famous admonition "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves" from William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.  It's a great quote that suits both books well and considering how little they overlap, it shouldn't hurt either one.

Noticed any other recent titles that share DNA?

Review: This Is Not a Test

By Courtney Summers
Available now from St. Martin's Griffin
Review copy

Courtney Summers has earned awards and critical acclaim, but her books haven't quite made it to the bestseller lists.  She's the kind of writer who gets full artistic and technical marks, but I've never fallen in love with her work.  It's easy to love her writing, but her main characters like to keep the world at arm's distance, including the reader.  However, I fell in love with THIS IS NOT A TEST and I think it is the book that could make Summers a bestseller.

What makes THIS IS NOT A TEST so different?  Zombies.

(Don't even pretend you don't like zombies.)

The greatest strength of THIS IS NOT A TEST is the characterization.  Sloane, the narrator, and five other teenagers are holed up in their high school during the zombie apocalypse.  It took the group one week and two deaths to make it from the beginning of the apocalypse to the school.  Those two deaths were Grace and Trace's parents.  They blame Cary Chen,  the leader of the group and strongest survivor.  Rhys Moreno is sticking by Cary.  Harrison, the freshman no one knows, isn't much good for anything but crying.  The older kids treat him like a pawn.  But Sloane remains apart from the in-fighting.  Sloane Price, our heroine, was rather inconveniently interrupted by the zombie apocalypse, you see.  She planned to commit suicide.

Sloane is ready to clock out.  Ironically, it makes her an almost perfect survivor (aside from that pesky death wish).  She takes the crazy things happening inside and doesn't freak out when things go wrong.  And things go wrong, indeed.  Six people who don't trust each other trapped in one building?

THIS IS NOT A TEST is a harrowing, yet fast read.  I couldn't put it down.  I think it took me an hour, maybe an hour and a half total, because I could not wait to know what happened next.  I wanted Sloane and the others to somehow find a way to overcome.  This is not a story where the humans are indistinguishable from the zombies.  The teens have a better nature and they often appeal to it.  (Not that their baser natures don't get in some hits.)  There are reasons to like and dislike all six, but I personally didn't want any of them to die.  (Note to soft-hearted readers: this is a zombie book.)

I couldn't not love THIS IS NOT A TEST.  It's the perfect blend of literary and genre fiction.  One moment the characters are running for their lives; the next they're talking about their feelings.  It's a meditation on guilt and responsibility and truth and being horny.  If you like books with intense, creepy atmosphere and a slightly crazy, suicidal narrator then this is the book for you.

But oh, I think I hate Summers a little for the ending.  That's what happens when you give someone your heart.