Paper Towns

From Publisher's Weekly..

Green melds elements from his Looking for Alaskaand An Abundance of Katherines— the impossibly sophisticated but unattainable girl, and a life-altering road trip—for another teen-pleasing read. Weeks before graduating from their Orlando-area high school, Quentin Jacobsen's childhood best friend, Margo, reappears in his life, specifically at his window, commanding him to take her on an all-night, score-settling spree. Quentin has loved Margo from not so afar (she lives next door), years after she ditched him for a cooler crowd. Just as suddenly, she disappears again, and the plot's considerable tension derives from Quentin's mission to find out if she's run away or committed suicide. Margo's parents, inured to her extreme behavior, wash their hands, but Quentin thinks she's left him a clue in a highlighted volume of Leaves of Grass. Q's sidekick, Radar, editor of a Wikipedia-like Web site, provides the most intelligent thinking and fuels many hilarious exchanges with Q. The title, which refers to unbuilt subdivisions and “copyright trap” towns that appear on maps but don't exist, unintentionally underscores the novel's weakness: both milquetoast Q and self-absorbed Margo are types, not fully dimensional characters. Readers who can get past that will enjoy the edgy journey and off-road thinking. Ages 12–up. 

I read this because it is being turned into a movie, and I know students will be requesting it when school starts in August.  This is the third John Green book I've read and so far my least favorite.  I did not think Margo's character believable!  

I am Malala

From Publisher's Weekly...

Adapted with McCormick (Never Fall Down) from the adult bestseller, this inspiring memoir by activist Yousafzai sketches her brave actions to champion education in Pakistan under the Taliban. Her father runs a school in the Swat Valley, where Malala proves an eager student; as the Taliban gains influence, she increasingly becomes an international spokesperson for girls' right to learn. The narrative begins with a prologue in which a Taliban gunman boards her school bus and asks, "Who is Malala?" The authors then offer insight into the cultural and political events leading up to the shooting that followed and Yousafzai's dramatic recovery. Yousafzai highlights the escalating tensions as the Taliban takes hold—including the strictures against girls attending school, the obliteration of Western influence, violence, and the eventual war—but also brings the universal to life as she quarrels with her brothers, treasures her best friend, and strives to earn top grades. A glossary, color photo inserts, and an extensive timeline help establish context. It's a searing and personal portrait of a young woman who dared to make a difference. Ages 10–up. 

Good! Inspiring!

Slated

From Publisher's Weekly..

Memory loss and near-future dystopia have been popular YA themes of late, and while debut author Terry’s dystopia is not always convincing—absent a large-scale catastrophe, it’s hard to believe society is going to give up its gadgetry—her treatment of medically induced amnesia is intriguing. Kyla Davis, who knows that’s not her real name, is 16 and emerging from nine months in the hospital after being “Slated,” or having her memory erased. She is preoccupied with observing and drawing her surroundings, studying them for clues to her old identity. This, readers are told, is unusual, though every “Slater” described in the book differs from the supposed “blank-brained” norm. One is Amy, Kyla’s black adoptive sister; another is Ben, a kind classmate with a knack for discovering information. There is little by way of conventional plot; the focus is on Kyla’s unfolding awareness and gradual piecing together of the puzzle that is her past. Intriguing, yes, but also frustrating—at the end of this book (a sequel arrives next year in the U.K.), there’s much left to happen in the plot. Ages 12–up. 

I agree with the points in the review, but I did find this book entertaining and would like to read the next in the series.  

Mr. Penumbra's 24-House Bookstore

From Publisher's Weekly...

For those who fear that the Internet/e-readers/whatever-form-of-technological-upheaval-is-coming has killed or will kill paper and ink, Sloan’s debut novel will come as good news. A denizen of the tech world and self-described “media inventor” (formerly he was part of the media partnerships team at Twitter), Sloan envisions a San Francisco where piracy and paper are equally useful, and massive data-visualization–processing abilities coexist with so-called “old knowledge.” Really old: as in one of the first typefaces, as in alchemy and the search for immortality. Google has replaced the Medici family as the major patron of art and knowledge, and Clay Jannon, downsized graphic designer and once-and-future nerd now working the night shift for bookstore owner Mr. Penumbra, finds that mysteries and codes are everywhere, not just in the fantasy books and games he loved as a kid. With help from his friends, Clay learns the bookstore’s idiosyncrasies, earns his employer’s trust, and uses media new, old, and old-old to crack a variety of codes. Like all questing heroes, Clay takes on more than he bargained for and learns more than he expected, not least about himself. His story is an old-fashioned tale likably reconceived for the digital age, with the happy message that ingenuity and friendship translate across centuries and data platforms. 

I thought this was just ok...

Far Far Away

From Publisher's Weekly..
2013 YA National Book Award nominee

The ghost of Jacob Grimm—one of the famous fairy-tale collecting brothers—communicates with a lonely boy who is a clairaudient (someone who hears spirits) in this rich and often bone-chilling story. Trapped in "the space between" Earth and the afterlife, Jacob constantly accompanies Jeremy, offering him comfort, affection, and cerebral commentary about Jeremy's life that only the boy can hear. Jacob believes that by protecting Jeremy he can finally move on after 200 years and reunite with his deceased brother. But when Jacob fails to see the source of the danger threatening Jeremy, he must harness all of his ethereal resources to save the boy he loves and ensure a chance at a happy ending. In addition to recounting pieces from the Grimms' stories, McNeal—in his first solo novel for teens—weaves in fantastical fairy-tale details into this inventive and deeply poignant narrative, creating a world that hovers between realism and enchantment. Jacob's tale is menacing, at times terrifying, and often strange—much like the stories collected by the Brothers Grimm. Ages 12 – up. 

Entertaining, although not terribly scary.  

As Chimney Sweepers ome to Dust: A Flavia de Luce Novel

From Publisher's Weekly...

Set in 1951, Bradley’s exceptional seventh series whodunit (after 2014’s The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches) takes Flavia de Luce, a preteen with an interest in poisons, from her family home in Bishop’s Lacey, England, to Canada, where she is to attend her late mother’s alma mater, Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy. On Flavia’s very first night there, a fellow student, P.A. Collingwood, bursts into her room and reveals that three other girls have disappeared. When the head of school, Miss Fawlthorne (aka the Hangman’s Mistress), knocks at Flavia’s door, Collingwood flees up the chimney, dislodging a mummified corpse and detaching its skull. This intriguing setup only gets better, and Bradley makes Miss Bodycote’s a suitably Gothic setting for Flavia’s sleuthing. Through it all, her morbid narrative voice continues to charm (e.g., “If you’re anything like me, you adore rot. It is pleasant to reflect on the fact that decay and decomposition are what make the world go round”). 

Wonderful!