Review: Split by Swati Avasthi

Split by Swati Avasthi won the 2010 Cybils category for best YA Fiction. I am not at all surprised. The only thing I am berating myself for is waiting so long to read this book. Despite the numerous amazing reviews I read from bloggers I trust, I put it off. Once I started however, I was pretty much only able to put this book down for work. I had to re-read passages because the reverberations of Jace's emotions could be felt throughout the entire story and frankly, I needed the nuanced language to help me through the incredibly difficult situations this book presents.

Synopsis: Sixteen-Year-Old Jace Witherspoon arrives at the doorstep of his estranged brother Christian with a re-landscaped face (courtesy of his father's fist), $3.84, and a secret.
He tries to move on, going for new friends, a new school, and a new job, but all his changes can't make him forget what he left behind--his mother, who is still trapped with his dad, and his ex-girlfriend, who is keeping his secret.
At least so far.
Worst of all, Jace realizes that if he really wants to move forward, he may first have to do what scares him most: He may have to go back. First-time novelist Swati Avasthi has created a riveting and remarkably nuanced portrait of what happens after. After you've said enough, after you've run, after you've made the split--how do you begin to live again? Readers won't be able to put this intense page-turner down.

Jace is one of the most conflicting, emotionally hardened, and just all around complex characters I have read about in a long time. His struggle to escape his father's abuse is far from poignant, it is just plain old brutal. The author does not try to hide this fact. This book is brutal. But it tackles a topic that I haven't read much about myself. What happens after the fact. The escape is over. The abuse is ostensibly over (though readers know better) and yet, life is not happy and wonderful. It is still pretty damn hard.

There is a lot of horrible in this book. There is a scene involving a nail that was utterly terrible and sad but it showed in a point-blank way the kind of terror, oppression, and violence that Jace and his family were living under. I had a very hard time reading that scene because it was leaping off the pages in a way that is horrible but honest.

There is a lot of gray in this book. Nothing is black and white, not even Jace's father, the abuser. There are several scenes that describe the father as being Jace's savior, as being his friend, as being a father as hard as it is to understand that in the context of an abuser. But there it is. Jace cannot totally hate his father and he feels guilty about that fact. They share soccer, homework, striving to be the best, heck, they share the same features. How do you totally remove someone like that from your life?

Then there is the fact that there is so much damn heart and emotion in this book. I haven't really touched on Christian yet. Christian is Jace's older brother. He is the brother that escaped, that left the abusive cycle and basically made it possible for Jace to step into that position in the family. Christian is a closed-door in many ways. He does not want Jace to ask questions about the past, he just wants to move forward. But yet he cannot because he too has hopes that their mother will finally escape, even as Christian is perhaps more well-versed in the disappointed hopes that revolve around their mother. Christian and Jace reconnecting is brutal in its own way, just as much as the abuse itself. These two are so tentative and frustrated with each other, wanting something from each other that they are perhaps unwilling to truly reach for.

Add in the start of a new life as Jace takes on a new identity while trying to completely hide his past from those around him, well it adds even more layers to this story. The fact is, Jace has a lot to hide and it is not just about his dad. Jace has a big secret of his own that tackles the idea of violence in cycles, as in, is the son doomed to follow the father's footsteps. There is a line in this book, delivered by the vibrant and scary father, that basically shows his stance on women. It is scary to even read that line because in it he basically says that abuse is okay within the institution of marriage. I was agog but yet not because what did I expect really?

This book is not all hopeless however. Jace and Christian start to flourish in their own ways and you start to see the brotherly bond being rebuilt. But perhaps more important, a friendship starts to emerge. A healthy friendship that revolves around gin rummy, running, and yes, the scars of the past. I truly cannot encompass all the feelings and emotions that hit me, one after another, while reading this book. All I can say is read this book. The story, the characters, the situations will hit you powerfully as being realistic and horrible, but yet, knowing there are teens facing these situations daily.

Swati Avasthi has a guaranteed reader for her next book, whenever that may be. I'm already anxious.

Other reviews:
Stacked reviews Split
The Story Siren reviews Split
A Good Addiction reviews Split

In My Mailbox (03)

Sarah Mail!

Two great books this week in the mail that I am excited about.

For review:
Abandon by Meg Cabot (!!!)--The first book in her new series. So excited to read this story.
Miles From Ordinary by Carol Lynch Williams

I also got several new romance books (not pictured) including:
The Sweetest Thing by Jill Shalvis
Pleasure Me by Monica Burns
When You Dare by Lori Foster

Good week of books I think!

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren and if you want to participate, go ahead to her website for all the details.

What did you get in the mail this week?

Two Years on the Job

I have been a teen librarian for two years now, my anniversary was this month. It’s been my first true professional librarian job and I’ve enjoyed just about every aspect of it. I’ve learned a lot and hopefully have helped my coworkers and the teens I serve find new books and better understand the teen “mind” so to speak.

Upon reflection, there are several things that jump to mind about my first two years and what I’ve gained from this job. For my own memory-keeping, I’m going to talk about them here.

1. You must love teens. Seriously, if you are going to go into this profession and you don’t like teens, don’t do it. Also, even if you like teens but perhaps aren’t very good at interacting with them, don’t do it. (Reflecting on a coworker I have.) I am always somewhat awkward around little kids, while adults tend to annoy and frustrate me to a large extent. But teens, they are a wonderful group who excite, frustrate, and keep me engaged in my job.

2. Technology! I am one of the few under thirty people in my library district so unfortunately, the rest of my library coworkers come to me with any and all technology related questions, even though I am not always the best source. If someone needs to put music on their MP3 player, they call me. If someone is trying to move images from a camera to a USB drive, they call me. This is both good and bad because frankly I get sick of being the go-to technology person. (Fortunately this year my library is hiring an actual technology librarian so this will hopefully soon be alleviated.) I like technology and enjoy gaining experience with new things (Kindles, nooks, android, etc) but it can be hard being the one person everyone calls on for their questions.

3. Programming. Sometimes I think I have the best program idea ever and then… it flops totally. Or sometimes when I’m pressed for time I find a rather easy to do but perhaps not necessarily too exciting program (Cubee Crafts for example) and bang, twenty teens are there having the time of their life. It sometimes seems like a shot in the dark to find that perfect program but when it works well, it’s a beautiful thing to observe. I love seeing teens helping each other, laughing, and having a great time.

4. Coworkers. Love them or hate them, they are a fact of life, and in library land, there are some bitter, angry souls out there who you just wonder why they are even working with the public. Fortunately, there are some great librarians around too, and I happen to have quite a few at my job. They become my sounding board and my venting board because let me tell you, if you don’t rant about what Crazy Person A or Crazy Person X does from time to time, you will explode. Or at least I will.

5. Teen Librarians. They just do not seem to garner the same respect the adult reference bunch does, or heck, even the children’s librarians. It’s crazy town, but sometimes when I tell other librarians I am the teen services librarian for my library, they kind of look at me odd. Now, it could be in my imagination except for the fact I know it’s not. For some reason, working with teens is frowned upon. Frankly, it’s demoted even in terms of pay grade. It’s just not the popular thing to be a teen services librarian even though they need an advocate just as much as any other age group. But be aware, this is probably the least liked age group in terms of library users so you may just get some flack for working with them.

6. Storytimes. I never thought I’d be leading storytimes during grad school because as I said, I’m awkward around small children. I have found out however that storytimes are a true delight and frankly, the kids do not at all care how you behave, how well you read or sing, they just want to have fun, so with that attitude in mind, storytimes have become a lot more manageable for me. I’ll never be a true performer like a few of my coworkers are, but I can break out in song or finger play with the best of them.

7. Continuing education. Look for it everywhere and take advantage of any opportunity that arises. I’ve attended quite a few early childhood education events at my local community college to help strengthen those skills. I’ve done presentations, I’ve written successful grants. And when it comes down to it, because of these things, I’ve built up a good reputation with my administration where they will say yes to a lot of what I want to do. It’s a good feeling.

8. Take risks. Get yourself out of your comfort zone, whether that is reading, certain programs, or getting involved in your local community. All of that will help you meet teens, meet key players in your community who can help you help teens, and will just make you a more approachable figure as an advocate for teens.

9. Read teen books! Seriously one would think this would be patently obvious but it is not. I have a “teen” librarian in my district who never reads teen books. Like, ever. She has no knowledge of teen writers outside some of the “big” names (Green, Johnson, Meyer) and really has no clue that teens hardly read some of those same writers. While I cannot claim to be the world’s fastest reader, I do read a lot and that helps me use the books in my collection for teens. It’s obvious but yet it isn’t to all I guess.

10. Cuts will happen. When they do, advocate for more money of course because once lost, it’s nearly impossible to regain. But, try to keep a positive mind and do the best you can with what may remain. My library has faced some cuts this fiscal year and they haven’t been kind but we are persevering.


I love my job. I feel incredibly lucky that I live in a community that is passionate about its libraries. Yes, there are the crazy people, but I have many wonderful teens and many wonderful library users in general. There are certainly worse places to work (believe me, after hearing some of the patrons’ stories, I know this to be true.)

Review: Wither by Lauren Destefano

Wither by Lauren Destefano is the first book in her new Chemical Garden trilogy and it starts the trilogy off with a bang. It is one of the more original and well-written dystopians I have read in awhile.

Synopsis: Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left. (From Goodreads.com)


Rhine is taken hostage after she answers an ad looking for work. It is a ruse, devised to grab brides for a House Governor. Rhine is chosen because of her eyes, a rare pair, the left blue and the right brown, a product of heterochromia. Of course, it does not hurt that she is also lovely and resembles House Governor Linden's first bride, Rose. But Rhine wants to be free. She has no desire to be any man's bride, even knowing her years are numbered. At sixteen, she is four years from death at the ripe old age of twenty. Linden is also close to death the nearer he gets to twenty-five. (I hope there ends up being a logical reason why men live longer than women in this world because it irks me.)

Rhine is also contending with her two sister brides, almost nineteen year old Jenna, and small and sassy thirteen year old Cecily, the girl who truly wants to be a bride. She was orphaned and this is her first real chance at a life, at opulence and some semblance of a true home. Rhine just wants to go home to Manhattan to her twin brother, Rowan, who she knows is busy searching for her. He will never find her in Florida though. There seems to be no way out of the hell Rhine finds herself in. It is a sly and insidious prison, making her confused. Linden is not awful. His father, Housemaster Vaughn, on the other hand is an evil tyrant who is doing medical experiments in the basement of the grand house, all in the name of finding an antidote to cure and save his son. Rhine has her doubts. Then there is the mysterious Gabriel, an attendant who brings Rhine her food. He has never really had freedom while Rhine craves it. A tentative friendship is built but can it last against the pressures of being a sister wife?

There are several interesting dynamics playing out in this book. Yes, it is dystopian, but is one of my favorite type of dystopians because it takes what is already real in the world, what is already being experimented on and turns it just a bit, twists it to make it an intriguing story. It isn't filled with new jargon or wild plans that doomed the world, instead its filled with human infallibility and the belief we can do anything without consequences. But there are consequences and the fact that thirteen year old girls are being forced into wedlock, forced to have babies, is a consequence.

I also really enjoyed the relationship that developed between Rhine, Jenna, and Cecily. Each girl is markedly different and those differences show up on the page. I would not call them friends, or even sisters in sympathy at the life they are now in. Perhaps unwitting comrades, particularly with Rhine and Jenna. Cecily is a different matter altogether because she revels in her new life in many ways, even while still acting like a young girl because in fact, she is a young girl. There is different motivations about the marriage running in each girl's head.

Then there is the Linden dynamic. He is not an evil guy. In fact, he is breathtakingly naive about so many things, as Rhine discovers. Her pretending costs her because as much as she wants to despise him, she cannot. He is suffering too and is in fact a much more multi-faceted character than I expected.

Even Gabriel and Rhine's little romance did not bother me, as dystopian romances tend to do. For one, it isn't a real romance, at least not yet. I don't think Rhine has it in her to fall in love yet. She just wants to get out, to be with her brother. There is not necessarily a romance based on love, more like a loss because Rhine wants to get out and she wants to expose Gabriel to true freedom. If anything, I felt like they were very good friends with the potential for more. And that potential will be explored I'm assuming, given that there are two more books to follow.

Locked up in that house, with just servants and her sister wives, well this was an intriguing set-up. The rest of the world did in fact feel blocked out and I had to wonder how Rhine would ever escape. Pretense is hard to keep up when the facts are pointing to no escape.

Wither kept me captivated. I am intrigued enough to want to read more and given that I am basically sick to death of sequels this is a huge compliment. I want to see what happens to Rhine, where her escape takes her, and if there will be more of Housemaster Vaughn's diabolical plan. And, like Harry Potter's famous eyes, I want to know what role Rhine's eyes will play in her story. 

Lauren Destefano takes such normal concepts (love, marriage, babies, even death) and gives them a perverse twist, making for a very enjoyable reading adventure.

Wither releases in March 2011. 


ARC edition provided by Around the World Tours.

A loss for the YA writing community

Really, really sad news tonight. Author L.K. Madigan has lost her struggle with pancreatic cancer.

L.K. Madigan released two books, Flash Burnout (winner of the 2010 Morris Award) and The Mermaid's Mirror. I haven't read either book unfortunately and now... wow.

Cancer takes way too many good people at way too young of an age. Here's hoping this author's legacy lives on through her contributions to the world of young adult literature.

Review: Alive and Well in Prague, New York by Daphne Grab

Alive and Well in Prague, New York by Daphne Grab is a book I kept seeing in my teen section at work and I kept meaning to read. Finally, I did this past weekend. While I still love the cover to bits, the contents didn't quite live up to what the story could have been, at least for me.

Synopsis: Matisse Osgood is a New York City girl through and through. She buys her clothes at Andy's Cheapies, watches indie films at the Angelika, and wouldn't be caught dead on a hayride. But when her father gets sick and Matisse's parents decide to leave Man-hattan for a small town in upstate New York, her perfect world crumbles. As Matisse trudges through life in Prague, she dreams of waking up in her apartment on West 78^th Street with a father who's well enough to walk with her in Central Park and a mother who doesn't pretend that everything is okay. When rumors surround Matisse at school and her father's symptoms worsen, Matisse realizes that the friends she's making in Prague are the kind you can count on. They help Matisse find the strength to reach out to her father, who may not be as far from her as she thought. And one particular farm boy shows Matisse that country living is a lot more magical than she ever imagined.

When Matisse moves to rural New York, she is not happy. And while part of it is that she is going from the very urbane New York City, mostly it is because she is now in a rural area and will have an even more difficult time of hiding her father's struggle with Parkinson's disease. Their family is falling apart, ignoring the illness that is causing her father pain, that took away his career as a sculptor and that sent their family into a totally new environment. Matisse is not happy, she is mostly sad and confused and just wants a friend at her new high school. But she also does not want to let that friend into her life, not really any way. She wants to keep her family hidden, her problems hidden, and just pretend that things are all right.

This book deals with some very familiar teen lit themes: loneliness, fear, parental issues, and trying to make friends. It all sounds good but unfortunately, this book just skims along the surface of the book, never really digging into what any one is feeling, least of all Matisse. Yes, they start to talk a bit eventually near the end of the book but it just felt too little too late. Matisse spends much of the time smothering what she is feeling and unfortunately that feeling comes out in the book's narrative because the emotions just never leap off the page.

There are also several plot threads dealing with Matisse's new friends that just end up dangling at the story's end, particularly a plot thread involving Hal, Matisse's new neighbor. There is a lot of potential in this book for much stronger emotions, for the potential to be truly engaged and in-tune with what the characters are feeling but I just never got there.

That being said, this book is a quick and easy read and it's a satisfying enough contemporary story. I think teens will definitely identify with much of what Matisse goes through during the story and may empathize with her. I liked the interest in farming that Hal expresses throughout the story because it's something a bit different than many other teen characters express interest in.

Alive and Well in Prague, New York was an okay story for me. Matisse isn't a flat character but I would have loved to have seen a bit more complexity in her emotions and conflicts.

Other reviews:
Presenting Lenore reviews Alive and Well in Prague, New York
Ticket To Anywhere reviews Alive and Well in Prague, New York

Review: The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal

I first heard about The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal from a Goodreads friend and it sounded like a very appealing story. I haven't read anything truly fantasy based in quite awhile so when I saw this book come through on my library's new book cart, I snatched it up in the hopes that it may improve my reading slump. Lo and behold, it did! This is a real gem of a story that frankly, I haven't seen nearly enough about it on the YA Blogosphere so I'm here to tell you, this book is worth a read.

Synopsis: Princess and heir to the throne of Thorvaldor, Nalia's led a privileged life at court.  But everything changes when it's revealed, just after her sixteenth birthday, that she is a false princess, a stand-in for the real Nalia, who has been hidden away for her protection.  Cast out with little more than the clothes on her back, the girl now called Sinda must leave behind the city of Vivaskari, her best friend, Keirnan, and the only life she's ever known.
Sinda is sent to live with her only surviving relative, an aunt who is a dyer in a distant village. She is a cold, scornful woman with little patience for her newfound niece, and Sinda proves inept at even the simplest tasks.  But when Sinda discovers that magic runs through her veins - long-suppressed, dangerous magic that she must learn to control - she realizes that she can never learn to be a simple village girl.
Returning to Vivaskari for answers, Sinda finds her purpose as a wizard scribe, rediscovers the boy who saw her all along, and uncovers a secret that could change the course of Thorvaldor's history, forever.

I will say, while reading this, I was reminded very strongly of my adoration of all things Harry Potter. And not in any way because the author copied JK Rowling by any means. There was just a flavor to the story that reminded me of why I fell in love with the Harry Potter series. Wizards, a wizard college, magic, identity issues, all these things carried overtones of Harry's dilemmas. But, enough about Harry. I want to talk about Sinda, the false princess. She was raised to believe she was the heir to Thorvaldor but as she finds out, this is not true. A prophecy scared her "parents," leading them to the decision to switch the real Nalia with Sinda, in the hopes that if the prophecy came true, Sinda would be killed instead. (Wonderful parents, right?)

Sinda's world is badly, badly shaken up and it shows as she goes from the high court of Thorvaldor to the rural area of Treb to live with the aunt she has never met. It is there, in Treb, that Sinda starts to discover her true powers. She has magic, lots of it, just bursting out and waiting to damage to someone. Sinda knows she has to get control over her magic, learn to use it properly, so she naively believes she can go back to the city and be accepted into the wizard's college. But again, another letdown. Truly, all of Sinda's hopes and dreams, her goals seem to smash about her feet initially. But hope is on the horizon and Sinda has the will to learn, even if learning magic is not nearly as easy as learning multiple languages or any of the other "courtly" talents she was forced to learn all her life.

This story worked for me on many levels, from the world building which was different, yet familiar enough to me that I could picture it in my head. I am not a fan of overcomplicated fantasy worlds, I need some familiar and "normal" activities, jobs, and recognizable facts of life to ground me, and this book does that. Also, it has Sinda who is a character who grows into herself. Her world is truly shaken. She is not who she always thought she was, who she was raised to be. Then, who is she? That is what she has to find out. If she is not a princess, and she is not just a normal girl, someone who takes up a trade like her aunt, and if she has magic, what does that mean for her? This story is a quest, both in characterization and in plot.

The secondary characters add much to this story. From Sinda's best friend, Kiernan, who makes her feel things she is not sure about, to the wizard who is helping her learn magic in a most peculiar way, to the villains and to Sinda's friends and foes along the way, they all help keep this story moving at a brisk pace. While I was able to predict much of what would happen on Sinda's journey, this did not hinder my enjoyment of the book at all, mostly because I was so able to dig into Sinda's head, feel what she was feeling, her doubts, despairs, triumphs, and hopes. As much as this is an adventure, it is also a quest for Sinda to discover who she is and better understand who she wants to become.

I did sometimes bemoan Sinda's lack of motivation, her willingness just to go along with whatever was thrown at her without putting up much of a fight. She was in many ways the punching bag for a lot of people. But, she did grow up and she did persevere in making such a wrong situation right.

This book is a true gem and it helped pick me out of a reading slump. As the reader, I felt incredibly involved in Sinda's journey to discover herself and the treachery going on in her kingdom. She may not be the princess anymore but with her magic comes the discovery that she wants to make a difference another way, that she can make a difference. I was right along with her as she tried to be a dyer like her aunt, as she hurt her best friend with cruel words, and as she decided to finally take her fate into her own hands and make her identity once again her own. It was a perfect fantasy book for me and I think would greatly appeal to fans of Shannon Hale's The Goose Girl and The Princess Academy.

Other reviews:
The Book Scout reviews The False Princess
The Neverending Shelf reviews The False Princess
Good Books and Good Wine reviews The False Princess

In My Mailbox (02)

Sarah Mail!

I've been incredibly lazy about IMM so far in 2011 but this week I felt inspired to do it again because I got so many books I was excited about.

For review:
Where She Went by Gayle Forman
Bitter End by Jennifer Brown
A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young (for Around the World Tours)
What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

Paperbackswap.com:
The Girl from Mars by Julie Cohen

Bought:
Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer (for my Kindle)

S&S Galley Grab:
We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han (!!!)
Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott

What did you get in the mail this week?

Candy-Making: Messy and Delicious

In honor of February and its annual chocolate deluge, I decided to hold a candy-making program for my teens. I use the term “candy-making” very loosely because it is more apt to describe it as candy-melting. Simple, fun, messy, and the teens had a great time. One boy told me his mom made him come and he was afraid that it was going to be a sit down and listen program where I described how to make candy. He was very happy to discover he got to mess around with candy melts.


The set-up: two microwaves, a long row of covered tables, and a table with three platters holding ice. It was all very easy to do. The teens put chocolate candy melts in the microwave safe (kind of!) bottles, heated them up for 30 or so seconds, squeezed bottles, heated again, then went over to another area of the program room to squeeze the chocolate into different molds I had purchased from Hobby Lobby. Then, they took those molds and set them on the ice covered platters for about five minutes in order for the candy to harden. Finally, they popped the candy out, put it in little baggies to take home, and started the process over again.

I offered chocolate, vanilla, and a blue candy melt that tasted like vanilla. The bottles were labeled because I didn’t want them mixing the candies since it would make the bottles rather ineffective. I also purchased lollipop sticks for some of the molds so the teens could make suckers with them.

It was a relatively cheap program though the preparation was a bit time-consuming. However, grab a few volunteers and have them cover tables and gather the ice while you are getting the room prepped. My library has its own ice machine in the big meeting room so I did not need to purchase ice for the program.

This program has been done before at my library, before I was hired, so my library already had many molds too so for me, the money was spent on the candy melts and the bottles. The day after was probably the most difficult and time-consuming part of the “program” for me so if you have volunteers, use them. Cleaning the bottles and the molds was a giant pain but it got done so that’s all that matters.

This is a fun program and it makes teens happy because it revolves around food. For me, it was a perfect February program. I didn’t just have heart molds either and this was not billed as a Valentine’s program, rather just a candy-making program. But it would work well around Halloween or even Easter, when candy supplies are pretty readily available. I had ten teens turn out and was happy with that number, especially when one of the microwaves overheated and quit working. That left one microwave which made for a bit slower pace in the program but it worked out fine and the teens were really good about waiting their turn and sharing. I was very impressed.

Head on Over to the Hub...

YALSA has a new blog, The Hub, which I am posting on in a semi-regular basis anyway. My first official post is up and live now (with working links now too, phew. That's what I get for messing with it at night.) My royal wedding interest continues and I've created another post dealing with it, lol.

Royal Wedding Party Inspiration--YA Style. Hope you'll head on over and take a look!

And if you haven't had the chance yet, definitely look at my YA Royalty Inspired Booklist.

Cybils Awards!

The judges have spoken and the winners have been announced over at the Cybils. Run, run, RUN over there and discover all the winners for yourself.

I know what book in the YA Fiction category I need to move to the top of my book pile and read asap.

Review: The Girl Who Became a Beatle by Greg Taylor

The Girl Who Became a Beatle by Greg Taylor is a bit of an odd story. Though a contemporary setting, it has a few magical elements that are not really explained, they are just taken as fact in this world. Fairy Godmother transporting Regina to an alternate universe? So be it. The point is not to question how this happens, rather to indulge in what would happen if the Beatles never came into existence. Instead, Regina's band, The Caverns, were the creators of all thing Beatle-mania. Forget John, Paul, George and Ringo. Prepare to meet Regina, Julian, Lorna and Danny.

Synopsis: She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah!
When Regina Bloomsbury’s band, the Caverns, breaks up, she thinks it’s all over. And then she makes a wish—
“I wish I could be as famous as the Beatles.”
The Beatles are her music idols. The next day, she gets up to find that the Caverns are not just as famous as the Beatles, they have replaced them in history! Regina is living like a rock star, and loving it. There are talk shows, music videos, and live concerts with thousands of screaming fans. And Regina is the star of it all.
But fame is getting the better of Regina, and she has a decision to make. Does she want to replace the Beatles forever?
Here is a rocking novel about the good and the bad of Hollywood, fame, and rock ’n roll.

This book actually takes a premise I've thought about before in my life. Not that I wanted to be the Beatles, but something along the lines of what would it be like if I had been the author to write the Harry Potter series? Or what if I had directed the Star Wars movies? It is amusing to fantasize about creating something that becomes so much a part of a world culture. So in some ways, I could buy into Regina's wish to be part of the Beatles, to have created something that famous. When the book opens, The Caverns are on the brink of exinction because Lorna plans on quitting, and with Lorna, goes Danny. Thus, Regan's wish. And when she wakes up, her wish comes true and yeah, it's pretty great. But there are definitely certain facets of being that famous that make her realize that being a member of The Caverns, being a regular teen, has a lot going for it also.

Once Regina was essentially famous, that is where the story just lost me a bit. I couldn't quite fully buy into the fame, especially given some of the explanation that was provided at the end about this alternate world. I do not want to spoil it but it just did not fully work for me. That being said, what did work for the alternative universe and for a teenage character was the confusion and excitement Regina felt at being famous. It was wonderful one minute and terrible the next. That seems to match many of the celebrity lives I follow. Additionally what did ring true was that all of Regina's problems were not solved in this alternate world. Yes, she was now famous but her love life wasn't much better, she still argued furiously with Lorna, and she could not express her feelings to Julian. Her parents were not magically changed either. They too were still facing their same issues. So yes, Regina became famous but in many ways it was just another added layer of pressure.

Unfortunately, there are some plot points that just never fully developed for me. In particular, Regina's relationship with her mom, who was more immature than Regina herself. The entire family dynamic as a whole felt like there were layers that could have been pulled back and exposed more understanding to Regina but it didn't quite happen. And I would have loved to see Regina explore more of her own music, why she was so addicted to the Beatles, why she was so dedicated to The Caverns in the first place. She quickly gets accepted into this fantasy world and basically just goes along with everything, not appreciating her own musical talents.

It's hard for me to imagine a world without the Beatles. They suffuse not only British and American culture but world culture in general with so much from music to movies to quotes to everything. So while I'm sure the Caverns were amazing too, they were never the Beatles in my mind. But then I think that was the author's point. It isn't truly able to BE someone else's story. You have to make your own and Regina has to learn that.

The Girl Who Became a Beatle didn't quite live up to the Beatles' legacy and hype, but I think there are some strong threads in regards to Regina that teens will identify with and in regards to fame.

Other reviews:
A Book Lover's Diary reviews The Girl Who Became a Beatle
SophistiKatied reviews The Girl Who Became a Beatle
The Cazzy Files reviews The Girl Who Became a Beatle


ARC received from the publisher.

Love Story by Jennifer Echols

So, if you know me at all here on the blog, you may realize I absolutely adore Jennifer Echols and her books. Well, today on Twitter she revealed the cover for her new book, Love Story, and I had to share. It sounds excellent, as usual. Despite my severe dislike of all thing horses, I too fall prey to the stablehand/wealthy girl love story so I basically cannot wait to read the book. You can read the entire description on her website: Love Story.

Now... I just need an excerpt.

Review: Falling in Love with English Boys by Melissa Jensen

Falling in Love With English Boys is the perfect choice for a reader such as I who loves anything and everything British and is kind of obsessed with Prince William and his upcoming wedding. It's a light and fluffy story which will make the time pass quickly.

Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Catherine Vernon has been stranded in London for the summer—no friends, no ex-boyfriend Adam the Scum (good riddance!), and absolutely nothing to do but blog about her misery to her friends back home. Desperate for something—anything—to do in London while her (s)mother's off researching boring historical things, Cat starts reading the 1815 diary of Katherine Percival her mom gives her—and finds the similarities between their lives to be oddly close. But where Katherine has the whirls of the society, the parties and the gossip over who is engaged to who, Cat's only got some really excellent English chocolate. Then she meets William Percival—the uber-hot descendant of Katherine—and things start looking up . . .

Cat is not happy to be in England with her mother, at all, at least at first. Fortunately she moves past that rather whiny stage and embraces the wonderful things about England: chocolate, its protests, Hello! and Tatler, and of course, boys. Cat is an energetic teen who is just fun to spend time with on the pages. She reminded me of a teens I know in real life, complaining about many things, but also embracing a lot of unexpected things also. She makes friends easily, despises history no matter how much her mother tries to convince her otherwise, has father issues, and again, embraces the chocolate love. She is not necessarily a new or convoluted character but she makes her time in England fun.

The story is told through blog entries and some tweets. It also flips back and forth from the present and the past, with one Miss Katherine Percival, an English miss in 1815 who is having her first season. While I came to enjoy these sections of the book just as much as Cat's, I also felt that the "historical" sections were a bit too modern. But I don't necessarily hold that against the book, as I said, this is a fun and light read. I was not expecting total historical accuracy. (Though Katherine's quoting of Jane Austen seemed over the top to me and something that is far, far too modern.)

There is a romance, there is wonderful British slang, there are great descriptions of British hot-spots, and just an all around sense of fun in this book. Perhaps a bit less serious than Maureen Johnson's 13 Little Blue Envelopes it is nevertheless a nice European style adventure story. It may be a hit with teen readers who enjoy the S.A.S.S. novels also, though not a series.

So all in all, an imperfectly pleasing story. It was just a fun read and honestly, I was really refreshed after reading it. All the high-stakes emotions of many YA books tend to get to me after awhile so it was nice to read a more pleasant adventure.

ARC received from Around the World Tours.

Life Behind the Reference Desk: Your Questions

So, for my next edition of Life Behind the Reference Desk, I'd like to actually learn what questions YOU have. Is there something you've always been wondering about librarians and libraries? Do you have questions about grad school, what type of library to go into? I'd really like the next time I post to have some answers to your questions so if you've been wondering about something I haven't covered in the previous posts of Life Behind the Reference Desk, please leave a comment or feel free to email me directly. I will ask some of my favorite online librarians to take a look at your questions and give you some straight answers.

Review: Where I Belong by Gwendolyn Heasley

Where I Belong by Gwendolyn Heasley is her February 2011 YA debut. First let me start by saying, I absolutely adore this cover. It's colorful, cute, sweet and a tad romantic even the book itself isn't that romantic.

Synopsis: Corrinne Corcoran’s upscale Manhattan life is perfectly on track—until her father announces he’s been laid off and she’s shipped off to Broken Spoke, Texas, to live with her grandparents. All alone in a big public school and forced to take a job shoveling manure, Corrinne is determined to get back to the glamorous life she’s supposed to be living. But as she grudgingly adjusts—making new friends and finding romance along the way—this city girl begins to realize that life without credit cards and shopping sprees may not be as bad as it seems.... 

This book starts off on an interesting note, with a letter from the main protagonist Corrinne Corcoran in which she essentially says, hey, you probably aren't going to like me very much for a lot of this book. But stick with me, I get better. Fortunately, this is true! While Corrinne doesn't undergo a complete personality change, she does learn to appreciate her Texas roots.


The recession hits Corrinne's family with her father losing his job. This means that Corrinne cannot attend the prestigious boarding school she was all set to attend in September. It also means that the family has to sell their large NYC apartment and try to get rid of the new house they are building on Nantucket. So basically, Corrinne is extremely privileged. She is also kind of bratty and snooty at first. And she whines incessantly. Prepare yourself for this because there is a lot of whining in this book. Corrinne and her younger brother have to move to their mom's hometown, Broken Spoke, Texas, for the time being. Their mother will soon follow but in the meantime, Corrinne gets to spend time with her grandparents she barely knows.


Corrinne goes through a transformation, but it is kind of slow but I actually liked that because I found it more realistic of teenagers. They whine, complain and yes, resist change in many ways and Corrinne is definitely resisting. She is forced to get a job, she has to learn to drive, and she really does not want to spend time with her fellow classmates. But, her attitude does gradually decrease as she makes kind of the best of the situation.


I will say, even by book's end, Corrinne wasn't exactly the most likable character ever. She was still kind of snooty and bratty but there was a better appreciation for her grandparents, for her life in Texas, and for her own family. Yes, she still craved those Barney's shopping sprees but she is also impressed with how great her body looks after some hard manual labor shoveling manure. So you know, take the good and the bad.


There is a small romantic element to this book but I was really excited that it wasn't the main focus because there are not enough books on the market for girls that don't deal with romance. Yes, Corrinne develops a crush but it doesn't take up most of the plot (good thing too cause the guy was a real "winner.") Mostly this is a story of understanding your roots, accepting that there is some good in every situation and just learning to adjust. And life changes quickly for teens so I think they will find something to appreciate in Corrinne's struggle.


Situations to note: there are several scenes of underage teenage drinking. That's about as bad as the book gets but it is something parents may be concerned with. As most teen librarians know, teens do underage drink though so I think it adds another level of reality. And in a small town where there isn't much else to do, well yes, they do turn to drinking.


One of the male leads, and football star, is named Bubby. I never got over this fact throughout the course of the story. I had to say "Bobby" in my head as I was reading because Bubby is not a name, it's a nickname for a grandma. Also, I learned from this book that Texas do not say "you guys." I was shocked. I thought that was pretty universal.


I liked this story well enough. I know in my smaller community, where farming and ranching is still a common family practice, I could booktalk this title easily. It's nothing groundbreaking and it didn't blow my mind but Corrinne has a memorable (if whiny) voice and that kept me reading. Plus, I just love the cover. :)


Where I Belong is available in February 2011.


ARC received from Around the World Tours.

Romance Roundup: February 2011

January was an excellent month of romance reading for me. Read two excellent books with fabulous characters, strong romances and interesting conflict. Most of these are contemporary romances but there are a couple historicals in there.

Icebreaker by Deirdre Martin--Another entry in her New York Blades hockey series and its one of the best books to date. LOVED this book.
Notorious Pleasures by Elizabeth Hoyt--Second book in her Maiden Lane series and an unexpected reading surprise for me. Truly, didn't think I'd like Hero's book this much but I did. I'm on tenterhooks waiting for Silence's story however.
Once Upon a Scandal by Delilah Marvelle--Okay historical.
Animal Magnetism by Jill Shalvis--As usual, I love her contemporary romances. Sweet and sexy and and easy story to read.
Not That Kind of Girl by Susan Donovan--One of her better books recently and my favorite of her dog walker series.

I read more romances in January than I did YA which has to change and will this month but sometimes there is something so easy about finishing a book within a couple of hours which I do not necessarily do with YA titles, much as I love them.

If you decide to read any of these titles, I'd love to hear what you think!

Review: Sorta Like a Rock Star by Matthew Quick

Need a pick me up? Need a book to lift your spirits? Sorta Like a Rock Star by Matthew Quick is just that. It is pretty hard to not fall for Amber Appleton and her friends.

Synopsis: Amber Appleton lives in a bus. Ever since her mom's boyfriend kicked them out, Amber, her mom, and her totally loyal dog, Bobby Big Boy (aka Thrice B) have been camped out in the back of Hello Yellow (the school bus her mom drives). Still, Amber, the self-proclaimed princess of hope and girl of unyielding optimism, refuses to sweat the bad stuff. But when a fatal tragedy threatens Amber's optimism--and her way of life, can Amber continue to be the rock star of hope? With an oddball cast of characters, and a heartwarming, inspiring story, this novel unveils a beautifully beaten-up world of laughs, loyalty, and hard-earned hope.

Amber Appleton is not your average teen. She lives on a bus with her mom and doesn't exactly have the easiest life in the world. However, she is one of the most optimistic characters you will ever meet. She makes friends with a wide variety of people from Father Chee and the Korean Divas for Christ; Private Jackson and Miss Jenny, and with Ricky Roberts, her best friend. Amber is truly one of a kind and you will have great fun getting to know her (even if the use of the word True drives you bonkers, like it did me at first). But this book just isn't about Amber's optimism and her desire to help others, it is also about getting through some of the worst moments life has to offer.


Amber is a character who has deep faith in Jesus Christ (JC as she refers to him) and while this book is about her faith it is also about testing that faith. This is not a "Christian teen novel" though. Yes, religion and faith play a role in the plot but it is about the amazing Amber and her supportive friends. I love the way the author deals with faith and entwines it very deeply in Amber's character. This is also an urban novel though. Homelessness, college hopes, the realities of attending a school where funding is on the cutting block, and the realities of being part of a group of outcasts. Teens are going to find a lot to identify with in Sorta Like a Rock Star.

For me, this was just a fabulous story. I did have a bit of a struggle initially getting past Amber's use of language. However, in retrospect this is probably how most teens talk when they are not around adults and authority figures. I truly felt Amber's crisis of faith was authentic and genuine, invoking the questions anyone would ask when a tragedy strikes. I also liked the aspect of community coming together for someone they truly care about. Amber truly took the time to get to know people, to spend time with them, and it shows in how they reciprocate when life is at its worst for Amber.

Amber Appleton. Even the name brings a smile to my face. She is a one of a kind character and will stand out long after the story ends. In my mind, she is definitely a rock star.

Other reviews:
Stacked reviews Sorta Like a Rock Star
Librarian By Day reviews Sorta Like a Rock Star
Opinionated? Me? reviews Sorta Like a Rock Star

Life Behind the Reference Desk featuring Julia K. Riley

Welcome to another edition of Life Behind the Reference Desk! I am excited today to bring you librarian and blogger, Julia K. Riley, who blogs at Spine Label (and isn't that an apropos library blog name?). You can also find her on Twitter @JuliaKRiley. I only recently "met" Julia but I loved hearing about her job and what she does for her community. And I am truly enjoying her blog so I definitely hope you will visit, she has some great things to say about the books she is reading. Julia lives in Austin, Texas, so I feel bereft that I did not ask her some awesome Texas questions during this interview, but alas, instead I asked her other things. Enjoy and definitely check out her blog!

1. What makes you passionate about your job?
I love working with teens! Teens are so creative and passionate about their interests. I hung out at the public library quite a bit as a young teen and the books I discovered there (namely, Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block) really influenced me. I know first hand what a difference a public library with a well-curated YA collection can make, and I love knowing that I'm creating that for teens in the community I serve.

2. What types of programs or outreach do you do at your library?
For teens, I coordinate the teen advisory group that meets once a month. It's still a fledgling group, so I don't do a ton of other specialized teen programming. During the summer reading program, I do a weekly teen program (usually something crafty). And I always try to do something for Teen Read Week and Teen Tech Week. For younger kids, I coordinate a kids-reading-to-dogs program with the Austin Dog Alliance, and I recently started doing family storytime occasionally (I share this program with two other staff members). During the month of November, our library participates in National Novel Writing Month, which is actually all-ages but ends up mostly being adults, and I share those programs with the adult services coordinator.

3. What has been your path to librarianship? Have you always wanted to be a librarian?
I studied mass communication in undergrad, with an emphasis on print journalism. I was a couple of semesters away from graduation when I realized I cared more about how people access information rather than creating it. I truly wish I could remember the "aha!" moment where I decided to look into library science, but I can't. The more I read about librarianship, the more I was convinced it was the career path for me. I completed my undergraduate degree in December 2006 and started library school the next semester.

Growing up (even though high school), I was always praised for my writing ability. It seemed natural to pursue a career that depended on the strength of my writing skills, but I was never as passionate about journalism as I am about library science. Fortunately, I feel like I make good use of my undergraduate degree on a daily basis. Being able to write clearly and concisely is a good skill to have!

4. Can you talk about your role in your library? You have your MLS but are not working in a traditional “librarian” position. As anyone working in a library knows, the paraprofessional staff is essential to a smooth work environment. Do you feel you are making good use of your degree?
I was hired for my current position during my first year of library school. I started around the same time as the director, so my position (which was initially just working the circulation desk) really became what I was interested in (and capable of) doing. The library didn't (and doesn't) have a children's librarian, and I eventually became responsible for selecting and cataloging all of the youth materials. The reference librarian had already set the wheels in motion for starting a teen advisory group, so I took over that project, too. I still do my time on the circulation desk, though. I do feel like I make good use of my degree, because my day-to-day responsibilities are are the same as most youth services librarians. It's frustrating, because I'm not being compensated (though the city does pay me for having degrees my position doesn't require... but it's not much!) near the amount of being in an librarian position. Still, I'm gaining experience every day and I have health insurance, so I can't complain too much!

5. Do you have any advice for librarians interested in starting a blog?
I think of the best things about our field is how willingly people share information (it seems only natural!). It's great to read a lot of library blogs but it's even better to be a part of the conversation. If you're thinking about starting a blog, my advice would be to just go for it. Everyone has something to say, and only good things can come from it (well, assuming you don't use it to dump all over your boss or other coworkers).

6. You recently just finished up serving on the Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults selection committee and wrote a really great post about it. Do you have any advice for YALSA members excited to work on a selection committee?
Any words of wisdom? It's a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. Don't hold off on applying because you think you won't be appointed to a committee-- you might be surprised!

7.  What has been a recent favorite program or event at your library?
We did a family program, just before the holidays, for making snowglobes. It was supposed to be a two-hour program, but we ran out of supplies in the first 15 minutes or so. It was probably the craziest program I've ever been a part of, but it was one of my favorites because so often I have programs where only a handful of people show up (or worse, none at all!). It's great to see the community get a little over-excited about a program.

8. What is one website you find useful in your work?
Definitely the blogs of all the other fabulous librarians who have been a part of your "Life Behind the Reference Desk" series! But besides the obvious, yalit.com is a great resource for keeping up with what books are coming out when. I like to browse craft sites like Craftster and Cut Out and Keep for teen craft ideas, and I skim Mashable's social media section, too.

9. Do you have any advice for students interesting in pursuing an MLS degree?
Be prepared for a long job hunt, especially if you are limited geographically (as I am). Diversify your skills as much as possible (without being too all over the place), but find a way to be a rock star in one particular area. Volunteer or intern in a variety of places-- even if you know you want to work in a public library, see if you can get some experience at a special library of some type. The experience will come in handy when the public library has a hiring freeze. Go to as many conferences as possible and network, network, network. And definitely read Rethinking Information Work by G. Kim Dority.

10.  And everyone wants to know, what are you reading?
Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters by Natalie Standiford

Month in review: January 2011

January 2011 proved to be a good reading month for me. Maybe having 31 days helped? No idea but I read nearly 20 books!

1. Mad Love by Suzanne Selfors (1/3/11)
2. Will Work For Prom Dress by Aimee Ferris (1/6/11)
3. Harmonic Feedback by Tara Kelly (1/7/11)
4. How to Woo a Reluctant Lady by Sabrina Jeffries (1/8/11)
5. Girl Saves Boy by Steph Bowe (1/13/11)
6. Please Ignore Vera Dietz by AS King (1/14/11)
7. Stolen by Lucy Christopher (1/15/11)
8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling (1/17/11)**
9. Animal Magnetism by Jill Shalvis (1/20/11)
10. Choker by Elizabeth Woods (1/21/11)
11. Sorta Like a Rock Star by Matthew Quick (1/22/11)
12. Under His Hand by Anne Calhoun (1/22/11)
13. Starstruck by Cyn Balog (1/23/11)
14. Nothing by Janne Teller (1/23/11)
15. Not That Kind of Girl by Susan Donovan (1/24/11)
16. Any Man of Mine by Rachel Gibson (1/28/11)
17. Trapped by Michael Northrop (1/28/11)
18. Notorious Pleasures by Elizabeth Hoyt (1/30/11)
19. Not Another Bad Date by Rachel Gibson (1/30/11)**

Favorite book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (so glad I re-read that book!); Notorious Pleasures by Elizabeth Hoyt was also magnificent.
Most disappointing: Nothing by Janne Teller. (Not sure what I was expecting but it just left me feeling unconvinced.)

You can follow all my reading progress on books read in 2011.

Did you have a favorite January read? Something you were very disappointed with?