McNally Jackson Kids

Teen Review

When You Were Here

Daisy Whitney

Pub 6-2013, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Love and loss are two of the most powerful experiences the human soul can have. One is filled with joy and awakening, the other with sorrow and longing. Yet they often go hand-in-hand: One brings pain, and the other healing. This is the overarching theme of Daisy Whitney’s When You Were Here, the story of a young man trying to find closure after his mother’s death. He manages to find love in ways that bring unexpected healing.

Two months before his graduation, Danny Kellerman’s mother lost her battle with cancer. After losing his father six years before, and his adopted sister more or less deserting his family, Danny really doesn’t think he can take much more. Searching for solace, he flies to his family’s old apartment in Tokyo. There, he meets Kana, a girl with whom he forms an unlikely friendship. While dealing with his mother’s death, Danny also trying to figure out why Holland, his childhood companion and onetime girlfriend, has been acting distant. During his time in Tokyo, Danny discovers that his mother had found a method of healing that may not have saved her life, but did provide comfort for her soul.

Love is the driving force in When You Were Here, and appears in many different forms. There is the love that existed between Danny and his mother: the unconditional, ever-present kind only found between a parent and a child. There is the love between Danny and Kana: not romantic, but a strong brother-sister bond that forms after only a few weeks. And there is the love between Danny and Holland: one which proves that, even in the face of tragedy and distance, when two people are meant to be together, they will find a way. The forms love assumes in this story enable Danny to find healing and hope.

As a person who has never experienced the loss of a parent, I can’t say with a hundred percent authority that this book tackles grief in an authentic way.

However, what I have witnessed in the lives of others leads me to believe that this is an honest, very well-written account of the grieving process. At the beginning, Danny is angry and confused, but by the end he has reached a point of closure and assurance. Yes, he has gone through a horrible experience, but healing is possible. His development as a character is without flaw; Danny changes from a person who can’t see what good can come from tragedy, to someone who is ready to move forward.

Brilliantly executing the difficult themes of love and death, Daisy Whitney has created a story that tells the truth about grief: It is difficult to endure, but there is always a way to move on. If death is the cut, then love is the balm that heals the wounds Danny has incurred.

- Rachel P., 17

Teen Review

Kiss Me Again

Rachel Vail

Pub 12-2012, HarperTeen

He closed the distance I’d opened up between us and kissed me lightly on the lips. “Maybe we can just be,” Kevin whispered.

Rachel Vail is the author of over sixteen young adult novels and countless other books for children. Her latest novel, Kiss Me Again, the sequel to If We Kiss, is a contemporary teen story that pushes boundaries both romantic and familial. This isn’t a story that you hear all the time, but it  found a way into my heart with its twists and turns.

Kiss Me Again picks up where If We Kiss ended. Charlie Collins explains how much has changed since last year: Her mother is now married to the father of her crush, Kevin Lazarus, so Kevin is now her stepbrother. Charlie is making all kinds of mistakes — especially with her best friend, whose trust she has to earn back after dating Kevin when Tess was dating him. To make things more odd, Charlie and Kevin are still in love, but their parents don’t know about it.

Vail uses this scenario to show how complicated romance can be for  teenagers. Charlie and Kevin have to live under the same roof, and they don’t want to upset the balance. Maybe it’s better sometimes for parents not to know things! But keeping things from parents can also make them more difficult. Because, even though their love is so complicated, Charlie and Kevin aren’t willing to let it go.

When, in If We Kiss, Tess noticed Charlie and Kevin together all the time, she wasn’t happy about it. But even though Charlie didn’t want to hurt her friends’ feelings, she realized she couldn’t make everyone happy. She was faced with a very difficult choice: What did she want the most? She learned that her real friends would stick around despite her choice of boyfriend, even if they weren’t as close as they were before.

Charlie is faced with a similar problem in Kiss Me Again: What does she want most? Does she want to be with Kevin or does she want to keep the peace at home? If she’s with Kevin, their parents will find out and they might break up. Charlie couldn’t live with the guilt. At the same time, she and Kevin can’t keep their love a secret forever. What will Charlie do?

Like my favorite  love stories, this one has a happy ending. We don’t find out what happens with Charlie and Kevin, suggesting that there may be a third book (hopefully!) in the series. But Kiss Me Again shows us how to forgive and just love what we have for the moment. It also leaves curiosity in the reader’s  head with the last chapter. Kiss Me Again is a great book for all teens still learning about the ins and outs of romance.

- Nisi S., 17

Teen Review

Orleans

Sherri L. Smith

Pub 3-2013, Putnam Juvenile

Sherri L. Smith’s new novel, Orleans, takes place in the future city of Orleans. Orleans has been destroyed over and over again by ongoing hurricanes. A Delta Fever has killed off most of the citizens, and the government has the city under quarantine. The remaining survivors, in the walled off city, all have the fever in their blood. People live with their blood type tribe. The book’s protagonist, Fen de la Guerre, has O positive blood, meaning that she carries the fever in her blood but will not have health problems from it.

Fen knows nothing about life beyond the wall; for all she knows, there is no life beyond the wall. Fen grew up in a religious school. When she was little, her parents decided to leave the school and go back to tribe life. Blood hunters attacked the family of three as they looked for a safe home. Fen’s parents told her to run, and not to come back. They died that night and Fen was left on her own. She made friends along the way; some who betrayed her, and others who saved her. Lydia was the last friend Fen made, when the story begins.

Lydia is also an O positive and is pregnant. Lydia had taken care of Fen ever since she walked into the tribe. She is almost like an older sister to Fen, and Fen a sister to her. One day, during the tribe powow, blood hunters attack. Horrors occur and, once again, Fen has to learn to live on her own.

As Fen is living her life inside the wall, Daniel is living life outside the wall. Daniel is a young man trying to “save the world” after his brother’s class was affected by the Delta Fever, causing his brother to die a painful death. Daniel is determined to find the cure. Hundreds of scientists before him have tried, but none has succeeded.

When Daniel’s science sponsors send him over the wall, he is unprepared for what lies on the other side. No one goes into the wall, and no one leaves the wall. Daniel wants to cure the fever, but he has to make sure he doesn’t fall ill. Once he’s on the other side, Daniel meets Fen. Together they use their strengths to try and survive. At first, Fen doesn’t like Daniel. But soon, the companions begin to see each other another way.

Orleans is an absolutely wonderful story. Sherri L. Smith creates a vivid world that’s easy to fall into. Reading it, I felt I had to keep turning pages; the excitement never stopped. Though her language isn’t very challenging, in order to comprehend the story, and take in the message of the book, readers have to pay attention. Meanwhile, I felt that I knew every character intimately.

If anyone needs a great adventure, this is the one! I love to read, and have read many of this year’s new books, but this one goes on my list of the year’s best.

- Grace B., 12

Teen Review

Requiem (Delirium #3)

Lauren Oliver

Pub 3-2013, HarperCollins

The first two books of Lauren Oliver’s “Delirium” trilogy have fascinated young adult readers with a dystopian world where love is classified as a deadly disease, and the only method of defense is a lobotomy that removes all possibility of love at the age of eighteen. Requiem ends the trilogy with the story of Lena Tiddle’s struggle to survive in the Wilds under constant threat of attack from the authorities who would crush the Invalid resistance.

However, the book is also told from the perspective of Hanna, the once best friend that was left behind when Lena sped away at the end of the first book, Delirium. Through Hanna, we are finally offered a view of what it is like to live on the other side of the wall—to be cured. I liked reading the contrast between the warm and rebellious Hanna in Delirium and experiencing her cold and stoic demeanor after the cure. Hanna has been forced to give up her self-identity and accept her place in society but still remembers what it was like to be in love, and the excitement and warmth she received from her friendship with Lena. It was enjoyable to read about her conflicting emotions, however they are never really resolved at the end. Even after the inevitable meeting with Lena, the conclusion of Hanna’s story was rushed and altogether unsatisfying.  

Oliver’s use of language proves to be an effective tool in showing the chaos of Lena’s world with the Invalids. The colorful, vivid imagery, and Oliver’s diction, illustrate Lena’s fast-paced world as her group of survivalists, themselves cornered by the relentless authorities, struggle with the lack of resources available in the Wilds. Lena is exposed to the reality of being in the resistance and since Oliver has not written much about the entire resistance overall, it was just as shocking to the reader as it is to Lena when the state of the Invalids are revealed. Lena’s story drags in some places, and hurries in others, however Oliver is great at character development—Lena is forced to mature both physically and mentally from living in the Wilds. The reader can see the effects of her choices and mistakes in Pandemonium carrying over into Requiem, as she struggles with her feelings for Julian, after Alex’s return.

Overall, Requiem is a very pleasurable read. Oliver has made her readers so invested in Lena and her world, that it is very easy to sympathize with her frustration with the resistance, and her sorrow at everything and everyone that she’s lost. It was very refreshing to read from Hanna’s point of view, as it offered a different perspective. Requiem concludes with many issues left unresolved, however it is fascinating to read about Lena and her friends trying to grasp at the foreign concept of love—something that is thought to define us as human beings, and try to discover what it means to love and be loved,  

- Rachel Z, 15 

Young Reviewer

The Ability

M.M. Vaughan

Pub 4-2013, Margaret K. McElderry Books

I think that The Ability by M.M. Vaughan was really about teamwork, which makes it different from other books like it. It reminded me, for example, of The Mysterious Benedict Society, because in both books children go to a special school to learn specific things that other children don’t learn. In this book, the London school, Myers Holt, teaches students how to use their “ability.” An “ability” is not really easy to define, but it has to do with using your mind to do different things: enter other people’s minds and move objects, or put a thought in other people’s minds that is not really true, but can make those people believe it is.

Chris is the main character of The Ability. The beginning is very funny because everyone in Chris’s old school thought he was a bad kid, and they were all surprised when he was chosen to attend Myers Holt. Chris is my favorite character. His mother watched TV all day long, and she made Chris take care of her, and that made me feel sad for Chris. Even then, Chris is very enthusiastic and cheerful, and friendly to the other students.

One of reasons I really liked this book was because it was a bit scary, and I like that. The bad guys seem extremely bad and powerful. There were screens on the walls and fake moons and stars at night, and a blue fake sky in the morning that made the school seem special. I also like the characters. Rex is funny, and Daisy, I think, likes Chris. I don’t know if it is a love story, but it is definitely about strong friendships. Everything these kids do is very interesting, and I wish all twelve-year old kids would be able to do these things as well. Only six students go to the school, even though all twelve-year olds have the “ability.” Once you turn twelve, you can use the “ability,” but when you turn thirteen the “ability” will go away automatically. These six kids had to do a special test to go to the school, and they all passed it using the “ability” even though they still didn’t know they had it.

I definitely recommend The Ability to everyone. Kids and adults that like stories about unusual powers will really enjoy this book. I am looking forward to reading the next book by M.M. Vaughan.

- Lucas B., 9

Teen Review

Crash: Visions Book 1

Lisa McMann

Pub 1-2013, Simon Pulse

Crash: Visions Book 1 by Lisa McMann is a modern-day retelling of Romeo and Juliet, but with an unexpected twist: Jules (Juliet) has visions of death. Jules eats, breathes, and smells like pizza twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week because she lives above a pizzeria that happens to be owned by her parents. In her free time, she makes pizza, works in the pizzeria, and hears about how poorly they are doing compared to the Angottis, the rival pizzeria-owning family. Sawyer Angotti, son of Mr. Angotti, is Jules’s age, and Jules has loved him ever since they were young.

As if this weren’t complicated enough, recently, Jules’s visions have become more frequent. It’s always the same: a truck, a building, and nine body bags. Her love for Sawyer Agnotti and their family feud is the least of her worries.

The characters in Crash are realistic and resemble teenagers in today’s society. Jules, a typical working teenager, is usually quiet in school and around others. She might seem like an uninteresting, dull character, but her hilarious thoughts set her apart. After he dropped a pizza accidently, she becomes furious at the other delivery boy because he did not have a broken “wenus.” To accept any situation, Jules uses her humorous personality, no matter how severe the situation may be. For example, after being injured, she says “What do I look like?” Lisa McMann’s description and writing style unites the characters and readers.

Even though the characters and plot hold the story together, it takes time to progress. Jules remains concerned with an idea for extensive amount of time and will speak only in monologue, which at times becomes tedious. I found myself conflicted about whether or not to leave the book or continue to read. This is a situation that a reader should not be placed in. However, McCann does redeem herself by placing unexpected events between these long, tedious monologues.

Overall, Crash is a novel that unites complex characters with unexpected plot events to captivate the reader. The story begins with a typical girl working in a typical pizzeria. But, the reader soon finds out that Jules is far from normal. Overall, it is a suspenseful tale and honestly should be continued.

- Rima I., 17

Teen Review

Nantucket Blue

Leila Howlan

Pub 5-2013, Hyperion

“Chick-lit” describes a light, fun novel whose sole purpose is to be a fluffy source of entertainment for an hour or two. That’s not a bad thing, but a novel that combines a sense of fun with deeper themes is much more likely to leave an impression on its reader. Such is the case with Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland. It has more depth than many chick-lit novels. That said, it isn’t entirely lovable.

Nantucket Blue tells the story of seventeen-year-old Cricket, who is expecting to spend her summer vacation on Nantucket Island with her best friend, Jules. Before they can set off, Jules’s mother dies, forcing them to change their plans. Cricket gets a job as a maid at the Cranberry Inn, realizing this is the only way she can stay on Nantucket. She hopes to be there for Jules during her time of grief, but her friend quickly transforms into a person Cricket doesn’t recognize. And, complicating things further, Cricket also falls in love with the last person she expected: Jules’s younger brother.

Beneath the typical themes of love and summer, Nantucket Blue takes a painful look at what happens when friends drift apart. Considering how close Cricket and Jules had been, it hurts to see them lose touch, especially for readers who have experienced something similar. We also get to watch Cricket becoming closer with her somewhat estranged mother. Cricket grows quite a bit as a person, and while not all of her decisions could be called wise, she has matured considerably by the end of the novel.

Of course, one of the ways Cricket “matures” may cause some readers to feel as though they’ve been made the butt of a joke. A recurring theme in the novel is whether Cricket will lose her virginity or not. That, by itself, isn’t the problem; it’s a perfectly natural theme in young adult literature, and “chick-lit” especially. However, one of her coworkers, Liz, repeatedly mocks her for being a virgin, reiterating that she won’t be a “real woman” until she loses it. Slowly, Cricket starts to think the same way. It wouldn’t have been such a big deal if it had been only one character’s view on things, but the idea that you must lose your virginity to be mature was almost propagated. (That notion, of course, is completely false.)

Overall, though, Nantucket Blue is a fun read. Many of the struggles in the novel are relatable, and though the ending is slightly bittersweet, there’s still resolution. Leila Howland definitely has a future as a young adult writer.

- Rachel P., 17

Young Reviewer

The Sasquatch Escape

Suzanne Selfors

Pub 4-2013, Little, Brown for Young Readers

Suzanne Selfors is known for writing books with magic—just a little, though. The Sasquatch Escape is the first book of a new series: “The Imaginary Veterinary”. Selfors takes her readers on a magical journey through Buttonville, and what seems to be a boring town at first is not boring anymore.

Ben is a ten year-old California kid who visits his grandpa in Buttonville for the summer. Soon enough, he makes friends with a girl named Pearl. Ben and Pearl find an injured dragon that Ben’s grandpa’s cat had bitten. It is not everyday that you find an injured dragon! They take it to the hospital, but once there, they find it’s no ordinary hospital. It’s a hospital for worms! But not just worms—magical creatures. They are scattered around the hospital. Meanwhile, Ben and Pearl get into trouble because a sasquatch—a big, brown hairy beast—escapes from the WORM hospital. And it’s Ben’s fault! He didn’t lock the door.

I like the setting because Buttonville is a boring town but soon comes to feel like a very suspenseful Olympic Final. Ben is a city boy from Los Angeles, where there is a lot more things to do than in Buttonville. Compared to L.A., Buttonville is a speck of dust! This setting affects Ben because, where at first, he predicted it would be the most boring summer, now he discovers it is the best summer ever!  

My favorite character in the book was the Sasquatch because he is a very funny magical creature. The Sasquatch is my favorite because it is not a normal creature, but is a very important character in the book. My favorite part was when Ben accidentally trapped Ms. Mulbery and her daughter, Victoria in a net! The net was from the “Sasquatch catching kit”. I like this scene because it is very funny and unusual. It’s not every day that people get trapped in a net by a ten-year-old boy!

At first, when I read the beginning of The Sasquatch Escape, it seemed like it would be uneventful because nothing happens in a place where nothing happens. But progressing through the story, I became more and more interested. This book is one that everyone should read. And if you read this book and like it, you can get the second book! Read the whole series! Soon you will read a lot of Suzanne Selfors’ books!

By Krish G., 8

Teen Review

Magisterium

Jeff Hirsch

Pub 10-2012, Scholastic

Jeff Hirsch came onto the writing scene last year with The Eleventh Plague, a dystopian novel set in a futuristic war- and disease-ravaged America. His second novel, Magisterium, tells the story of Glenn Morgan, a girl living in a world where, one on side, everything is as it seems—yet just beyond her reach is a land where the line between fantasy and reality is blurred.

Glenn’s mother abandoned her family when she was six years old. Ten years later, at sixteen, Glenn lives with her father, a man driven mad with obsession for his untitled Project in the Colloquium, the part of the planet not destroyed by the mysterious Rift. Glenn dreams of being sent on a mission to explore 813, a planet thought capable of sustaining Earthling life. She worries about leaving her father, though.

Glenn is a very practical girl, so when her father announces that he’s finished his Project, and that will bring her mother home from the other side of the Rift, she doesn’t believe him. But when he’s arrested for his Project, she begins to wonder if maybe there’s more to it than she first thought.

With her friend Kevin, Glenn crosses the border into a world she thought was destroyed. It is full of mystery and magic; not at all like the practical, scientific world of the Colloquium. Still, throughout it all, Glenn can’t accept the wonder of the Magisterium. Eventually, she realizes that her beliefs may affect many lives, and she must choose whether to believe in the magic of the Magisterium, or to stay within the mindset of the sensible Colloquium.

Hirsch’s prose isn’t fantastic, but when it comes to crafting characters and driving a story forward, he shines. Even when the book slows down, Hirsch moves it continuously forward. It’s heartening, as parts of the book had the potential to lag. But Magisterium’s characters are well-developed, making it easy to love them, and easy to follow them.

Magisterium is a novel that, truthfully, probably shouldn’t have worked. The dystopian genre is one that includes many overused, predictable tropes, many of which are present in Magisterium. However, Hirsch is able to take classic tropes (such as Absent Parent, An Accident That Changed the Course of the World, etc.), and utilize them to his advantage. He twists and changes them so that they’re fresh, all while executing deep character development and excellent pacing. Even though he’s still new to the literary world, Hirsch is quickly proving himself a capable writer. Magisterium is a book that I think many will look toward as an example of how to take old ideas and make them new.

- Rachel P., 17

Teen Review

The Other Normals

Ned Vizzini

Pub 9-2012, Balzer + Bray

When I first opened The Other Normals, I was surprised. Ned Vizzini, who has written such great books for teens, including Be More Chill and It’s Kind of a Funny Story, was now attempting to sell me on a book about some loser who spends all of his time on a role-playing game called Creatures and Caverns. I settled in to read a book I wouldn’t like at all, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Perry Eckert is one of those guys life just doesn’t treat kindly. He has an alcoholic older brother, divorced parents (who are both dating their respective divorce lawyers—that was a nice touch), and exactly one friend: a boy named Sam with whom he spends most of his time playing Creatures and Caverns. Perry is essentially a modern, geeky Charlie Brown—someone who you feel so sorry for, you can’t help laughing at his troubles. Of course, this all changes when Perry is shipped off to summer camp and, on his first day there, spots a red-skinned ferrule, straight out of Creatures and Caverns, running across the campgrounds. Like Alice after the White Rabbit, Perry follows the ferrule and tumbles into The World of Other Normals. There, he finds that his geeky childhood has prepared him to be a great warrior in this world.

Vizzini’s writing is, as always, entertaining, endearing, and plain old laugh-out-loud funny. The characters are skillfully designed to be unique and memorable, which makes The Other Normals a joy to reread. As a reader, I became more attached to them as the story progressed. The dialogue between characters, as well as Perry’s personal thoughts, are realistic, mirroring how young readers hear the people around them speak.

My favorite part of the story was the way Vizzini flipped back and forth between the real world and the fantasy world, keeping readers on their toes, and keeping the writing ever just a step ahead. Although I feel that the relationships between Perry and his family, and especially between Perry and his brother, could have been explored a little more, I think that Vizzini did a good job keeping superfluous characters out of the story. My love for It’s Kind of a Funny Story is everlasting, but I think that The Other Normals has surpassed it as my favorite Vizzini novel.

- Casey W., 13