Book blurbs
May. 16th, 2005 08:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daemonlunaHaven't done this in ages... what I've read in the past few weeks:
1602 by Neil Gaiman (graphic novel)
Somehow, I managed to be completely oblivious of the premise of this until I actually got the book in hand (from the library) and start reading. Eeee! Marvel superheroes if they'd existed in the seventeenth century! Done as only Neil Gaiman could! Fantastic premise, very cool art, and a tight, suspenseful, skillfully-woven plot. (Fantastic Four and X-Men and Queen Elizabeth, oh my!)
Being Dead by Vivian Van Velde (YA short stories)
A collection of ghost stories. "Drop by Drop," the first story, is a truly creepy, engaging take on an urban legend, and the waterbed scene was definitely shiver-inducing. Some of the stories have their roots in traditional folklore, one or two others, like the one about the boy killed in Vietnam haunting his father, miss their mark. But for the most part, the stories are well-told, engaging, and a few are genuinely spooky.
Orphea Proud by Sharon Dennis Wyeth (YA GLBT fiction)
Oprhea Proud's been in love with her best friend Lissa since they met at age ten. However, the first night they kiss, the morning her older brother and guardian Rupert catches them in bed together, is the last time Orphea will ever see Lissa. Rupert packs her off in disgrace to stay with her dead mother's elderly aunts, which turns out to be the best thing for her, as she slowly opens up. She befriends the odd, isolated fourteen-year-old Raynor Grimes across the road, a relative of hers despite the fact that she's black and he's white, and between his phenomenal art and her poetry, become a performance art act at a club owned by friends of Orpheus's in New York. Though Orphea's monlogues throughout the book make the narrative a bit disjointed, the characters and emotions ring true.
Rodzina by Karen Cushman (Upper Elementary/YA historical fiction)
The year is 1881, and Rodzina Clara Jadwiga Anastazya Brodski has been shipped out from New York on an orphan train, sent out west to find a new family. Rodzina's convinced that no-one will want a stocky, twelve-year old Polish girl for anything but a slave. A strong sense of time and place, likeable, realistic characters (Rodzina's a great heroine, with a real chip on her shoulder, and her fellow orphans also stand up well in comparison). There are some genuninely funny scenes, and the ending is emotionally satisfying, if not what I expected.
More than You Can Chew by Marnelle Tokio (YA fiction about anorexia)
This might be a book about a teen anorexic, but it's no smarmy problem novel. Marty begins her stay at "Camp Eat-a-Lot" theorizing that she'd personally feel much better if it were renamed "Camp Scream-a-Lot," to get over the deprival of her usual breakfast, cigarettes and Diet Coke. Through the hospital stay, the mandatory therapy (and her father's absence at family counselling sessions), a truly hilarious scene involving a ward of anorexic and bulimic girls herded into a supermarket to go shopping for a Thanksgiving turkey, and Marty's friendship with her eight-year old roomate Lily, her dark humour and sarcasm prevent an overabundance of sentimentality.
Cirque Du Freak by Darren Shan (YA horror-fantasy series fiction)
When Darren Shan and his friends find a flyer advertising the gruesome sideshow Cirque Du Freak, the snakeboy, wolf-man, and giant spider all fall into the realm of what they expected. What they didn't expect is that the spider's tamer, one Larten Crepsley, is a vampire. Darren kidnaps the poisonous spider, Madame Octa, and takes her home. He only has himself to blame when she attacks his best friend, and Darren is forced to become a half-vampire, assistant to the vampire himself. Gruesome, fsat-moving plot, but the characters are all kind of flat. The first of a series--it's pretty popular with gr5-8 boys. I picked up the second one at the library today, and will give it a shot, but probably won't keep going after that.
Ashes of Roses by Mary Jane Auch (YA historical fiction)
Sixteen-year old Rose Nolan and her family arrive at Ellis Island from Ireland in 1911, ready to make a new life in New York. Things start to go awry right away, as her baby brother has trachoma, and is sent back to Ireland with her father. Rose, her mother, and her younger sister Maureen set out to their uncle's only to discover that he has no idea that they're coming, and his wealthy German wife objects strongly to their presence. When Rose's mother decides to go back to Ireland, Rose talks her into letting the two girls atay behind. Rose deals with sweatshops, and an abusive boss coming on to her, but things start looking up when she is befriended by her landlord's daughter Gussa, a fierce young woman agitating for unionization. Rose finds a job at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory, and all is going well, until the fateful fire that was a major force for labour laws at the turn of the century. The tragedy was vividly, heart-breakingly described--good, soild historical fiction, though Rose was a bit wishy-washy in parts.
Project Princess by Meg Cabot (YA romance fiction)
A Princess Diaries side-story, vol 4.5. Mia and her gifted and talented class set off on a habitat for humanity-type program to build houses over spring break. Mia does not discover a long-hidden talent for construction (but that's okay, because Boris is even worse), and is afraid that the lack of anything but solar showers will prevent Michael from wanting to make out with her, but it all, of course, turns out well in the end. A fun, engaging read. Very, very short, though.
Not included are a couple of books I've read and have to review (one is okay, the other is wretched, and the third, it remains to be seen), and the stack I made it through while on vacation this weekend:
New Found Land by Allan Wolf, How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff, Stained by Jennifer Richard Jacobson, The Bone Collector's Son by Paul Yee, Grind by Eric Walters, The Princess Present by Meg Cabot, A Girl Like Sugar by Emily Pohl-Weary, Gotta Find Me an Angel by Brenda Brooks. Will have to blurb these later.
I've got a list of older stuff, too, that I keep meaning to go back and comment on. I suspect I'm doing this mostly for myself, but if somebody wandering by happens to find something that looks interesting, all the better. Still to go, a half-dozen more hardcovers, and an armload of paperbacks I picked up at the library today.
1602 by Neil Gaiman (graphic novel)
Somehow, I managed to be completely oblivious of the premise of this until I actually got the book in hand (from the library) and start reading. Eeee! Marvel superheroes if they'd existed in the seventeenth century! Done as only Neil Gaiman could! Fantastic premise, very cool art, and a tight, suspenseful, skillfully-woven plot. (Fantastic Four and X-Men and Queen Elizabeth, oh my!)
Being Dead by Vivian Van Velde (YA short stories)
A collection of ghost stories. "Drop by Drop," the first story, is a truly creepy, engaging take on an urban legend, and the waterbed scene was definitely shiver-inducing. Some of the stories have their roots in traditional folklore, one or two others, like the one about the boy killed in Vietnam haunting his father, miss their mark. But for the most part, the stories are well-told, engaging, and a few are genuinely spooky.
Orphea Proud by Sharon Dennis Wyeth (YA GLBT fiction)
Oprhea Proud's been in love with her best friend Lissa since they met at age ten. However, the first night they kiss, the morning her older brother and guardian Rupert catches them in bed together, is the last time Orphea will ever see Lissa. Rupert packs her off in disgrace to stay with her dead mother's elderly aunts, which turns out to be the best thing for her, as she slowly opens up. She befriends the odd, isolated fourteen-year-old Raynor Grimes across the road, a relative of hers despite the fact that she's black and he's white, and between his phenomenal art and her poetry, become a performance art act at a club owned by friends of Orpheus's in New York. Though Orphea's monlogues throughout the book make the narrative a bit disjointed, the characters and emotions ring true.
Rodzina by Karen Cushman (Upper Elementary/YA historical fiction)
The year is 1881, and Rodzina Clara Jadwiga Anastazya Brodski has been shipped out from New York on an orphan train, sent out west to find a new family. Rodzina's convinced that no-one will want a stocky, twelve-year old Polish girl for anything but a slave. A strong sense of time and place, likeable, realistic characters (Rodzina's a great heroine, with a real chip on her shoulder, and her fellow orphans also stand up well in comparison). There are some genuninely funny scenes, and the ending is emotionally satisfying, if not what I expected.
More than You Can Chew by Marnelle Tokio (YA fiction about anorexia)
This might be a book about a teen anorexic, but it's no smarmy problem novel. Marty begins her stay at "Camp Eat-a-Lot" theorizing that she'd personally feel much better if it were renamed "Camp Scream-a-Lot," to get over the deprival of her usual breakfast, cigarettes and Diet Coke. Through the hospital stay, the mandatory therapy (and her father's absence at family counselling sessions), a truly hilarious scene involving a ward of anorexic and bulimic girls herded into a supermarket to go shopping for a Thanksgiving turkey, and Marty's friendship with her eight-year old roomate Lily, her dark humour and sarcasm prevent an overabundance of sentimentality.
Cirque Du Freak by Darren Shan (YA horror-fantasy series fiction)
When Darren Shan and his friends find a flyer advertising the gruesome sideshow Cirque Du Freak, the snakeboy, wolf-man, and giant spider all fall into the realm of what they expected. What they didn't expect is that the spider's tamer, one Larten Crepsley, is a vampire. Darren kidnaps the poisonous spider, Madame Octa, and takes her home. He only has himself to blame when she attacks his best friend, and Darren is forced to become a half-vampire, assistant to the vampire himself. Gruesome, fsat-moving plot, but the characters are all kind of flat. The first of a series--it's pretty popular with gr5-8 boys. I picked up the second one at the library today, and will give it a shot, but probably won't keep going after that.
Ashes of Roses by Mary Jane Auch (YA historical fiction)
Sixteen-year old Rose Nolan and her family arrive at Ellis Island from Ireland in 1911, ready to make a new life in New York. Things start to go awry right away, as her baby brother has trachoma, and is sent back to Ireland with her father. Rose, her mother, and her younger sister Maureen set out to their uncle's only to discover that he has no idea that they're coming, and his wealthy German wife objects strongly to their presence. When Rose's mother decides to go back to Ireland, Rose talks her into letting the two girls atay behind. Rose deals with sweatshops, and an abusive boss coming on to her, but things start looking up when she is befriended by her landlord's daughter Gussa, a fierce young woman agitating for unionization. Rose finds a job at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory, and all is going well, until the fateful fire that was a major force for labour laws at the turn of the century. The tragedy was vividly, heart-breakingly described--good, soild historical fiction, though Rose was a bit wishy-washy in parts.
Project Princess by Meg Cabot (YA romance fiction)
A Princess Diaries side-story, vol 4.5. Mia and her gifted and talented class set off on a habitat for humanity-type program to build houses over spring break. Mia does not discover a long-hidden talent for construction (but that's okay, because Boris is even worse), and is afraid that the lack of anything but solar showers will prevent Michael from wanting to make out with her, but it all, of course, turns out well in the end. A fun, engaging read. Very, very short, though.
Not included are a couple of books I've read and have to review (one is okay, the other is wretched, and the third, it remains to be seen), and the stack I made it through while on vacation this weekend:
New Found Land by Allan Wolf, How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff, Stained by Jennifer Richard Jacobson, The Bone Collector's Son by Paul Yee, Grind by Eric Walters, The Princess Present by Meg Cabot, A Girl Like Sugar by Emily Pohl-Weary, Gotta Find Me an Angel by Brenda Brooks. Will have to blurb these later.
I've got a list of older stuff, too, that I keep meaning to go back and comment on. I suspect I'm doing this mostly for myself, but if somebody wandering by happens to find something that looks interesting, all the better. Still to go, a half-dozen more hardcovers, and an armload of paperbacks I picked up at the library today.
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Date: 2005-05-17 04:52 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-05-24 03:36 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-05-17 07:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-05-24 03:38 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-05-24 08:26 pm (UTC)I haven't read Sisterhood and, in fact, don't particularly remember having heard about it before the hype for the movie. Do you like that book as well?