This Dark Endeavour by Kenneth Oppel

Pages: 298

Intended Audience: Teens

Genre: Gothic thriller

Notes for parents: Scenes of violence

The Back Cover

Sixteen-year-old Victor Frankenstein leads a charmed life. He and his twin brother, Konrad, and their beautiful cousin Elizabeth take lessons at home and spend their spare time fencing and horseback riding. Along with their friend Henry, they have explored all the hidden passageways and secret rooms of the palatial Frankenstein chateau. Except one.

The Dark Library contains ancient tomes written in strange languages and filled with forbidden knowledge. Their father makes them promise never to visit the library, but when Konrad becomes deathly ill, Victor knows he must find the book that contains the recipe for the legendary Elixir of Life. But his success depends on how far he is willing to push the boundaries of nature, science, and love—and how much he is willing to sacrifice.

What the Back Cover doesn’t tell you:

This is book one in a series called The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein that explores the teenage years of the famous doctor.

What’s good?

A dark premise, strong characterization, and beautiful prose draw the reader into this gothic tale of a brother’s desperate search for a cure. With a slow but steady pace and lots of action and adventure, we watch as Victor travels down a sinister path that teeters on the edge of love and madness. The suspense builds steadily to a palpable breaking point and ends with an ominous promise of more thrills to come.

Best part:  The sweet and cowardly Henry Clerval.

What’s not so good?

Fans of Shelley’s Frankenstein may not like that the story doesn’t exactly stay true to the original, albeit only slightly in my opinion.

Worst part: I’m not a fan of the love triangle.

Recommendations þþþþo

I was completely taken in by the gothic setting, the dangerous mood, and the elegant language of this highly entertaining story. I’m looking forward to reading book 2. Recommended.

Oppel, Kenneth. This Dark Endeavour. Toronto: Harper Collins, 2012.  

First Day on Earth by Cecil Castellucci

Pages: 150

Intended Audience: Teens and Mature Tweens

Genre: Real life / Speculative

Notes for parents: Some mature scenes and coarse language.

The Inside Cover

Mal lives on the fringes of high school. Angry. Misunderstood. Quiet, but with a lot of words underneath.

Years ago, Mal disappeared for three days. Everyone tells him it was a breakdown, a seizure, something medical. He thinks it was something different. An alien abduction.

But there’s no way for him to know for sure.

Then, at an abductees support group, he meets Hooper, who has some otherworldly secrets of his own. And suddenly the truth is closer than Mal ever imagined it could be.

What the Back Cover doesn’t tell you:

Mal’s mother is an alcoholic and his father abandoned him years ago. This is a story about alienation – actual and/or metaphorical.

What’s good?

This is a wonderfully adept character study of a lonely boy who wishes people knew the real him. When he meets the quirky, well-drawn Hooper, Mal has found a kindred spirit. It reads more like a short story – not surprising since it’s only 150 pages and some chapters are only a few lines long – but in its brief telling, the story touches on everything from friendship to family, abandonment, loneliness, identity, loss, and the need to feel loved. Most of all, this seems to be a story of hope. The first person, present tense point of view works well.

Best part: I love that Mal helps animals because he can’t stand seeing anything abandoned like he was.

What’s not so good?

Although Mal is the logical main character, he was definitely not the most interesting. I would love to have heard the story told from Hooper’s or Darwyn’s perspective. Having said that, Mal’s lack of character is not a story flaw and I only mention it because I couldn’t think of anything else to write under this heading.

Worst part: None.

Recommendations þþþþo

I reluctantly give this four checks, but it definitely deserves better than three. By no means a blockbuster, First Day on Earth is an honest, unassuming tale of a human being. The short chapters keep it well-paced and it has just the right amount of humor, drama, and adventure. Recommended.

Castellucci, Cecil. First Day on Earth. New York: Scholastic, 2011. (Hardcover)

Starters by Lissa Price

Pages: 336

Intended Audience: Teens and Mature Tweens

Genre: Dystopian

Notes for parents: Some mature scenes

The Inside Cover

Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, are on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie.

Callie’s only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man. He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders—seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in Callie’s head malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her renter, living hin her mansion, driving her cars, and going out with a senator’s grandson.

It feels almost like a fairy tale, until Callie discovers that her renter intends to do more than party—and that Prime Destinations’ plans are more evil than Callie could ever have imagined…

What the Back Cover doesn’t tell you:

This is book one of a two book series.

What’s good?

The premise is unique and the swift moving plot keeps you guessing. The characters are well drawn and develop evenly as the story progresses. While Callie, the main character, is fairly even (with the occasional outburst), the supporting characters are not, like desperate Helena, the puzzling Old Man, unpredictable Michael, sympathy-inducing Tyler. The science involved in this future world is vague, but suspending disbelief is easy thanks to the fast pace, the action, and the evolving mystery of it all.

Best part: The ending. It definitely gives you a reason to read book 2!

  

What’s not so good?

I had a hard time buying into the idea that the old would be so willing to abuse the young. While the gap between the rich/poor divide was very believable, the lack of sympathy shown by the majority of “enders” felt…unbalanced. Overlooking the science was easy, but accepting the social dynamics of the world was not.

Worst part: Nothing was notably bad.

Recommendations þþþoo

It was good. I don’t think it’s award winning, but it was entertaining, with healthy doses of action, mystery, romance and thrills. Recommended.

Price, Lissa. Starters. New York: Delacorte, 2012. (Hardcover)

Karma by Cathy Ostlere

Pages: 517

Intended Audience: Mature Teens

Genre: Real Life / Historical events / Novel in verse

Notes for parents: Some mature scenes, violence, coarse language

The Inside Cover

It is October 31^st, 1984, and fifteen-year-old Maya—half Hindu, half Sikh—is travelling from Canada to New Delhi, India, with her father. In her arms she carries only two things: a brand new diary—her only confidant—and the ashes of her mother.

Maya and her father have come to India to deliver the ashes to their final resting place. On the very night they arrive, Indira Gandhi—Prime Minister of India—is gunned down in her garden, betrayed by those closest to her. In the hours that follow, the city plunges into chaos, and Maya finds herself at the centre of one of the bloodiest massacres in the country’s modern history. Thousands are murdered. Thousands are lost.

Unable to find her father, Maya must disguise her identity and rely upon the help of Sandeep—a boy she’s just met—if she is to stay alive and make it home. That is, if she can open her heart enough to love, forgive, and discover what home truly means.

What the Inside Cover doesn’t tell you:

This is a novel written in verse in a first-person diary format.

What’s good?

This is one of the most beautiful, horrific, sophisticated stories I’ve ever read. The author’s words are deliberately and brilliantly crafted in verse to create a stark, emotional sense of time and place that made me feel like I was an actual witness to the real atrocities and aftershocks of one of India’s darkest moments. It’s a mature and memorable journey laced with vivid imagery, heart-stopping action, and an emotional exploration of everything from racism and culturalism, to religion, tradition and violence, to fear, grief, loneliness and shame entwined with romance and violence and love. At its core, this is an inspired and powerful story of the relationship between a father riddled with guilt and a daughter who just wants to belong.

Best part: The writing--

“Animal and human howl at a moonless sky. In doorless doorways the children limp. Boneless. Soft as putty. Another night. Of dark-pressed despair.” (pg. 410)

“I listen to the sound of India's voices for the last time. Laughter ripples like water. A prayer is a single note held long. There is so much life here. And too much death. (pg. 503)

What’s not so good?

On the whole, this book is definitely a downer and is thick with injustice. However, the writing weaves a sense of hopefulness into the second half of the story that pleads for patience and understanding.

Worst part: The cover is pink with yellow writing. I get the significance now, but it still looks like the cover of a Bollywood romantic comedy.

Recommendations þþþþþ

It was stunning – the premise, the style, the imagery, the themes, the journey…it was all stunning. I don’t want to over hype the story—I did find a few bad reviews—but I, personally, was taken in by the exceptional writing and first-rate storytelling. Highly recommended.

Ostlere, Cathy. Karma. Toronto: Puffin Canada, 2011.  (Hardcover)

Blood Red Road by Moira Young

Pages: 459

Intended Audience: Teens

Genre: Dystopian

Notes for parents: Some mature scenes

The Back Cover

Saba’s world is shattered when her twin brother, Lugh, is captured by four cloaked horsemen. Determined to rescue him, Saba sets off into the lawless, wasted landscape left behind by the Wreckers. It’s a brutal world where Saba discovers some surprising things about herself: She’s a fierce fighter, a cunning opponent, and above all, an unbeatable survivor. Teamed up with a handsome daredevil named Jack and a gang of girl warriors called the Free Hawks, Saba is off to save her brother—and maybe her whole world.

What the Back Cover doesn’t tell you:

This is the first book in the Dustlands series.

What’s good?

This is an intense, action-packed adventure with a swift moving plot and plenty of intriguing characters. This dystopian road trip follows 19-year-old Saba and her highly engaging 9-year-old sister Emmi as they search for Saba’s kidnapped twin brother. Although this is clearly a plot-driven story, characterization is excellent. I love the butt-kicking Free Hawks (a group of female warriors who deserve their own story!), the mysterious and highly intriguing DeMalo (a singular reason to read book 2), the awesome gladiator-like cage-fighting scenes (of which there should have been more!), Hermes the horse, Nero the crow, Ike and Tommo…

Best part: The story contained within Hopetown (the Pinches, the cage-fights, the Free Hawks, the escape). I wish that all could have been explored even more!

What’s not so good?

Oh, where do I start? Saba was unrealistically cruel to her sister without due reason or remorse. In fact, Saba was unduly rude and obnoxious with pretty much everyone. The king was a lame bad guy (Why would he live somewhere no one has heard of? And what was he king of anyway?). The giant worms were ridiculous. The Heartstone necklace was an absurd and unnecessary gimmick. The setting was sparse and grossly underdeveloped, and lot of the plot in the second half of the book was nonsensical. The love between Saba and Jack felt contrived, as did most things about Saba. There’s nothing in her background or what we know of her history to suggest she’d even make a good horse rider, cage fighter, or girlfriend.

Worst part: There are three writing techniques that I hate the most: writing in first person present tense; writing in the vernacular outside of dialogue; and not using quotes for dialogue. This book does all three. Not only does the author use an odd vernacular, but she misspells words to…what? Show us that Saba is illiterate? It was annoying and superfluous. This was a plot-driven story that would have benefitted greatly from a third person vantage point.

Recommendations þþþoo

Perhaps this book’s biggest problem was the hype.  The cover itself has three reviews that compare it to The Hunger Games and a fourth that says Ridley Scott has already optioned the book (to make it into a film). I expected much more based on those quotes alone. However, while I wasn’t a fan of the author’s writing style choices, her characters were phenomenal. I desperately want to know more about Emmi, Tommo, the Free Hawks, DeMalo…but if I have to put up with Saba, gawdfersaken, and a lack of quotation marks, I’m not sure I can pick up book 2. It gets three checkmarks for characterization alone.

Young, Moira. Blood Red Road. [Toronto]: Doubleday Canada, 2011

All Good Children by Catherine Austen

Pages: 300

Intended Audience: Teens and Mature Tweens

Genre: Dystopian

Notes for parents: Some mature scenes

The Inside Cover

Quick-witted, prank-pulling graffiti artist Maxwell Connors is more observant than the average New Middletown teenager. And he doesn’t like what he sees. New Middletown’s children are becoming frighteningly obedient, and their parents and teachers couldn’t be happier. As Max and his friend Dallas watch their classmates transform into model citizens, Max wonders if their only hope of freedom lies in the unknown world beyond New Middletown’s walls, where creativity might be a gift instead of a liability.

What the Back Cover doesn’t tell you:

This is a 2012 White Pine Awards official selection.

What’s good?

This story has a chilling premise – using drugs to modify children’s behavior – which is hardly far-fetched considering how many children are currently being treated for ADHD, anxiety, depression, etc. The plot it evenly paced and the characters are very well drawn.  There are great moments of suspense, drama, sentimentality, and even humor.

Best part: Xavier, Dallas, Ally, Tyler, and the message that creativity is more important than obedience.

What’s not so good?

There were a lot of things that I didn’t like or understand:

Girls play football like equals, yet race, weight and orientation are still big issues? On that same note, I felt the constant references to race were unnecessary and distracted from the futuristic setting of what should have been a more developed culture.

In a society so advanced that drugs have been developed to control behavior, why do so many people still smoke? They’ve created genetically-enhanced people but still have cigarettes?

What are all the parents so complacent about their kids being drugged, especially since it strips the children of any vestige of a personality? There should have been at least a few objections!

Worst part: In the end, there’s no real resolution.

Recommendations þþþoo

It was a great premise with interesting characters and a solid plot, but overall I was left wanting. Ultimately this story doesn’t live up to its potential. It could have been so much better. However, I still enjoyed it. The writing is good, making for a quick and easy read.  

Austen, Catherine. All Good Children. Victoria, B.C.: Orca Book Publishers, 2011. (Hardcover)

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Pages: 390

Intended Audience: Teens

Genre: Adventure, Humour

Notes for parents: Scenes of course language, violence, sexuality

The Back Cover

The fifty contestants in the Miss Teen Dream Pageant thought this was going to be a fun trip to the beach, where they could parade in their state-appropriate costumes and compete in front of the cameras. But sadly, their airplane had another idea, crashing on a desert island and leaving the survivors stranded with little food, little water, and practically no eyeliner.

What’s a beauty queen to do? Continue to practice for the talent portion of the program—or wrestle snakes to the ground? Get a perfect tan—or learn to run wild? And what should happen when the sexy pirates show up?

Welcome to the heart of non-exfoliated darkness.

What the Back Cover doesn’t tell you:

It’s not quite a “desert” island since there’s lots of lush forest and fresh water.

What’s good?

This is a well-written, often hilarious story of adventure and mystery with a little international intrigue thrown in. It’s also a clever tale of the pitfalls of consumerism, materialism, and beauty obsession. Each of the main characters is explored in depth and the supporting characters are equally well drawn. The setting is comical but fairly believable and many of the situations the girls find themselves in are far-fetched but entertaining.

Best part: “You bruised the petals of my man flower.”

What’s not so good?

Some of the humour quickly goes from silly to corny to downright stupid. Death is treated lightly—the girls don’t seem at all bothered by the fact that the majority of the 50 contestants died in the plane crash! And though it’s refreshing to see an author tackle gender issues and sexuality, many of these scenes felt awkward.

Worst part: Miss New Mexico’s tray head.

Recommendations þþþþo

I had a love-hate relationship with this book. At times it was brilliant, at other times it was ridiculous. I laughed, I cringed, I cheered, I rolled my eyes, and I both praised and admonished the author throughout the book. I’m giving it four checkmarks because I think it’s worth the read. It was fun!

Bray, Libba. Beauty Queens. New York: Scholastic, 2011.