Best Girl by Sylvia Maultash Warsh

Pages: 121
Intended Audience: Teens and Adults
Genre: Mystery
Notes for parents: Includes mature scenes, drinking, references to drug use

The Back Cover

When Amanda Moss learns that her parents didn’t die in a car crash as her adoptive mother has always maintained, she feels her whole life has been a lie. And now that she knows that the father she doesn’t remember was in a successful rock-and-roll band, her own yearning to break into the music business begins to make sense. But did her mother really do what people say she did? Amanda’s search for the truth takes her down an uncertain and sometimes frightening road.

What the Back Cover doesn’t tell you:

This book is part of the “Rapid Reads” series by Raven Books (a division of Orca Publishing). They are short novels intended for adult readers.

What’s good?

This is a super quick and easy read. Since the series of books are meant to be read in one of two sittings, the story if intentionally short and sweet.  It has a fast pace with an exciting plot. It has a few twists and turns but no real sub-plots. The main character, Amanda, is likeable enough that her search for the truth had me interested, and in the end, I hoped she would realize her dream of becoming a musician.
Best part: I applaud the style of this novel that had a tough job of taking a complicated story and telling it in a simple way and in 120 pages.

 

What’s not so good?
By design, this story doesn’t spend a lot of time on back story or character development. You don’t really get to know anyone well enough to fully understand their motives. As Amanda search for answers, she seemed to come by information rather easily, and the plot was resolved conveniently.
Worst part: None. Everything lacking in this story was done deliberately to make this a fast read.

Recommendations þþþoo

I enjoyed it. It’s nice to put down the thick and complicated novels every once in a while and indulge in a story that can be read in one reasonable sitting. It was a mature story with real life themes and, while lacking in many areas, offered enough that the creative mind could imagine the rest. Definitely recommended.

Warsh, Sylvia Maultash. Best Girl. Victoria, B.C.: Raven Books, 2012 .

Beautiful Creatures: The Manga by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl; art by Cassandra Jean

Pages: about 245
Intended Audience: Teens and mature tweens
Genre: Supernatural / Graphic novel
Notes for parents: Some mature scenes

The Back Cover

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena Duchannes – a girl unlike anyone Jackson High has ever seen – moves into the town’s oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them. In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

What the Back Cover doesn’t tell you:

This is the “illustrated adaptation” of Garcia and Stohl’s bestselling novel. The artwork is by Cassandra Jean.

What’s good?

This supernatural graphic novel moved quickly, with excellent black and white drawings and a smooth, interesting plot. Although the concept itself isn’t original, the story felt fresh thanks to likeable characters and a well-drawn, paranormal world.
Best part: I like the artist’s drawing style. It’s casual, but still very expressive.

What’s not so good?

Since I haven’t read the original book, and I haven’t seen the movie, it’s understandable that throughout the novel, I had a feeling I was missing out on a lot of the nuances of the original story. I’m not a huge fan of established novels being made into graphic novels because details of the written story always have to be sacrificed for the sake of the visual story. I found some of the dialogue difficult to follow, but I always managed to figure it out.
Worst part: I have a feeling that the novel is much better.

Recommendations þþþoo

This kind of graphic story is probably intended more for people who’ve read the novel and just want more. However, if you’re only interested in getting the gist of the story without having to read the novel, this one’s for you. I recommend it, but I suggest reading the written novel instead of this graphic novel if you’re that interested in the story.

Garcia, Kami & Margaret Stohl. Beautiful Creatures: The Manga. New York: Yen Press, 2013. (Hardcover)

A Girl, a Ghost, and the Hollywood Hills by Lizabeth Zindel

Pages: 302
Intended Audience: Teens
Genre: Mystery
Notes for parents: Some mature scenes and mild language.

The Inside Cover

It’s winter break, and Holly has come home from boarding school to face her dad’s new girlfriend, Claudia—who also happens to be her mom’s sister. Gross. Holly’s mom died less than a year ago, and already Claudia has taken over her movie production company, her house, and now her husband.
Then the ghost of Holly’s mother appears, claiming that Claudia murdered her. Holly vows to avenge her mom’s death no matter what it takes, but as the stakes get higher, she starts to wonder: What does this ghost really want from her, and why?
Throw in an adorable college guy named Oliver, an all-night house party with a pack of Australian surfers, and a shopping disaster on Rodeo Drive, and you wind up with a Hamlet-inspired ghost story unlike any other.

What the Cover doesn’t tell you:

I found the description to be a bit misleading.

What’s good?

This story had a great concept, based loosely on the story of Hamlet. Characterization was good. Holly was a likeable character and it was easy to sympathize with her situation. The supporting characters were interesting, especially Claudia and her horror movie props. This was a fast and easy read with a simple plot.
Best part: The cover.

What’s not so good?

This was a superficial approach to a story about grief and mental illness. The plot was predictable and the writing was overly detailed (I don’t need to know the color of her umbrella, or what her comforter looks like!) and very passive. Even the romance was boring. Even worse was the dialogue which felt contrived and didn’t convincingly reflect the way teens talk today. At times, the conversations, especially the ones between Holly and Felicia, were awkward and even corny (Dudette?).
Worst part: The end made the story seem pointless.

Recommendations þþooo

I was first attracted to this book by the cover, which promised a tense, supernatural Shakespearean-like mystery. Even the inside cover suggested a ghost story. There was certainly potential here, but it was never realized.

Zindel, Lizabeth. A Girl, A Ghost, And the Hollywood Hills. New York: Viking, 2010. (Hardcover)

 

Skinny by Donna Cooner

Pages: 260
Intended Audience: Teens and Mature Tweens
Genre: Real Life / Social Issues
Notes for parents: Some mature scenes

The Back Cover

Hopeless. Freak. Elephant. Pitiful.
These are the words of Skinny, the vicious voice that lives inside fifteen-year-old Ever Davies’s head. Skinny tells Ever all the dark, unwhispered thoughts her classmates have about her. Ever knows she weighs over three hundred pounds and that she’ll probably never be loved, and Skinny makes sure she never forgets it.
But there is another voice: Ever’s singing voice, which is beautiful and strong but has been silenced by Skinny. Partly in the hopes of trying out for the school musical – and partly to try and save her own life – Ever decides to undergo a risky surgery that may help her lose weight and start over.
With the support of her best friend, Ever begins the long uphill battle toward change. But demons, she finds, are not so easy to shake, not even as she sheds pounds. Because Skinny is still around. And Ever will have to confront that voice before she can truly find her own.

What the Back Cover doesn’t tell you:

First-time author Donna Cooner was a gastric-bypass patient herself.

What’s good?

Good pacing and an even flow make this Cinderella story a quick and easy read. The characters are well-drawn and likeable. I love how the main character, Ever, is deserving of sympathy but also held responsible for many of her worst moments. Ever’s inner voice, however, is the star as far as I’m concerned. Known as Skinny, she is a strong and imaginative character that represents a similar voice in all of us. Skinny is a powerful reminder that we are all, at times, our own worst enemy. I liked the eventual shift in Ever’s relationship with her step-sister Briella and the ultimate message it delivers. Although the parallels to the Cinderella story were sometimes a bit corny, it was entertaining.
Best part: Skinny.
 

What’s not so good?

Oh, where do I start? Be aware that what follows may contain spoilers!
The story is sadly predictable. Ever’s decision to have gastric-bypass surgery is a fairly easy one (the author alludes to Ever’s previous struggles, but never allows us to feel emotionally involved in those struggles), her success after the surgery appears quite effortless, and her resulting popularity and confidence are a direct result of her weight loss. Ugh!
Ever never deals with the reasons behind her eating disorder – her mother’s death, her loneliness, her lack of self-esteem. Her decision to have surgery is a cursory one and her motives are superficial – to get the boy, to go to the dance, to get the part in the play, to be happier. There’s no mention of physical or mental health. The story glosses over food as an addiction and presents surgery as a quick fix that doesn’t require counseling, education, family support, or any real lifestyle changes.
Worst of all, she loses all that weight only to realize that people didn’t dislike her because she was fat, they disliked her because she was mean, and angry, and not open to friendship. I didn’t buy that.
Worst part: The overall message

Recommendations þþooo

This was an increasingly common issue that was grossly oversimplified. We learn to pity Ever’s situation rather than understand it. We learn that that problems are easier to solve if you lose weight. We learn that fat people’s problems are mostly self-inflicted and the solution is for them to just change. There was great potential in this book to offer amazing insight into a world rarely visited, but unfortunately even the author suggests that you have to be skinny to be worthy of a story. Sadly, this was a miss for me.

Cooner, Donna. Skinny. New York: Point, 2012.

Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz

Pages: 260
Intended Audience: Teens and Mature Tweens
Genre: Real Life / Historical / Holocaust
Notes for parents: Many scenes of violence, cruelty, and suffering. For mature readers only.

The Back Cover
Ten concentration camps.
Ten different places where you are starved, tortured, and worked mercilessly.
It’s something no one could imagine surviving.
But it is what Yanek Gruener has to face.
As a Jewish boy in 1930s Poland, Yanek is at the mercy of the Nazis who have taken over. Everything he has and everyone he loves have been snatched brutally from him. And then Yanek himself is taken prisoner—his arm marked B-3087.
He is forced from one nightmarish concentration camp to another, as World War II rages all around him. He encounters evil he could never have imagined, but also sees surprising glimpses of hope amid the horror.
Can Yanek make it through without losing his will to live—and, most of all, his sense of who he really is inside?

What the Back Cover doesn’t tell you:

This is based on the true story of Ruth and Jack Gruener. However, there is a disclaimer that reminds the reader that it is a work of fiction. The author says he has “taken liberties with time and events to paint a fuller and more representative picture of the Holocaust as a whole.”

What’s good?

Told with a detached, almost cold writing style reminiscent of Elie Wiesel’s Night, this disturbing tale of a young Jewish boy during the Holocaust is a heartbreaking reminder of man’s inhumanity toward man. The writing is simple and easy to read and the plot is straight forward and predictable all things considered. However, the content of Yanek’s experience is filled with cruelty and suffering which makes the ethical dilemmas he encounters and the moral decisions he must make heartbreakingly difficult to watch.
Best part: Crying over a toothbrush.

What’s not so good?

Almost 70 years after the end of World War II, the book market continues to be saturated with Holocaust stories. This one is really no different than any other. It’s a story of unspeakable crimes, amazing feats of survival, and the desperate struggle to hold on to one’s humanity in the midst of history’s most shameful human behavior. Sadly, I think many readers, especially young ones, are becoming desensitized to the horrors and are experiencing these stories more as entertainment rather than truth.
Worst part: None for me.

Recommendations þþþþo

This book is powerful in its simplicity and an excellent addition to the numerous stories that have been told about the Holocaust experience. It contains realistic scenes of violence and cruelty and should be read only by the most mature readers. Absolutely recommended.

Gratz, Alan. Prisoner B-3087. New York: Scholastic, 2013. (Hardcover)