Starlings

Starlings by Amanda Linsmeier, 2023

Recommended for grades 9 and up

Fantasy, horror

Brief Review

After her father’s suicide, seventeen-year-old Katherine “Kit” Starling and her mother go to visit Agatha, the grandmother she’d thought died long ago. Despite her grief, Kit enjoys the quaint town of Rosemont, where her grandmother is treated like a local celebrity and she herself is a guest of honor. But a series of disturbing events, culminating in the disappearance of Kit’s mother and the death of a local teenager, lead Kit to realize that Rosemont has a dark, sinister history and that the woman in her family have had a central role in it. She eventually learns that her distant ancestor Franny Starling made a pact with a monster. He keeps the town safe and prosperous, but in return, every female in the Starling family belongs to him. Kit is supposed to officially give herself to him at the upcoming festival. Now she’s on a tight timeline to figure out how to extricate herself from a promise she never made. With a dark and disturbing plot not-quite-hidden beneath its seemingly cozy and romantic setting, this YA novel falls somewhere between genres and is perfect for readers who like stories about mysterious family secrets. Some readers may choose to interpret the ongoing sacrifice of the Starling women as being a metaphor for generational trauma associated with domestic abuse. Kit’s eventual victory, which seems surprisingly simple after all her efforts to piece together cryptic clues, could be read as a message about consent. Or maybe, the Starling women’s pact is simply an example of the magically-binding-contract trope so common in dark fantasy.

Longer Review

It’s a few days before Christmas, and seventeen-year-old Katherine “Kit” Starling is on her way to her recently deceased father’s hometown of Rosemont, along with her mother. The book’s intriguing opening line, “She was supposed to be dead,” refers to Kit’s paternal grandmother, Agatha Starling. Kit is hoping that this trip will give her some insight into her family history and as to why her father has always lied to her about it. She quickly finds out that the Starling family is very important in the small, quaint, picturesque town of Rosemont. Her father’s childhood home is now a museum, the townspeople talk to Agatha as if they owe her a debt of gratitude, and everywhere Kit goes, people treat her like a guest of honor. 

Almost immediately upon her arrival, Kit meets a cute boy named Bear. Like her and her father, Bear is a writer, and Kit quickly bonds with him. Both Agatha and Bear are eager to show Kit around town. Agatha tells Kit about the local festival that will be happening shortly after Kit and her mother leave, and she decides to include Kit by commissioning a special dress for her. She also takes her to Starling House and tells about their distant ancestor Franny Starling, who saved Rosemont from starvation early in its history. Bear shows Kit the famous eternal roses of Rosemont. Despite Kit’s grief at the loss of her father, she is enjoying the ambiance of Rosemont and the company of her newfound grandmother and new friends.

But then one morning, Kit wakes up and finds her mother gone. Mom has texted Kit that she “need[s] some space” and will “be in touch”, but Kit knows her mother wouldn’t just leave. Neither Agatha nor the sheriff feel that Mom is in danger, so Kit takes it upon herself to investigate her mother’s disappearance. But that’s not the only disturbing thing happening in Rosemont. A local girl, just a year younger than Kit, has been found dead in the river that runs through the woods at the edge of town. When Kit goes to search those same woods for her mother, she sees a strange, otherworldly girl trapped in the ground, bound by tree roots. She leads the sheriff to the scene, but the girl isn’t there anymore.

Rosemont no longer seems like a cozy place to spend Christmas. There’s something dark and sinister going on in the town, and Kit realizes that it has something to do with her own family history. Agatha acknowledges this fact and promises to tell Kit the whole story, but that conversation keeps getting delayed. With the help of Bear, Kit breaks into Starling house to look for any clues. At first they don’t find much, but after a dramatic kissing scene in the family portrait gallery, Bear notices some papers hidden in the fireplace. They are journal entries written by the eighteenth-century matriarch Franny Starling herself.

Bear also tells Kit some dark details of the town’s history that she hadn’t previously heard, and between those, Franny’s writings, and Agatha’s story which she finally tells Kit the next day, Kit learns exactly how Franny saved Rosemont. The Starling family has made a pact with a monster. He keeps the town safe and prosperous, but in return, every female in the Starling family belongs to him. Kit is supposed to officially give herself to him at the upcoming festival; the disappearance of her mother was orchestrated to keep her in Rosemont until then. But he has already been interacting with her in ways she couldn’t have guessed. Now Kit is on a tight timeline to figure out how to extricate herself from a promise she never made.

With a dark and disturbing plot not-quite-hidden beneath its seemingly cozy and romantic setting, this YA novel falls somewhere between genres and is perfect for readers who like stories about mysterious family secrets. Some of the plot twists are a little predictable, and the ending felt a little anticlimactic. (Despite the implication that Kit’s predicament could only be solved by painstakingly piecing together clues left behind by her ancestors, the resolution turned out to be completely straightforward) But these potential flaws are easy to overlook because the book is so well-written. The gradual shift from a realistic but vaguely unsettling ambiance to full-blown dark fantasy is so perfectly paced that the story maintains its aura of suspense even without any truly surprising twists and turns.

Although there’s an undertone of sexual connotations in the relationship between the Starling women and Rosemont’s monster, and it is specified that Kit is bisexual, there’s no explicitly sexual content in this book. (At one point, Agatha assures Kit that she isn’t going to have to actually sleep with the monster) Some readers may choose to interpret the ongoing sacrifice of the Starling women as being a metaphor for generational trauma associated with domestic abuse, or for the dangers of equating feminine strength of character with the willingness to make sacrifices rather than the ability to make wise decisions. Kit’s eventual victory over the dark forces that have controlled her family for centuries could be read as an allegory reminding young women that they have the right to refuse sexual advances, or perhaps telling them not to feel compelled to prioritize their family’s expectations over their own hopes and plans. Or maybe, since Kit is shown enjoying books about “the dangerous world of fae”, Franny Starling’s pact is nothing more than an example of the magically-binding-contract trope so common in dark fantasy.

The Mona Lisa Vanishes

The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicholas Day, illustrated by Brett Helquist, 2023

Recommended for grades 6-12

Non-fiction, Mystery

On August 21, 1911, a man walked out of the Louvre art museum in Paris with a painting hidden under his coat. Despite the fact that this was the time and birthplace of forensic science, law enforcement had few clues and no suspects. It took over two years for the Mona Lisa to return to the Louvre, and in that time, it became the most famous painting in the world. Interspersed with the story of the high-profile investigation, this book describes the life and times of Leonardo da Vinci and the sequence of events that led to him painting the Mona Lisa. It also relates the limited biographical information we have of Lisa Gherardini, the subject of the painting. Da Vinci is described as a genius with a serious procrastination problem and an inability to follow through with his commitments. The appraisal is historically accurate, but the author’s choice of words is humorous, as is his frequent reiteration that “Michelangelo was a jerk.” (His contemporaries and art historians are all in agreement on that fact)

This well-researched YA-oriented nonfiction book provides readers with a wealth of information not only on one historical event and the contextual information about two different eras, but also on the history of detective fiction, forensic science, and some aspects of art history. It also makes some interesting philosophical points by contrasting da Vinci’s unique perspective and thought process with that of the brilliant investigators who failed to solve the theft of the Mona Lisa centuries later. Thanks to short chapters, light-hearted prose that frequently addresses the reader directly, and lots of illustrations, this book feels like a much lighter read than it actually is. Recommended for adults as well as for teens and tweens.

This Is Not a Personal Statement

This is Not a Personal Statement by Tracy Badua, 2023

Recommended for grades 9 and Up

Realistic Fiction

Brief Review

Overachiever “Perfect Perlie Perez” is about to graduate from the prestigious Monte Verde High at only sixteen years old, and she has big plans for the future that hinge on her academic career at Delmont University. But those plans suddenly fall apart when she doesn’t get accepted to Delmont. Unable to face her parents’ disappointment, Perlie fakes an acceptance letter. By graduation, Perlie’s lies have spiraled out of control. Her new plan is to move onto Delmont University’s campus and pose as a student while she resubmits her application and gets accepted for the spring term. Perlie succeeds in moving into a vacant dorm room without raising her parents suspicions, blending into the incoming freshman student body, and even making some friends. But she struggles to pay for food without a student ID and to get in and out of the dorm without getting caught by campus security or the RA. And her new friends and experiences are leading her to question some of the values that have driven all of her decisions so far. Is academic achievement really the most important thing in life? Does she really want to go to med school, or is it for a good reason that the interactive entertainment major sounds so appealing? Despite the predictability of plot points near the end and some repetitive stream-of-consciousness passages, this novel has an intriguing premise that will keep readers curious and that will offer some validation and comedic relief to anyone struggling with the same pressures Perlie feels.

Longer Review

Perla Perez, better known as Perfect Perlie Perez, is used to being known as an overachiever. For Perlie, graduating from the prestigious Monte Verde High at only sixteen years old isn’t enough; she and her parents have spent years finessing Perlie’s Academic Plan, which specifies that Perlie will go to Delmont University and then med school. Her Filipino American parents and grandparents have sacrificed a lot to get Perlie to where she’s about to be. But that plan suddenly falls apart when Perlie doesn’t get accepted to Delmont. Unable to face her parents’ disappointment, Perlie fakes an acceptance letter. Unfortunately, Perlie’s Academic Plan didn’t involve applying to any safety schools. When graduation comes around, Perlie is still lying to her family and pretending that she’s on her way to Delmont. In the meantime, she has come up with a plan: she’s going to have her parents move her onto Delmont University’s campus and pose as a student while she resubmits her application and gets accepted for the spring term. Inspired by the Albert Einstein quotation, “Only those who attempt the absurd can achieve the impossible”, Perlie organizes a seven-part plan to make her Delmont dream a reality in spite of the setback.

At first, things go according to plan. Perlie takes advantage of inattentive move-in volunteers to sneak into a vacant dorm room and she has little trouble blending into the incoming freshman student body. The seven-part plan specifies that Perlie needs to “make a friend, but not a close one”, in order to gather information about the admission criteria and to make her presence on campus less suspicious. Although Monte Verde Perlie was always socially awkward and a bit of a loner, the new Delmont Perla quickly befriends a real Delmont student named Tessa. She also discovers that her high school classmate and academic rival, Camilla Kang-Jansen, is attending Delmont despite having been waitlisted and previously intending to go elsewhere.

Despite her initial success, it isn’t easy hiding in plain sight on a college campus. Perlie has to be very careful about entering and exiting her dorm room, and she has to come up with plausible lies on the spot whenever she crosses paths with the RA. After avoiding a couple close calls, Perlie returns one day to discover that campus security has removed her belongings from the room and removed the tape she uses to keep the door unlocked. And since Perlie told her parents she was given a “generous grants package”, she can’t count on them for much financial help. Within a few weeks, Perlie is sleeping in a storage room and has had to add a credit card and part-time job at a coffee shop to her plan. On the plus side, she has attracted the attention of a cute boy named Brand who invites her to gaming club meetings. And the only person who has figured out her secret is Camilla.

Although Perlie is on track to submit a new application with a stellar personal statement, she gradually comes to question whether Perlie’s Academic Plan is truly her dream or just her parents’ dream. Over a couple months, numerous conversations with Camilla, Tessa, Brand, and her coworker Jackson lead her to question the values and opinions that have driven all of her decisions so far. Is academic achievement really the most important thing in life? Is it actually true that students at “top schools” are superior to community college students, and are doctors superior to coffee shop owners? Does she really want to go to med school, or is it for a good reason that the interactive entertainment major sounds so appealing? Would Camilla have been a friend all along if Perlie hadn’t been so focused on competing with her? The old Perfect Perlie Perez and the new Delmont Perla are two completely different people, but since Delmont Perla is just a lie, who is the real Perla Perez and what does she intend to do next?

Just as Perlie is about to make some difficult decisions, a noise violation brings all of her plans and lies to a sudden end. The conclusion of Perlie’s story is predictable and more realistic than most of the events that led up to it, although it doesn’t follow Perlie far enough to assure the reader that she still has a bright future ahead of her, as I had expected. Some readers may not especially enjoy this book due to the necessity of suspending disbelief in some of Perlie’s misadventures, some clunky phrasing especially near the beginning of the book, and the repetitive nature of the passages focusing on Perlie’s internal monologue. But for readers who are dealing with stress similar to the crushing academic pressure that Perlie faces at the beginning of the book, this novel will offer validation, perspective, and maybe even some comedic relief. And even readers who are just looking for a light read are likely to be engrossed in seeing just how far Perlie manages to take her scheme.

YA Thrillers

At one point early this summer, I had every intention of reading as many recently-published YA ghost stories, murder mysteries, and psychological thrillers as possible and putting together a lengthy blog post reviewing them all. But this year has frankly been a slow reading year for me, and in the last several months, I have succeeded in finishing reading only three books that fall into that general grouping of genres. Now that we’re in a new calendar year and it’s time for me to wrap up my 2022 reading and put together my Best Books of 2022 list, I’m going ahead and posting the three reviews I do have.

Dead Girls Can’t Tell Secrets by Chelsea Ichaso, 2022

After golden girl Piper Sullivan falls from a cliff known as Suicide Point, leaving her comatose and unlikely to recover, everyone assumes that it was a suicide attempt. Everyone except her family, that is. Her parents assume it was an accidental fall, and her older sister Savannah is sure someone tried to kill Piper. Armed with a single clue, she decides to infiltrate the wilderness survival club that her sister had recently joined. Coincidentally, all of Piper’s closest friends and most bitter rivals are in this club. Savannah joins them for a weekend-long trip and pieces together the intricate web of lies, schemes, and damaged relationships that converged the day of Piper’s fall. Along the way, every member of the club is at some point the prime suspect. And everyone, Savannah included, turns out to be guilty of something. Although the premise is intriguing, the twists and turns come in such short succession that they lose most of their thrill value, and the big revelation about Savannah’s role in the tragedy happens a little too soon (and with far too many hints beforehand) for maximum dramatic effect. The resolution to the mystery is somewhat anticlimactic, but the numerous appeal factors still add up to make this book a worthwhile read for whodunnit fans.

Summer’s Edge by Dana Mele, 2022

Just like every other summer, Chelsea is meeting her friends Kennedy, Ryan, and Chase (plus “the new girl”, Mila) at Kennedy’s family’s summer home. But this year is different. Last year’s vacation ended in a tragic fire that killed Emily. Chelsea’s memories of the incident are a little unclear and she spent most of the year in a psychiatric hospital, but now that they’re back together in the summer house, Chelsea starts to feel as if someone is leaving spooky, supernatural hints about what really happened. Later chapters from Kennedy’s perspective give some additional details about the drama and conflicts that occurred in previous summers, and it gradually becomes clear that no one is innocent and everyone has suppressed their memories of what really happened during the last two summers. The first half of the book leaves quite a bit to be desired in terms of characterization and pace of exposition; despite the small cast of characters, it’s a little hard to keep track of which personality traits and which backstories have been attributed to whom, and many of the allusions to past events are awkwardly placed and slow down the storyline too much. But the spooky twists and turns later in the book are well worth the wait, and the story culminates with the kind of satisfying surprise ending that feels as if it should have been obvious all along. I strongly recommend reading this book relatively quickly, perhaps during a vacation. 

The Girl in the Castle by James Patterson and Emily Raymond, 2022

Eighteen-year-old Hannah lives a double life. In one life, it’s 2023 and she has just been readmitted to a New York psychiatric hospital after having a hallucination-related breakdown in public. In the other life, it’s 1347 and she’s a starving peasant who is desperate for an opportunity to save her family and fellow villagers. Meanwhile, Jordan Hassan is a college student who is starting an internship at Belman Psychiatric Hospital. He takes an immediate interest in Hannah, whose psychotic episodes are completely unlike textbook schizophrenia. And strangely enough, in all the time Hannah has spent at Belman, nobody knows anything about her past or her family. She answers those kinds of questions by sharing details about her medieval life, in which she loses her sister and husband-to-be in a failed raid on the castle kitchen but ends up catching the eye of the baron and managing to provide for what’s left of her family by persuading him to send help. Jordan is determined to be the savior and figure out how to cure Hannah’s psychological disease that has stumped her doctors, but she is equally determined to persuade him that her time-traveling episodes are real. Predictably, they develop a mutual crush that interferes with Hannah’s mental well-being. Although this psychological thriller is an engaging read full of mysteries and surprises, it leads up to an overly-fast-paced and unsatisfying ending, culminating with a very short epilogue that doesn’t give nearly enough information about what happened in the seven years between chapters 109 and 110. Recommended for avid readers of psychological thrillers, but don’t put this one on the top of your reading list if you don’t have a lot of time on your hands. 

Riley’s Ghost

Riley’s Ghost by John David Anderson, 2022

Recommended for grades 6-8; Ghost story

Brief Review:

Seventh-grader Riley Flynn has gotten herself in trouble and attracted negative attention from her peers once again by tattling on a classmate who pulls a prank, trying to make her kiss a dissection frog. A group of stereotypical mean girls, including Riley’s ex-best-friend, retaliate by trapping Riley in the science room’s supply closet at the end of the day. By the time Riley escapes from the closet, the school is deserted. But as Riley explores the school, looking for a way out and trying to figure out why the doors won’t open from the inside, she realizes she’s not alone. One of the dissection frogs has become animated with the spirit of a former student named Max Trotter. And there’s another ghost, someone more sinister and powerful. Riley realizes that, in order to escape, she needs to find out who that ghost is and what it wants. This story takes place in a single day, but it’s interspersed with flashbacks and introspective passages allowing the reader to get to know Riley intimately with all of her flaws, past mistakes, and fears. Although Riley’s parents never make a direct appearance in the story, their relationship with Riley plays a significant role. In particular, her father’s ghost stories are alluded to constantly, mostly in the context of analyzing different kinds of fear. While this is a spooky, atmospheric ghost story that will appeal to fans of the genre, it’s also full of middle school drama and insightful discussion about friendship, loneliness, reputations, and bravery, which will appeal to kids who might usually prefer realistic fiction.

Long Review:

Seventh grader Riley Flynn is used to getting in trouble at school. Sure, some of those times were her fault; Riley is aware that she has a problem with impulse control. When her teacher Mr. Bardem lets Riley use a VR headset to watch a virtual dissection instead of cutting open a dead frog herself, some of her classmates prank her by holding a frog up to her mouth. Riley’s ensuing outburst gets both the perpetrator, Chris Winters, and herself in trouble. Unfortunately, Chris is in a middle-school relationship with Grace Turner, Northridge Middle School’s resident mean girl and the new best friend of Riley’s former best friend Emily Sauders.

Riley stays late after school because her mom is working a late shift, but Grace and her entourage including Emily also stay late for volleyball practice. Grace is furious at Riley for her “freak-out” that got Chris in trouble. Riley tries to escape the situation by apologizing, but Grace’s insults get to her and she turns on the snark and eventually slaps Grace. In retaliation, Grace and her friends push Riley inside the science room’s supply closet with all the dead frogs. and lock her inside.

Now that almost everyone has left the school, no amount of shouting or banging can alert anyone to Riley’s predicament. She can’t pick the lock, either. But suddenly, the closet opens and lets her out. And one of the dead frogs is moving. Riley tries to convince herself that she imagined it and tries to leave to go home to her microwave dinner and Chunky Monkey. But she can’t get out. Despite the fact that the school doors are supposedly always possible to open from the inside, they don’t open for Riley.

Over the next several hours, Riley explores the empty, darkened halls of her school, looking for a way out. She injures herself several times in the process and repeatedly crosses paths with the zombie frog, who turns out to be able to walk and talk. He explains that he’s a ghost using the frog’s body as a vessel; in fact, he is the spirit of a man named Max Trotter who died of a sudden heart attack, but had gone to Northridge Middle School himself. He insists that he isn’t the one who is preventing Riley from leaving the school. A series of spooky events gradually lead Riley to realize that Max isn’t the only ghost haunting the school. If she wants to get safely home, she’ll have to figure out who the other ghost is and what they want from her.

The main narrative all takes place in a single day, but the story is interspersed with flashback chapters that describe Riley’s home life, provide more backstory about the friendship between Riley and Emily, explain some of the past incidents that have given Riley a bad reputation, and offering commentary on the nature of ghost stories. You might not think that a story about a girl trapped alone can be stretched out to over 300 pages and still be interesting, but Riley is a complex, flawed, and very self-aware character who makes the plot work. Her internal monolog comes across as a little mature for elementary-school aged readers, so I would recommend it for readers Riley’s own age and I’m going to classify this book as YA.

While this is a spooky, atmospheric ghost story that will appeal to fans of the genre, it’s also full of middle school drama and insightful discussion about friendship, loneliness, reputations, and bravery, which will appeal to kids who might usually prefer realistic fiction. And I felt that it carries a fair amount of intellectual and emotional depth as it examines different kinds of fear. There’s the kind of fear evoked by the scary stories Riley’s dad likes to tell, which already come in several different subcategories which are scary for different reasons, but then there’s the kind of fear Riley experienced one time when they heard about an accident on the news and didn’t know whether Riley’s father was safe. There’s the kind of fear you feel when someone is physically threatening you and the kind of fear that comes with being trapped alone, but there’s also the fear of loneliness, of losing your friends, of being bullied and mocked. Riley herself shows bravery in the face of all of these different types of fears, but there’s plenty of room for thought about which situations she could have handled differently.

Instructions for Dancing

Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon, 2021

Recommended for grades 8 and up; Romance, Fantasy

Brief Review:

Seventeen-year-old Evie, formerly an avid romance reader, doesn’t believe in love any more since her parents’ divorce. After donating her collection of YA romances and picking up a little book on ballroom dancing, Evie starts seeing visions. Every time she witnesses a couple kissing, she sees a series of scenes from their relationship, from when they met until their inevitable painful breakup. At the advice of her friend Martin, Evie decides to investigate her visions by visiting the ballroom dance studio whose address is stamped on the book. Predictably, she gets roped into a class and then into signing up for a competition. Her partner is a stereotypical YA-novel hot guy named Xavier, X for short. They go on a few pseudo-dates to develop their chemistry and quickly decide to start dating for real. But while their idealistic relationship is developing, Evie’s disillusionment with romance is furthered by finding out that her father is getting remarried and by learning through her visions that two of her best friends, who are newly in love, are about to have a messy breakup that will dissolve her friend group.Then Evie sees a vision about her own relationship, informing her that it will end in tragedy. In the final pages of the book, she must re-evaluate her opinions on love and loss. This book is exemplary of its genre and will appeal to fans of emotional YA romances. Although it relies heavily on tropes and cliches, its humorous self-awareness keeps this from being a real flaw.

Long Review:

In the interest of being honest and informative, let’s start by acknowledging that I tend to have a bias against the trope in which a character starts learning to dance and discovers that they’re already really good at it. Normally, the book or movie goes on to show the character working extremely hard for a very short period of time in order to prepare for some kind of competition, performance, or audition, and then excelling despite being up against much more experienced dancers. As someone who spent several years dedicating all of my energy and effort to ballet without ever getting very good, I think it’s a little insulting and very unrealistic to assume that a character can get good at dance without training for at least a few years. I don’t even know why this is such a common plotline; maybe just because Dirty Dancing is such a beloved and iconic movie.

But that’s really the only complaint I have about this self-aware YA romance. Although it has corny parts and is full of YA romance cliches, the book humorously acknowledges its own reliance on tropes through Evie’s awareness of the parallels between her own experiences and other YA romance novels. And actually, despite the title, this book really isn’t very much about dance. It’s about asking (and maybe sort of eventually answering) some questions about the nature of love and loss. Can love really be forever, or do all relationships eventually end in heartbreak? Is romance even a good thing in the first place if it inevitably leads to pain? Are loss and loneliness to be avoided at all costs, or is a happy relationship in the meantime worth the risk?

For most of the book, seventeen-year-old Evie is firmly of the opinion that love isn’t real and that all romantic relationships end in heartbreak. She didn’t always feel that way; she used to be an avid romance novel reader who believed in all of the beautiful platitudes. But then, a little while before this book begins, she found out that her father, whom she had always idolized, was cheating on her mother. Her parents got divorced shortly thereafter, and now Evie can’t forgive her father or enjoy romance novels anymore. 

While donating her formerly cherished collection of YA romances, Evie acquires a little book called Instructions for Dancing. Initially, she thinks nothing of it, but then the visions start. Every time Evie witnesses a couple kissing, she sees a series of scenes from their relationship, past, present, and future. She finds out that her sister’s new boyfriend is about to cheat on her, she learns that the “Couple Most Likely to Get Married” at school is going to break up after they go to different colleges, and she sees countless strangers heading towards similar painful breakups. 

Evie confides in her friend Martin, who decides that Evie’s situation must be like in movies about characters in fantasy scenarios (specifically the movie Big in which Tom Hanks’ character gets his wish to be a grownup) who must learn a life lesson before returning to their normal life. The Instructions for Dancing book has a stamp associating it with a particular ballroom dancing studio, and Martin persuades Evie that she has to go there to figure out why she’s having these visions and what she’s supposed to learn from them.

Predictably, when Evie pays a visit to the dance studio, she first gets roped into a class and then into a competition, and her partner is a stereotypical YA hot guy who is able to raise a single eyebrow. His name is Xavier, X for short, and he is an aspiring musician and the grandson of the dance studio owners. Evie tries not to fall for him, but she is immediately attracted by his cliche “romance guy” traits, and when they go on a few “not a date”s to get to know each other and develop chemistry for their dancing, they quickly end up in a relationship. 

But while their idealistic relationship is developing, Evie’s disillusionment with romance is furthered by finding out that her father is about to get remarried and by learning through her visions that two of her friends, who are newly dating, are going to have a messy breakup soon that will result in the breakup of her entire friend group. Her attitude towards these situations damages her relationships with her family and friends. In fact, she spends most of the book waffling on whether or not she’s going to attend her father’s wedding and being angry at her sister and mother for seeming less hurt than she feels. A positive moment comes when Evie witnesses X’s grandparents sharing a kiss and finds out that true, lifelong love without heartbreak is possible after all.

Despite the fact that Evie has only been dancing for a few weeks, she and X win their ballroom dance competition and share an impassioned kiss on the dance floor. At that point, Evie sees a vision informing her that (spoiler alert!) X is going to die in only ten months. She runs away from him and later breaks up with him by text. As Evie wallows in her heartbreak, the book delivers several tragic, quotable lines including, “The opposite of love isn’t hate. It’s death.” and “The problem with broken hearts isn’t that they kill you. It’s that they don’t.” Evie tells herself that it’s not true that it’s better to have loved and lost than never loved at all. 

But with just a few pages to spare, she changes her mind. She realizes that her visions weren’t about the heartbreaks at the ends of the relationships, but about the happiness that people experience in their relationships in the meantime. The ending is a little rushed, especially because the dramatic chase scene (which Evie’s narrative voice acknowledges as being yet another cliche) only takes about a page. I did feel that the book could have dedicated a little more time to the chase scene and the romantic reconciliation, plus maybe another chapter or two to give the reader a little closure by depicting Evie and X happily in love again. (Granted, parents will probably be glad to know that there isn’t any kind of sex scene; this book is very clean for a YA romance) Evie’s sudden change of perspective comes just a little too late to really sink in before the book is completely done.

However, my overall opinion of this book is that it’s exemplary of the YA romance genre and will appeal to teen and adult readers who enjoy books with typical teen love interest characters and emotional twists and turns. The book’s self-awareness of its reliance on tropes not only makes up for all the cliches, but also makes it easier to forgive the unanswered questions about the fantasy elements of the story. Some teachers, librarians, and other professionals will probably be interested to know ahead of time that most of the major characters including the protagonist are African American; however, race does not play a significant role in the plot.

The Verdigris Pawn

The Verdigris Pawn by Alysa Wishingrad, 2021

Recommended for grades 6-8; Fantasy, adventure

Brief Review:

Thirteen-year-old Beau may be “the Heir” in the Manor, but he feels like a prisoner. After meeting a servant named Cressi and finding out just how bad conditions are for the common people, Beau becomes determined to bring justice to the Land. He joins forces with Cressi’s friend Nate and the two run away to find a man named Doone who they believe can help. Meanwhile, Cressi has been taken into custody because she’s a charmer, but she manages to persuade the corrupt chamberlain to let her join the search for the runaway heir. The rest of the book alternates between their perspectives as they go on adventures that lead them to some of the same places and people. The gradual revelation of the Land’s recent history adds an element of mystery, and the frequent allusions to the fictional game of Fist, which has obvious parallels to the actual political situation, gives intellectual depth. Despite a relatively uninteresting start and somewhat shallow characterization, this story ends up being an immersive and exciting fantasy adventure that feels like an instant classic. Recommended for avid fantasy readers on the upper end of the “middle grade” age range or the lower end of the “YA” age range. For reluctant readers or anyone who isn’t particularly fond of fantasy, this book will likely be a little overwhelming. 

Long Review:

Beau feels like a prisoner. He may be the Heir, but his tyrannical father, who goes by “Himself”, keeps Beau alone in his chambers most of the time with nothing to do but study The Histories. He keeps himself entertained by playing the board game Fist. Since the game is based on the concept of overthrowing a ruler, it’s illegal, but Beau has a set that belonged to his long-dead mother, and he has been taught the rules by the stablemaster Fledge. On the day this book begins, Beau finds out from his father that his tutor has just died of a mysterious fever that has been infecting the guards. Himself’s chamberlain Barger evidently notices Beau’s Fist pieces and takes one, the verdigris pawn, on his way out. Although Beau is supposed to be confined to his chamber, he sneaks to the stable to warn Fledge. They could both be in serious trouble now that Barger knows someone has taught Beau how to play Fist.

While visiting the stable, Beau meets Cressi, a nursemaid’s assistant. Beau has never had a chance to interact with young people who work at the Manor, so he initially pretends to be the cordwainer’s apprentice. He’s so ignorant of the situation outside his own chamber that Cressi quickly sees through Beau’s charade. From her, he learns about Mastery House, where children go if their parents can’t pay their tax levy. There, they train for work in the Manor or elsewhere in the Land. Cressi has just recently been placed in her position, and her best friend Nate has just managed to escape from Mastery House.

When Barger catches Beau and Cressi together, he immediately recognizes Cressi as a charmer, despite the fact that The Histories claim there are no more charmers. But Barger and Himself suspect that the fever that has infected so many guards is the work of a charmer. Barger now suspects Cressi specifically, so he takes her into custody. He plans to use Cressi’s power to increase his own power within the Manor, first by charming Beau into submission. 

Despite the brevity of their encounter, Cressi and Beau are each determined to help the other. The rest of the book alternates between their perspectives as they go on adventures that lead them to some of the same places and people. Beau meets up with Nate and, with Beau claiming again to be the cordwainer’s apprentice, they escape from the Manor and set off in search of a man named Doone who they believe can somehow help them bring justice and freedom to the Land. Cressi persuades Barger to let her join the search for the runaway heir, but along the way, she is learning how to use her newly discovered charmer powers.

The first couple chapters of the book are a little uninteresting and confusing because the worldbuilding is a little too gradual and the characterization relies a little too heavily on common tropes. Beau’s dissatisfaction with his lot in life is reminiscent of the many stories loosely based on Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper, and Cressi and Nate each come across as one-dimensional characters. Cressi is fiercely independent just like every middle grade fantasy heroine, and Nate is a hothead whose main trait is an intense hatred of the heir who (he thinks) he’s never met. And the reader has to suspend disbelief a little to accept why Beau has such an abrupt change of heart and is now so devoted to the cause of helping the people under his father’s rule.

But once the story advances past that point, the characters’ respective journeys are interesting to read and the story feels like a classic-in-the-making. I’ve seen several online reviews that use adjectives like “timeless” and “immersive”, which I think is a fair assessment. The gradual revelation of the Land’s recent history adds an element of mystery, and the frequent allusions to the fictional game of Fist, which has obvious parallels to the actual political situation, gives intellectual depth.

Recommended for avid fantasy readers on the upper end of the “middle grade” age range or the lower end of the “YA” age range. For reluctant readers or anyone who isn’t particularly fond of fantasy, this book will likely be a little overwhelming.

A Sitting in St. James

A Sitting in St. James by Rita Williams-Garcia, 2021

Recommended for grades 9 and up; historical fiction, LGBT

Brief Review:

Set on an antebellum Louisiana plantation, this novel follows various members of the Guilbert family through an eventful few weeks of social life, schemes, and a forbidden romance. Madame Sylvie, the family matriarch, aims to flaunt her background as a member of pre-Revolution French aristocracy by throwing a party and commissioning a painting she can’t afford. Her son Lucien wants to elevate the social status of his illegitimate, mixed-race daughter Rosalie, and he seeks to arrange a marriage for her despite Madame Sylvie’s refusal to acknowledge Rosalie as a member of the family. Lucien’s son Byron is trying to please his grandmother by securing an engagement with a girl from a neighboring plantation despite the fact that he is in a homosexual romance. And Jane Chatham, a rebellious teenager who is staying with the Guilberts in order to take lessons in proper social behavior from Madame Sylvie, just wants to ride her horse. The various subplots involving the white protagonists are interspersed with the stories of their slaves, many of whom have suffered rape, beatings, and the sudden disappearance of family members. Despite the book’s somewhat one-dimensional characters, readers with an interest in the time period or the history of Louisiana will enjoy this novel and probably learn quite a bit from it. Comparing and contrasting this book with Gone with the Wind, while taking into account when each of these books was written and how they were researched, would make an interesting academic exercise for young adult readers.

Long Review:

Madame Sylvie Guilbert, once a member of the pre-Revolution French aristocracy, is now an elderly widow running the Louisiana plantation that is technically owned by her son Lucien. Although the plantation is in trouble financially and Madame Sylvie is deeply humiliated by the fact that both her husband and son have had illegitimate, mixed-race children by slave women, she is determined to maintain and flaunt her noble background and maintain a high social status. This attitude of superiority influences all of her decisions, such as when she agrees to bring Jane Chatham, a rebellious teenager from a neighboring plantation, into her home to teach her proper feminine behavior, and when she decides to throw an expensive party while her grandson Byron’s friend from military school is visiting. She also is eager to make official the implied marriage agreement between Byron and Eugenie Duhon from a neighboring plantation.

What Madame Sylvie doesn’t realize is that Byron and his friend Robinson Pearce are not just friends. Although Byron is resigned that it is his duty and responsibility to marry a high-class woman of French ancestry, and although he is fond of Eugenie, it is Pearce whom he loves. Robinson Pearce is a northerner and finds the rigid social expectations of the South to be strange, but he knows as well as Byron does that their homosexual relationship must be kept a secret.

Meanwhile, Lucien has decided to bring his illegitimate daughter Rosalie back from the boarding school where she’d been sent mainly to keep her out of view of her grandmother. Rosalie is a “quadroon”, that is, one quarter Black and three quarters White. Although that means she counts as black and she is a slave owned by her father, her skin color and features would allow her to pass as white. In fact, she bears a close resemblance to her grandmother, who refuses to acknowledge her and doesn’t allow her inside the house. But behind Madame Sylvie’s back, Lucien is attempting to raise Rosalie to a higher social status. He wants to marry her off to a friend’s son who is mixed-race but free.

Another significant subplot, which gives rise to the title of the book, is Madame Sylvie’s insistence that she must have her portrait painted by the most respected painter with the clearest tie to French aristocracy that she can find. At the recommendation of Eugenie Duhon, she commissions Claude Le Brun, despite being unable to afford the portrait. When Le Brun arrives, though, he’s not what she had in mind. He is planning to go to a retreat where painters discuss new techniques, a concept which Madame finds horrifying. And he thinks that slaves would make good subjects for a painting. Worst of all, he demands that Madame’s personal maid Thisbe act as his assistant. Thisbe, named after Marie Antoinette’s dog, has been trained from childhood to be the epitome of subservience, and Madame Sylvie doesn’t want her getting any ideas by being exposed to other people.

The story focuses on the upper-class white characters, but there are also numerous slaves whose stories are told in bits and pieces over the course of the book. The author’s note at the end of the book specifies that this is deliberate. Most historical fiction about slavery focuses on the slaves and their perception of their owners, just as most books about the civil rights era or about racism in contemporary times focus on black protagonists and their experiences with racism. But Williams-Garcia has chosen in writing this book to present slavery from the perspective of the perpetrators, showing how entrenched they are in the assumption that black slaves are subhuman and how reliant they are on their slaves. Most of the white characters, Madame Sylvie in particular, are overly preoccupied with their own ulterior motives and schemes. Unfortunately, this results in some very one-dimensional characterization. Jane Chatham in particular is hard to like as a character because her only traits are her lack of feminine mannerisms, her confusion about social expectations, and affection for her horse and her deceased father. 

This book varies greatly from Williams-Garcia’s other works in its mature subject matter and its length and complexity. The antebellum plantation setting makes it somewhat reminiscent of Gone with the Wind, although it’s remarkable just how culturally different antebellum Louisiana was from Georgia. Readers with an interest in the time period or the history of Louisiana will enjoy this book and probably learn quite a bit from it. But those who aren’t already in the subject matter probably won’t find this book as appealing. Its length and enormous cast of characters will be daunting to reluctant teen readers, and its apparent attempt to be an LGBT love story doesn’t mesh with the other plotlines of the book. Although it’s being marketed as a YA novel, this book has at least as much appeal for adults as for teen audiences. 

The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. (as told to his brother)

The Disappearance of Aidan S. (as told to his brother) by David Levithan, 2021

Recommended for grades 5-8; fantasy, realistic fiction

Brief Review:

When twelve-year-old Aidan suddenly returns after being missing for three days, he tells his brother Lucas that he had been in a world called “Aveinieu”. Lucas repeats this to their parents and the police without realizing that he’s blowing his brother’s cover before Aidan even had a chance to figure out his cover story. The family wants to keep Aidan’s explanation to themselves, but just when the brothers are ready for life to go back to normal, the police leak the story and everyone in town knows. Aidan has told his friends a vague story about sleepwalking, getting lost in the woods, and being “out of [his] mind” at first when he got back, but now he’s being teased about unicorns and the family is harassed by the media. The book ends without a satisfying resolution other than a scene hinting that Aveinieu is still there, but clarifying that Aidan and Lucas are perfectly happy in their regular life. Despite being technically a fantasy, this book’s mundane, real-world setting and its slow pace with little action result in a lack of appeal factors. The believability of the characters constitutes one redeeming quality and the concise but introspective writing style is another. However, the emphasis on people’s emotional states of mind feels forced and borders on corny. Not recommended for fans of adventure or high fantasy; instead, suggest this book to preteen readers who appreciate speculative fiction with an intriguing premise regardless of the specific plot points or lack thereof.

Long Review:

The story begins when twelve-year-old Aidan is suddenly transported to the fantasy world of Aveinieu, but unlike most portal fantasy stories, which concern themselves with the adventures that take place in Narnia or Wonderland or Oz or Underland, this book is about Aidan’s return three days later and how the whole experience affects his family. Told from the first-person perspective of his eleven-year-old brother Lucas, the book follows the brothers through police interviews, awkward conversations at school, and unwanted media attention.

At first, Aidan doesn’t give many details. All he tells Lucas is the name Aveinieu, and Lucas repeats it to their parents and the police detectives without realizing that he’s blowing Aidan’s cover before Aidan has even had a chance to figure out his cover story. When Aidan begrudgingly gives more details, the adults are understandably skeptical. Lucas is Aidan’s main confidant, and even he has to be cautious about when and how he asks questions. Gradually, Aidan reveals more about Aveinieu, the otherworldly animals there, the people he met, and how he got sent back because of the concern that he could be bringing diseases from his home world. 

The entire community knows about Aidan’s disappearance, and they had all helped with the search effort, but Aidan’s explanation about Aveinieu stays between his family and the police at first. But just when Lucas and Aidan feel ready for life to go back to normal, the police leak the story and everyone in town knows. Aidan has told his friends a vague story about sleepwalking, getting lost in the woods, and being “out of [his] mind” at first when he got back, but now he’s being teased about unicorns and the family is harassed by the media. At school, Aidan even gets confronted by an apparently delusional man who breeches school security to talk to him about a completely different fantasy world where he believes he met Aidan.

The story ends without a satisfying resolution. The brothers put a fair amount of effort and research into developing a cover story, but the police know it isn’t true. At that point, they officially close the case, since Aidan is home and evidently safe, and the media frenzy eventually blows over. The final few pages serve as an epilogue, hinting that Aveinieu is still there, but clarifying that Aidan and Lucas are perfectly happy in their regular life.

This book has received good reviews from professional review journals, including starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist, but only mediocre ratings on user-generated platforms like Goodreads and Amazon. I suspect that’s because the general public has less tolerance for loose ends than literary professionals do. Besides that, the contrast between the mundane, real-world setting and the fantastical world of Avienieu is stark enough to make this book feel awfully slow-paced for a fantasy novel with the word “mysterious” in the title. There is hardly any actual action, just lots of conversation.

Despite that lack of appeal factors, I thought that this book was, overall, interesting and well-written. The twist on the portal fantasy sub-genre is interesting, even if it doesn’t feel exactly necessary. (Fantasy stories can certainly be analogous to real life, or carry messages that pertain to reality, even without taking place in the real world) My bigger complaint about this book is that the token “nice” grownups, Officer Pinkus and Aunt Brandi, seem too good to be true and border on corny. Officer Pinkus seems to believe Aidan’s story and, unlike the other adults, doesn’t even question his mental state. And Aunt Brandi inserts herself into the role of family therapist by repeatedly asking everyone to articulate their feelings and critiquing the parents on how they communicate with their preteens. In real life, that would be presumptuous and annoying behavior from an aunt; it’s a little bizarre that this family accepts and appreciates that kind of intervention.

This brief, speculative novel for preteens will certainly appeal to a very specific target audience, but it won’t be the best choice for genre readers who love fast-paced adventure, high fantasy with complex world-building, or realistic fiction about believable, real-life issues. Instead, suggest it to readers who value intriguing premises over plot and suspense. Because it’s a pretty quick read, this book may be a good choice for reluctant readers.

Cathedral of Bones

Cathedral of Bones by A.J. Steiger, 2021

Recommended for grades 6-8; fantasy, steampunk

Brief Review:

Fourteen-year-old Simon Frost wasn’t very successful in his training as an Animist, so he has ended up in a boring job sorting mail for the Foundation in the fantasy city of Eidendel. One day, a letter from the mayor of Splithead Creek catches Simon’s interest. The town needs the help of an Animist to rid themselves of an “unspeakable horror”. Simon’s supervisor doesn’t think that the emergency is worth the Foundation’s attention, but Simon feels otherwise. On a whim, he quits his job and travels to Splithead Creek himself. The fearsome monster turns out to be a girl named Alice. Based on her gray skin, tentacles, and ability to shapeshift into a dragon, Simon speculates that she might be an “Abomination”, an illegal human-demon hybrid. He takes Alice to see his estranged father, a doctor who may be able to help. Along the way, Simon learns some dark secrets about his family, his own past, and the Foundation. This fantasy story with steampunk elements features thorough world-building, especially as it describes the old legends that come to play a significant role in the plot. Although the pacing is inconsistent and the first few chapters are a little dry, the book turns into a gripping fantasy adventure that will appeal to middle-school-age readers with an affinity for unique fantasy settings. 

Long Review:

Fourteen-year-old Simon Frost has had a difficult childhood marked by tragedy. His twin sister Olivia was murdered when they were ten, and Simon was to traumatized that he has suffered from nightmares and fits ever since and doesn’t even remember what he saw that night. Shortly thereafter, his mother Veera Frost disappeared while going on one of her pilgrimages. And Simon’s relationship with his father, Dr. Aberdeen Hawking, is so strained that he hasn’t returned home since starting his training as an Animist at the age of twelve. Simon’s animist skills proved to be mediocre at best, so he has ended up in a boring, dead-end job sorting mail for the Foundation.

One day, a letter from the mayor of Splithead Creek catches his interest. The town needs the Foundation to send an Animist to rid themselves of an “unspeakable horror”, a monster that has recently made its home in the nearby mountains. Simon’s supervisor Master Melth doesn’t think that the emergency is worth the Foundation’s attention. But Simon feels otherwise. On a whim, he quits his job and travels to Splithead Creek himself to offer assistance. 

After somehow defeating a creature called a shoggoth– Simon isn’t sure himself how he did it– he meets the unspeakable horror who had terrorized Splithead Creek and summoned the shoggoth. This monster isn’t what he had expected; it’s a girl about his own age who introduces herself as Alice. She has no memory of who she is or where she came from, but she certainly isn’t entirely human. Her gray skin and tentacles make that obvious, and she can shapeshift into a dragon-like form. She’s seriously injured, so Simon heals her and then takes it upon himself to rescue her by taking her to the city of Eidendel, where people are more “accustomed to unusual things”. 

But even in Eidendel, it’s necessary to keep Alice’s tentacles hidden. Everyone seems to suspect the same thing that Simon and Alice are wondering about: Could Alice be an “abomination”, a human-demon hybrid? If so, her very existence is illegal. Simon can only think of one person who might be able to help, and that’s his estranged father. So Simon and Alice journey on to Simon’s original home, Blackthorn. Dr. Hawking is reluctant to help, and while Simon is there, he uncovers photographs that prove that his father has been conducting illegal, horrific experiments on dead bodies. And in one of those photographs, the body is Alice’s. 

The rest of the book is a whirlwind adventure in which SImon and Alice flee from Blackthorn only to be caught by Neeta, Simon’s former teacher. Dr. Hawking has betrayed them in exchange for Simon’s safety, so Simon is allowed to go free while Alice is taken away. Simon is determined to rescue Alice, and in order to do so, he uses an amulet that was given to him by an old woman selling an absurd tabloid. That woman turns out to be his long-lost mother in disguise, and she reveals that she has secretly succeeded in bringing Olivia back to life. She barely even seems to notice, though, that Olivia is only a shell of her former self and has no memories of her life before death. Simon also learns that it was his mother, not his father, who reanimated Alice’s corpse. Simon continues his mission to save Alice, but in order to do so, he must draw upon extremely strong powers that he hadn’t known he could access. 

The fantasy setting with steampunk elements is unique and immersive, although in my opinion, the mentions of technology such as trains and mechanical spiders is infrequent enough to make it jarring when it does come up. And yet the technological aspects end up playing a significant role in the final couple chapters. (It’s worth acknowledging that I read a digital version of this book and didn’t have the beautifully vivid cover in front of me while reading. I would imagine that this would have made a difference to my overall experience of the book) Despite the infrequency of the steampunk-esque elements, the elaborate world-building is, overall, very well-done. The history and legends of Eidendel are interspersed with the plot sparsely enough that they don’t significantly affect the pacing, but thoroughly enough that everything makes sense in the dramatic, apocalyptic climax featuring the Elder Gods and mystical powers that no one was sure were real. 

The only other drawback to this book is its uneven pacing. The beginning moves very slowly and includes lengthy conversations with characters who turn out to be insignificant, such as a former classmate and Simon’s mailroom boss, as well as more encounters than necessary with the two characters who do end up being important later. It’s not until about a quarter the way through the book that Simon even meets Alice. But by the end of the book, Simon’s adventure goes so fast that it’s hard to fully appreciate the various twists and turns in terms of who is or isn’t a bad guy, which past events are attributed to which characters, and who has what powers and abilities. 

However, due to the aforementioned elaborate world-building and the intellectual depth of this book, I would recommend it to readers with an affinity for fantasy stories with an inventive and original setting. The mentions of grave-robbing and re-animated corpses give a spooky tone to the book, which will act as an additional appeal factor. Due to the length and complexity of the story, as well as some dark subject matter and implications of a potential romance between Alice and Simon, I’m classifying this as a YA book rather than a middle grade book, but it’s definitely close to the line between those two age demographics.