Review: Devil's Kiss

Devil's Kiss
Sarwat Chadda
2009; Disney Hyperion; ISBN 978-142311999-9 (hardcover)

Summary: Once, the Knights Templar were the most powerful organization in the Christian world. But now, the Knights Templar are a shell: a handful of men, a priest, and a teenage girl. Billi SanGreal is the only female Templar, driven by her father to join the Order. Her whole life is training and duty, especially since her friend and fellow squire Kay was sent to Jerusalem. But a great change is coming. Evil forces are arriving in London, and it will be up to Billi to defeat one of the greatest threats to Earth: Death itself.

The latest in a spate of novels featuring the Knights Templar, Devil's Kiss gives the story a modern twist. Billi is tempestuous and stubborn, but she's also loyal and empathetic. Amidst a story featuring angels and demons, Billi grounds the novel in everyday teenage concerns. A shadowy, dangerous London is brought to life by Sarwat Chadda. Pass Devil's Kiss to fans of The Hunger Games or Graceling who are looking for a contemporary setting in their novels.

Let's Tour Medina Hill

Let's Tour Medina Hill: Blog Tour
Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Welcome! Thank you for joining us from Cindy's Love of Books.
Look into the past, a time of heroes and heartbreak. As a young boy tries to regain his voice, he discovers several worlds different from his own. Will Dominic talk to anyone outside his family? Will his sister Marlo ever do more than read the recipes in her cookbook? And how will these two siblings make a difference in a small Cornish town? The answers await in Medina Hill.

In this novel, a book that captures a time and place, several stories gently mingle into a larger one. It's a difficult task to blend T.E. Lawrence, the Romany, an artist's colony and a boy's coming-of-age, yet Trilby Kent achieves just that. Dominic's worries and fears become our own; but his interests and excitements also intrigue the reader. Several of the supporting characters, like Marlo, Sancha the Roma girl, and the Reverend Cleary, are vivid and engaging. For modern middle-schoolers who don't know much about Lawrence of Arabia or Britain in the 1930s, Medina Hill will open their eyes to the heroes and lifestyles of the past.

For more information, please visit the Tundra Books website or get your own copy here: Amazon || BN.com
Please follow the tour to: Melanie's Musings.

Review: Cashay

Cashay
Margaret McMullan
2009; Houghton Mifflin; ISBN 978-0-547-07656-0 (hardcover)

Summary: Cashay and Sashay might live in the projects, but they're not going to be like their mother, a drug addict, or like other girls who get pregnant. But when Sashay is shot and killed, Cashay's anger starts to overwhelm her. Why can't she have what she wants? How can she go on without Sashay? But thanks in part to her mentor Allison, Cashay willd iscover how she'll be able to escape the projects.

Three Things to Know about Cashay

#1: How do you adapt when your life changes?

Cashay is an insightful look at one girl dealing with taking control of her life. The death of Sashay derails Cashay's original plan, of taking care of her sister and staying together. Even though this plan held Cashay back, it allowed her to make sure both of them were safe and able to succeed. But with Sashay's death, Cashay is alone--and left to formulate a new plan. It's a difficult transition, but Cashay will slowly create a set of goals.

#2: There is a need for mentors.

Teens need parents and teachers that care and support them. Equally important is the presence of adults that don't fall into either of these two categories: adults that can help teens by serving as mentors and role models. Cashay is helped as she creates her new life by Allison. Described as a skinny white woman, Allison volunteers at an afterschool program where she is paired with Cashay. Allison opens Cashay to a whole new world, where women can act like men, staking lots of money on a reading f the stock market. Through Allison's influence, Cashay starts to create a plan for herself and herself alone.

#3: We can't always save the ones we love.

The death of Sashay doesn't just hurt Cashay. Their mother, who had been clean for three years, gets hooked again, letting her drug dealer move into their apartment. She loses her job and isn't able to help Cashay deal with her grief. And Cashay tries to help her mother, but she's not able to get through to her. Making it even worse, Cashay's mother gets pregnant and gives birth to a drug-addicted baby. If Cashay hadn't had the influence of Allison in her life, she might have put her dreams aside to help her mother. But Cashay has seen that sometimes you have to let someone save themselves. Cashay's mother gives the baby away and is sent to rehab, to start the slow process of getting clean for good. And that's a journey that Cashay can't help with, beyond giving her mother support.

With a lot to say, Cashay is an eye-opening novel about coming of age. With an authentic voice that doesn't fall into cliches, Cashay's hopes and fears come through vividly. In stop sand starts, Cashay is able to lay the groundwork for her future. That happens with the help of Allison as well as Cashay's aunt and teacher. Plus, the inner-city setting shows that there's more than hopelessness in the projects--there's also community and dreams. Cashay will appeal to readers who have enjoyed Coe Booth or Walter Dean Myers.

Review: It's Not You, It's Me

It's Not You, It's Me
Kerry Cohen Hoffman
2009; Delacorte (Random House); ISBN 978-0-385-73696-1

Summary: When her boyfriend Henry breaks up with her, Zoe is devastated. She had organized her whole life around him and now he doesn't want her? She just can't handle not having Henry in her life--she has to get him back. Over the next thirty days, Zoe's going to try a lot of things to get Henry to come back to her. And during that month, Zoe will maybe discover that it's not Henry that will make her whole.

Kerry Cohen Hoffman explores the ending of a first relationship, showing what happens when a girl hears "It's not you, it's me." Zoe's pain, the heartbreak that makes her temporarily crazy, is vividly presented. Her impulsive, goal-oriented personality makes her throw herself into this new project of getting Henry to come back to her. While her friends, her parents, and a teacher all try to help her by encouraging her to move on, Zoe doesn't listen--she can't until she's gone way too far. Only then is she able to start putting her life back together and learns that you can't be true to anyone if you're not true to yourself first. A fast read with a positive message, It's Not You, It's Me will be picked up by anyone who likes books about relationships.

Review: Going Bovine

Going Bovine
Libba Bray
2009; Delacorte (Random House); ISBN 978-0-385-73397-7 (hardcover)

Summary: Cameron doesn't want or expect much out of his life. He drifts through school and gets high with his stoner friends. He goes to work and to the local music shop. His family isn't close and he has a crush on a popular girl. But then, Cameron is told he's going to die, because he has the human form of mad cow disease. Now, he is full of questions: how can he die when he hasn't really lived? Is all the wisdom of the world to be found in the movie Star Fighter? And just what is real? Cameron sets off on a journey to discover the answers to these questions--and maybe find a cure for what's killing him.

Two Things to Know about Going Bovine

#1: We are all oddballs.

During his journey, Cameron meets a variety of people. There's Dulcie, the punk angel who starts Cameron on his quest. There's Gonzo, the hypochondriac dwarf who breaks out of the hospital with Cameron. There's teens who value happiness over anything else, physicists attempting to travel to alternative universes, and a blind jazz trumpeter. And there's also Balder, a yard gnome who's immortal. These unusual characters reflect that all of us have a part of ourselves that's a bit out of step with others. Cameron himself is a huge fan of a Portuguese ukulele player known as the Great Tremolo. It's not something he can share with just anyone, because it's a risk--but when Cameron does take that risk, he learns something about not just the other person, but himself as well.

#2: Reality is what you make of it.

Cameron's road trip is slowly unraveled as being in his head, a hallucination caused by the disease destroying his mind. Yet this doesn't mean it's not real. The experiences that Camera has are those that we all strive to gain: times with friends, falling in love, exploring new places. Without the time to do these things, Cameron's mind creates a way for him to do all these things and more, all the while his brain and body is weakening. In such a situation as Cameron's, would anyone deny the reality that he creates for himself?

A novel that is more than it appears to be, Going Bovine shows that life is full of adventures that must be lived. As the situations Cameron finds himself in grow increasingly absurd, the story is grounded by Cameron's honest attempt to fulfill his quest. Libba Bray knows when to add more humor or to pull back and create a tender or moving moment. Worlds different from Bray's previous works, pass this novel to road trip fans who have read An Abundance of Katherines. Or pair Going Bovine with I Am the Cheese for an insightful book discussion.

Crosspost: New to Me: Annie on My Mind

Another month, another New to Me feature at the YALSA blog! October's book is Annie on My Mind.

Review: Prophecy of the Sisters

Prophecy of the Sisters
Michelle Zink
2009; Little Brown; ISBN 978-0-316-02742-7 (hardcover)

Summary: The death of her father creates a change in Lia. A strange raised design begins appearing on her wrist, and her dreams are now even more full of flying to strange worlds. As Lia begins to understand what is happening to her, she discovers that she's not in this alone: her twin sister Alice is part of the prophecy that is affecting Lia. But to her shock, Lia will not play the role in the prophecy that she expected. Will it be possible for Lia to overcome her destiny?

A blending of fantasy and suspense with a dash of historical fiction, Prophecy of the Sisters is an engaging novel. As Lia slowly learns about the prophecy, the reader is drawn into the mystery. The struggle that Lia faces, complicated by Alice's actions, creates the tension in the story. Lia must find a solution to this struggle, as she worries about her younger brother and tries to preserve her romance with a local young man. But as Alice shows her hand, Lia must make a choice--one that seems to promise a sequel. With Gothic touches but a modern sensibility, Prophecy of the Sisters would be a hit with readers of the Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray.