Author: Cory Doctorow

2010, Tor Teen

Filed under: Young Adult

This is a pretty dorky book. It’s initially about gold farmers: low-salary workers in China, India, and elsewhere, mostly, who grind MMO games like World of Warcraft for in-game currency and items, then sell them to Westerners. In For the Win, groups of these gold farmers band together to form an international union of workers, both online and offline. Interestingly enough, it’s not dorky in that it dwells in descriptions of video game worlds and fantasies (it doesn’t, really). This book is dorky because it doubles as a pretty sound lesson in fundamentals of economics. I learned a lot actually.

An econ lesson taught through video games? That might sound boring, but actually For the Win is riveting. …
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Author: Rachel Vincent

2007, Mira

Filed Under: Horror, Romance, Chick Lit, Thrillers, Young Adult

I’m not sure I can say that I liked Stray. I wouldn’t read it again and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else (unless they were a werecat enthusiast, in which case I’m sure it would come to mind, and I would bring it up, and I would say, check this shit out). But I did read it in one week. Which says something.

First, a few fun facts about werecats:

1. Werecats have this amazing sense of smell. Lines including descriptions such as: “my citrus-scented pants” and “wholesome femininity layered with Herbal Essences and cherry Bubble Yum” really clue the reader in.  Over and over and over again
2. Werecats do not have nine lives. As the protagonist puts it, “that would be cool, though.” Maybe her werebabies will have that gene?
3. Good werecats don’t eat human flesh. Bad “strays” do.

Did I mention that I trash-picked this book from the trash? Yep. Found this gem on the side of the road. Look at the cover: You would have picked it up, too. There’s a sex kitten right on the cover and you wonder, is that a tattoo on her lower back, or a scratch mark?

I’m not always a fast reader. Sometimes I forget my book at home and end up spending the day with the Metro. Or I switch around, hopping from story to story.

One week says something. It says that I opted to read about werecat love triangles when I could have been out at the bar or catching up on my new favorite British teen drama, “Skins” or, you know, going to the library for a better book. It says that I remembered to bring it with me to work everyday so that I could read it on the train and on the elliptical machine at the gym. It says that I maybe hunted around my room for it late one night when it was hiding under my blankets and I really wanted to know whether or not the protagonist was going to be raped by the bad guy.

…
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Author: Kate Cary

2005, Razorbill (Penguin)

Filed Under: Young Adult, Horror

I know, I know. Young adult vampire novels swirl around in a genre flooded with quick-to-press garbage. To be honest, I have no idea how this book wound up on my shelves. But when I found it while looking for a book to take on the subway, I figured I’d give it a shot. And I’m actually pretty glad that I did.

Bloodline is not the typical teen vampire novel the cover design might suggest it is (assuming the typical teen vampire novel these days is a Twilight doppelganger). In fact, this book borrows a lot more from Bram Stoker’s classic novel than it does from glamour-chic undead romance of contemporary vampire fiction. This is a book with plot, structure, and language that leans more toward classic horror than toward YA. …
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Author: M.T. Anderson

2006, Candlewick Press

Filed under Young Adult, Literary, Historical

Right off the bat: this is a YA book with an agenda. If the jacket copy is to be believed (and in this case, as is general, it isn’t really) a shocking twist occurs early on. This happens about 50 pages into the 350 page book, and in order to get through this review, I’m going to have to spoil that one. So if you require twists in your books, perhaps you should skip this review.  I won’t spoil the plot point that catalyzes it however. …
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Author: Iniko

2009, iUniverse, Inc.

Filed under: Historical, Horror, Young Adult

This book is a hard one to categorize, as it’s not really horror until the very end, and it’s less young adult than it is sophomoric. What it is is a somewhat valiant attempt at a novel by a clearly untrained author. A small-run indie book riddled with spelling and grammatical errors, Dark Innocence struggles to pace itself or properly establish narrative tension. It does however, have a fair amount of heart, and I must admit I found myself engaged and compelled to finish it as I was reading. …
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Author: Scott Westerfeld

2009, Simon Pulse

Filed under Young Adult, Sci-Fi, Historical

I don’t really read all that much sci-fi, and even less so niche stuff like steampunk, but if I had to pick a go-to subgenre, steampunk would be my choice. I like the alternate history, low-tech tech, Victorian atmosphere, and funky gadgets. When I learned about Westerfeld’s alternate history of the First World War, battled between an axis of machinists (“Clankers”) and an alliance of nations who rely on biological machines of war (“Darwinists”), I was intrigued. I don’t usually give much credence to book trailers–they are usually rather dumb and tend to commodify books a little more than is to my taste–but the one for Leviathan tickled my fancy. (I’ve embedded it below if you care to watch.) …
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This book has been chosen as a Great Read

Author: Markus Zusak

2006, Knopf

Best ebook deal: Random House

Filed under Young Adult, Literary, Historical

What will instantly grab you about this novel is the identity of the narrator. The story is told by Death. At first this concerned me; I was afraid I was stepping intto a sci-fi-ish story about a child in a terrible war, a la “Pan’s Labyrinth”. However, the book doesn’t go there. The supernatural never enters the story (besides the existence of a sentient Death). Moreover, Zusak’s Death will quickly win you over. He’s one of the strongest narrators I’ve read in a very long while.

The Book Thief is about a young German girl named Liesel living with loving adoptive parents during the second world war. At its heart, this is a coming of age novel and a love story, though it would be doing the novel a disservice to label it solely as either. …
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Author: Neil Gaiman

Harper Collins, 2002

Best ebook deal: ebooks.com (only $3!)

Filed under: Young Adult, Literary, Fantasy

Neil Gaiman has a real knack for macabre young adult fiction. His characters are fleshed out and idosyncratic, his settings unique and vivid, and his plotting and pacing pitch perfect. This is the second of his novels I’ve read in two weeks, and this description holds true for both. They both won Hugos amongst other awards as well, so I’m not alone in thinking this.

Though it isn’t a direct adaptation like The Graveyard Book is, Coraline is a wonderful amalgamation of Alice in Wonderland and Hansel and Gretel with a substantial amount of creative originality stirred in. It is a short and marvelous story that at times channels Tim Burton and Roald Dahl, and at times surpasses them. …
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This book has been chosen as a Great Read.

Author: Neil Gaiman

Harper Collins, 2008

Best ebook deal: Sony eBook Store

Filed under: Young Adult, Literary, Fantasy

I guess I chose a pretty good time to read and review this book, as it was just awarded the Hugo Award (to compliment the Newbery and Locus awards it already has won), making this as good a time to talk about this great novel as ever.

As you might infer from the title, The Graveyard Book takes its inspiration from Kipling’s classic children’s’ novel, The Jungle Book. Nobody (Bod) Owens is an orphan raised in a graveyard by its otherworldly denizens. One of Gaiman’s greatest achievements with this novel is the cohesive and enthralling world he creates. He quickly establishes the different lore and hierarchies within the world of the dead, and never once was I confused about the rules of this fictional world that very early on felt as robust and immersive as that of Rowling’s Harry Potter series. …
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Author: H. Rider Haggard

Public Domain, 1885

Best ebook deal: free

Filed under: Young Adult, Literary

King Solomon’s Mines is a late nineteenth century adventure story. I picked it up on a whim from Project Gutenberg. I used to read a lot of adventure stories and Hardy Boys books when I was young, so I thought a story of this type would be a nice change of pace from the more involving books I’ve been reading this summer. A little more Shaka Zulu than Indiana Jones, Haggard’s story delivers a fine adventure, though its age and flaws are evident.

Allan Quartermain is a British ivory hunter in Africa. Apparently Quartermain is a recurring character in Haggard’s novels, although there is little to suggest this in the book. (This is actually a good thing as it adds to the adventure of a lifetime feeling that Quartermain ballyhoos in his narration.) …
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