Chamber Four

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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Author: Alan Bradley

Delacorte Press, 2009

Best ebook deal: Barnes and Noble

Filed under: Young Adult, Mystery

First of all, you should know that The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is a young adult novel. Frustratingly, this information is nowhere in the book’s description, flap copy, or any related press I’ve found.

It’s odd they don’t mention it, because Sweetness is pretty much an archetypical YA novel. Its cover, for instance, makes more sense for adolescent fiction than for an adult mystery. Its premise feels very young adult: a precocious child with a fractured family life solves a crime as the adults around her fumble and frown.

Even Bradley’s writing style would fit juvenile readers well; he parenthetically defines almost every word that has more than two syllables (and he uses a lot of them; building vocabulary). Before Sweetness Bradley wrote children’s fiction, and his disposition fits YA fiction.

I suppose the publishers thought this book would make more money pointed at adults, and perhaps it did. But it’s not satisfying as an adult mystery, and I think it was a big mistake to take that tack.

I’d say Sweetness would work best for readers about age 12 or 13, (although I’m definitely not an expert on young adult fiction). Not that you can’t enjoy this book as an adult, you just have to enjoy it as an adult reading a children’s mystery.

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Author: Nahoko Uehashi, translated from the Japanese by Cathy Hirano

Arthur A. Levine, 2009

Best ebook deal: Not Available

The first Moribito had all the trappings of a great YA adventure story. I bought it on a whim and found myself quite surprised at how good it was. A lot of the things that Moribito did well, relatively deep political undercurrents, strong characterization, quick action and sprawling adventure, its sequel does well too. Yet something feels a little off. Not unlike Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Moribito II feels like a story with familiar characters who are forced to be somewhere they shouldn’t. The story works, but it doesn’t feel as organic as the first, and the structural supports its predecessor so nicely blended and wove here show through and draw the reader out.

In this second adventure, Balsa returns to her homeland to clear her adoptive father’s name. He fled the land to save Balsa’s life, allowing his honor to be sullied by conniving and power hungry brothers. When she meets a young warrior and his sister in a legendary cave, she is re-thrust into a political drama set in motion when she first departed the land as a child. The story is strong and well thought out, featuring a plot by nobles to utilize the local spiritual lore in order to usurp the kingdom. …
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