YALSA 2015 Hub Reading Challenge, Update #2

I've noticed lots of repeats on the challenge list this year. While I don't mind rereading at all, for a few of these titles, once is definitely enough! Since I do the challenge to discover new stuff, I don't want to spend too much time rereading, especially books I didn't love the first time.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

I love John Green's writing and I marked lots of great lines as I read that I intended to use in my review. In the end, though, this simple and repeated exchange between Hazel and Augustus says it all. 

"Okay?'

"Okay."

They meet at a cancer support group--Hazel is terminal, but her tumors are being kept at bay for the foreseeable future and Augustus is in remission, but missing a leg. As our protagonists fall in love, awkwardly and sweetly, they know that their "forever" will be brief. After all, "[s]ome infinities are bigger than other infinities."

What I loved most about this beautiful, humorous, and heartbreaking story is how real the love story and the friendships feel. Hazel and Augustus fear that their lives will be meaningless, that they will be forgotten when they die. What each finds in the other is a glimpse of what their lives have meant to another. Just like in our real, everyday lives, these ordinary characters find the extraordinary in each other. And that's what love is.

"Okay?"

"Okay."

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.  

**Reread for the 2015 YALSA Challenge. Still love it.

Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King

Glory O'Brien is deeply damaged. Her mother committed suicide by sticking her head in the oven when Glory was just a little girl. She has spent her life eating microwave meals because her dad refuses to use the stove. They love each other, but are mired in the past and unable to move on with their lives. Glory is an outsider. Her only friend, Ellie, lives on a hippie commune (or is it actually a cult?). They seem to be friends out of convenience and habit, rather than because they have anything in common. Glory is Ellie's only link to the outside world. Glory doesn't really know why she is still friends with Ellie. One night, the girls decide to mix the remains of a petrified bat into some warm beer and drink it. This is where things get STRANGE.

The girls start seeing visions--Ellie sees personal details about people's relationships when she meets their eyes and Glory sees flashes of both past and future. Glory records her visions in the hopes that her notes might help to avert the terrifying future to come--a future in which an endless civil war rages, and where women are truly second-class citizens, banned from the workplace and doomed to poverty and abuse. 

I enjoyed the feminist themes, though at times they did feel a bit heavy-handed. While I get that Glory's visions are fragmented, I had a hard time putting all of the fragments together into a coherent whole. My favorite part of the book was Glory's relationship with her father and her struggle to come to terms with her mother's death. I wanted to love this book, but it didn't quite come together for me. Maybe magical realism just isn't my cup of tea. 

Half Bad by Sally Green

Book one in the Half Bad trilogy.

Nathan lives in an alternate-reality England where witches are part of the daily reality. There is a brutal war between the white (good) witches and the black (evil) witches. Nathan is a half code--his mother was a white witch and his father a notorious black witch. 

For a book this long, I was hoping for more world-building. I mean, these witches are at war with each other, but there really isn't a whole lot of distinction made between the two factions and the reason behind the war is never explained. The white witches are supposed to be the good guys, but almost none of them actually demonstrate any goodness through their actions. I liked that many of the characters were multi-faceted; having my initial impressions of certain characters change as the story progressed was a pleasant surprise. 

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

I loved, loved, loved this book. It grabbed me by the throat right away. It was oh-so-believably creepy, with well-drawn characters whose motivations were complex and interesting. I can see mature teen readers gobbling this one up.

Jazz is a teenaged boy whose father, Billy Dent, is a famous and prolific serial killer. Even though Billy is in prison, and will be until he dies, he is a pervasive presence in Jazz's life. As hard as he tries, Jazz is unable to silence his dad's voice, constantly repeating the lessons of how to be a successful killer. 

When dead bodies start piling up in Jazz's small town, he is determined to catch the killer. Thanks to his dear old dad's lessons, Jazz can slip right into the mind of the killer, much to his dismay. The cops, especially the one who put Billy Dent behind bars, aren't too keen on Jazz's input. 

Jazz is such a realistic character, with all of the normal teenaged angst, but with the added bonus of trying to stop himself from becoming the man his father has trained him to be. Jazz exhibits many sociopathic tendencies, but he is most human when he's with his wise-cracking best friend, Howie, and his take-no-shit girlfriend, Connie. Howie's hilarious comments provide plenty of comic relief, even in the midst of some pretty gory gruesomeness. Connie keeps Jazz grounded and calls him out when he starts wallowing in self-doubt. There are some well-meaning adults who try to do what's best for Jazz and he respects them, even though he doesn't agree with them. And then there's his crazy grandmother. Whoa. She's hilarious and horrifying all in one racist, wrinkly, gun-waving package. 

I dare you to read this one after dark.

**Reread for the 2015 YALSA Challenge.  I'll be reading the sequel (Game) next, even though it's not part of this year's challenge.

My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf

Most of us can relate to the experience of knowing a "weird" kid in high school, that kid who looked or acted differently from other kids and just didn't fit in.  That kid who we lost touch with after high school and who never really crossed our minds again. Backderf tells the story of his acquaintance (I hesitate to call it a friendship, despite the book's title) with Jeffrey Dahmer in high school. As a clueless kid, Derf didn't take the warning signs all that seriously, even when he noticed them. The adults in Jeffrey's life didn't either. 

This memoir tells about Jeffrey Dahmer's life leading up to his first murder, and isn't especially gruesome, graphic, or illuminating.  I was intrigued by the book's premise, but in the end, it wasn't my cup of tea. 

**Reread for the 2015 YALSA Challenge. Still not my cup of tea. I have to admit, I skimmed.

2015 YALSA Morris/Nonfiction Reading Challenge, Update #3

I have officially finished the books from both the fiction and nonfiction lists, with the exception of Ida M. Tarbell. My library has ordered it, but I don't know if I'll even get it before this part of the challenge ends. I'll read it for the full Hub Challenge when it comes in, but I think I have clear favorites so far for both the Morris and Nonfiction Awards.  This week, I read the last two Morris Award Finalists. Both were excellent!

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

Upon finishing this strange and lovely book, my first thought was, "Wow. That was beautiful."

I was immediately hooked by Ava's first words in the Prologue:

"To many, I was myth incarnate, the embodiment of a most superb legend, a fairy tale. Some considered me a monster, a mutation. To my great misfortune, I was once mistaken for an angel. To my mother, I was everything. To my father, nothing at all. To my grandmother, I was a daily reminder of loves long lost. But I knew the truth--deep down, I always did.

I was just a girl."

Chapter One was difficult to swallow and I kept getting jarred out of the story with thoughts like, "What am I reading? This is some freaky sh@#t!" I wondered if this might be one of those rare books that I would not be able to finish. I read on, thinking that I'd give it until page 50. The next thing I knew, I was on page 136 and utterly entranced by Ava and her family. I have a weakness for poetic language and this story was so beautifully crafted that it left me breathless. Truly a feast for the senses.

Ava's story starts long before she is born. Her ancestors experience the loves and tragedies that set the stage for her birth--this girl with wings who nobody quite understands. I loved the large cast of characters and the way their stories intertwined. They felt complex and sometimes painfully real, even in the context of the magical elements. What is love? Is it all about fate, or do we have the power to influence and direct its course?

This is a story about love, but it's bittersweet--heartbreakingly lovely, dark and violent, and, ultimately, hopeful.

The Story of Owen, Dragon Slayer of Trondheim by E.K. Johnston

This is Siobhan McQuaid's story just as much as it is Owen's. I loved that she gets to put her spin on events as they happen. There are benefits to being a bard, after all. I also enjoyed the theme that revolved around storytelling and its power to influence the world around us.

Their story is set in a world very much like our own, but populated by various species of destructive dragons that have influenced the course of history. I enjoyed the way the alternate history was presented, with familiar events and historical figures entwined with and influenced by dragons. Readers will recognize Hadrian, Dracula, the Beatles, Buddy Holly, and Queen Victoria, to name a few. The dragons are drawn to carbon emissions, so over the years, dragon slayers have been lured to big cities by corporations who are willing to pay big bucks to protect their factories and mines. This has left rural areas unprotected from ever-increasing dragon attacks.

When rockstar dragon slayer Lottie Thorskard suffers a career-ending injury, she moves to the small town of Trondheim with her wife (Hannah), brother (Aodhan), and nephew (Owen). Owen and Siobhan meet on his first day of school when they are both late to class. They quickly become friends. Siobhan is slightly socially awkward, but she has a wonderful wit and the ability to notice the music flowing through her life. All too quickly, Owen and Lottie approach her about being Owen's bard. Her role is not only to write songs about Owen's historic deeds, but also to put a spin on events that will teach the populace how to conduct themselves during a dragon attack--get in your darn shelter; don't stand there with your iPhone, distracting the dragon slayer while you try to get some good video.

When dragon attacks in this rural area start to noticeably increase in frequency, Siobhan and her friends discover that the dragons are expanding their hatching grounds. Their solution was pretty obvious and I actually wondered why it took a bunch of high school kids to figure it out. This was a part of the story that stretched credibility a bit. I wondered why their solution wasn't already a normal part of the dragon slayers' repertoire. Another small thing that bothered me was that I noticed several typos as I read; I hate getting thrown out of the story and having to go back and reread a sentence that doesn't make sense because of a missing word or a mismatched verb tense. The manuscript could have used another proofreading pass before going to print. This made me sad because the writing is so good overall. The cover art is also gorgeous.

Siobhan's voice grabbed me right away. I loved the way she hears music everywhere and is always composing. She even matches people with the instruments that best express their personalities. While some of the minor characters felt a bit flat and generally acted as more of placeholders, the main characters are well-developed and interesting. The dialogue is snappy and often funny, even when circumstances are dire.  Owen and Siobhan are JUST FRIENDS, which was also refreshing. It was nice that they were more concerned with saving the world and finishing high school than with getting married.

After Owen kills his second dragon we get this exchange:

"...when Owen passed me the following note on Monday morning in English, I punched him in the shoulder.

 My part was easy / I slayed it. You need a word / That rhymes with hubcap.

I didn't love the ending, but I could understand it. There is a planned sequel and I'm curious about how this critical loss will affect the ongoing story.

I'll end with Siobhan's words:

"That is the story of Owen, dragon slayer of Trondheim. And it is more or less true, but you can believe whatever you want."