Bliss

It's 1969 Atlanta, and Bliss Inthemorningdew (yes that is her name) has just been dropped off by her hippie parents at her grandmother's place. Her folks have just left the commune and are heading to Canada, and Bliss' world is about to change.

Her grandmother is a true Southern lady, and quickly enrolls Bliss in the tony Crestview private school. Bliss is excited about actually going to a real school, but she is keeping her friend from the commune Flying V's warning about mean girls in the back of her mind. (Flying V has a gift of sight, and Bliss has a bit of it herself).

Bliss is thrown for a loop when her peer mentor Sarah Lynn ditches her. Luckily Thelma has decided to take Bliss under her wing and she and friends Jolene and Deedee school Bliss in the ways of not only Crestview, but life in Atlanta off the commune.

Unfortunately, when Flying V's warning seems to come into play, and Bliss witnesses some cruelty between classmates, Bliss ends up befriending Sandy. Sandy who the other kids make fun of because she's clumsy, she smells, and well, she's Sandy.

But Bliss feels good about being friends with Sandy. At first. They talk about conformity, power and the Manson Family murder trial. But Sandy is really needy, and it's draining spending time with her. Bliss would rather be with Thelma, Deedee and Jolene, not to mention super cute Mitchell.

What will happen when Sandy gets mixed up in a quest for power that involves the supernatural? Can Bliss disentangle herself from this girl who is set on revenge?

Lauren Myracle has written a thrilling page turner reminiscent of Nixon and Duncan. It's perfectly paced and will keep readers wanting more. Chapters are interspersed with journal pages which are border line terrifying when one thinks about the implications of animal torture and the dark arts.

Bliss is not only a scary thriller. The setting of late 1960s Atlanta allows for some frank discussions of race and the nature of racism. From the token black student at Crestview, to the Klan daddies, to teachers feeling free to use the "N" word in their classrooms, Bliss will have readers chewing on some big ideas as well.

A Thousand Never Evers

It's the summer of 1963, and all is not well. Medgar Evans has just been shot, four little girls have been firebombed while at Sunday School, and who knows what else is going on that is not making the news.

Addie Ann Pickett lives in Kuckachoo Mississippi with her mama, her Uncle Bump (on account of his muscles), and her brother Elias. Her biggest concerns of the summer are working with her Uncle at Old Man Adams' place, trying to convince her best friend Delilah that jumping double dutch isn't baby stuff, and worrying about
7th grade next year with Mrs. Jacks over at Country Colored (West Thunder Creek Junior High School, if you please!)

Things start changing when Old Man Adams up and dies. No one is more surprised than Addie Ann when she, her Uncle and Elmira the cook, are summoned up to the house for the reading of the will. Mr. Adams left a little something for each of them. Elmira gets his dutch oven, Addie Ann gets the television (that she used to secretly watch sometimes), and Uncle Bump gets a beautiful gold pocket watch. Everyone there is most interested in what will become of the house and grounds. After all, Old Man Adams has the best garden around.

Imagine the looks on the sheriff's and mayor's faces when the lawyer announces that the garden is to be a shared community garden for whites and colored folks alike! But when most people in power are racist from their toes on up, this seems like a piece of Old Man Adams will that won't be honoured.

Then something even worse happens. One day when Addie Ann's brother brings her to the general store, two bully white boys take her cat from her. All because she raised her eyes, and doesn't know her place. One boy is about to drop kick poor Flapjack when Elias comes to the rescue, lobs a honeypot at the boy's head, knocks him out and breaks his leg. Elias takes off swimming for his life in the Bayou. Addie Ann knows the sheriff and his hounds, along with the Klan will be after Elias.

What follows is Addie Ann's struggle to get through. Her struggle to come to grips with what has happened to her family. And her realization that now is her time. The reverend always said that she would know when her time to the movement would come. When the hounds come for her Uncle, she knows it's her time, and Addie Ann rises to the occasion.

Brilliantly written, A Thousand Never Evers should have a place in every public and school library. Addie Ann and her family come alive off the page, as does the town of Kuckachoo itself. Equally heartbreaking and inspiring, Shana Burg has taken her own family's calling to the civil rights movement and made it into a work of art.

This is one of the rare times that I put a recommendation here and at Welcome to My Tweendom. I do think that this book really does span from tween to young adult. The issues that arise can be discussed in various manners, and the summer of 1963 is one that we all need to know and think about!

gossip of the starlings

Catherine has never really met anyone like Skye Butterfield. Daughter of the Senator, Skye has been on television since she was a little girl. And when she decides to befriend Catherine while attending Esther Percy School for Girls, Catherine finds herself charmed and flattered.

Catherine has maintained her friends from Waverly, of course. After getting caught in bed with her boyfriend John Paul, Catherine's father thought a school for girls would keep Catherine out of trouble, and concentrating on her studies and her horse riding. But John Paul still comes to her meets, and the first people that Skye wants to meet are Catherine's Waverly friends.

What comes with the mix of her Waverly friends with Skye Butterfield is cocaine from South America,unsupervised trips away from school, and the slow destruction of marriages, friendships and love.

Nina de Gramont has captured the insular world of privileged youth perfectly. Set against the back drop of 1984, a school year in the reckless abandon of these teens reads truthful. Catherine, Drew, Susannah and Skye all know that no matter what, their parent's means will help them out of any situation - be it bringing drugs into the country, or sleeping with a teacher. John Paul's scholarship status does leave him more vulnerable than the rest, and it's amazing to read how little thought his friends give to his circumstance.

This compelling story will be a good companion to John Green's Looking for Alaska, and E. Lockhart's The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks.

The Luxe

The cover, the cover, the cover! The first time I saw this arc hanging out on a co worker's desk, I was just about overcome with jealousy. Nonchalantly I said, "Hmmm, this looks interesting...maybe I could borrow it when you are through?" She decided to read it, and it's been on my pile for a while now. I just started it yesterday, and finished it 5 minutes ago. I am going to buy myself a copy of the hardcover tonight.

The year is 1899, and NYC's social elite is doing what they do best. Going from fete to fete, and getting involved in scandal.

Sisters Elizabeth and Diana Holland couldn't be more different. Elizabeth is just back from some finishing in Paris, and Diana still has her wild ways. Since their father died, their mother has been aging quickly and looking more distressed by the day. At the Hayes ball celebrating their new Fifth Avenue mansion, Elizabeth's mother presses her to dance with several suitors telling her daughter ominously that time is of the essence. While Elizabeth is off doing the proper thing, Diana is luring men into the coat closet in search of the perfect kiss.

Meanwhile, Penelope Hayes is waiting for handsome Henry Schoonmaker to make his entrance. She is certain that the time to make their affair public is upon them. He comes from one of the wealthiest families, and Penelope is certain that her own family's new wealth is enough for the Schoonmaker family.

What will happen when Mrs. Holland and Mr. Schoonmaker deem that a marriage between Henry and Elizabeth is a boon to both families? Will Penelope take this lying down? And what of Elizabeth's maid Lina? The one with a bit too much information about "sweet" Elizabeth and a certain stable boy.

Anna Godbersen has written a deliciously decadent story about love, betrayal, social class and friendship. Richly laden with historical detail, the characters are developed so well that readers will love and loathe each of them in measure. Sexy, but not over the top, fans of Libba Bray's A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, and just released The Sweet Far Thing will eat this title up. With an open ending, I am hoping to read more about Elizabeth, Diana, Lina, Penelope and the boys!

The Mistress of the Art of Death

There used to be a time in my life when I read quite a few forensic style mysteries. This is the first I have read in a while - this title being a choice of our grown-up summer book club.

The year is 1170 and the place is Cambridgeshire, England. Children are disappearing, and the village is up in arms. Surely the town Jews are to blame. Child sacrifice is part of the culture afterall, isn't it?

King Henry needs to keep all elements of his kingdom in line. He needs the tax money from all areas, he needs peace. He tells his tax collector "Peace is money, Aaron, and money is peace." (p.10)

So how to solve these disappearances? Henry calls for one of the best detectives from Italy by way of his cousin, the King of Sicily. Simon of Naples is to come over to clear the name of the town Jews, and to find out what really happend. And to accompany him, a master in the art of death will come as well. This person is schooled in reading dead bodies for clues as to how they were killed. What Henry and Simon do not count on is that this person is a woman. Adelia is the child of professors and a student from the University of Solerno...one of the only places where a woman is allowed an education.

How will she fare in medieval England where the Church rules as well as the King, and women with knowledge are oft accused of witchcraft? And what will happen to those accused when the children start surfacing -- their bodies obviously violated before death in numerous ways?

Ariana Franklin has written quite the page turner. And, I have to say it ... eeewww! Lots of detail that I would have done quite well without. Mind you, the detail is not over-the-top in a gore for the sake of it way. It certainly ties in with the plot. But what made this title so readable for me, were the characters and their development. Adelia herself is complicated, smart, and torn. Little Ulf is utterly charming in his own messy way, as is his grandmother Glytha.

The reader also gets a real sense of the racism, religious fervor, and overall danger of the times. Unless you were a catholic, white man, your very existence could be wiped out with very little consequence.

While this title didn't capture me as much as last summer's The Historian, I did learn quite a bit about the time period, and it has spurred me on to want to read some non-fiction about the times.

In Search of Mockingbird...

...is over at Tweendom!

Feathers....

...by Woodson is over at Tweendom!

The Year the Gypsies Came

Another book that I wanted to read after my high school librarian booktalked it.

Set in South Africa during Apartheid, Emily's family is falling apart. Mother and Father rarely speak, and when they do it is just to argue. Mother is upset that Father isn't keeping her in the lifestyle that she imagined for herself, and Father is tired of Mother's browbeating. The only time that her parents seem to stop arguing is when other people stay at their compound. This time it's the gyspies.

Not gypsies like one would imagine, her Father assures Emily. This is a wandering family from Australia. Jock, the nature photographer, wife Peg (with her omnipresent snake Opalina around her neck), and sons Otis and Streak. It's plain to see that Otis is simply not right in the head, and Streak is a bit of a wild one himself. Emily immediately takes to Streak, and sister Sarah is so kind and gentle that Otis' ways do not seem to bother her.

The family's night watchman, Buza, has a bad feeling about these visitors. Emily spends her evenings with Buza, listening to his Zulu stories. He is the only person who can make Emily feel whole as her family splinters apart.

***************

This is a beautifully written tragedy. Emily is young enough that her emotions are raw and on the surface and Linzi Glass writes her voice perfectly. In fact there are no weak characters in this story. Each is integral, and everyone grows in some way.

I have a bit of an interest in South Africa as a friend of mine lived there for several years, and I have recently aquired a South African penpal. However, I think that this is a book that will appeal to most fans of the written word. It is not for younger YAs as themes of infidelity, sexual abuse, and death are present. It is, however, wonderfully written and a pleasure (despite the pain) to read.

Octavian Nothing

Wow.

M.T. Anderson has done it again. This book is so haunting and so horrifying to me that I am happy the ending of book one was a bit abrupt and cliff-hangery, because frankly I needed a break.

Octavian's mother was "brought" over to America at the age of 14 and big with child. She was a princess in her own land, and came to stay at the College of Lucidity -- a school of philosophy of sorts. Princess Cassiopeia and son Octavian are the only two there with names...everyone else is referred to by a system of enumeration. Mr. Gitney, the owner of the house, is 03-01. 03-01 is raising Octavian with a classical education of Greek, Latin, music, philosophy and poetry.

Octavian has many gifts, one being observation. He is indeed encouraged to be observant. It is through these observations that Octavian slowly begins to discover that all is not as it seems. The men of the house often conduct experiments on different animals in order to discover the science of the thing. Many times these experiments seem cruel. Indeed, there is one experimentation room that Octavian may not even enter...it has his likeness on the door drawn skull and crossbone style.

One day he gets the courage to pass through these doors, and his life will never be the same. Within those walls is the evidence that he and his mother are part of the experiment themselves. An opportunity for these "men of science" to study the differences between those of European descent and Africans.

The history within Octavian Nothing is somewhat shocking to me, because I am not American and have not studied much American history. The College of Lucidity is in Boston in the days leading up to the Revolution. M. T. Anderson has an author's note in the back that speaks to the history of the time.

The story is Octavian's, though some of it is told through brief articles and letters, and some through a revolutionary soldier. I don't want to give too much of the plot away since this is still an arc, but suffice it to say that this is a book that will remain in my thoughts for a long time. It made me uncomfortable and sad, shocked and hopeful all at the same time.