What if you could go back in time and impart to your younger self all the wisdom you’ve acquired since those carefree, innocent days of yore? “In fifth grade, do not put marshmallows in the toaster oven, even though it seems like a good idea…Sophomore year: don’t leave your retainer in a napkin in the cafeteria–unless you want to wade through three spaghetti-and-meatball-filled garbage bins to find it.” Seventeen-year-old Devi gets her wish to reconfigure the past when she accidentally fumbles her cell phone into the mall fountain. Now it will ONLY call her fourteen-year-old self, who she nicknames “Frosh.” Devi has six kinds of big plans to right the wrongs of her high school life in this seemingly free cosmic do-over. But changing the past has all sorts of side effects on her present that she never expected. Like losing the TV in her room that was given to her by her ex-boyfriend, who she now never dated because she warned Frosh to stay away. And finding that her college acceptance letter keeps changing, sometimes for the better, but sometimes not, as Frosh struggles to stay on the militaristic study plan Devi has outlined for her. Soon neither Devi nor Frosh know whether they’re coming or going, and what’s worse, the defective cell phone battery is winding down and wearing out. What’s going to happen when Devi can no longer rearrange her boy-obsessed past to accommodate her college-obsessed present? Devi should probably stop messing with her past before it changes her future for the worse–PERMANENTLY! The brilliance of Sarah Mlynowski’s writing is her bright banter and breezy humor. Her fresh, dizzyingly fast dialogue always sounds exactly like teenspeak, and she never fails to bring me to giggles if not outright guffaws. This charming little story is no exception. A perfect beach book to squeeze in between all of those classics you were assigned for summer reading.
Gimme a Call by Sarah Mlynowski
06.05
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
05.25
In a dirty near future where children risk their lives scavenging scrap metal in order eat one more day, Nailer is a ship breaker. He and his crew swarm over long abandoned rusted oil tankers hunting for copper wiring and hidden caches of black gold. His life is mean, hard and cheap and every day that he dives back into the depths of the old ships, he knows he may not make it back. But what is his alternative? His mother is a distant memory, while his sociopathic, drug addicted father is so terrifying Nailer would rather spend the night in a pitch-black hold than go back to their shabby little beach shack. Ship breakers pray for that one big lucky break, and one day, Nailer gets his. A devastating hurricane, a “city killer” levels the beach where he lives and works, bringing with it a marooned clipper ship full of valuable salvage. On board, he discovers a “swank,” a rich, beautiful teenage girl who is dripping with gold and nearly dead. His decision to save her instead of murder her for her jewels changes his life irreparably. Suddenly he is thrust into a bewildering world of corporate corruption, high-speed chases and brutal violence. But his hard upbringing serves him well–if Nailer knows one thing, it’s how to survive. It is only when his murderous father appears seeking revenge for what he believes is Nailer’s betrayal does the intrepid man-boy falter. His father is worse than any monster Nailer has faced so far. Does he have the courage to fight the one person faster and smarter than himself? This dystopian environmental thriller is magnificent in its pacing, characterization and world building. When Nailer arrived in the drowned city of Orleans, I got a shiver down my spine imagining that rich metropolis abandoned to hurricanes and left to turn into a rotting hulk. While the action is fast and furious, sci-fi master Paolo Bacigalupi doesn’t sacrifice an iota of characterization. Nailer and his supporting cast of canine half-men, courageous ship captains and crafty orphan naïfs come to life on the page—I felt as though I were reading about a present that was instead of a future that may be. Imagine all that in a book that clocks in under 350 pages. I’m getting pretty tired of big books that seem bloated with unnecessary detail, but no worries here, THIS Ship is t-i-g-h-t. Batten down the hatches, lift anchor and prepare to set sail with Nailer on a gritty adventure of a lifetime!
Scott Pilgrim: Precious Little Life, vol. 1 by Bryan Lee O’Malley
05.15
Before you tell me, I KNOW. I know Scott Pilgrim has been around since 2004 and I probably should have covered his precious little life before now. I know tons of you have already read all five volumes (#6 debuts July 2010) of his graphic novel adventures. But for those of you who haven’t yet met the sweetest slacker boy since Rob Gordon in High Fidelity, and want the skinny before Michael Cera makes him famous on the big screen, here ya go. Scott Pilgrim is a happy go lucky dude. He’s living in an apartment almost entirely furnished and kept up by his sardonic gay roommate Wallace Wells and playing gigs with his rock and roll band while waiting for the perfect job to find him. Oh yeah, and he’s dating a high schooler named Knives Chau, (she’s 17, he’s 23) who’s completely adorable and NOT the ninja assassin her name might imply. (BTW, if I even have to leave the country abruptly, I am TOTALLY changing my name to Knives. Don’t tell anyone, k?) Everything’s just peachy until he has a crazy dream about a roller-blading Amazon.com delivery girl and discovers that she’s not just a dream (as in, “Get out of my dreams and into my car”) but a real live girl named Ramona Flowers (My fav quote from the book? “I know, it’s so ‘Ramona Quimby, Age 8’ and yet…Flowers.”). Scott and Ramona feel an instant connection. But what about Knives? How can Scott bear to break her innocent little heart? Then there’s also the small matter of Ramona’s seven evil ex-boyfriends, who Scott will have to fight and conquer if he wants to date her. Sound complicated? It IS. And that’s JUST volume 1! I really dug O’Malley’s rough sketched big-eyed art, his completely realistic portrayal of Scott’s dating drama with both Knives and Ramona, and the hilarious shot of bizarre fantasy at the end as Scott takes on the first of Ramona’s evil ex’s, Matthew Patel and his host of flying demon fireball girls. But the part that warms my heart is how he thanks my fav indie comic girl Hope Larson in the front. Awww! Arm yourself with all 6 paperbacks now, so you’ll be ready to debate about whether the movie does Scott justice when it hits theaters August 2010.
Somebody Everybody Listens To by Suzanne Supplee
05.05
Retta Lee Jones has a dream to become a famous country singer like Dolly Parton or Patsy Cline. She’s just been marking time in high school, waiting tables at Bluebell’s Diner and longing for the moment when she can leave her small town forever and head for the bright lights of Nashville. A few weeks after graduation, in her great-aunt Goggy’s aged Caprice Classic and with just $500 in her jeans pocket, Retta takes off, hoping that talent, drive and determination will be enough to make her dreams come true. But if you’ve ever listened to any country music, you know that’s about as likely as cat getting out of a room full of rocking chairs with it’s tail intact. First she gets in a car accident. Then she gets mugged, losing the rest of her small savings. Soon she’s sleeping in the back seat of the Caprice and bathing homeless style in public restroom sinks. Retta manages to score a singing gig in a local dive outside Nashville, but the cheap owner rarely remembers to pay her, while the audience is pretty small and mostly made up of senior citizens. It seems like every bad thing that ever happened in a country song is happening to Retta–until she snares a spot singing at open-mike night at the Mockingbird Café, a famous Nashville club where lots of singers have been discovered. But just as things are looking up, Retta gets a devastating phone call. Her family is in crisis, and they need her to come home. Will this songbird ever be given the opportunity to fly? Or will her wings be clipped by unfortunate circumstances and bad luck? It’s so refreshing to read a book about a topic that’s hasn’t been rehashed about six thousand times already in YA Lit. Supplee’s chapter headings are famous country music songs that form a playlist for Retta’s journey, along with brief bios of the singers themselves. I loved learning quick facts about country stars from Patty Loveless to Keith Urban and everyone in between. Retta’s determination not to give up in the face of terrible odds is sincere and hopeful without being sappy. While country music may not be your thang, this is one novel that’s long on lit. and short on twang 
(I know, I know. You’re good to bear with me.)
The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell
04.25
Even though you know you’re not supposed to watch it because it deals with lots of, a-hem, “mature” topics, I’m guessing many of the female teens (and probably lots of dudes as well) who read this blog have followed, or at the very least caught an episode of the uber-popular HBO cable show Sex and the City. It would be hard not to. From 1998-2004, it seemed that Sarah Jessica Parker’s face as fictional sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw was on the side of every building, bus and subway here in NYC. But what some of you might not know is that the idea for Carrie’s character originally came from a book of REAL collected advice columns by Candace Bushnell, also called Sex and the City
The Poison Eaters and other stories by Holly Black
04.20
Master creepologist Holly Black has collected some of her greatest short story hits (and a few new tunes) into a gleefully gruesome mix tape for your reading pleasure. Here you will meet Matilda, “The Coldest Girl in Cold Town,” who runs towards vampires instead of away from them. But when she tries to save her lover from a horrible fate, he betrays her in the coldest way possible. Nikki finds herself in an eating competition with Satan in “Reversal of Fortune,” while Tomasa tries to bargain with an evil elf for her sister’s life in “The Night Market.” There’s a nice ode to librarians and the Dewey Decimal system in “Paper Cuts Scissors” while tailors get props in “The Coat of Stars,” about an NYC costume designer who whips up gorgeous wraps in order to tempt a reluctant faery Queen into returning his kidnapped boyfriend. But my favorites were the ones featuring clever lads fighting their animal natures. In a totally Twilight Zone turn, Black’s “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” will warn you not to believe everything you read when Alex becomes convinced after reading it in a book that smelling a certain posy will cause his canines to grow. And “The Dog King” is a marvelous medieval tale about a monarch who should’ve kept a tighter rein on his beloved tamed wolf, as the natural predator ends up being much smarter than his scruffy nature would suggest. Then there was the story that brought me to tears—“Virgin” about a lonely homeless boy and his pet unicorn—and the one that left me snickering on the subway—“In Vodka Veritas,” about an “accidental” boarding school orgy. Good stuff, all. Black doesn’t strike a sour note in the bunch. Plus, the small, detailed pen and ink illustrations by Black’s hub Theo add a distinctly melancholic touch. So go ahead drink some Poison—it’s good for you!
Brain Camp by Susan Kim, Laurence Klavan and Faith Erin Hicks
04.15
Lucas is a long-haired slacker who breaks into cars for fun. Jenna is a drama geek in a family full of wanna-be doctors and lawyers. Both of them have been rejected from every summer program their parents tried to get them into. So when a tall, dark ugly stranger shows up with an offer to enroll Lucas and Jenna in a special summer camp “guaranteed to prepare any child for the SATs and beyond,” their parents jump at the chance to get their little losers off their hands. But from the minute they set foot in Camp Fielding, Lucas and Jenna know something is wrong with these smug smarty-pants. They seem to swing from deeply dim to blindingly brilliant, they don’t notice how gross the food is, and they are oddly excited by…Euclidean geometry. And what’s with all the dead baby birds on the ground and feathers floating around the cabins? There’s something fishy—or rather, birdy going on at Camp Fielding and Lucas and Jenna are determined to find out what it is—before they end up spouting facts as robotically and unemotionally as their weird bunkmates. I love a good urban legend, and this one has the creepy flavor of every story you’ve ever heard whispered late at night that starts with, “And this story is true, because it happened to my friend’s second cousin’s older brother.” Faith Erin Hicks’ kooky cool art reminds me of Hope Larson’s terrific Chiggers
Riding Invisible by Sandra Alonzo, illustrated by Nathan Huang
04.10
Fourteen-year-old Yancy Aparicio is miserable. His big brother Will is a clearly a psycho, but no one seems to notice how dangerous he really is. Will is charming and manipulative to their parents, while being cold and cruel to Yancy, and no matter what Will does, their parents keep giving him more chances. So when Will cuts the tail off Yancy’s horse Shy in a fit of rage, Yancy decides he’s had enough. He packs his bags, saddles up Shy and heads for the hills. He also takes his journal, where he writes and draws about his journey, including small comic panels about Will, his parents, and his cute crush from school, Christi. The journey is hard, made worse by the fact that Yancy has no real plan for his future. He can’t just keep running from Will forever, but how can he convince his well-meaning parents that Will is the one who needs to be sent away, not him? Sometimes it feels like he’s the invisible son, and the only one his parents really see is Will. This modern day Western is full of unexpected accidents, suspenseful near misses and miraculous saves, with the tone and flavor of two of my other fav rodeo-ish reads. I’m also loving this trend of the illustrated novel for dudes, like Wimpy Kid