I knew I liked this book when three things happened:
1) Charlotte, a high school senior, is stuck with the lousy job of spraying perfume on unsuspecting customers as they enter the mall, and she's decided that one day she will earn a PhD and write a dissertation about it. That right there proves that Charlotte is not only smart, but also has a fantastic sense of humor.
2) Charlotte is five foot, nine inches (only a half inch shorter than me). While I know this isn't necessarily relevant to the plot of the story, I cheer for tall characters. They seem to be so few and far between in the literary world, that when you give me a tall character, I'm bound to like her.
3) Charlotte has a chip on her shoulder - in the figurative sense of the phrase, of course - and rightfully so. Any group of kids that stoop so low as to not only call you a spider but then put live ones in your desk during middle school, you would be wary of. And when said group of kids (or rather one in particular) appears to be cheating on his girlfriend, who happens to be your best friend, there is really only one way to deal with the situation.
Bring him down.
This book is delightfully funny. I laughed multiple times, and Charlotte is witty, smart, and stops at nothing to get what she wants. And despite the fact that disaster seems to follow her, she takes it all in stride - whether or not that means she has to wear elf shoes while doing so every once in awhile.
I'm telling you, this novel does not incessantly talk about shopping and cliche teenage characters who are incapable of interacting with the outside world. That couldn't be further from the truth. I absolutely loved this book, but be warned: once you start, all other obligations you need to fulfill might just go out the window.
Don't you love it when a book does that?
Appropriate for ages 15+
Okay, so I am aware that the cover of this book is rather frightening and not at all appealing, unless it's in a potentially "scary story" kind of way. This is why when I wasn't reading the novel I turned it over so I wouldn't have to be intimidated by the yellow eye gleaming menacingly at me from its cover.
But don't let the cover fool you, folks. Fever, 1793, is told through the eyes of the teenager Maltida Cook, a character with real pluck and determination, making this story not horrific so much as it was fascinating.
An event little (if at all) dwelled on in history books, the epidemic of yellow fever rages in Philadelphia in this novel, bringing to light new revelations about America in the seventeen hundreds. Interactions between humans - the wealthy, the poor, the white, and the black - are revealed here as fear grasps the hearts of one of the most influential societies of the time, and the result was absolutely captivating.
Laurie Halse Anderson does more than set up this historical world, though. She includes wit in her novel as well, poking fun at some of the expectations of the time. However, this is done only through the perspective of the main character so that you can understand what it was like to be a young woman in colonial America.
Thus, the historical account about the realities of yellow fever not only discusses aspects such as the medical failures and social inequalities of the time, but is the inspirational story of a girl who decides to succeed anyway. And that, my friends, makes it a story worth reading.
Appropriate for ages 14+ (the audiobook is fantastic, too)
Bet you didn't know there was a sequel, did you? Bet you also didn't know that the Love, Stargirl is even better than its predecessor, right?
However, despite this joyful news in which I'm sure you are frantically making a list of paperback novels to bring on your next vacation, Stargirl finds herself trapped inside a dark place at the beginning of this novel. No matter how she may appear to outsiders, Stargirl's doubts are just as real as anyone else's, and so it's herself that she must learn to come to terms with here. Dwelling on past memories, Stargirl feeds on the grief and happiness of what once was, attempting to trust in a world that she fears is too small to hold her.
Although the aftereffects of shunned love may haunt these pages, though, Spinelli persists in sending readers home with a message not easily forgotten:
“Live today."
Not yesterday or tomorrow, but today, rejoicing in the unexpected. Love, Stargirl is about real people - however eccentric they may be - and realizing that inside of every soul there is potential if one is just willing to unleash it.
Coupled with flawless, personal writing, the much longed for perspective of Stargirl will keep any reader flying through this imaginative book.
Appropriate for ages 15+
Imagine discovering something that you absolutely love. Something you collect, be it old fashioned records, valuable stamps, or antique furniture. You buy it and frame it, or dust it regularly and make sure that it can maintain the beauty in which you first found it because for some reason those items thrill you as nothing else does.
And then imagine that same record you just discovered has a scratch on it, the stamp is slightly torn, or the paint on the furniture has been chipped, and suddenly it is not the item you have thought it was. You might love everything else about it, the look, the design, the feel... but it will never be the same.
That is my relationship with books. Maybe that sounds strange, to think one could have a relationship with an inanimate object, but a book that is yet to have its cover opened has so much undiscovered potential. No two readers can read a book in exactly the same way because everyone's minds are different. We have all had different experiences. A book will mean something to you that it can never mean to someone else.
So, imagine you have found a book and you love the voice of the character. You love that you can see her face. You cheer for her success and cringe at the painful reality of her world, and yet you are grateful for what you learn from it. After all this, after all the time you have invested in it, you discover a flaw. Not a technical flaw, such as the writing being inadequate, but a flaw that lessens the value of the story because it broke your trust. The book is suddenly not what you thought it would be, and the experience is frustrating and disheartening because you know you can never look at it with the same pair of eyes ever again.
I hate when I experience this... as I just have. I want to ask the author why they had to include that, just that one little part. Why couldn't they have written the story without that? Don't they see how much I want to love their story, but now I can't?
Reading, like buying collector's items, can be a big leap of faith. It's not always worth the risk. But when you do happen to find just one perfect item, isn't it worth that much more? Doesn't it make you want to keep looking?
So, I couldn't help myself. The original artwork for the cover of The Goose Girl is just so gorgeous, that even though in most bookstores you'll see the newest version, I had to put this one here.
The Goose Girl is the story of Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, the Crown Princess of Kildenree, and what happens when she finds out that the life she has lived is a lie. Raised since she was born to rule her people, suddenly Ani finds herself on a road traveling far away from her home to marry a prince she has never met, a mere bargaining chip to aid two countries' relationships that are tenuous at best.
But Ani has a gift - she can speak to animals and sometimes can even hear their thoughts. For a princess who does what she's told and feels uncomfortable in her own skin, this helps her survive, especially when she fears for her own life.
This novel unfolds so beautifully, digging into the characters and plot without you even realizing it. It's as though someone is right next to you, speaking the words, the tones and inflections slipping into your head that you can't even remember there being anything in the world except for this story, and you don't want to. This kind of narration works perfectly for our main character, a girl who on the outside may seem shy, but who on the inside has so much to think and say that as a reader, you know better. You know who Ani is, and as she grows to become more than she could have ever imagined, it's no surprise, because you recognized her potential from the beginning.
Based off of the Grimm fairy tale, The Goose Girl has so much life and personality that you'll want to read it again and again. I could go on about it for ages, talking about the characters, betrayals, loyalty, and love threaded throughout its pages. But why not see for yourself?
Appropriate for ages 13+
This novel is completely unconventional, and as such, it took me awhile to get into the swing of the writing. Aurelia is the headstrong Crown Princess of Tyralt, a girl with strength and vivacity and with absolutely no respect for the rules. Robert is a childhood friend come to visit Aurelia after an absence of four years. But Robert knows something that Aurelia does not.
Someone wants her dead, so he has turned into her spy.
The premise of this plot was completely intriguing to me. However, Aurelia lacks some standards you'll find in most novels. It seems like she never goes on a journey. Usually in young adult literature by about the second chapter, the main character knows what he/she wants and is off to pursue it. In this book, though, the focus is more about the investigation of who is trying to kill Aurelia, switching between the perspectives of the princess and Robert. This was both a blessing and a curse in the novel, since Aurelia seems to be the main character, but Robert often gets to be more in the thick of things.
There were also many times where I would have to reread sentences in order to understand their meaning - the use of similes in the novel were somewhat peculiar and didn't always make sense.
However, I still enjoyed Aurelia. I wanted to keep reading. I wanted to find out "who done it," so to speak, and I've even started the sequel, called Exile. And let me tell you, it's much more beautifully written than Aurelia. While the first novel is good, the sequel is even better, which is refreshing because it's usually the other way around. Think of the entire story of Aurelia as the beginning of a long journey and the start of some wonderful characters. With that perspective in mind, I think you'll love these two novels. You just have to be a little more patient.
*Edit: Having gotten further into Exile, I don't think I'll recommend it here. Although I thought it would be just as clean as Aurelia, I reached a place near the end where I felt uncomfortable, so be aware of that if you choose to read the sequel.
Appropriate for 15+ (and it's 100% clean!)
"Whenever Castle Glower became bored, it would grow a new room or two." I've said it before, and I'll say it again. First sentences can tell you a LOT about a book and whether or not it's worth reading. Let me tell you, this is a book worth reading. When it first came out in 2011, I felt like shouting from the mountain tops that Jessica Day George was back! Not as though her writing talent has ever gone anywhere, but still. It is a wonderful thing to come across a great story from the very first line and which only gets better from there.
Why is this book so fantastic? Because in it there are characters and relationships that are so rarely written about in literature. Princess Celie and her siblings, despite their differences, actually like each other. Castle Glower, as noted from the first line in the novel, plays a significant role in the book and has true personality. In fact, all four of the characters are even depicted on the cover! This is genius, I tell you! So, when these siblings' parents and older brother are ambushed, it's up to the lot of them to set things straight and hold their ground amidst conniving Councilors. The situation gets more precarious by the moment.
But every castle has its secrets... especially if it has a mind of its own... and is not something to trifled with. A book of solid good fun, this will entertain kids and adults alike! Plus, be on the lookout for Jessica Day George's next book, Wednesdays in the Tower, coming out May 7, 2013. Don't you love when you can read a book without having to wait a year or two for the sequel to come out? You can shower me with roses and thank me later for the recommendation. Go read the book! You're guaranteed to love it!
Appropriate for ages 8-10+
