Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

Skulduggery Pleasant is a detective, mage and skeleton. Stephanie is a clever twelve-year-old girl thrown into a secret world of magic, sorcery and murder.

Much of the plot is built upon recycled principles, mashed up to create a new world where a skeleton has been unexplainable reanimated. Skulduggery is pretty unique, though his motivations and situation are not.

The interactions between Skulduggery and Stephanie provided the fresh breath needed to carry the story. While they often find themselves in cliqué situations, the two recognize it and so the banter begins.

I added it to our Library’s summer read list for students having completed grade six. I’ll be passing it out to fantasy fans once Fablehaven is taken. The sequels, Playing with Fire and The Faceless Ones, are already out. I’ll pick them… eventually. The series will consist of seven titles.

Sculduggery Pleasant has also been described as “a good starter contemporary fantasy” (Stilettos in the Stacks) and “theatrical” (Miss Print).

Warner Bros. Pictures has optioned the rights to a movie but no action has been taken yet.

The P.L.A.I.N. Janes by Cecil Castellucci

A good pick for reluctant girl readers, The P.L.A.I.N. Janes kicks off a graphic novel series about a group of misfits, with some tie to the name Jane, brought together by the Main Jane.

Main Jane has just relocated to a suburb after being a victim of a bomb attack in Metro City. Tired of the type of friends she had in the city, she snubs the schools Queen bee and gravitates to the misfit table, determined to gain their friendship.

Despite the stereotypes, Jane brings some depth to the characters and touches on thought-provoking topics near and dear to the teen audience. Highly accessible and  a very quick read.

Almost Home by Jessica Blank (2007)

As a Garden State Teen Book Award reviewer, expect to see a lot of YA book reviews in the coming three months. The first is Almost Home, a book that, like its title and characters, gets very close but never quite reaches its destination.

It is the story of Eeyore, Rusty, Squid, Scabious, Critter, Laura, and Tracy (who ties the characters together). They are homeless teens living on the streets of Los Angeles. Each has a reason for leaving home (abuse, boredom, abuse) and each has a chapter to tell his/her story. The plot is solid. The stories are loosely connected by Tracy.

What doesn’t work is the language. The chapters are told from a first-person perspective but the voices are not unique. Each character thought like the former; their language similar. Their word choice and phrasing when speaking about sex and drugs was too circuitous when I expected these gritty teens to be direct. There was a lot of introspection, which didn’t work for me. I would have liked to see more of their behavior instead of being force fed monologues about how each character feels. For example, the tidbits we see about Squid and Rusty through the narratives of Tracy and Critter are more than revealing enough about how each feels about the group. Their own rantings were too much.

Not as well written as, say, Story of a Girl by Zarr, which I think nailed the lower-middle class perspective and had a great story to boot (not that I am comparing the two plots), but it was an engaging read all the same.

Grade: B.

The Luxe by Anna Godbersen

I have to agree with many of the blog posts and comments out there: The Luxe was a popcorn read, but I’ve already put the sequel on hold. Sure, it was like the Gossip Girls trying to be Austen (yea, not happening) but still very readable. One of those sugary treats you know you should resist because they are so so bad for you, but throwing up your hands anyway and taking a big bite. I think I brought a lot into this book because it reminded me of Pride and Prejudice but I imagine it would be something like hearing the story from an Elizabeth/Miss Bingley/Lydia point of view.

And the book jacket is gorgeous.

Repossessed by A.M. Jenkins (2007)

I picked up Repossessed with a bunch of other books but read it first because I liked the cover. Hey, it looks naughty and I wasn’t disappointed. When a demon tires of torturing souls, he decides to take a vacation. He hops into the body of American teenager, Shaun, a few seconds before the boy is supposed to die. Instead, the demon alters his future and takes over. Kiriel, the demon, proceeds to drink up his human experiences. Having monitored Shaun from Hell, Kiriel fits pretty seamlessly into the stride of Shaun’s everyday. As the story progresses, we learn how Kiriel fell from Grace and his true goal; attract the attention of the Creator.

Raised a Catholic, I was lead to believe the worst part about hell was not the torment, fire and general misery but instead, the nothingness of the absence of God, that to be apart from God was the harshest punishment. It certainly is for Kiriel.

I love the concept. I even grow attached to Kiriel. He certainly makes improvements in Shaun’s life. But the story is not properly fleshed out. It feels more like a fifth draft. I believe there is more to explore. And while there are some great moments (“I’m going to plunge myself into the expanses of her many charms. The line’s moving, Bailey; scoot up.” 65) I really wanted more.

A 2008 Printz Honor book.

Monthly Reads

I need to start keeping track of all the books I read and a short summary. It’s getting to be too much to keep in my head!

Story of a Girl: Sara Zarr – When she is caught in the backseat of a car (Buick) with her older brother’s best friend – Deanna Lambert’s teenage life is changed forever. Struggling to overcome the lasting repercussions and the stifling role of “school slut,” (though she hasn’t slept with anyone since) she longs to escape a life defined by her past. She takes a job at a pizza dive where she ends up working with non other than Tommy (the best friend). She dreams of moving out of her parent’s house with her older brother, his girlfriend, and their infant daughter. *2007 National Book Award Finalist*

Touching Snow: M. Sindy Felin – Karina’s life is spiraling into misery. She and her siblings are too busy dodging their step-fathers hammering blows to build their own lives. After “the daddy” nearly kills the eldest girl, Karina, he is taken away on child-abuse charges that don’t stick. This story reveals many real-life social issues facing Haitian immigrant families. Written in retrospect, Karina reflects, “The best way to avoid being picked on by high school bullies is to kill someone.” A difficult book to read (becuase ”the Daddy” is so brutal and the children so helpless), the promise of “justice” is all that kept me from total frustration. Well written. *2007 National Book Award Finalist*

Just Listen : Sara Dessen- “Last year, Annabel was “the girl who has everything”—at least that’s the part she played in the television commercial for Kopf ’s Department Store.This year, she’s the girl who has nothing: no best friend because mean-but-exciting Sophie dropped her, no peace at home since her older sister became anorexic, and no one to sit with at lunch. Until she meets Owen Armstrong. Tall, dark, and music-obsessed, Owen is a reformed bad boy with a commitment to truth-telling.With Owen’s help,maybe Annabel can face what happened the night she and Sophie stopped being friends.”

I couldn’t put this book down and I’ve just checked out two more Dessen books. Her characters are realistic (esp. the sister dynamic – their interactions struck a chord with me). Sophie, Annabel’s former (fake) best friend, was also well done. She was just the right part manipulative and addictive. I’ve known girls like her!

Dragonhaven : Robin McKinley- This longwinded story follows Jake, a 14-year-old boy living in Smokehill National Park – one of the last dragon havens in this contemporary alternate reality. Beth Wright of School Library Journal writes, “Once readers get through Jake’s overdone teenage diction in the first few chapters, they will be engaged by McKinley’s well-drawn characters and want to root for the Smokehill community’s fight to save the ultimate endangered species.”

Well, I didn’t find myself rooting for Jake or his squawking dragenlet, Lois. The series seems to drag on and on (perhaps because the sentence structure is torturingly bad!). Twice the length it should be, the narrative hints of a middle-aged woman not a teen boy. I enjoy fantasy (and there were some unique aspects of this take on dragons), but if there is a sequel (and there are threats of one), I will pass.

The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney : Suzanne Harper- Sparrow is the seventh daugther or a seventh daughter. She is a psychic but it is a talent she keeps well hidden. It is her mission to fit in now she has the chance. When the school district lines are redrawn, Sparrow transfers to a new school, where no one knows her sisters are local psychics and (in her opinion anyway) oddities. But her “just fit in” task is made difficult by her three mentor spirits and the appearance of Luke, a spirit who persists on being heard.

Great cover, good story, an overabundance of quirky characters. Gladly, it does not delve into teen angst macabre but remains heart-felt. An enjoyable read… but there may be some *uproar* over the psychic element (as it is taken as absolute truth).

Dragon Academy: The New Kid at School : Kate McMullen, Bill Bisso (Illustrator) – Monty Pyhton meets Wart in this goofy take on Dragon slaying!