What are you reading now that we're heading into summer?

I'm working on a re-read of Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why, recently acquired by the library in the new-books pile. This was one of the YA books I read off the shelf and had to buy for myself; I think its premise (a girl who commits suicide sends a collection of audio tapes in lieu of a note to the thirteen people she thinks could have made a difference) is a real original, and it's both familiar and unforgettable. This was one of my must-reads this year, and you should check it out.

I just finished The Market by J.M. Steele, and despite a few bumpy moments -- there were a few instances of sloppy writing habits that made me want to play editor -- it's a really fascinating look at popularity through the lens of a mock-internet stock market of girls at a particular school. The twists were both well foreshadowed and really surprising, and the viewpoint character is incredibly engaging, even as she succumbs to less-than-perfect behavior.

I tried the new Meg Cabot, Airhead -- and despite glowing reviews around, I was less than enthused. I LOVE the premise -- it's one of the best don't-spoil-this twists in awhile -- and yet...

There was just something missing there. I think it's the part where we don't get to really get a good handle on the character the narrator is crushing on, so her crush on him is virtually the only reason we care. There's also no real resolution, as Cabot is looking to make a series of these books. That's all well and good, but I expect more from the mistress of serial fiction that way.

PERCY JACKSON 4.

It's hard to type out squealing noises. Book 5 can't come fast enough. This was the book that finally decided it for me: I DO love the Percy Jackson books more than Harry Potter. Battle for the Labyrinth was yet another stellar entry into this series. I was thrilled to see Tyson's return, and the dimensions revealed behind other familiar faces - from Annabelle to Clarisse to Nico to, of all people, the briefly mentioned Rachel Elizabeth Dare, here a fascinating new force in the Olympian world even as a mortal girl. There's a ton of subtle foreshadowing for the climax to come - ranging from the progress of BFF Grover's quest to find the great god Pan to discussions of the nature of the combat between the Olympian gods and their older counterparts the Titans, and who takes which sides in that conflict and their reasons for so doing. Percy's mom remains one of the coolest parents in literature, and it's nice to see Riordan's great handling of the mortal sides of Percy's relationships. I laughed! I cried! I want book 5.

I've recently finished Barry Lyga's Cybil-winning Boy Toy, and I hardly know where to begin with this book. It's a difficult topic; it examines the emotions of an eighteen-year-old male high school baseball star who, at age thirteen, was molested by his female teacher, and whose life was turned upside-down for years to come by the subsequent trial and reputation thus acquired. This is, as you probably can guess, NOT an easy read, and not for everybody, but it's unquestionably well done. I don't know if I've read many more powerful books this year, and Lyga handles character like almost nobody else. If you like difficult realistic fiction, this is worth a look.

That's my recent reading list (ie, just this last week). What are you reading as summer winds down?

PS: Little Brother fanatics -- I know where Cory Doctorow stores his how-to-be-an-awesome-hacker instruction starters!

The Library's Got New Books!

Thanks so much to Nathan and Anthony for helping me when doing some end-of-the-year purchasing at Barnes and Noble last week! We've got about eighty new titles that should be on the shelves just before Spring Break.

Here's a few you might want to try:

The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray: This book ends the series begun in A Great and Terrible Beauty, the story of Victorian heroine Gemma Doyle and her growth to leadership and mastery in the secret and magic realm that is her birthright. While I haven't read this book yet, it's not for lack of pressure -- everyone who's read it wants everyone else to finish as soon as possible so they can discuss it.

How NOT to be Popular by Jennifer Ziegler: Sugar Magnolia - or Maggie, as she prefers - used to love her parents' rootless hippie lifestyle, and their habit of moving across the country from year to year. But as the new school year begins, she's leaving behind a best friend, a social life, even a boyfriend she was really serious about back in Portland. Brokenhearted, Maggie Dempsey decides that in Austin, her family's new destination, rather than open herself up to further pain by connecting with people, she is going to do everything she can NOT to be popular. Whatever it takes, even if that means wearing flowered plastic swim caps and Star Trek uniforms, hanging out with do-gooding losers, and turning down the hot guy who just won't leave her alone. So begins this book's comedy-movie premise, and it's a winner. Many of you were not fans of Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. Maggie shares some of Stargirl's tactics for not fitting in, but I found it a lot easier to cheer for her than the somewhat preachy Stargirl. The reader is given plenty of reason to empathize with Maggie, and her reasons for her weirdness are much clearer and less idealized. Funny stuff, and for our male readers who might hesitate -- it's more comic than girly.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman: Gaiman may be best known to readers of this blog as 'the fella who wrote Stardust', or for the more savvy, 'the mind behind the Sandman comics'. This is perhaps his best-received book, the story of a drifter hired by a man who may or may not be Odin to participate in a war brewing between all the gods of the old world who migrated to America with their believers. It's a story that's sort of like the big brother to the Percy Jackson books, and easily one of the best fantasy novels of the last ten years. Gaiman is almost always worth a look if fantasy's your pick.

Speaking of graphic novels, both Flight and Fables are great places to start if you haven't read much in comics but would like to start. We now have both of the starting volumes of Fables, Bill Willingham's fantasy comic of displaced fairy tales living in America as refugees after a faceless Adversary drove them from the Homelands they remember. A tough (and divorced) Snow White leads Fabletown with the assistance of one Bigby Wolf (get it?), but her ex-husband Prince Charming, troublemaker Jack, and her bitter younger sister Rose Red all pose problems within the Fable community hidden just out of sight of 'Mundy' eyes. It's a story that's more Grimm Brothers than Disney - the second volume has plenty of violence, and takes its name from Orwell, after all. Flight, on the other hand, is a multi-story volume from some of the hottest new names in comics, all about different kinds of flight - from planes to rockets to kites in the sky, to the funny story of a girl who wakes up one day with wings. I've got a personal commission from one of the artists, Bill Mudron, and let me tell you - he's one of the many huge talents in this book, which is worth it just for the beautiful art alone.

Take a look!

New Ways to Get New Books!

Here's an interesting opportunity for someone who doesn't mind writing in to share their thoughts about the books they read. A number of publishers with a web presence have clubs that YA readers can join to be eligible for drawings to receive advanced release copies of anticipated books, and offer the opportunity to act as book reviewers for their websites.

For more information, take a look at these three links:

HarperTeen's First Look Program

Random House Teen's Random Buzz

Simon and Schuster's PulseIT Club