The Librarian Writer

Title: Eden West  Author: Pete Hautman Publisher: Candlewick Publication Date: April 14, 2015 ISBN-13: 978-0763674182  320 pp. ARC provided by publisher This is a book that could be confused for dystopia at first glance. Jacob lives in the community of Nodd, home to the people known as the Grace. Their prophet, who has a penchant for young wives, says that the Grace will be spared when the rest of the world is destroyed. The fences and guns are there to protect the Grace from the impending evil outside. But Jacob actually lives on a ranch in Montana and life within a cult is the only life he remembers. When Tobias and his family join the Grace, very much against Tobias' will, Jacob begins to question their strict rules and the punishments that follow if they're broken. Jacob also meets Lynna, a Worldly girl who lives on the ranch nearby. Lynna wants to know about Jacob and the Grace and Jacob finds her simple questions more and more difficult to answer....

Title: The Reluctant Assassin Author: Eoin Colfer Narrated by: Maxwell Caulfield Publisher: Listening Library Publication Date: May 14, 2013 ISBN-13: 978-0804123358 Listening copy via Sync Eoin Colfer is most well known for the Artemis Fowl series, a series I tried and never really got into.  But since the good people at Sync offered The Reluctant Assassin , I thought I'd give this series a go. The Reluctant Assassin in question is Riley, a Victorian orphan who's raised by a former magician. Alfred Garrick has turned his sleight-of-hand skills into becoming a master assassin and he expects Riley to complete his apprenticeship by committing his first murder. But what they don't know is that their intended target is a 21st century time traveler and things go from bad to worse when Riley ends up in modern day London. Riley meets Chevron Savano, a 17 year old FBI agent, an orphan herself who was brought into the FBI for a secret assignment. Riley and C...

Title: Night Film Author: Marisha Pessl Narrated by: Jake Weber Publisher: Random House Audio Publication Date: August 20, 2013 ISBN-13: 978-0307932655 Listening copy via local library Marisha Pessl's debut novel, Special Topics in Calamity Physics , was a hot read a few years ago. I read it and thought it was intelligent and intricately plotted, but overall a meh from me in terms of being invested in the characters. There was a lot of buzz about her second book, Night Film , and I decided I'd give it go, especially since the audiobook is narrated by Jake Weber. I've been a fan of his since American Gothic , so I was willing to spend a few hours listening to him. Night Film centers on a disgraced reporter, Scott McGrath, who's obsessed with finding out what happened the night the daughter of a famous director committed suicide. The director is Stanislas Cordova, a provocateur as much as an auteur, whose controversial horror films are only shown at ...

Title: We Should Hang Out Sometime Author: Josh Sundquist Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Publication Date: December 23, 2014 ISBN-13: 978-0316251020 336 pp. ARC provided by publisher Josh Sundquist is a Paralympian, motivational speaker, and YouTuber who's not so good with the ladies. This biography tells the tale of all the girls he's loved before (or at least crushed on) and what went horribly wrong. It's a quick, funny read about a guy who thinks having a girlfriend means a pretty girl likes him and he doesn't have to, you know, talk to her or actually have to work at a relationship. It takes a long time, a pseduo-scientific study, and some honest friends to set him straight. This book shows how clueless guys really are about girls, and the big reveal is that girls are human beings with their own inner lives and don't exist to make boys feel special. Josh is not entitled to a girlfriend just because he's a nice guy. ...

Title: Beautiful Music for Ugly Children Author: Kirstin Cronn-Mills Publisher: Flux Publication Date: October 8, 2012 ISBN-13: 978-0738732510 288 pp. Copy provided via publisher I picked up a copy of this title (signed by the author!) at the ALA Annual Conference last year, and though it's taken me awhile to get to it on my TBR pile, I am absolutely in love in with it. Beautiful Music for Ugly Children is the story of Gabe, a high school senior who's looking forward to his post-high school life. He wants to put all the bullying and awfulness behind and start over in a new life. Because Gabe has spent the past 18 years as Elizabeth and now he's ready to transition. His neighbor/friend/mentor John gets him a DJ gig on the local community radio station and a part-time job in an indie record store.  Gabe never thought transitioning would be easy, but his radio show becomes an underground hit. It's the one bright spot in his life, but he's scared h...

Title: Now That You're Here Author: Amy K. Nichols Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers Publication Date: December 9, 2014 ISBN-13: 978-0385753890 304 pp. ARC provided by publisher Here's another book in the current parallel universes mini-trend , Now That You're Here by Amy K. Nichols . There's dual narration by Danny, a street artist in Phoenix who lands in his doppleganger's body after an explosion at a mall, and Eevee, a nerdy good girl who's trying to figure out a topic for the science fair. The novel is a clever mix of science fiction and romance, as there's a slow burn of revelations and realizations about what's happened to Danny. The Danny that Eevee knows is a burnout, and the Eevee that Danny knows is a mysterious girl in a red dress. The world-building of Danny's reality gives just enough subtle clues that it's different from Eevee's (and presumably our) world. This is the first of a series, and the s...

Title: Soppy Author & Illustrator: Philippa Rice Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing Publication Date: December 2, 2014 ISBN-13: 978-1449461065 108 pp. ARC via NetGalley "Soppy" is something that's overly sentimental and it's a word used more in the UK than the States .  So it makes sense that the writer/illustrator of Soppy, Philippa Rice , is from the UK. Soppy started out as a webcomic and the book is a collection of those comics, plus new stuff. It really isn't a graphic novel as it mostly lacks a narrative, but the nearly wordless collection of comics does show the story of two people who love each other and who learn to live together. There are the sweet, tender moments shared of just being together, cooking, sleeping, watching tv. There are moments apart, moments of regret, moments of anger. But mostly the soppy stuff. So if you're not familiar with the webcomic, don't go looking for a story here. But if you're look...

Title: Where'd You Go, Bernadette Author: Maria Semple Narrated by: Kathleen Wilhoite Publisher: Little, Brown & Company Publication Date: April 16, 2013 ISBN-13: 978-1478978947 Listening copy via public library Where'd You Go, Bernadette was a 2013 Alex Award winner, which means that it's an adult book with teen appeal. Which means it's a book that it is little edgy, a little twisty, a book that you can read for fun without having to write a paper about it. But that doesn't mean that it won't get you thinking. Maria Semple has written a satire about tech culture, helicopter parenting, and Seattle. It's also a commentary about the nature of art, the loneliness of genius, and the bonds of family. The story is told through a series of email correspondence, magazine articles, doctor's reports, and the narration of Bernadette's teenage daughter, Bee, who is trying to piece together the puzzle of her mother's sudden disappear...

Title: Sisters Author: Raina Telgemeier Publisher: GRAPHIX Publication Date: August 26, 2014 ISBN-13: 978-0545540605 208 pp. ARC provided by publisher Raina Telgemeier made her name with the Eisner-winning Smile , a middle grade graphic novel that perfectly captured what it's like to be different when you're not entirely sure you want to be different. Raina has created another note-perfect graphic novel with Sisters , which this time explores the love-hate-barely tolerate relationship of sisters. Both Smile and Sisters are based on Raina's personal experiences and it shows in the honesty and humor of the books. Sisters centers on Raina and her baby sister Amara, a baby sister she dreamed of having but the reality of her turned out to be much different. There are sepia-toned flashbacks of their early days together, the constant power struggle for attention and territory. But the main story is a road trip that the family takes to Colorado. Family dyna...

Title: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore Author: Robin Sloan Narrated by: Ari Fliakos Publisher: Macmillan Audio Publication Date: February 26, 2013 Listening copy via local library I know I'm not the first to call this a mash-up of Umberto Eco and Doug Coupland because that's exactly what Robin Sloan's M r. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore is. It's a mystery about manuscripts and codes, it's a humorous social commentary on Silicon Valley, it's Old World technology meets New Media crowdsourcing. It's a delightful journey on all these levels. It starts with Clay, a victim of Silicon Valley lay-offs, who finds a job working at a quirky bookstore in San Francisco. What's even more interesting than the odd books are the odd customers, people who come in all hours of day and borrow the books rather than purchase them. Clay gets his friends to help him figure out the mystery of bookstore, which uncovers a secret world of codes and code...

Title: Rotters Author: Daniel Kraus Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne Publisher: Listening Library Publication Date: March 27, 2012 ISBN-13: 978-0449014950 Listening copy via Sync I know it's past Halloween, but seriously, Rotters by Daniel Kraus is pretty much the perfect Halloween read (or in this case, listen). Joey Crouch lives in Chicago with his mom. He's somewhere on the autistic spectrum, he's probably a little too dependent on his mom, and they live a somewhat isolated life. But he's got one good friend and he's got his trumpet and life is fairly normal for Joey. Then his mom dies. Joey is shipped off to a small town in Iowa to live with his dad, a man he's never met or given much thought to. Ken Harnett is known to the locals as "The Garbageman" and the squalid living conditions Joey now calls home seems to validate that name. Except what his dad really does is so much worse than anything Joey could ever imagine. Harnett is...

Title: Dangerous Author: Shannon Hale Publisher: Bloomsbury Publication Date: March 4, 2014 ISBN-13: 978-1599901688 416 pp. ARC provided by publisher I hadn't read any Shannon Hale novels before (although I did enjoy the Austenland movie ), but I knew she was a writer who used humor and girl power in her work. And Dangerous did not disappoint. In fact, I freaking loved Dangerous . The heroine is Maisie Danger Brown (Danger really is her middle name) and she goes to space camp where she meets a cute boy and gets infected with alien technology. It only gets wilder from there (That's a pun; the cute boy's name is Wilder. I crack myself up.). In fact, four other teens are also infected with alien technology and they're supposed to do save the earth ... from what exactly or how exactly they're not entirely clear on. But things go horribly, horribly wrong as the changes in the teens lead them to make some very bad decisions. Dangerous is a sci-fi/...

Title: The Boys in the Boat Author: Daniel James Brown Publisher: Viking Publication Date: June 4, 2013 ISBN-13: 978-0670025817 416 pp. Reading copy via local library If you're looking for a historical nonfiction title that will appeal to teens as well as adults, then The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown is the one. Don't let the subtitle, "Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" fool you too much. The Olympics is the climax, but certainly not the whole book. The heart and soul of the book is the story of Joe Rantz, a mechanic's son who was abandoned by his family during The Great Depression. Joe is forced to survive in the rough-and-tumble backwoods of the Pacific Northwest, finally finding his way to the University of Washington. He tries out for crew only because it'll help him get a job on campus. But rowing ends up being so much more for him, and for the other boys in the boat. The book has ple...

Title: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown Author: Holly Black Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Publication Date: September 3, 2013 ISBN-13: 978-0316213103 432 pp. ARC provided by publisher Tana wakes one morning to find that while she was passed out in the bathtub, everyone else at the party has died. Horribly. Well, not everyone has died. There's her ex-boyfriend, Aidan, tied to a bed. And a cute boy she doesn't recognize is chained up. She decides to rescue them even though Aidan is clearly infected and the cute boy is clearly insane. She decides to rescue them because it gives her something to do instead of going insane herself. Because there's a pile of corpses who used to be her friends in the next room. Because there's a terror of vampires waiting for the sun to go down in the next room. There's only one place Tana and the boys can go. That's Coldtown, a barricaded city where vampires, the infected, and the desperate go. Tan...

Title: The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling Author: Maryrose Wood Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren Publisher: Books on Tape Publication Date: 2010 ISBN-13: 978-0307711229 Listening copy via Sync I downloaded The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood last summer as part of Sync's audiobook promotion , and I finally got a chance to listen to this delightful novel. The Mysterious Howling is the first in The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series, a rollicking good read for children through younger YA. Penelope Lumley is the fifteen year old governess from the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females and her first job is to teach three children who were literally raised by wolves until discovered by Lord Ashton and brought to Ashton Place. The children, Alexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeia, are given to howling at the moon, eating their food uncomfortably rare, and chasing squirrels. But Miss Lumley has the pluck and good sense of ...

Title: Dare You To Author: Katie McGarry Publisher: Harlequin Teen Publication Date: May 28, 2013 ISBN-13: 978-0373210633 480 pp. ARC provided by publisher Dare You To by Katie McGarry is the second of her contemporary romance trilogy following a group of friends. I haven't read Pushing the Limits , which has gotten a lot of positive reviews and was a Teens' Top Ten for 2013. While the two stories are linked by crossover characters, you don't need to read one to enjoy the other. And I did thoroughly enjoy Dare You To . It's the kind of swoony romance that keeps itself grounded in reality. In Beth's case, her reality is a gritty, bleak one, with a mom who's a barfly and probably worse, but Beth doesn't let herself think about. She's just trying to get through the day, making sure the bills are paid and her mother eats. Then she meets Ryan at a late night taco joint. Ryan seems to fit the total jock stereotype, good-looking, full of h...

Title: Life After Life Author: Kate Atkinson Narrated by: Fenella Woolgar Publisher: Reagan Arthur Books Publication Date: April 2, 2013 ISBN-13: 978-1619696969 Listening copy via local library The thing to remember with Life After Life by Kate Atkinson is that it is a character driven story, not plot driven. Don't expect the traditional three-act structure of beginning, middle, and end. Don't expect linear storytelling where plot point A leads to plot point B. Because that's not what Life After Life is about. Life After Life is the story of Ursula Todd, a girl born during a snow storm in 1910 England, only to die and live and die again. And again. And again. Ad infinitum. But this isn't reincarnation where she comes back as other people. She always comes back as Ursula Todd, a girl born during a snow storm in 1910 England. But Life After Life is really about choices. Random choices that haunt us, deliberate choices that don't succeed, cho...

Title: When We Wake Author: Karen Healey Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Publication Date: March 5, 2013 ISBN-13: 978-0316200769 304 pp. ARC provided by publisher I believe that good sci-fi should be a reflection of modern society taken to an extreme. And I think Karen Healey does this with When We Wake . Tegan Oglietti is a sixteen-year-old in near future Australia. She loves music, especially the Beatles, and she believes in stuff. She believes in God, she believes in service to country (her dead father was in the military), she believes in family, and she believes that people can make a difference. She's just fallen in love for the first time and she's happy and hopeful for the future. And then she's shot by a sniper at a rally. It was an accident, really. The bullet was meant for the Prime Minister. But now Tegan is dead. Well, kind of dead. Tegan, who had donated her body to science, is put into a cyrogenic state. And then, one d...

Title: The Theory of Everything Author: Kari Luna Publisher: Philomel Publication Date: July 11, 2013 ISBN-13: 978-0399256264 320 pp. ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley With a cover like this, you hope that the book will be as fun as it promises. Thankfully, The Theory of Everything by Kari Luna delivers on that promise. Sophie Sophia is a fourteen year old girl who moves into a new town with her mom. Again. Ever since Sophie's genius physicist dad disappeared, Sophie has been having hallucinations, or "episodes", where hearts roll off of sleeves or the school cafeteria becomes a Ramones rock video. Then Sophie meets Walt, her shaman panda, who is supposed to help guide her. Guide her to what, Sophie isn't sure, but she hopes it's her dad. Along the way, Sophie befriends Finny, who becomes her gay BFF, and cute boy Drew, who holds out a hope of normalcy for Sophie. The Theory of Everything is cute, quirky, and a mixed tape of BIG IDE...

"I better start hoarding peanut butter." And so summer begins! Again, I haven't had much time to do much reading, but I have started Rapture Practice by Aaron Hartzler, and that has been so much fun. On the audiobook side, I listened to The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. It's a fantastic audiobook and a good, creepy story about a girl who's the daughter of a psychic and a group of boys at a private school who are looking for the tomb of an ancient king. And it's one of the Sync audiobooks this summer, so you can listen to it for free! The other audiobook I listened to was The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker. It's an end-of-the-world story where the end isn't a bang, but a whimper. The year Julia turns 12, the Earth starts slowing on its axis. The days and nights become longer. Birds die off. Crops fail. Suicide cults form. But the story centers on Julia's perspective as a girl on the brink of adolescence, living in a suburb...