Category: Young Adult

Book Review(s): Homecoming and Dicey’s Song

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews, Young Adult3 Comments

I’ve rarely seen an author who explores characters’ emotions as well as Cynthia Voigt.  I keep meaning to seek out new books by her, but for now, I’m rereading my way through the Tillerman Cycle.  I’ve reviewed my favorite before, A Solitary Blue (technically #3 but largely stand-alone) and today I’m looking at 1 and 2.

Homecoming begins when Liza Tillerman leaves her children in a mall parking lot, telling the three younger ones to mind Dicey, the oldest at 13.  They wait in their car overnight, but when their mother doesn’t return, Dicey decides they must walk some sixty miles to find an aunt, the only relative they know of.

This is the most plot-focused book in the series, a kind of modern (well, 1980s) quest through New England.  Dicey must be scrappy and resourceful to keep her family safe and fed, picking up loose change or odd jobs, and camping in parks or on beaches.  Voigt brings a great deal of detail and realism to the journey, exploring how each new obstacle can be overcome.  The challenges are real–a few times they run out of money and can’t eat, there’s at least one stranger intending them harm–but this doesn’t become a traumatic story.  It’s about survival and perseverance. Continue reading “Book Review(s): Homecoming and Dicey’s Song” →

Book Review: Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews, Young Adult1 Comment

HatchetI haven’t been reading exclusively rereads lately, but I seem to be reviewing all of those…and today continues the trend.  I recently reread Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, one of my favorite survival stories.

Thirteen-year-old Brian was the only passenger on a flight into the Canadian wilderness on a small bush plane, when the pilot suffers a fatal heart attack.  Brian manages to crash-land the plane on a lake and scramble out of the wreckage with no serious injuries.  But he’s far off of the original flight plan, rescue is uncertain, and he has no resources but what he’s wearing–including a hatchet hanging on his belt.  With courage and ingenuity, Brian learns to survive in the wilderness.

I find this book hits a nice balance between focus on character and details of wilderness survival.  Except for the very beginning and (spoiler…) the very end, Brian is the only character.  The book remains always centered on him, and whatever else happens or whatever he does, it all hinges around how it affects Brian, or how it’s an outgrowth of his character. Continue reading “Book Review: Hatchet by Gary Paulsen” →

Book Review: The 57 Lives of Alex Wayfare

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews, Science Fiction, Young Adult1 Comment

After falling madly in love with the reincarnation premise of My Name Is Memory, I of course had to try The 57 Lives of Alex Wayfare by M.G. Buehrlen.  And now that I have, I feel…deeply mixed.  I enjoyed the read!  But not without reservations.

Seventeen-year-old Alex Wayfare is living her 57th life.  She doesn’t know that–all she knew is that she sometimes has disturbing, vivid visions of past times–until she meets Porter, a friend from her previous lifetime who can explain the truth.  Alex is a Transcender, with the ability to Descend into her own past lifetimes by passing through Limbo.  Porter serves as Alex’s mentor and her guardian, protecting her from an enemy made in her previous lifetime.  But Porter won’t tell Alex everything and mysteries abound…and there’s this boy.  Alex meets Blue (not his real name) first in Chicago in 1927–but then she bumps into him again in 1961–and in 1876…

So to begin with: very cool concept here!  For science fiction, this was light on explanations, but I was willing to take it largely as though it was fantasy and not ask too many questions, and that seemed fine.  The idea of all these lifetimes in different centuries is so intriguing, and the shadowy forces stalking Alex are suitably sinister.  Continue reading “Book Review: The 57 Lives of Alex Wayfare” →

Book Review: Curse of the Thirteenth Fey by Jane Yolen

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews, Young Adult2 Comments

I grabbed two fairy tale retellings close together recently, and read two very different versions of Sleeping Beauty. I reviewed Sleeping Beauty’s Daughters last week, and today I’m looking at Curse of the Thirteenth Fey by Jane Yolen.

Gorse is the thirteenth fey of the title, the youngest in her large family of Shouting Feys. She grows up in a clannish circle, in an idyllic valley—and even if the folly and belvedere and other buildings the family lives in are a little run-down, Gorse loves her home. But she also loves reading about other places in her father’s library, and is horrified to learn her family is under a Vow to never leave their home. When the king Bids the Shouting Feys to come to his daughter’s christening, thirteen-year-old Gorse sets off late—and meets an accident along the way that traps her with two fairy princes who need her help to escape.

I think Jane Yolen is one of those authors people know, right? Wizard’s Hall is what comes to mind for me, but I suspect she’s known for lots of other books too. And that’s one reason I really wish I had liked this more than I did—and I really think I should have liked it more than I did! The problem was the subtitle, describing this as “The True Tale of Sleeping Beauty.” Any story claiming to be the “true” version of any fairy tale can smack a bit of arrogance…but the real trouble here is that most of the story wasn’t about Sleeping Beauty.

I liked the first hundred pages or so quite a lot. Yolen set up an interesting world, I enjoyed Gorse and her family, and there was enough mix of world-building and obstacles to keep me engaged. And then we got to the part about the christening, with the delightful additional note that this particular baby princess is known for her unceasing crying. But Gorse gets interrupted en route to the christening, and while her resulting adventure is interesting too…it took far too long for me to realize that this wasn’t a delay or distraction from the main plot, but actually was the main plot.

Most of the novel is spent with the two princes belowground, as Gorse figures out their history, and realizes that neither prince was what he seemed to be on first impressions. I liked the character development here, of the princes and of Gorse, as she learns about the limits (and opportunities) of her abilities, and the importance of her own confidence.

I think if I had come into this looking for simply a fantasy story, I would have liked all of it just fine. Except…it was supposed to be Sleeping Beauty! And we didn’t even get to the christening until nearly the end of the book. Which left me spending too much time wondering when we were going to get on to what was (theoretically) the main event.

I have to cautiously recommend this one. It’s a genuinely good fantasy! It’s just not a very good version of Sleeping Beauty, considering that story became little more than an epilogue. So don’t go in expecting more than that on the fairy tale, and you will probably like this just fine—maybe more than I did!

Author’s Site: http://janeyolen.com/

Other reviews:
Charlotte’s Library
Quixotic Magpie
The Book Brownie
Anyone else?

Buy it here: Curse of the Thirteenth Fey

Classic Review: Beauty by Robin McKinley

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews, Young Adult5 Comments

Since I’m spending November working on (hopefully) the fourth book of my fairy tale-inspired series, Beyond the Tales, it seems like a good time to revisit one of my very favorite retellings!

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“Beauty and the Beast” has always been one of my favorite fairy tales–probably because the retellings are so good.  If you go back to the original story, it’s almost as flawed as any other traditional fairy tale.  But the retellings…are SO good.  Beauty by Robin McKinley is a particular favorite of mine.

The basic story is familiar, if you’ve read the original or even if you’ve seen the Disney movie.  From the Disney movie you’ll recognize the part about the terrifying Beast living in the castle in the woods.  A lost traveler spends the night and, upon offending the Beast, agrees to bring back his daughter, Beauty, to stay at the castle.  From the original story you’ll recognize the part about Beauty’s father being a rich merchant who lost his fortune, forcing them to move out to the country.  And Beauty had two sisters as well, and it was Beauty’s request for a rose when her father began his ill-fated journey that, in a way, put everything else in motion.

I think I read Beauty before I read the original fairy tale, so when I did read the original, I kept thinking, “oh, now I see where McKinley got that detail or this part from!”  But, like any great fairy tale retelling, McKinley has taken the slender original story and embroidered and expanded upon it, bringing the characters to life and explaining the bits that never quite made sense. Continue reading “Classic Review: Beauty by Robin McKinley” →