Two Squared

Girls Like Us by Gail Giles
Somerville, Mass. : Candlewick Press, 2015.
210 p. ; 20 cm.

This was a daring book for Gail Giles to write and a rewarding book to read.  In a helpful interview with School Library Journal, Giles says, "I was told by a publisher that I would be 'flayed' if I attempted this. I think trying to get into a mental impairment that you do not have is tricky."

When I first started reading the book, I wasn't sure she was going to pull it off successfully - one character, Quincy, is - as she puts it - "mixed race" and the other, Biddy, has an intellectual disability.  Each chapter is written in the voice of either Quincy or Biddy and features their particular slang and grammatical errors.  But as the novel goes on - and the smarts, courage and strengths of each of the girls is revealed - the dialect begins to feel both natural and respectful.

There is a lot that is touched on in this short, gritty and uplifting novel - prejudice, rape, friendship, race, bullying, sexual abuse, pregnancy, work, and becoming independent.  In spite of this there is a calm and lovely pace to the book and it doesn't usually feel forced.

I'm pleased to see that the book has been well reviewed, was long-listed for the National Book Award, and won the Schneider Family Book Award in 2015.  A teacher here at the UHS recommended the book to me and I'll definitely recommend it to students.


     

Cruel Justice

Messenger of Fear by Michael Grant
New York, NY : Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2015.
260, 12 p. ; 21 cm. 

Michael Grant is no stranger to writing bestsellers - his sprawling Gone series is popular, and I'm guessing this new series will do pretty well, too. 

The novel opens with a confused and disoriented main character seemingly lost in a surreal, magical and ominous reality of mists, muted colors and strange characters.  As the novel develops the reader learns that it is a supernatural world of spirits, demons, and demigods that lies behind everyday reality - and is the realm in which justice and injustice are exacted against rather puny and powerless humans who transgress against the moral order.

Grant is good at creating a frightening, magical and oppressive atmosphere and conveying the ways in which fear and imagination can be as terrifying as actual physical events. 

The writing is a little uneven.  I found that it got better as it went along.  The plotting is pretty good, though my guess is that readers will question question just how immoral some of the actions of characters are.  Is it really so terrible to kill off an animal that has been badly hurt in an accident - does it require the intervention of the cosmic forces of good and evil?

Problems aside, I think that readers wanting a creative horror novel will enjoy this read.  As School Library Journal put it in a review, the book will "delight those readers who enjoy a little gore and horror in their books."

Killer Biology Lessons

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014.
195 p. ; 20 cm.

Annihilation is a different kind of science fiction, dystopian horror/thriller.  The telling of the story is low key, which makes the occasional violence and unnatural events that much more frightening and shocking.  Furthermore, a lot of the weirdness and creepiness of the novel is achieved with psychological and atmospheric touches instead of theatrical events and plot twists.  In this novel of a research expedition gone awry - people suddenly disappear, the fatal events of past expeditions are gradually revealed, and the biological weirdness of Area X is sometimes directly narrated (a strange plantlike growth that spells out an enigmatic message or a dolphin with eyes that look unsettlingly human).

A lot happens in this short and creepy little novel.  There is hypnosis, strange creatures, government lies, death, and deception.  It works as a stand alone and yet intrigues the reader to continue with the Southern Reach trilogy of which it is a part.  I'm glad to see that the book has received positive reviews and I would recommend it to readers looking for a fresh take on the horror genre.

Fled is that Music

Wake by Lisa McMann
New York : Simon Pulse, 2009, c2008.
210 p. ; 21 cm.

I finally read Wake because it is popular with students and has been reissued  (along with its companion books) by Simon & Schuster.  It was an easy read, but a bit uneven.

McMann creates a very clever plot - a girl, Janie, who finds that she is uncontrollably drawn into other people's dreams.  As she comes of age, she gradually learns to control this condition and even learns that she can shape content and direction of the dream she enters.

A lot of the novel revolves around her growing attraction to a male friend Cabel - a relationship that moves from friendship to a sweet romance.

I found the writing to be uneven at times, occasionally feeling very choppy and disjointed.  I found myself wondering why the editor didn't take a more active role in shaping the final production of the novel.  I also felt that the introduction of spirituality (a dead person visits Janie in her dreams and it is clear that the spirit is real) undercuts the understated realism of Janie's dreamworld powers.  Finally, I found some of the plot twists toward the end to be more like TV show plotting instead of good fiction.

Overall, a strong start, but a vision that fades (and so the title of this post).  Problems aside, Wake is a fun read and one that clearly appeals to young readers, so I'll give it a thumbs up with some qualifications.