Back in Books
Vacation over. Am still weepy over my missing pink Sidekick and pink iPod and driver's license and keys and pink Coach wallet that Ma Cedar bought for me. So I will write about books instead.
Speaking of books, I have one wishlist item for Chrismukkah: A paid version of BookTracker. And yes, that is a very tacky way to state it. But you (mostly) love me anyway.
I got a question over a listserv earlier this week: What are your top five picks for the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award? I shared my opinions there, and I'll share them here.
Disclaimer: I have NEVER picked a Printz Award winner. Last year, I didn't even predict any of the honorees. Or the year before that. These are just my opinions, not those of my employer or professional organizations. I do not now, nor have I ever, serve(d) on the Printz committee. But that would be really cool and I would like to do so in the future. Also, I haven't read every YA book published this year. That would be impossible. These are just my picks of the ones I've read.
Top pick: Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar.
Synopsis: Freshman Scott Hudson deals with the trials and tribulations of adjusting to high school life, including an unwilling gig as a sports writer, the cute girl who doesn't know he's alive, drifting friendships, and a gym teacher who's Satan in Nikes.
Yes, David Lubar is a friend. He is one of the coolest, funniest authors I've ever met and a delight to be around. But even if he were a complete asshole I would still vote for this book. First, it's funny, and we all need more high-quality humorous books. There are only two humor books to date that have received Printz honors: The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things by Carolyn Mackler, Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison. In today's not-always-so-fun world, teens, like the rest of us, need a good laugh, and it doesn't get much funnier, or more heartfelt, than Sleeping Freshmen.... When I finished the book I thought of the line from Lord of the Rings: "...Both the sweet and the bitter." Scott is such a typical guy, with slightly insane parents and an older brother who was always the good-looking, popular one, and yet we all wish we knew someone like him in high school: smart, witty, caring and sensitive but never maudlin. David's use of language and literary styles is to die for, too. The YA world needs books like this, funny books that are also highly intelligent, that take an hour to read and a lifetime to understand.
Other favorites:
Day of Tears by Julius Lester
When I put this book down (read it in one sitting), I said, "And that would be the winner of the Coretta Scott King medal." Lester's got a thing for alternating voices, but it works so much better here than it did in When Dad Killed Mom. Synopsis: The story of the largest slave auction in history, told from many points of view. What I liked about this book in particular was its lack of excuses for slavery. Example: Some slaves expressed the idea that they were better off as slaves than free, because their masters, at the very least, housed, clothed, and fed them. If they were free and on their own, they might not have that much. Each character has a very distinct voice, and the atmosphere Lester creates leaves you with both the feeling of despair at the plight of the slaves (and even their owners) and hope for better things.
Invisible by Pete Hautman
Me love Pete Hautman long time. THIS is how to write an unreliable narrator. It's not a manual by any stretch of the imagination, but it is one of the best first-person novels I've ever read. Forget The Great Gatsby. Synopsis: Socially inept Dougie has three interests: matchstick railroad models, his popular best friend Andy Morrow, and hottie Melanie Haver. Right from the start, readers know that Dougie has experienced tragedy, but when Dougie's activities and words become more menacing, the reader's feelings turn from sympathy to outrage, or maybe even disgust. This is one of those few books that I won't reread because I fear it might not be as perfect the second time around (which is a ridiculous fear, I know, but humor me). Everything Pete Hautman writes is terrific, and I recommend this book to my suspense and horror fans. This feels like, and probably is, a book that was written by someone who agonized over every word, but without that attention this book would have been too predictable. That unpredictability of Dougie's actions and the way Hautman paces the story (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
praetorianguard is tired of hearing me talk about pacing, hahaha) is what separates this book from everything else suspense and mystery.
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
I think I liked Peeps better, but Uglies is more tightly written and more unique in its world-building than Peeps. OTOH, it's the first book in a series and doesn't really stand alone the way Angus, Thongs, does, so maybe it's doomed. Then again, who cares? This book rocks, and so does everything else Scott Westerfeld writes. Synopsis: In a futuristic society where everyone is born ugly and made pretty on their sixteenth birthdays via surgery, Tally, one of the youngest kids in her year, is given the chance to escape the surgery. This is a hella long book, which is the only bad thing about it when you're trying to sell it to a reluctant reader, but it moves so fast that you don't even notice. Lots of action and scientific stuff, but you don't have to be a science fiction fan (your deity of choice knows I'm not) to easily enter Tally's world. Sequel: Pretties. Book three: Specials.
Inexcusable by Chris Lynch
Chris Lynch is a really acquired taste. Let's call him the dragon roll of YA lit. Some of his books just blow me away and others I have to think about, but I love them all one way or the other. Inexcusable, like his Printz Honor book Freewill, is a frightening look inside the head of a not-always-stable individual. Synopsis: Self-proclaimed nice guy Keir loves Gigi Boudakian with all his heart. Because he loves her, he would never rape her. Too bad for him, she says he did. You (the reader you) are never quite sure where to stand on Keir. I wanted to like him but kept finding reasons not to, which I guess is exactly the way Lynch wanted it. Keir is a strong, quick judge of other people's character, but to say he's not always on target is an understatement. His constant misjudgements of other people is troublesome, and if anyone but Christ Lynch wrote this book I would probably say that this book frustrated the hell out of me and that I wanted to slap some sense into Keir, but knowing the author's other works, my guess is that I'm reacting to the book exactly as I ought to, and that's why I liked it. This is a thinking book much more than an action book, and thinking books tend to do well at awards time. cawriter, not to put you so much on the spot, but what did you think of it overall?
i am The Messenger by Markus Zusak
bgliterary and I have kind of a running joke: We never agree on books. He loves books that I hate, and I love books that he thinks are a waste of paper. But we agree on i am The Messenger, which means that no one else in the world must like it. (Ha, that was a joke, feel free to laugh.) One word: Voice. Ed Kennedy (main character) reminds me a lot of Bone from Russell Banks's Rule of the Bone, an deadbeat and absolutely incredible person who has no idea that he is a humanitarian. Synopsis: After tackling a bank robber just because it was "the right thing to do," cabdriver Ed Kennedy starts receiving playing cards with message that send him on a quest to change other people's lives. My one complaint about this book is that it felt very dense in places, but it was all right as the means to the end. Zusak is really a writer to study if you want to see minimalism done well in YA lit. So is castellucci, btw.
Books that I adored but don't think stand a chance at the Printz:
Never Mind the Goldbergs by Matthue Roth
You want diversity, you say? How's an Orthodox Jewish punk rocker actress for ya? Yes, I'm serious. I've been pimping this book to everyone just because there are no other YA characters like Hava Aaronsen, a New York-to-L.A transplant playing the sullen teenage daughter on a show about an Orthodox Jewish family in Brooklyn. No one else on the set is Orthodox or even Jewish, and Hava has to balance her faith with L.A. glitter. It's not the A-List or other Hollywood stardom tell-alls, but a serious book about finding your place in the world.
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. Ineligible for the Printz because it was published for an adult audience, but it kicks ass nonetheless.
Are We There Yet? by David Levithan
I am really tired of David Levithan constantly getting robbed of the Printz Award. (And Adam Rapp, for that matter.) I so thought The Realm of Possibility was at least going to get an honor last year, but alas. I love how Levithan, like Sonya Sones, always knows just the right word to use for every occasion. Two brothers both alike in dignity who don't get along are conned by their parents into traveling to Italy together. There's love, disagreements, a girl, and a lot of the self-discovery kinds of things that make for a good award winner, so maybe it stands a chance after all.
Also, I have a massive headache.
sad
