So far this year seems to be speeding by. I still haven’t managed to finish the remaining books languishing on my To-Be-Read list from last year, but I’m trying to get to a couple each month. So, you know, by summer or something I’ll actually be finished?
Here are the books I’ve scheduled for review this month. There are some new ones and some recent releases as well. Hope you’re as excited about reading them as I am!
A Thousand Nights by E. K. Johnston – In this stunning retelling of the story of Scheherazade, a girl uses her ability to tell stories to battle a dark force controlling the king, her husband. Read my review.
Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale – I stayed up all night reading this book during the final days of my grandmother’s life. Hale crafts an incredible story world in this heartwarming tale of friendship and love based on the Grimm Brother’s tale Maid Maleen. My review here.
Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee – This tale inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen was one of those books that completely took me by surprise. I loved that Foxlee set the story in a museum. My review.
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer – Okay, you knew there was going to be at least some mention of the Lunar Chronicles on this list. I was really hesitant to pick up an entire novel with themes from the story of Red Riding Hood. And then Scarlet and Wolf pretty much became my favorite TLC characters. Read my review.
Across a Star-Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund – This was a recent read for me, though I’d been meaning to get to it for the longest time. I’m a huge fan of The Scarlet Pimpernel, so I was nervous to read a new interpretation or story inspired by this great tale, but I’m so glad I did. I loved the sci-fi elements and how Peterfreund grafted them into the story. Here’s my review.
The Door by the Staircase by Katherine Marsh – Themes from Russian folklore, anyone? I’m so in. I haven’t read this one yet, but you’ll soon be seeing more about it here on The Story Sanctuary as I’ll be participating in a blog tour here in a few weeks.
Nightingale’s Nest by Nikki Loftin – I enjoyed this sweet middle grade story inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Nightingale.” My review.
Traitor’s Masque by Kenley Davidson – I haven’t read this one yet, either, but it looks really good, and I’ll be reviewing it soon. It’s a tale inspired by Cinderella. I’m really excited to read it.
The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley – This is kind of an oldie but definitely a goodie. It’s a retelling of Robin Hood with a wee bit of a feminist slant. (Seriously… do the men actually do anything in this story? I guess they do, but the women are usually behind them making it actually work…) Still, it was a nice read.
The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury – This is a re-imagining of Aladdin in which the genie is a girl and falls in love with Aladdin. So a bit of a twist there. I’ve read the first several chapters in a sample from NetGalley, and I’m desperate to read the rest.
Jaycee intends to spend the anniversary of her brother Jake’s death the same way she spent the last one: exploring an abandoned building with her brother’s best friend. Jake’s death fractured Jaycee’s entire community, and even though it’s been five years since his death, her relationships remain in the same ruined condition as the broken mental institution she visits.
Her friends are determined to reach her, though. Even Mik, with whom Jaycee feels a powerful if wordless connection. As grief pushes Jaycee closer and closer to the edge, her friends realize the only way to save her is to join her and look into the face of all they lost the night Jake died.
This might be my favorite book so far this year. (Yes… I know, I just reviewed Winter! And it was great! But…. This book is something special.) I loved each of the characters. They felt desperately real, hopelessly flawed, and I couldn’t help rooting for them to work through the angst and grief and all the things that have been holding them back.
I LOVED how McCarthy uses images to tell the story. One character’s experience is related entirely in pictures of graffiti he’s posted in places the characters travel. And Mik – the boy who rarely speaks – had his story told in graphic novel panels. I’ve never seen that done before, but it really captured that silent-but-present feeling that he brought to the story. He was my favorite, but he doesn’t have a huge lead over some of the other characters. They were all just great.
One of the things I thought was great about this story, too, is that even though it’s all about how Jaycee idolizes her brother and how tragic his death is, the tale also goes into some of the way that keeping that lost person on a pedestal can become unhealthy. Sometimes our memories get warped and we only want to remember the good parts, which can sometimes be damaging. I also liked how the story dealt with the loss of this one person, but showed how the accident had more of a global effect on the community.
Despite all the things I loved, there’s some mature content in this novel. Check the information below to see if it’s the right read for you or one you feel comfortable recommending.
Extreme profanity used with moderate frequency.
Romance/Sexual Content
Natalie and her boyfriend Zack have had sex. At one point, he wants to go to a party, and she uses the promise of sex to deter him from going. They disappear into the woods to have sex at one point, but the event isn’t described. One night she puts herself in a compromising position with a boy known for taking advantage of girls. She’s too drunk to know if anything happened between them, but it’s possible that she slept with him.
Jaycee wonders about Mik’s romantic history. He’s older than she is, and she worries that he has more experience than she does. He patiently answers her questions, but doesn’t offer details. At one point they reach under each other’s shirts and touch for a moment.
Spiritual Content
Jaycee dwells mostly on things from Jake’s life and very little on whether he’s in heaven or somewhere now that he’s gone.
Violence
There are a couple of skirmishes between the boys. Nothing grisly. One boy’s older brother picks on him relentlessly. One girl has issues with cutting. It’s only mentioned peripherally.
Drug Content
Zack really likes getting drunk. Natalie drinks too much at a party and pays some serious consequences. Jaycee and Zack drink together in an abandoned building. Jaycee gets buzzed pretty easily because she doesn’t usually drink.
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Persis Blake has two lives. In one, she’s the center of high society and the Albion queen’s best friend. In the other, she’s the Wild Poppy, rescuing prisoners of the neighboring kingdom’s revolution. When a refugee connected to the head of the Galatean revolution shows up seeking asylum, Persis can’t help but suspect his motives. Justen, a Galatean medic and scientist, carries a secret with him into exile. One that could provide the Galatean Revolutionaries with an even more powerful weapon. Persis and Justen begin to fall for one another, but there’s just one problem. Their love could jeopardize everything.
I bought this book years ago on pure name recognition. I’d been in an email loop for young adult writers with Diana Peterfreund (go TeenLitAuthors!) and her contributions to the group stood out to me as being really helpful. So when I saw this book on the shelf at Barnes & Noble, I was like, hey I like her! And I picked it up.
Once I realized it was a story inspired by The Scarlet Pimpernel, one of my favorite classic tales, I was nervous. I mean… I LOVE that story. And I love the movie with Jane Seymour. So I was really worried that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the story for pointing out things that didn’t translate well into this sci-fi setting.
How wrong I was. It was obvious to me in reading this story that Peterfreund is a huge fan of The Scarlet Pimpernel. There were moments where I literally put the book down and turned to my husband exclaiming something along the lines of, “I can’t believe she put this in the story! It’s absolutely classic TSP!”
The biggest change of course is the addition of all the sci-fi elements. Instead of Madame Guillotine, we have a drug that causes brain damage. Revolutionaries force this on their imprisoned enemies and treat them as slaves. Within the context of the story, it really translated well. I liked that it raised some big moral questions and still maintained the urgency needed to fuel the Wild Poppy’s action. I loved that Across a Star-swept Sea reversed the gender roles of many of the characters.
The point-of-view of each character was really well-done, too. When I was in the POV of a soldier, it felt like being inside a military mind. When I was in Justen’s POV, I watched him break down situations the way a scientist would. When I was in Persis’s POV, I watched her struggle with all the competing parts of her identity.
If you liked These Broken Stars, I think you should definitely check out Across a Star-swept Sea. Though it’s the second in a series, I think it’s fine to read as a stand-alone. I do want to go back and read the first book, but I didn’t have any trouble following this book without having read the other one first. I hesitate to compare it to the Lunar Chronicles – both are great, and I highly recommend them. The writing felt different to me, but still really good. But yes. I think if you liked the fairytales-gone-sci-fi elements of Cinder, you’ll probably like Across the Star-swept Sea.
None.
Romance/Sexual Content
A couple of intense kisses.
Spiritual Content
A brief comment stating that some believe a global misfortune is due to the gods taking revenge on humanity for attempting to perfect themselves.
Violence
There are a couple of quick skirmishes between soldiers, but most of the violence deals more with the use of a weapon which reduces one’s mental capacity. It’s a punishment that revolutionaries use against imprisoned enemies. The story follows discussion about whether there are just instances to use such a weapon. I loved the exploration of this topic and felt like the moral consequences were clearly stated.
Drug Content
See violence. A pill contains the ability to reduce one’s mental capabilities. Also, this society has the ability to temporarily supplement or enhance genes to change the way one looks. It’s still fairly new, fairly controversial, but several characters use the technology to create disguises.
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After a school incident provokes a teacher to challenge fifteen year-old Junior, he leaves the school on the Spokane Indian Reservation for an all-white school in a nearby town with better resources. At first, Junior’s new schoolmates shun him for being different, and at home, his friends shun him for being a traitor and leaving the reservation. Through cartoon drawings and frank narrative, Junior wrestles with his own sense of value and the value of his people.
Part of what makes this story so powerful is the fact that we see not only Junior’s internal struggles as he wrestles with his identity and value, but that we see the culture and people of the reservation through his eyes as well. We clearly feel his warring love and frustration. We cringe at the gaffs of (sometimes) well-meaning white people who come to the reservation or who interact with Junior at school.
I feel like it shouldn’t take a novel so poignantly written to take me outside my own point-of-view and really make me think about how things sound or come across, well-meaning or not. Sometimes it does take being forced to imagine life from a completely perspective in order to succeed in doing so.
The poverty in which so many of the families lived is portrayed so vividly. Sadly, stupidly, I had never even thought about this, and I’m ashamed to admit that. We talk about ending world hunger and people talk about children in the US being hungry, too. I just really hadn’t thought to look further for names and faces, if that makes sense?
I loved that though Junior’s diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, his story isn’t defined by this condition. He’s a talented artist and basketball player as well as a loving son, brother and friend. (This sounds like a eulogy…. He doesn’t die in the story, I promise.)
Another thing that was really well-described was the difference in the sense of community in the town of Reardon vs the sense of community at the reservation. Junior points things out directly a few times, but the story itself shows the ways in which the culture of each is different and how Junior responds differently in each place.
I’d been meaning to read this story for a while because several times I’ve heard of different school districts banning the book for the sexual content. I can understand how, as a conservative parent trying to teach your child that masturbation is morally wrong, handing your child a book which bluntly states that it’s something everyone does and everyone enjoys would be problematic.
On the one hand, I’m not a huge fan of book banning. On the other hand, I’m a fan of having freedom to raise children according to moral and spiritual doctrines of my choosing, even if they’re contrary to popular belief or opinion. So… I’d say it’s a tough call.
I also believe that issues like this within literature can make for a great opportunity to discuss beliefs and why our family believes certain things or does things a certain way that other people might not follow. But it’s certainly not the only opportunity for discussion.
I found this book to be a valuable voice in children’s literature. I understand why some parents might choose not to read this book or allow their kids to read it. Despite the brief content, though, I feel like The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian gives an important perspective. For me, it was definitely worth reading.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some crude language and mild profanity used infrequently.
Romance/Sexual Content
Junior briefly discusses his feelings about masturbation – mainly, that everyone does it and everyone enjoys it. Later, one of his friends drags him to the library and describes being there as an experience which should give one a metaphorical “boner.”
Junior gives a gift to his best friend Rowdy. Rowdy’s dad makes fun of the gesture, calling Junior derogatory names.
Junior has a girlfriend at school. They exchange brief kisses. Her father makes a somewhat crude comment warning Junior to keep his hands and other areas of interest to himself.
Spiritual Content
Brief references to cultural ceremonies.
After the loss of a family members and a dear friend, Junior grieves. He describes the process, saying at one point that he “mocked God.” A cartoon shows a crowd of people making fun of Jesus.
Violence
Junior gets beat up a lot on the reservation. His best friend’s father beats him up, and his friend in turn beats other kids up. Junior describes the social climate on the reservation as having strict rules which require you to fight anyone who insults you or your family. Later, off the reservation, a boy at school insults him, and Junior punches him. He is puzzled when the boy doesn’t fight back.
Drug Content
References to drug abuse and alcoholism happening at the reservation. Junior’s dad is an alcoholic. Several deaths in the story have a direct relationship to alcohol abuse.
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