I have always felt as though I would make an excellent spy or undercover agent. I like solving problems. I like solving mysteries. I really like justice. I would be a detective or FBI agent if those careers didn't require the handling of firearms. I will settle for playing those roles on TV or in films.

( Silly anecdote )

One of my regular teen customers requested a booklist of super sleuths and sassy spies. I could have listed many, many spy-tastic books, but I decided to create a shorter list which focused on my absolute favorites and those which I most highly recommend as well as some recent releases.

( Read more... )

Related Booklist: Teen Mystery and Horror

In Tips for Having a Gay (Ex) Boyfriend, Carrie Jones introduces readers to Belle, a high school senior who is fairly content with her life. She has a wonderful boyfriend, a loving (though slightly wacky) mother, a loyal best friend, and a beautiful guitar she calls Gabriel. The book begins when Dylan breaks up with her and Belle's world stops. Theirs has never been an on-again, off-again relationship, and this isn't a typical high school break-up. He's ending things because he loves her, but no longer in that way; because he's come to terms with who he is, and he's gay.

Positively heartbroken, Belle gives herself a week to wallow in self-pity. In that week, she learns more about herself and her loved ones than she ever thought possible. She oscillates between shock and acceptance, hurt and understanding, as she tries to figure out what their relationship really meant.

When Dylan starts dating another boy, he is ridiculed by some classmates and accepted by others. Though she's still hurting, Belle supports him. She herself is shaken up multiple times: when there's a physical assault on campus, and again and again when her seizures strike.

Belle is a great leading character. She's the quiet type but true to herself and to her loved ones. She's initially confused by Dylan's confession and it makes her re-evaluate their history together, but she's never whiny nor close-minded about the situation. She finds solace in her music and strength in herself. Once Belle realizes Dylan is still the same sweet guy he's always been, just not the love of her life, she's able to start healing her broken heart - part of which will always belong to him.

All of the book's characters are subtly quirky and believable. Best friends Emily and Belle are extremely comfortable around each other, making for candid, realistic dialogue. Belle's mom happily sings around the house, always mangling song lyrics. Then there's Tom, a nice boy fond of making random objects out of duct tape who also makes his way into Belle's life.

From start to finish, Tips for Having a Gay (Ex) Boyfriend is a delightful read - and Love (and Other Uses for Duct Tape) picks up right where Tips left off.

As they approach the end of their senior year, Belle and her best friend Emily talk about their future lives more than ever. When Em needs her more than ever, Belle is right there for her, but Em's secret noticeably weighs them both down.

Belle struggles with a lot in this book. It's weird for her to see her mother dating. It's difficult for her to share her music with others. At times, she feels undeserving of Tom's attention; other times, she wishes she knew if their relationship means as much to him as it does to her. When her seizures return, she doesn't want to tell anyone else about her condition, but she accidentally confides in someone who may not be trustworthy.

This book has plenty of love to go around: Belle, her best friend, her ex-boyfriend, and her mother all have boyfriends. Thankfully, this is not a story about people revolving their lives around their relationships and defining themselves in terms of their significant others. Instead, the story mixes the happy with the sad, the good with the bad, as Belle and her buddies try to balance schoolwork and homework with everything else that's going on.

Love (and Other Uses for Duct Tape) is on my list of Best Books of 2008 (So Far). It is just as good if not better than its predecessor. Carrie Jones allows her characters to mess up and learn from their mistakes rather than condemning them. There's beauty in flaws, and considerant, observant Belle is just the person to see that beauty - in others, in her world, in herself.

Belle's music and lyrics are almost everpresent in this book. My favorite piece is Em's Song, Take Two.

Also noteworthy: a quick exchange between two characters about another remarkable novel, Looking for Alaska by John Green.

Tips for Having a Gay (Ex) Boyfriend was released in May 2007. Love (and Other Uses for Duct Tape) was released in March 2008. Carrie's next book, Girl, Hero, will be released in July 2008. Girl, Hero is a stand-alone novel and is not related to Belle's stories.

Visit Carrie's website and LiveJournal. (Special thanks to Carrie for this sweet post. I think we have a mutual admiration society going on.)

Read my interview with Carrie.

It's very hard, rescuing yourself.

Life is not a fairy tale, but it can be an amazing journey. Letters from Rapunzel by Sara Lewis Holmes confirms this.

In this extraordinary epistolary juvenile novel, a young girl drafts letter after letter to P.O. Box #5667. She addresses her concerns there after seeing the post office box on an unfinished letter from her father. Now that he has been hospitalized for clinical depression (or, as she calls it, the "Evil Spell"), she feels as if this unknown recipient is her only touchstone to her displaced parent. Feeling as though she's trapped in a tower, she signs the letters "Rapunzel" and sends them out as signs of life, slivers of hope, perhaps even small calls for help.

Though the letters seem to be one-sided, the story is full and its protagonist three-dimensional. She acts her age and responds to her situation with equal parts optimism, realism, and cynicism. While waiting for her hardworking mother to pick her up from the dreaded afterschool Homework Club and waiting for her father to come home from the hospital, she channels her anxiety and emotions into her writing. Her short stories and letters reveal more about her own identity, even as she yearns to learn that of her would-be pen pal. Just as the heroine feels compelled to keep writing to the mysterious #5667, kids will feel compelled to keep reading her letters to the very end.

In response to the line I quoted at the top of this review, I say:

Each of us has the potential to be a hero, even as we're looking for someone else to save us.

I have included Letters from Rapunzel in booktalks and in booklists, including Tough Issues for Teens and the Best Books of 2007.

With the author's permission, I quoted my favorite poem from the book one Poetry Friday.

Read an excerpt from the book.

Read my interview with Sara Lewis Holmes.

What do A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban and Notes on a Near-Life Experience by Olivia Birdsall have in common? Both use quirky vignettes with quirky titles to effectively tell a story. While Crooked offers cookies, organ music, and striped toe socks, Notes includes pepperoni, prom, and a person from Peru.

Both titles were released in 2007 and were nominated for The Cybils Book Awards - Perfect in the middle grade category, Notes in the young adult category. I personally nominated Notes, and here's why:

At the age of fifteen, Mia is trying to make sense of life. Everything and everyone around her seem to be changing. Her parents are getting separated, her brother is rebelling, and her brother's best friend is finally returning her affection. What could possibly happen next?

I really enjoyed Mia's sense of self and her honest take on things. She is able to take the good with the bad, the happy with the sad, and she has a good head on her shoulders. Her stories are sometimes serious, sometimes humorous, and always poignant. My favorite vignettes include Coming of Age, What I Want to Be When I Grow Up, and Living Dead Girl. I really hope that others will take note of Olivia Birdsall's debut.

I bumped up this post in March 2008 as part of Wicked Cool Overlooked Books, a monthly blog notation encouraged by Colleen from Chasing Ray: On the first Monday of every month, she posts about a Wicked Cool Overlooked Book - a book she enjoyed that she wishes others would pick up - and invites others to post their picks as well.

Read my other posts about Wicked Cool Overlooked Books.

Learn more about WCOB at Chasing Ray.

I head up postergirlz, the book advisory council for readergirlz. We were all very taken with Just Listen, this month's book pick, so we set up a virtual roundtable to discuss it further. We hope this post will encourage you to read the book and post your thoughts at the readergirlz forum. Miss Erin was unable to attend, but the other council members - Jackie, Alexia, HipWriterMama, and me, Little Willow - were present and very chatty. Feel free to Just Listen in!

HipWriterMama: I can't believe I read Just Listen in one sitting.

Little Willow: Go HipWriter Mama! I'm proud.

HWM: I put off reading the book, because the cover art didn't appeal to me. I figured I'd read a couple chapters and by then, I couldn't put the book down. It was really good.

Alexia: I read it in one sitting too! I completely ignored all of my homework, that was a problem the next day, but it was totally worth it!

LW: (said knowingly, not scolding) Do your homework, young lady.

Jac: I actually started Just Listen on audio book during a long trip. I was down to the last two CDs when I got home, and I just couldn't wait for the next time I got in the car, so I had to dig up the book and read it to the end right after I got home!

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Want to discuss this and other books with readers from all over the world? Visit the readergirlz forum, where we'll be discussing Just Listen all month long.

Sarah Dessen herself will also be dropping by the readergirlz forum throughout the month. We'll host an hour-long chat with her on Thursday, March 27th at 12:00 PM PST / 3:00 PM EST.

Related Posts: Check out other roundtable book discussions at Bildungsroman as well as my reviews of Sarah Dessen's novels.

I am a readergirl! Are you?
Read the new issue of readergirlz. (We hope you enjoy both the content and the brand-new layout!)

This month, readergirlz are discussing Just Listen by Sarah Dessen.

Just Listen is a year in the life of a family coming to terms with the imperfections beneath its perfect facade. Last year, Annabel was "the girl who has everything." This year, she's the girl who has nothing: no best friend, no peace at home, and no one to sit with at lunch. Until she meets Owen Armstrong, a music-obsessed boy. With his help, maybe Annabel can face what happened the night she and Sophie stopped being friends.

Talk About It

Want to discuss Just Listen with other readers? Drop by the readergirlz forum, which is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We can't wait to hear your thoughts on this fabulous book!

Want to chat with Sarah Dessen herself? Want to get your hands on her next book, Lock and Key? Join our Sneak Peek Lock and Key Party Thursday, March 27th at 12:00 PM PST / 3:00 PM EST at the readergirlz forum. Look forward to awesome Lock and Key swag and ARC (advance reader copies) giveaways!

Listen in as the postergirlz have a roundtable discussion of Just Listen.

Recommended Reads

Our March theme is Truth. With this month's book and theme in mind, the readergirlz divas and the postergirlz advisory council recommend the following books:

A Little Friendly Advice by Siobhan Vivian (review + roundtable)
Stay With Me by Garrett Freymann-Weyr
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Kissing the Bee by Kathe Koja
Lessons from a Dead Girl by Jo Knowles
Red: The Next Generation of American Writers

New Downloads and Shareables

Celebrate Women's History Month and our one year anniversary with us!

The readergirlz Make History cards offer powerful quotes from books we featured during our first year. Save the cards in PDF or JPG form, print them, stick them on your locker or bulletin board, and send them to your best friends. Be encouraged to make your own history!

Read, reflect, and reach out with girlz around the world during our second year. Download and print the readergirlz vow.

Commemorate our first year with this limited edition readergirlz pendant, created and crafted by readergirlz member and jeweler Gypsy Wings.

Check out our brand-new page of downloadable goodies.

Visit the readergirlz archive.

Last month's featured book and author: Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes
Next month's featured book and author: Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham

Related Posts:
Meet the readergirlz divas and the postergirlz advisory council
Read the original readergirlz press release
View all of the readergirlz-tagged posts at Bildungsroman
Read my review of Just Listen and all of Sarah Dessen's novels in Author Spotlight: Sarah Dessen
The postergirlz had a roundtable discussion of Just Listen

The winners of The 2007 Cybils Awards were announced on Thursday, February 14th. Congratulations to all of the nominees and winners, and many thanks to all of the organizers, panelists, judges, booksellers, librarians, teachers, bloggers, and bookish folks who have actively supported the Cybils.

Fantasy and Science Fiction: Elementary/Middle Grade: The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex

Fantasy and Science Fiction: Young Adult: Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

Fiction Picture Books: The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice N. Harrington, illustrated by Shelley Jackson

Graphic Novels: Elementary/Middle Grade: Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel written by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin, illustrated by Giovanni Rigano and Paolo Lamanna

Graphic Novels: Young Adult: The Professor's Daughter written by Joann Sfar, illustrated by Emmanuel Guibert

Middle Grade Novels: A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban

Non-Fiction Middle Grade/Young Adult Books: Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood by Ibtisam Barakat

Non-Fiction Picture Books: Lightship by Brian Floca

Poetry: This Is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski 

Young Adult Novels: Boy Toy by Barry Lyga 

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Official Press Release

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Learn more about the winning titles and the awards by visiting blog.cybils.com and www.cybils.com 

Ten-year-old Zoe dreams of performing at Carnegie Hall one day. She thinks pianos are glamorous, sophisticated, and worldly. She'd love to have a grand piano and be taught how to play impressive, difficult pieces by a grandfatherly maestro.

Instead, she gets a Perfectone D-60 organ and six months of free lessons from a woman named Mabelline Person. Instead of Fur Elise, Moonlight Sonata, or even Frere Jacques, she is given television theme songs from the sixties and seventies. Not exactly glamorous.

Zoe is an only child. Her mother is a straightforward, working professional, a controller for the state who spends a great deal of time a work. Her father enjoys earning degrees from Living Room University, learning how to scrapbook, coach boxing, and pilot a plane - all from the comfort of his own home, using objects he has around the house. After school, before or after her own lessons, Zoe helps her father with his. Sometimes, she delights in his antics, but other times, his errors - like getting her a wheezy organ! - make her cringe. Her goofy classmate named Walker befriends her father and the two bake in the background while Miss Person sets up a metronome and a Hits from the Sixties songbook for an exasperated Zoe.

Zoe's getting frustrated. She's not a prodigy. She's not a concert pianist. But she's also not a quitter. Slowly but surely, she learns how to play the organ and surprises herself with how much she likes it. When she goes on to compete at Perform-o-Rama, winning over her parents is far more important to her than winning a trophy.

With quirky characters and quick chapters, Linda Urban's debut is as close to Perfect as you can get. The humorous writing will satisfy both reluctant and avid readers. From her head to her toe socks, Zoe is a lovable little girl, and her voice rings true. If this book were a song, it would be music to my ears.

One of the best books of 2007, in my opinion, A Crooked Kind of Perfect also won The Cybils Award for Middle Grade Fiction and other distinctions. Highly recommended.

In GENTLE'S HOLLER, Kerry Madden introduces young readers to Olivia (better known as Livy Two) Weems, a twelve-year-old with a passion for books and music. Livy has eight siblings of various ages and temperaments, a sweet mama, and a starry-eyed daddy. Money's tight - Daddy's music fills the heart and ears more than it fills the pocketbook - but the Weems make do, and their household is always bursting with family, love, and music. Livy Two also sings and plays music, often writing songs about the struggles her family has faced and the hardships they've overcome. The story is set in 1960s North Carolina, a beautiful backdrop for this artistic and energetic family.

As the tale progresses, Livy Two watches carefully over Gentle, the next-to-youngest child in the family, who has always had difficulty with her eyes. Meanwhile, the eldest son, Emmett, looks beyond the holler and fixes his eyes on Ghost Town in the Sky, a new place on the top of a mountain where he might be able to get a job. Livy Two's trips to the lending library truck connect her with another kind soul, Miss Attickson, who encourages Livy's voracious appetite for novels and poetry.

LOUISIANA'S SONG, the second book in the trilogy, is just as precious as the first. The narrator is once again the lovable Livy Two, who learns how her quiet sister Louise came to be named after a state. She encourages Louise to share her paintings with others, all the while working hard on her own songs and helping out at the bookmobile. As the family feels the effects of the events from the previous book, Livy Two is surprised by the strength of her siblings - and of herself.

LOUISIANA'S SONG is a worthy sequel to GENTLE'S HOLLER, and, unlike many middle books in trilogies, can stand on its own two feet. When Louise learns to do the same, Livy Two will cheer her on, and so will readers. SONG is on my Best Books of 2007 list, under the category of Juvenile Fiction.

JESSIE'S MOUNTAIN, the final book in the trilogy, is named after the mother of the family. In a rare act of tenderness, Grandma Horace gives Livy Two the diary her mom wrote when she was about Livy's age. The journal entries and sketches give Livy new insight into her mom. Though she keeps it to herself at first, she ends up reading passages to her brothers and sisters.

The story also takes Livy Two and Jitters on a journey to Nashville, because Livy is dead-set on auditioning for a music man named Mr. George Flowers. It's an expensive trip in more ways than one, and the fallout follows Livy for the rest of the book. ("It's as if I left Maggie Valley a little girl and came back home grown up. Even Mama and Daddy look older to me, like the worry of the last few days aged them all at once.")

Music, as always, brings the family together and will bring smiles to readers' faces. A satisfying conclusion to a trilogy that's as sweet as a slice of homemade pie.

This trilogy will be loved by kids and families who enjoyed the All-of-a-Kind Family books by Sydney Taylor, Cheaper by the Dozen and Belles on Their Toes by Frank B. Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, and The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall. I can see Caroline Penderwick and Gentle Weems becoming fast friends and sharing fairy wings.

If you need help visualizing and distinguishing between the Weems children, just use this beautiful passage from JESSIE'S MOUNTAIN:

Gentle knows all of our individual walks and sounds. She knows Emmett by his whistling and harmonica, and Becksie smacks her lips, dabbing vanilla spice behind her ears as lady's perfume. She knows I [Livy Two] drag my feet sometimes, and Jitters drops things, and Louise stirs up jars of paint and pops her knuckles when she gets nervous. Gentle also hears Caroline's fairy wings rustle, and Cyrus never walks when he can run.

Read my interview with author Kerry Madden.

For author Sara Lewis Holmes, sketches led to letters, which in turn led to an epistolary novel. Letters From Rapunzel should be read and shared. Learn more now about the story behind the story in this interview with the author herself.

I think that each of us has the potential to be a hero, even as we're looking for someone else to save us. Tell us about your story's journey.

I started Letters From Rapunzel on the basis of a sketch and a title ... and a whole lot of curiosity! I didn't have a clue as to where I was headed, and the length of a novel intimidated me after writing only short stories and poems. So I used the letter technique to trick myself. I would pretend that my main character was writing letters to me. Well, I never got any further than that. She had such an engaging voice, and a great story to tell, and I let her have at it.

( Read more... )

Our discussion of her book's jacket led to further discussion. Please share your thoughts!

Read my review of Letters From Rapunzel and my favorite poem from the book.

Visit Sara Lewis Holmes at her website and blog.

Please add your ideas to The Very Big, No Kidding, We're Changing the World, You Bet! Good Deed List.