As part of blog project conceived and organized by the Young Adult lit blogger Kelly of YAnnabe, I'm going to take a moment to give some love to five of my most favorite, under-appreciated Young Adult novels.
The idea is to give some attention to some books you normally wouldn't have known about, let alone read, because all of the bookstores are blinding you with their stacks and stacks of those same few over-hyped titles (that most of the time don't really deserve the attention.) As I waded through the dregs of my local bookstore, I've managed to find these gems.
1. Emily The Strange: The Lost Days by Rob Reger, Jessica Gruner, and Bob Parker
What I know about Emily the Strange I've learned over the past few years from t-shirts, postcards and stickers from her merch line at Hot Topic. While Emily has had books devoted to her before, they've been art books with very little text. The Lost Days is Emily's first adventure in the narrative. I admit that I'm a biased Emily fan, but this novel impressed me for being so true to what I'd already gleaned about her character. Not an easy task, since the story opens when Emily awakens on a bench in a bizarre little town - armed only with an empty journal and none of her memories. Her amnesia is never frustrating though, surprisingly, and instead adds to the charm of the book as she works to figure out what's going on. The pages are peppered with hand-written notes, lists (13 items long, of course), and adorable doodles of cats and skulls. The mystery is engaging, the characters are unforgettably unique, and the book never feels like it's a sell-out. Not bad for a character that started out as a t-shirt design.
2. Leap Day by Wendy Mass
The day is February 29th -- Leap Day -- and it's Josie's birthday. What I love about this book is that it "leaps" between Josie's first person narrative and the third person narrative of all sorts of characters that come into contact with Josie, from close friends to random classmates, various teachers, and family members. Characters are never what they appear to be, and I adore that. Though I'm smitten with all of Wendy Mass's novels, this one is very near and dear to my heart.
Sadly, though, I saw about a dozen of these in the bargain section at my local Borders recently. Though that's good news for all of you that don't have a copy yet. Also, it's currently only $3.20 on Amazon.
3. Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey
Okay, this isn't just another one of those novels trying to horn in on the saturated YA paranormal romance market. This one is different from the rest, because it's actually quite good. Jessica is your average seventeen-year-old living in rural Pennsylvania when she happens to discover she is actually a Romanian vampire princess adopted by New Age anthropologists. Oh, and also, as a part of a blood-pact, she is betrothed to a vampire prince and the marriage will unite two warring vampire clans. You know, it's the sort of stuff that every high school senior finds herself having to face at one point or another.
Actually, in its own way, it actually is. In Fantaskey's vampire mythology, vampires are born instead of made. A vampire female must be bitten by a male vampire to complete her transformation. And in what seems on the surface a cheesy plot point, Jessica is given a copy of a book called "Teen Vampires Guide to Dating, Health and Emotions" in order to assist her transition from American teen to vampire royalty. Hidden behind this quirky storyline is a tale of a girl being catapulted into adulthood, and becoming who she's really supposed to be. Enjoyable, witty, dangerous and sexy -- this novel proves that the supernatural teen genre isn't exhausted quite yet.
4. The Garden by Elsie V. Aidinoff
This is not your Sunday school version of Adam and Eve and the Creation. When I read this, I felt creeped out to reading such a "blasphemous" retelling of the story of Eden. Aidinoff's depiction of God as a childish, selfish, bratty being was jarring. But the story is fleshed out, risky, and I loved how the book played out -- petulant God and all. In the afterword, Aidinoff says the reason she wrote the story was because she felt there were so many holes in the Genesis Creation story that she wanted a way to explain them. And in spite of her saying she didn't set out to write a story with feminist and religious leanings, for her to have written Eve as a strong and smart woman (oftentimes much smarter than Adam), and to write about God and the Serpent and the first two humans . . . it kind of happened anyway.
Sadly, though it only came out in 2005, The Garden appears to be out of print.
5. Midnight Pearls: A Retelling of The Little Mermaid by Debbie Viguie
Part of the Once Upon a Time series, a collection of books by different authors retelling fairy tales, this one puts a spin on my personal favorite: The Little Mermaid. Pearl was very young when she was caught in a fisherman's net and pulled out of the sea. She was adopted by the fisherman and his wife and raised as their own. She's a little bit different than everyone else, and the villagers are mistrusting of her because of her strange appearance - yet she cultivates a secret friendship with the prince. When the prince nearly drowns in a boating accident, he is saved from the wreckage ... though not by Pearl. This story stresses an element that is a minor point in the original: the love triangle. This simple yet beautiful mermaid story (not to mention the rest of the Once Upon a Time series) is a guilty pleasure for me.
Buy From Amazon | Once Upon a Time series on Wikipedia | Debbie Vigue's Blog | Debbie Vigue on Twitter
For some more lovin' on lesser known Young Adult novels, check out Kelly's post for her blog blitz project and let your Amazon wish list blossom and grow.
Leap Day sounds so cool. Isn't it sad when you see great books on the bargain rack? I mean, I guess it's good if it gets more people to take the leap, but to me it means that title is on its way out of the limelight. :(
ReplyDeleteJessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side is something I've heard of before, but didn't take a second look because I was thinking it would be a Twilight derivative. But after reading what you say about it, I think I will like it!
I haven't read any of these except for Jessica's Guide. I was quite disappointed in that one because I thought we would see more of the 'guide' when in actuality it was only mentioned sparsely.
ReplyDeleteOooh! I'll have to check out Midnight Pearls. Having such a great time looking at everyone's lists!
ReplyDeleteI love Midnight Pearls! I have a book from the same series in my list, the retelling of Cinderella.
ReplyDeleteOooh, "Leap Day" sounds great. I love Wendy Mass's "11 Birthdays" and "A Mango-Shaped Space." I'll have to give that one a try too!
ReplyDeleteI want to read every book you reviewed. Midnight Pearls is the first retelling of TLM I've heard about. And I really want to read it but probably won't in case it messes w/ my own retelling. But it sounds SOOOOOO good.
ReplyDeleteOh! And I'm surprised that Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side made the list for obscurity, b/c we have that book at my library, and it's always gettin' checked out.
ReplyDeleteFairy tale retold = automatically goes onto my TBR list! :D
ReplyDeleteAll new to me--thanks!
ReplyDeleteYou completely hooked me with The Garden. Even if it is out of print, I am determined to find it. Also, I am proud to say that I purchased Leap Day for my library, and it has gone out numerous times since then!
ReplyDeleteI kind of hate Blogger comments because I can't reply to comments individually. Anyway, here goes a big lumpy comment.
ReplyDelete@Kelly: It's very sad when I find good books on the bargain racks. And I think there's a stigma about them that they are low quality somehow. But after working in a bookstore for eight years, I've learned that this couldn't be further from the truth. What makes the sighting of dozens of copies of "Leap Day" even worse is that Wendy Mass lives in the area and has been known to stop in that Borders to sign copies of her books. I was afraid she'd see them and I seriously considered buying them all!
@pam: I do think the title of "Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side" is pretty misleading. It's not her guide, and she doesn't actually date on the dark side! (But clearly, I love it anyhow.)
@lenore: If you like "Midnight Pearls" after you read it, you should definitely check out the rest of the "Once Upon a Time" series. Some are better than others, but they're like candy for fans of fairy tales. (Or something healthier than candy, if you don't like candy, only just as good.)
@mylittlecthulhu: I saw your Cinderella title on your list! I have that book on my shelf, waiting to be read.
@Katie: I love those Wendy Mass books too! You should also try "Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall."
@llword: I didn't realize until you mentioned it, but that is the first TLM retelling I've heard of too. (But she does have a cute cameo in Alex Flinn's "Beastly.")
@llword x2: I guess those library patrons checking out "Jessica's Guide" don't have LibraryThing accounts! It's got 382 members on LT.
@anastasia: Definitely check out the rest of the "Once Upon a Time" series for more fairy tales retold! (There's even an "Anastasia" one!)
@melissa: Welcome! Glad you got something out of my list!
@cazzylibrarian: "The Garden" is available on PaperBackSwap, if you have an account there. I'm glad to hear it for "Leap Day"! :)
wow..nice site..
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