Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

Image: HarperCollins Publishers

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~11 hours. Read by Aysha Kala. Harper Teen/ HarperCollins Publishers, March, 2017. 9780062474612. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library.

Happy Tuesday! I am a huge fan of the Heartstopper graphic novel series by Alice Oseman, as are many seventh and eighth graders, probably propelled by the popular Netflix series. Did you know that Ms. Oseman also writes novels? In fact, Charlie was a minor character in her debut novel, Solitaire, which was published in 2014, when she was only twenty years old! But Teen Tuesday isn't featuring Solitaire. I couldn't find it on audio, though I do intend to read it some day. 

Teen Tuesday features Radio Silence. This book was published in 2016 and is her second novel following the publication of two novellas. Radio Silence is narrated by Frances Janvier, who introduces her self with this: “I was study machine Frances Janvier. I was going to Cambridge . . . Uni, job, money, happiness. That’s what you do. That’s the formula." She's top girl at her school and despises the top boy. She also has a loose group of "friends" she really doesn't relate to or feel close to. What she does love with all her heart is a podcast called "Universe City." It's dark and brooding and Frances frequently publishes her fan art to Tumblr under the pseudonym, Toulouse. She's shocked and delighted to received a message through the app from the creator, who loves her art and wants permission to use it even though he can't pay her.

Turns out that the creator is none other than her across the street neighbor, Aled and twin to her former best friend, Carys. Aled is brilliant and headed to university and Carys struggeld in school and ran away two years earlier. Frances feels it is her fault. Frances and Aled strike up a fast friendship and work on the podcast together through the summer. After a social media influencer gives the podcast a shoutout, Universe City goes viral and the fandom are rabid to discover the identities of Aled and Frances.

This nuanced, layered novel explores themes of friendship, identity, familial relationships, societal expectations and being true to yourself. Frances' wry narration reveals her to be bright, honest, self-deprecating, driven and doubtful. I was immediately smitten. She also has a brilliant mother. I went into this vaguely thinking it would be a romance along the lines of Heartstopper. It's not, but it's utterly engaging. Mature teen readers questioning the status quo and looking for a challenging read  will enjoy Radio Silence.

Teen Tuesday: Slip by Marika McCoola

Image: Workman 

Slip by Marika McCoola and illustrated by Aatmaja Pandya. 208 p. Algonquin/ Workman, June, 2022. 9781643752495 (Review of finished, purchased copy.)

Teen Tuesday features Slip by Marika McCoola and illustrated by Aatmaja Pandya. High school student and pottery artist Jade is about to leave for a month-long summer art intensive when she learns that her best friend has been hospitalized after an attempted suicide. She feels she should stay home to support her friend, but her parents point out that Phoebe can't have visitors, so she should go. Once at camp, Jade's struggles to be present with her art are compounded by the talent and confidence of fellow campers and demanding instructors. The one bright spot is Mary, who creates inter-active art, but their budding romance is threatened by Jade's unwillingness to be honest and open.

The art is mostly blue tones with flashes of pink and red symbolizing Jade's strong emotions. Occasionally, the panels are difficult to follow and Jade and Mary appear younger than high school age. Graphic novel fans who enjoy a leisurely, introspective story that explores themes of friendship, identity, and guilt will enjoy Slip.

Middle Grade Monday and Arc Review: Dan Unmasked by Chris Negron

Image: HarperCollins Publishers

Dan Unmasked by Chris Negron. 368 p. HarperCollins Publishers, July 28, 2020. 9780062943057. (Review of arc courtesy of publicist.)

Middle Grade Monday features an impressive debut, Dan Unmasked by Chris Negron. Dan and Nate are best friends, baseball teammates and comics aficionados. Like most baseball players, Dan and Nate have their tics and rituals on and off the field. One includes the entire team when a new issue of the reclusive George Sanderson's Captain Nexus releases. The whole team meets in Nate's basement with their new issue and follow strict RULES for the ritual reading. The only non-team member invited to this club is Ollie, Nate's geeky little brother. Dan is begrudging about this and outright floored when Ollie brings a friend! Not only is his friend a girl, but Courtney flouts the rules of the reading. All this takes a back burner when, a few days later at baseball practice, Nate is beaned by a hard throw and falls into a coma. Nate is the team's pitching ace and they are heading into a tournament Dan feels they have no hope of winning without him. He feels terrible guilt because Dan thinks it's his fault that Nate is in a coma. 

Nate's an all-around nice guy - accepting, approachable and athletic. Dan's a bit intense and possessive of Nate, even begrudging Ollie's need for Nate's attention. This may be because Dan's dad has been unavailable for awhile due to increased work demands. Dan is crushed by the guilt he feels over Nate's injury. Readers will find a lot to relate to as Dan navigates the guilt, hurt, feelings of helplessness and grief. The book's leisurely pace and page count allow for these explorations.

I do have a few quibbles, which are major for me as an adult, but young readers absolutely will not notice. My twelve-year-old self would've loved this book. First, one pitcher does not a baseball team make even in the major leagues. It bugged me that Nate seemed to pitch every game and once he was injured, his back-up pitcher pitched them all. No way that happens - Little League, Major League, any league.

Second, regular readers of this blog know what's coming. The coma. Lots of drawn out drama with little coinciding with real life, such as allowing anyone but family members at the bedside and unspecified crises, presumably having to do with cranial pressure, which should be relieved with surgery, but didn't happen here. As I mentioned, kids won't notice. Indeed many adults probably won't either, as this (and amnesia) is the stuff of soap operas and they're not going away. My soapbox. I'm stepping off now. 

Chris Negron combines great baseball action with graphic novel fandom in this story of friendship and male bonding. Fans of both will love the combo. Happy book birthday tomorrow. 

Chris Negron grew up outside Buffalo, NY, where he spent a huge chunk of his childhood collecting comic books and loving sports. But it was the hours of playing Dungeons and Dragons in friends’ basements that first gave him the dream of one day writing his own stories. That dream kept him company through college at Yale University and years of programming computers for big companies. Dan Unmasked is his debut novel, and he now lives outside Atlanta with his wife, Mary. Visit him at www.chrisnegron.com.

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Teen Tuesday: Are You Experienced? by Jordan Sonnenblick

Image: Macmillan

Are You Experienced? by Jordan Sonnenblick. 304 p. Feiwel & Friends/ Macmillan, September, 2013. 9781250025647. (Own).

Happy Tuesday TMS Readers! Thursday marks the 50th anniversary of The Woodstock Music Festival, which occurred on Max Yasgur's farm in Bethel, New York August 15 through 18, 1969. An estimated 400,000 people attended this outdoor event. Teen Tuesday features Are You Experienced? by Jordan Sonnenblick. 

Fifteen-year-old Rich Barber jumps at the chance to play his guitar at a protest rally even though his overly strict and overly protective parents wouldn't approve. What could go wrong? He gets busted in a raid along with his father and the two spend the night in jail. Of course, he's grounded for life. It also doesn't help that the anniversary of his uncle's death is coming up. He never met his uncle, but his dad becomes terribly depressed around the anniversary. 

But Rich is furious. He breaks into his father's locked cabinet and decides to play his dad's most prized possession. Jimi Hendrix's guitar. When he strikes that iconic chord, Rich finds himself dropped naked in the middle of a road in upstate New York where he is nearly hit by a car. Who's in the car? His fifteen-year-old father, eighteen-year-old uncle and his uncle's girlfriend and they are trying to get to the Woodstock Music Festival. 

Rich is a musician and student of Rock and Roll. He cannot believe he's actually at Woodstock! He knows the line-up of all the musicians and what they are going to play. Unfortunately, he also knows what's going to happen to his uncle in the near-1969-future. 

If you're a Sonnenblick fan, you already know about his signature combo of humor and depth and you will enjoy this YA offering. If you're a student of Rock and Roll history, you should definitely check this out. Sonnenblick vividly recreates the weekend. 

Audiobook Review: A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti

A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti. Unabridged downloadable audiobook, 9 hours. Read by Julia Whelan, Simon & Schuster Audio, September, 2018. (Review of audiobook downloaded from public library.)

Annabelle Agnelli should be enjoying her senior year of high school. Instead she's withdrawn and hobbled by guilt and grief. Over what? Do not be impatient to find out. Be with her as she attempts to cope with a triggering incident that sends her running - literally running from Seattle to Washington D.C. Appreciate her slightly dysfunction but indomitable and staunchly supportive extended family. Yearn for friends like Zach and Olivia. Witness Annabelle's courage as she peels back the scarring to face the unthinkable. Acknowledge her doubt. Weep when she is able to face her pain and finally rejoice for there is always, always hope.

The hardest reviews to write are the ones of books that I absolutely love. This one just gutted me. It is stunning, searing, brilliant, devastating and unquestionably and unfortunately, timely. The voice grabbed me from the start. I adore Annabelle. She's a gifted runner, a great sister, a somewhat snarky daughter, a girl everyone finds easy to like and wants to befriend. I hate running. Honestly, I can't run three strides without wanting to heave myself on the couch; but I do admire runners. I loved reading about Annabelle's running. I loved the brutal monotony, the rituals, the interior dialog. It almost made me want to try again but I think my bones are too heavy. Really. I am dead weight.

Caletti has assembled a memorable cast of characters around Annabelle. Even the most fleeting of background characters have impact. Annabelle has found a permanent place in my heart, because of these remarkable secondary supporting characters. 

I read this with my ears and, at first I didn't realize that it was read by a narrator of whom I am not a fan. Her style fit. I still don't love her male voices though. The performance was very good and I am glad to have read it that way; but there were so many bits of brilliant writing, luscious metaphors, startling imagery and glimpses of hope that I wished I were reading with my eyes so as to dog-ear the particularly evocative passages. This is definitely one for the reread pile. And that cover! Oh man, the cover is perfect!

A Heart in a Body in the World is a first-purchase for all high school and public libraries as well as anyone who serves teens. I can't recommend it enough and will be recommending it to my more mature student readers.

Teen Tuesday and Review: What I Leave Behind by Alison McGhee

What I Leave Behind by Alison McGhee. 200 p. Caitlyn Dlouhy Books/ Atheneum/ Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, May, 2018. 9781481476560. (Review from finished copy courtesy of publisher)

I am intrigued by books written under unusual constraints, like Chris Crowe's Death Coming Up the Hill. This slim novel is told in one hundred, hundred-word chapters. It is the story of sixteen-year-old Will who grieves his father's suicide. He tries to get through each day as best he can. He walks the neighborhood day and night; but avoids certain areas. He observes. He enjoys watching "Little Dude" who has an obsession with butterflies. He has a job in a dollar store where he buoys his boss, the socially inept owner. He tries to replicate his father's cornbread and gives his failures to Superman, the local homeless man. He also feels guilty for the sexual assault of his good friend, Playa. He left the party where it happened early. Had he only stayed, perhaps... 

Each of the "chapters" are numbered in Chinese and McGhee makes the most of her hundred words. Each chapter is a thumbnail sketch of a moment in Will's day. The writing is precise and incisive. Though the reader may yearn to know more, we are given what are given. In some ways this replicates Will's need to know why his father chose to end his life. He was given what he was given.

YA readers who love thoughtful and sad books will appreciate gentle Will's journey.

Middle Grade Monday: Scar Island by Dan Gemeinhart

Scar Island by Dan Gemeinhart. Unabridged audiobook on one MP3 CD. 6 hours and 42 minutes. Read by MacLeod Andrews. Scholastic on Brilliance Audio, 2017. 9781536681796. (Own)

Twelve-year-old Jonathan Grimsby sits handcuffed in a boat speeding across the choppy sea on a chilly evening. He's seasick and scared and the pilot of the boat isn't helping things by taunting him about the evil place he's about to enter. Slabhenge is a stone reformatory that sits on a rock of an island off an un-named coast. It used to house an insane asylum; but Jonathan doesn't care. When Jonathan is ushered into the headmaster's office. He's made to kneel on a device called a Sinner's Sorrow, which, after a few minutes, causes the kneeler to suffer excruciating pain. But Jonathan doesn't care. The next morning, all the boys are trooped up to the roof to stand balancing in the pouring rain. Again, Jonathan doesn't care. He feels he deserves everything he's getting. 

What terrible thing did Jonathan do to land in Slabhenge? The reader does not find out till the very end of this Holes meets Lord of the Flies thriller. Often over-the top but nearly constantly suspenseful, readers are quickly drawn in and ignore the plot holes. Well, young readers do. They drove me a bit berserk. That said, I booktalk Scar Island like crazy for my tweens who like gothic suspense and plot-driven books. 

One of my favorite narrators performed this one. His many voices and brilliant pacing kept me involved; though I figured out Jonathan's crime well before the reveal. Enough clues were sprinkled throughout that observant readers will too.

Middle Grade Monday: Matylda Bright and Tender by Holly McGhee

Matylda, Bright and Tender by Holly McGhee. 210 p. Candlewick Press, March, 2017. 9780763689513. (Review from purchased finished copy.)

This impressive debut is perfect for fans of sad books like The Bridge to Terabithia. Sussie, short for Susquehanna, is our narrator and the Matylda of the title is the name of the leopard gecko pet she shares with her best-friend-since-kindergarten, Guy. Matyda resides in a tank in Sussie's room, but it's Guy she's most fond of. Matylda trusts him enough to crawl up his arm and hang out on his shoulder. Sussie admits to being a little jealous of that; but also of not feeling the fondness for their pet that Guy has. When the unthinkable happens, Sussie is devastated. She refuses to wear anything but the outfit she was wearing on that day and hopes that by taking the very best care of Matyda, she will keep her friend close to her. She's not only processing her grief but her guilt as well. As she does so, an new Sussie emerges, the stealing girl. Her parents are at a complete loss about how to comfort her. 

This is not only a book to give to your readers who like to cry but it's one to recommend as a read aloud as well.

Are You Experienced by Jordan Sonnenblick

304 p. Feiwel & Friends, September 3, 2013. 9781250025647. (Review from Netgalley e-arc courtesy of publisher)

Fifteen-year-old Rich Barber awakens, kind of, in a hospital bed, attached to a variety of monitors and eavesdrops on a conversation his parents are having - not about him, but about an event that occurred 45 years earlier, an event that he, improbably, just attended.

Wait. What? In chapters which alternate between now, well, October, 2014, and then, Rich tells us about growing up as the overly protected only child of much older parents. Rich's dad lost his brother to a drug overdose when he was fifteen and never got over it. In fact, each year, around the anniversary of his brother's death, Rich's father gets depressed and locks himself in his study. Rich understands that this drives his parents' overbearing strictness but he's still angry about it.

Naturally, Rich chafes and rebels. His latest rebellion takes the form of a guitar performance at a protest rally. He really doesn't know what the rally is protesting. His girlfriend asked him to perform and that's enough, but he gets a bit of clue when the police as well as his dad show up. Isn't getting arrested and sharing a jail cell with your dad a great opportunity for bonding? After dressing down Rich for lying, sneaking out and getting arrested, his dad retreats to his study to commune with mementos from his past - one memento, a signed Jimi Hendrix guitar, accompanied by a cryptic note, turns out to be Rich's ticket to August 15 - 17, 1969.

Imagine meeting your fifteen-year-old father, the eighteen-year-old uncle you never met because he was (will be?) dead a few months later, and attending Woodstock! Well, meeting your fifteen-year-old father might be a bit traumatizing, especially when he's with a girl who's not your mother, but being at Woodstock would be amazing.

Rich is a likable main character. He's bright, a bit over-analytical and prone to over-use the word, "super." He's also a talented musician and devoted music scholar. His knowledge of the concert is impressive and re-inforces his 1969 friends' view that he is indeed an angel when he unwittingly blurts out what's coming up next despite what the program says.

I don't ordinarily love, or even like time-travel books. They require a leap of faith that I'm usually not willing to take. The concept is just too twisty mind-bending for my simple mind to wrap around. I liked loved this one. The time-travel trigger was brilliant. The world-building at Woodstock was vivid, given Rich's encyclopedic knowledge of rock and the event. Teens who are classic rock aficionados will love the setting. Those who are not will still enjoy it and are likely to request the documentary referenced by Rich from their local libraries. I know I want to view it. 

I was not old enough to attend Woodstock, but remember how newsworthy it was. I also love the music of the 60s and 70s but am by no means a scholar. So when I emailed the author to say how much I loved the book, I had to ask about the title. I admitted that I didn't get it. He graciously responded and I learned that, Are You Experienced? is the name of Jimi Hendrix's first album (face/palm) and it also referenced  passages that weren't in the galley, but will be in the final copy. (Hence the request by publishers to arc reviewers to note in reviews that the copy is not finished.) (And a good argument for rereading the final copy.)

I also must admit that were it not for the author (I am a huge Sonnenblick fan), given the combo of time-travel and that, IMHO, god-awful cover, I would've passed. I hear that the cover is not final. Hopefully, it will be changed. I find that my students are not attracted to psychedelic art on books. I have to sell them hard and even then, I'm more often waved away. Not only that, but given the prominence of Jimi Hendrix in the story, what's with the white rocker-dude on the cover?

Please change the cover. Fans of the author will ignore it and devour the book, especially fans who have grown up with the author, cutting their late elementary/ early middle grade teeth on his Dodger and Me trilogy, then moving on to his older middle grade offerings, Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie; its companion After Ever After; Notes from a Midnight Driver; Zen and the Art of Faking It; and Curveball. 

The author wades a bit deeper into the YA pool what with Woodstock commonly thought of as the epitome of "sex, drugs and rock & roll." He handles it (mostly) cleanly, matter-of-factly and with his trademark humor. Still, drinks are drunk, (acid) trips are taken, heroin is shot and questionable choices are made. It's edgier than his earlier books, but that's okay. His fan base is aging (!) and ready for edgy. Are You Experienced? might be a bit lonely sitting all by itself over on my YA shelf (grade 7 & 8), but hopefully it will have some company soon.