YA Pick: Here Lies Daniel Tate

Here Lies Daniel Tate
by Cristin Terrill
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
2017
400 pages
ISBN: 978148148076

On sale date: June 6, 2017

Here Lies Daniel Tate is an amazing whodunit for the YA crowd. A nameless narrator bad boy from Canada takes over the identity of a missing boy who disappeared from his upscale neighborhood years ago.

When Daniel Tate went missing, his wealthy family is distraught and searches for him. Sadly, he is not found. Years pass. A boy in Canada is taken in by authorities. He is Daniel Tate. What has happened to Daniel all those years he was missing? The Tate family is thrilled and rush the teen home. With their wealth, he clears international borders easily.

Daniel is quiet and a bit strange to everyone. The family gives hims space. He has been through an ordeal. It's understandable that he is shy and reserved. Maybe his captors tortured him. Or worse.

But someone knows the truth. That is because someone killed the real  Daniel Tate. This new boy, whoever he is, is in danger. This family has secrets. Secrets that if exposed will change everyone's lives. Someone is the killer, but everyone seems to want the new boy to really  BE Daniel. Daniel needs to find out who he can trust and fast!

This is a solid book ripe for movie adaptation. Clever cover art and the word "lies" in another print color emphasize that "lies" can be used in two ways. The marketing team gets kudos! 

Highly recommended grade 9-up. Mature content. Profanity.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the ARC from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Middle Grade Book Giveaway and Review: The Girl in the Well Is Me

I have THREE copies of The Girl in the Well Is Me up for grabs. For your chance to win, simply post a comment to the blog. Be sure to include your first name, city, state, and email. Deadline for posts is Thursday, February 18 at noon MST. Winners will be chosen on that date randomly by Randomizer. Check your email shortly after noon MST. Winners have 24 hours to respond to my email. Books will ship from the publisher. Publisher is able to ship to U.S. addresses. Good luck and start posting! Pamela


The Girl in the Well Is Me
by Karen Rivers
Algonquin Young Readers
2016
224 pages
ISBN: 9781616205690

Available March 15, 2016

Praise for The Girl in the Well Is Me:

"A brilliantly revealed, sometimes even funny, exploration of courage, the will to live, and the importance of being true to oneself. The catastrophe draws readers in, and the universality of spunky Kammie's life-affirming journey will engage a wide audience. Moving, suspenseful, and impossible to put down."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“I dare you to pick up this riveting novel without reading straight through to its heart-stopping conclusion. Karen Rivers has penned a dazzling voice, at once hilarious, heartbreaking, and searingly honest. The Girl in the Well Is Me is a triumph.”—Katherine Applegate, Newbery Medal-winning author of The One and Only Ivan

“A gripping story that doesn’t shy away from dark places but explores them with heart, humor, and light . . . This book will spark thoughtful conversations about choices, consequences, and what makes us who we are.” —Kate Messner, author of All the Answers

“Funny, surreal, occasionally heartbreaking…a compulsively readable story.” —School Library Journal

“This is a fascinatingly well told story that strongly reminded me of Libba Bray’s Going Bovine, but with a completely believable middle grade flavor.”—Teen Librarian Toolbox / School Library Journal

 

MY REVIEW:

Poignant, profound, and heart-warming, The Girl in the Well Is Me will speak to readers on every level. At times, laugh out loud funny, at times grippingly sad, at times over the top optimistic, at times irreverent, at times harsh, but at all times rich in voice and full of heart and character.

Kammie Summers  is a spunky eleven  year old uprooted from a comfortable existence  in New Jersey where her life was full of a loving family, shared jokes, expensive ice skating lessons, riding lessons and all the trappings of a upper middle class family. It all comes crashing down when her  father is arrested for embezzlement. Now Kammie  lives in a dusty town in Texas with her mother and brother in an old  trailer where  her mother is suddenly hoarding cats and her father is in prison. Kammie's mom works two jobs and her once fun and friendly older brother turns into  a  teenager with an anger problem. Kammie's grandmother recently passed away but Kammie fondly remembers all of her wit and wisdom. Kammie longs for her other life in New Jersey, her normal life. In Texas, she has nothing; all her dreams are dashed. There is no more laughter in her home. Their trailer isn't home; Texas isn't her home.

Kammie tries to make friends with a popular triad of mean girls who pretend they want her to join their group, but they trick her into standing on a piece of wood on the ground. The wood breaks, sending Kammie into an abandoned well. At first, Kammie is mad at the three girls. She knows they did it on purpose and are probably  laughing. As the hours pass and the girls seemingly abandon Kammie, she begins thinking about everything that brought her to this place, this well, where she could quite possibly die. Kammie begins to get claustrophobic and that makes her worry about her asthma. She can't have an asthma attack in the well, and even if she had her inhaler with her, she wouldn't be able to reach it. She can't move her arms at all; they are pinned to the sides of the well. As oxygen in the well begins to dissipate Kammie hallucinates about a coyote who speaks French and zombie goats and dying. She thinks of her dog Hayfield and cries. She cries about missing her grandmother, and about her dad and his lies, she cries that everyone over eleven is a liar.

Readers will LOVE Kammie. She has great heart, resiliency, strength and character. She holds a mirror up to the adults around her and shows their flaws. She holds that same mirror up for herself and realizes that she is a grape...and not a raisin like the liars--she wants her dad to be a grape.

Karen Rivers has crafted an intelligent middle grades read that should be a must read for all ages. Book clubs will have so much to discuss after reading this little gem. I expect the author to be inundated with state and national honors this year. Kudos, Karen Rivers!

So highly recommended I will shout it from the mountaintop (Mt. Franklin), READ this book immediately. It is truly that outstanding. It is a blessing that I was able to read and review the ARC; I am so lucky. Thank you, Algonquin!

Recommended grade 4-up and every reader of every age. This book will speak to you about life, love, truth, forgiveness, and family.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the ARC from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

 

 

HIgh School Pick: Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls

Suicide Notes From Beautiful Girls
by Lynn Weingarten
Simon Pulse
2015
325 pages
ISBN: 9781481418539

Dark, disturbing, defiant, thrilling and taut, Suicide Notes From Beautiful Girls will keep readers guessing until the very last page. The symbolism of the three burnt matches on the cover will catch the eyes of teen browsers,  but the story and the characters will keep them reading.

Best friends June and Delia drift away from each other, and nearly a year later June is saddened and horrified to learn of Delia's death. June knows it wasn't suicide and she will not stop until she has answers.

As June begins to investigate, she finds out deeply disturbing things about her "friend." Delia was not just keeping secrets, she was lying and doing much, much worse. Just who was this girl that June befriended? No one is who they seem to be in Suicide Notes From Beautiful Girls and that's the darkness (in a  good way) of this book.

Delia is a case study in friendly sociopath. She manipulates, lies, cheats and controls without any shame. She has no conscience and no soul. She asks everything, forgives nothing, and walks away from trouble and even love. June is easily coerced allowing the vibrant Delia to lead the way. Delia is a white hot supernova that will soon burn out, and June is left with mere sparks of dying stardust.

I loved the premise of the story and the first part of the book really raced along. It gets weird in the middle and weirder still at the end. Love triangles and blackmail, deception, deceit and hatred cause all the characters to act with June being the likely loser.

This is one book not for middle school. Profanity, gender identity, sex, violence, underage drinking, bad behavior. Recommended for grade 9-up.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Middle Grades Pick: The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook

The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook




by Joanne Rocklin



Amulet



2013



229 pages with discussion questions





New in paperback; Available April 2, 2013





Published in 2012 and awarded SCBWI's Golded Kite Award for Fiction and the Parent's Choice Book Award--GOLD, and now in paperback with a redesigned cover.





Tender, touching, and poignant, yet also funny, quirky, clever, and captivating, The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook is a hugely entertaining read for middle grades.





Storyteller (whopper teller) Oona is intelligent, compassionate, brave and creative. She shares her late father's gift for storytelling and embellishment. Oona takes great care of younger brother Fred. Fred is five and like all young children, asks a lot of questions which Oona happily supplies the answers or "Oona-isms." When their pet Zook goes to the vet, Oona tells Fred not to worry because all cats have nine lives. Zook is really sick; his kidneys are failing, but Oona refuses to believe the worst. She knows that cats really don't have nine lives, but maybe if she keeps telling Fred that they do, it will come true.







Oona misses her father but keeps his spirit alive through her carefully thought-out stories rife with great storytelling words--words like, "...faraway, woe, befall, whence and by and by." Her stories take place in magical kingdoms and involve talking animal that can save kingdoms. Fred believes all of Oona's stories and she revels in sharing them with him. Readers will love Oona. Her voice is unique and original, intelligent and intuitive, and she tells awesome stories!







I was prepared not to love this book. No cat lover myself--I have ten rescue dogs at home--I was not so sure I would heart a book about a cat. This book has forever changed my mind. It's not about the pet that matters; it's all about the love a child feels for that pet, and Oona loves her Zook. The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook will make readers laugh and cry. It is a heartfelt story of love and loss, pain and remembrance.







Highly, highly recommended grade 4-up and for anyone who has ever loved a precious pet.

Published in 2012 and awarded SCBWI's Golded Kite Award for Fiction and the Parent's Choice Book Award--GOLD, and now in paperback with a redesigned cover.

Tender, touching, and poignant, yet also funny, quirky, clever, and captivating, The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook is a hugely entertaining read for middle grades.





Storyteller (whopper teller) Oona is intelligent, compassionate, brave and creative. She shares her late father's gift for storytelling and embellishment. Oona takes great care of younger brother Fred. Fred is five and like all young children, asks a lot of questions which Oona happily supplies the answers or "Oona-isms." When their pet Zook goes to the vet, Oona tells Fred not to worry because all cats have nine lives. Zook is really sick; his kidneys are failing, but Oona refuses to believe the worst. She knows that cats really don't have nine lives, but maybe if she keeps telling Fred that they do, it will come true.







Oona misses her father but keeps his spirit alive through her carefully thought-out stories rife with great storytelling words--words like, "...faraway, woe, befall, whence and by and by." Her stories take place in magical kingdoms and involve talking animal that can save kingdoms. Fred believes all of Oona's stories and she revels in sharing them with him. Readers will love Oona. Her voice is unique and original, intelligent and intuitive, and she tells awesome stories!







I was prepared not to love this book. No cat lover myself--I have ten rescue dogs at home--I was not so sure I would heart a book about a cat. This book has forever changed my mind. It's not about the pet that matters; it's all about the love a child feels for that pet, and Oona loves her Zook. The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook will make readers laugh and cry. It is a heartfelt story of love and loss, pain and remembrance.







Highly, highly recommended grade 4-up and for anyone who has ever loved a precious pet.

I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.



This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

High School: Mean Girls Pick

The Debs: Love, Lies, and Texas Dips
by Susan McBride
Delacourte Press, 2009
293 pages

Think Mean Girls with a Texas swagger and a Houston drawl. The storyline follows four debutantes as they prepare to be Rosebuds--the creme de la creme of Houston's country club set.

There's Jo Lynn, spoiled, pampered, beautiful, cunning, and two-faced. Jo Lynn--the girl with an eye for designer duds and Vera Wang dresses. Jo Lynn--the girl with the perfect quarterback boyfriend who dreams of quarterbacking at Texas Tech.

There's Mac, the nice girl.

There's Laura, the girl who always has to be second best to Miss Perfect, Jo Lynn.


There's Ginger, granddaughter of one of the staunchest debs in memory. Ginger--who has to maintain the family name.

The drama unfolds as the girls prepare to be presented at the event of Houston society: The Rosebud Ball.

What happens when false rumors are posted on myspace? Will someone have to step down?

Girls who love gossip and drama will love this read. It's like Gossip Girl, Texas style.

As a good ol' Texas girl myself, I enjoyed looking at how the uber-wealthy live.

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL. Recommended for grades 10-12.
Sex, some language, adult situations.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the ARC from a fellow librarian. I received no monetary compensation for this review.