Deep sea divers. Little leaf men. Suburban water buffalo and lost dugongs. Giant mechanical penguins and getaway cars filled with turtles. All these arresting, ingenious images and so much more await the lucky reader who enters Tan’s whimsical world of “Outer Suburbia.†Not quite a graphic novel, not quite a picture book, this strange amalgamation of pictures and prose (some only a page long) reads like a collection of colorful and creative detritus Tan discovered in the crooked corners of his superior imagination that he then picked up, dusted off, and polished into small, perfect gems. “Eric,†which chronicles the adventures of a small exchange student who marvels at the complexity of his host’s home, will immediately bring to mind Tan’s gorgeously wrought The Arrival, his wordless homage to the immigrant spirit. Others gently emphasize themes of hope, peace and bravery in the face of adversity. Like “Alert But Not Alarmed,†where a neighborhood finds a way to humorously re-purpose the missiles the government requires them to keep in their backyards. 
Or “No Other Country,†where a family, fed up with the dry, arid environment of their new home, discovers a lush hidden courtyard that exists only in that sweet geographical spot, giving them cause to appreciate a place they used to loathe. In this celebratory season where I am part of a community that often argues over competing holiday symbols, I was especially moved by “The Nameless Holiday.†Here, Tan describes in both words and pictures a holiday that moves around the calendar and is characterized by everyone choosing the object they love most. These treasures are then left hanging on the television antenna as an offering for a giant reindeer, who carefully carries them away, making the participants feel special and chosen instead of regretful and sad. Depending on how you feel or where you are when you open this wonderful tome, the stories will seem sad, happy, hopeful or tragic. But they all share one thing in common—they are born of Tan’s unique and singular vision and therefore are simply not to be missed.
A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce
When her father dies, seventeen-year-old Charlotte Miller assumes the ownership of Stirwaters Mill, which her family has run for generations. The work isn’t easy, but Charlotte is supported by the goodhearted townspeople of Shearing, whose livelihoods depend on the mill’s business. Still, bad luck dogs Charlotte’s every step and despite all her hard work, she finds herself on the brink of losing Stirwaters. Enter Jack Spinner, a mysterious wanderer who in exchange for very little, miraculously manages to spin a room full of straw into pure gold thread. Practical Charlotte doesn’t believe in magic, so she doesn’t think too hard about the thread’s origins and hides her ill-gotten treasure from her gentle fiancée Randall. Each time a disaster befalls Charlotte’s business, Jack Spinner appears with his nimble fingers and an offer she can’t refuse. But when Jack asks for the ultimate sacrifice, Charlotte must finally admit that something supernatural is going down and if she wants to save her family and friends, she’s going to have to get to the bottom of it. Before she knows it, Charlotte is embroiled in a mystery several decades old that involves an ancient curse, a wrongful death and a vengeful ghost. Who is Jack Spinner? What does he really want from Charlotte? And will she be able to find out in time to rescue the mill and everything she holds dear? Though newbie author Elizabeth C. Bunce takes her time weaving this Rumpelstiltskin re-telling, the payoff is worth it when Charlotte faces down her family’s surprisingly sympathetic mortal foe once and for all. Set in Industrial Revolution England, the rich historical details give this familiar tale an even meatier warp and weft, and Charlotte’s character development from a rule abiding, levelheaded girl to a strong, open minded woman ready to do anything to save her loved ones is a pleasure to behold. Curse was also chosen as one of the finalists for the very first William C. Morris YA Debut Award, along with Madapple, one of my 2008 Top Ten books!
Jen’s 2008 Top Ten Books
The 2008 Top Ten list has been posted! You can find it under “Jen’s Yearly Top Ten Lists” on the right hand sidebar, towards the bottom of the RR homepage. Please check it out and let me know what you think. Am I right on the money? Or have I missed/dissed some of your favorites? Please leave a comment and let me know what would have made YOUR top ten of 2008! (Even though I try to love all my Top Ten Books the same, if I had to pick my very favorite, it would have to be E. Lockhart’s tender, smart, funny history of the disreputable Frankie, shown at right.)
2008 Top Ten
Please note that there has been absolutely no attempt to balance this list by age, gender or genre. These are just my “from-the-gut†favorites. Just click on the title to go right to the review.
Abel, Jessica. Life Sucks.
Anderson, M.T. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. II: The Kingdom on the Waves.
Barlow, Toby. Sharp Teeth.
Johnson, Maureen. Suite Scarlett.
Lanagan, Margo. Tender Morsels.
Lockhart, E. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks.
Meldrum, Christina. Madapple.
Myracle, Lauren. Bliss.
Rebeck, Theresa. Three Girls and Their Brother.
Reeve, Philip. Here Lies Arthur.
What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
It’s 1947 and fifteen-year-old Evie is in a big hurry to grow up. She’s sick of her gorgeous mom Bev always stuffing her into little-girl dresses and making her wipe off her lipstick. So when her stepfather Joe proposes a family holiday to swanky Palm Beach, Evie jumps at the chance to recreate herself on vacation. Her opportunity to do so arises when she meets Peter, a dishy ex-G.I. friend of her stepfather’s who’s also staying in Palm Beach. Peter is a twenty-three-year-old Hottie McHotster and a total flirt. Though Evie’s mother seems to enjoy Peter’s company, Joe seems sullen and resentful anytime he’s around. Slowly it becomes clear to Evie that Peter wants something from her family—but what? Does he really like Evie, or is he just using her to get closer to beautiful Bev? Or maybe his true target is Joe, and Evie is just an afterthought in his pursuit of a business deal with her stepfather. The answer is revealed when a tragic accident forces Evie to choose between Peter and her parents, and the decision she makes surprises even Evie herself. Though it takes place almost fifteen years earlier than the 1960’s cable sensation, this slick hist. mystery reminded me of the glamorous yet repressed world of Mad Men, where no one shares their real feelings and family secrets are swept neatly under the rug. Judy Blundell’s sophisticated teen noir is not only one of the few true mysteries in YA Lit. Land, it’s also one of the best. But don’t just take my word for it—Blundell’s book was also crowned the winner of the 2008 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, despite some very tough competition.
Chaos Walking, Book One: The Knife of Never Letting God by Patrick Ness
On Todd’s planet, there is Noise, and nothing but Noise. Infected by the Noise germ since birth, he and all the other males around him are subjected to the unending bedlam of each other’s thoughts. The same virus that caused this mental chaos proved fatal to women, leaving Todd without a mother in a violent village of men, some teetering on the brink of insanity due to the constant Noise. As Todd nears his thirteenth birthday and the secret ceremony that will usher him into their mysterious adult world, he comes across a pocket of blessed silence in the swamps near his home. Astonished, he tries to uncover the meaning of this unnatural quiet. But as Todd delves deeper into the silence, he realizes that its presence heralds a terrible danger to himself and everyone he holds dear. So he embarks on an arduous quest to find the source of the silence, constantly hounded by enemies that can hear his every thought, only to discover that everything he knows about his own origin is a lie. Armed with only a knife and aided by loyal Manchee, the sweetest, stupidest dog known to man (“The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don’t got nothing much to say. About anything.â€), Todd finally becomes a man when he faces down both an army and his single greatest fear. Though this intense and monstrously entertaining novel is just shy of 500 pages, it flies by at rocket speed. With an excellent sense of pacing and action, author Patrick Ness uses short, cliff-hanging chapters to slowly reveal the ugly truth that forms the basis of Todd’s world. Exquisite world building and well-rendered characterizations round out this stellar sci-fi offering. My only gripe? The abrupt ending, which left Todd in peril and several plot questions still unanswered. Luckily, this is only the first book in a trilogy, but oh, what sweet agony waiting for the next one! Though Knife is available now, you might want to wait until you have Book 2 in hand before starting down the path with Todd and sweetly muddled Manchee.
The Ghosts of Kerfol by Deborah Noyes
A classic haunted house story is given a gentle face-lift by mistress of modern horror Deborah Noyes, who, with just a few tugs and some careful reconstruction, has created a glowing new work that does tremendous tribute to the original. Turn-of-the-century American novelist Edith Wharton wrote “Kerfol†in 1916, a short story about a controlling French lord who kept his young wife practically imprisoned within Kerfol, his forbidding Baroque mansion. He refused to allow Milady even the comfort of a pet, and because of his suspicions that she was having an affair, ruthlessly murdered each dog she tried to keep in secret. Then the lord turns up dead, seemingly mauled by a pack of dogs. Except, there are no dogs at Kerfol…none left alive, that is…First Noyes took Wharton’s story and re-imagined it from the point of view of a young maid who worked in Milady’s service, interweaving her own writing with some of Wharton’s original phrases and dialogue. Then she moves forward in time to show how future generations continue to be haunted by the ghosts of Kerfol. Right after the French Revolution, a young artist who inherits Kerfol is tormented by the beautiful image of a woman he can’t stop painting, and the pack of sad-eyed dogs who follow him everywhere yet refuse to be touched. In 1926, a spoiled flapper meets her doom when she dons Milady’s cursed sapphire necklace. In 1982, a college-aged couple on a European tour awaken the vengeful spirit of the jealous lord when they engage in an illicit tryst in his former bedchamber. Finally, in 2006, the spirits seem to settle into an uneasy rest after a deaf young gardener finds and removes the cursed necklace from the manor grounds. Or, will the restless ghosts just follow the jewels to their new home and continue to haunt the young man? Like the linked sparkling gems in Milady’s necklace, each of Noyes’s stories is a small masterpiece, gracefully strung together by interwoven themes of bitter betrayal, sweet revenge and tempting madness. This gorgeously Gothy title is a just-right read for a blustery November night—or anytime you want to give yourself a delicious shiver!
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Seventeen-year-old Mia has everything: a promising career as a cellist, awesome former-punk parents that really get her and her music, and best of all, an understanding alterna-rock boyfriend who is the yang to her yin. Then one day on a routine drive near their home, her family is involved in a terrible car accident. Mia’s life is nearly lost. Now treading a fuzzy comatose line between life and death, Mia has to decide whether she wants to give up and let go or stay and fight. As the minutes tick by during the the longest day of Mia’s life, she mentally contemplates the consequences of either choice. Friends and relatives move in and out of her hospital room and her memory, each one weighing in on Mia’s decision, whether they know it or not. As the dawn breaks the day after her accident, Mia finally decides what she wants to do. Then one last person speaks, and everything changes once again…you may think you’ve read this story before, but you haven’t. Not the way Gayle Forman tells it, in an unsentimental and sincere way that may remind you of certain other well-crafted weep-tastic reads on this list, but which has a unique style all its own. Best of all are Forman’s characterizations, especially of Mia’s punk rock parents, who remain realistically cool for adults, despite their suburban trappings. You won’t want to miss this evocative tearjerker, which will soon be a movie directed by former Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke. (2 weepies)
Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve
There’s nothing I love more than a good Arthurian legend. And Philip Reeve has written a slammin’ one! In this realistic revamp, Myrddin (Merlin) is a smooth-talking two-bit politician, a slight-of-hand bard who knows there’s no such thing as magic, only human gullibility and greed. He takes a promising young warrior named Arthur and attempts to use his savage talent to unite the squabbling tribes of Britain, who have fractured into a million warring pieces after the fall of the Roman Empire. But despite all of Myrddin’s efforts to groom the brutish Arthur into something resembling a king, the man known as “The Bear†refuses to be tamed. Arthur continues to loot and terrorize neighboring communities just like the barbarian Saxons he has sworn to protect them from, even as Myrddin grows his legend as a fair and just leader throughout the land. Myrddin’s masterful manipulations and Arthur’s violent exploits are seen through the eyes of Myrddin’s young assistant Gwyna, an orphan girl who becomes an unwitting accomplice in the creation of the enduring, yet wholly man-made legend of Arthur. The players you know well are all here: Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere) Bedwyr (Lancelot) Peredur (Perceval) and of course, the wily Myrddin. Except in this reimagining, there is no fantasy to blunt the sharp edge of Arthur’s broadsword Caliburn (Excalibur). Reeve removes the gilded edges from the traditional Arthur tales and writes Camelot the way it might have been in a real time and place. The result is bleak, and often bloody, but brilliant. If you are as obsessed with Arthurian myth as I am, you’ll also want to read Kevin Crossley-Holland’s
Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd, edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci
Geeks of the world, rejoice! Several of the best YA authors around have let their freak flags fly in this nerdalicious collection of dork-shorts, and the result is no less than GEEKTASTIC. Are you an astronomy aficionado? A quiz bowl questioner? A crazy ComicCon-er? Perhaps you’re compulsive online gamer, A Rocky Horror crooner, or just simply a Buffy action-figure collector. Whatever brand of freak you are, you will soon recognize yourself and other members of your nerd herd in this outrageously funny and occasionally tragic collection of stories and comics. Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci imagine the impossible love between a Jedi and a Klingon in the star-crossed “Once You’re a Jedi, You’re a Jedi All the Way,†while David Levithan explores quiz bowl backstabbing in “Quiz Bowl Antichrist.†A couple of nerds outsmart their hazers in John Green’s “Freak the Geek,†Cassandra Clare explains what happens when online gamers meet in real life in “I Never,†and Libba Bray will make you cry in “It’s Just a Jump to the Left,†a gorgeously melancholic ode to the Rocky Horror Picture Show and lost innocence. Plus, there’s Lisa Yee’s story of baton-twirling angst, Tracy Lynn’s tale of a cheerleader who finally sees the geek-light, and some totally awesome comic shorts by Hope Larson and Bryan Lee O’Malley. Additional nerd-words are penned Scott Westerfeld, M.T. Anderson, Garth Nix, Kelly Link, Barry Lyga, Wendy Mass and Sara Zarr. As a proud former show choir nerd and theater geek, I dug each and every one of these original stories and I’m sure you will, too. Because when it’s all said and done, “geek” is just shorthand for being passionate about what you love, be it karate or Klingon. And who isn’t passionate about something? Jot this one down for next summer’s reading list, as it won’t be beamed down into a library or bookstore near you until August 2009. May the force be with you until then!
Janes in Love by Cecil Castellucci & Jim Rugg
The Janes are back, and this time love is in the air. It’s nearly Valentine’s Day, and Main Jane Beckless is torn between two boys—Miroslaw, the man she helped save on the day of the Metro City café bombing, and Damon, the cutie McCutester who took the fall for her when the P.L.A.I.N. (People Loving Art in Neighborhoods) Janes were caught at the end of their first adventure. Theater Jane is in love with an actor who doesn’t know she’s alive, science Jane is trying to concoct a pheromone scent that will cause boys to ask her out, while sporty Jane simply takes matters into her own hands by informing the boy she likes that he’s now her boyfriend—and he cheerfully complies. But affairs of the heart aren’t the only troubles plaguing the Janes. The girl-art gang (plus James) is also struggling with low funds and high aspirations when it comes to planning future P.L.A.I.N. projects. To make matters worse, Main Jane’s mom refuses to leave the house after an old friend is killed by an anthrax terrorist attack. Can Main Jane solve her romantic woes, find a way to keep funding P.L.A.I.N., and get her mom to hit the sidewalk, all while dodging the apoplectic Officer Sanchez, who’s determined to shut down P.L.A.I.N. forever? This spirited sequel to The Plain Janes will bliss out any teen crusader of public art, free speech, or love. Have no idea what I’m talking about? Then you better run out to your nearest library or bookstore and snag the 
Pretty Monsters: stories by Kelly Link
This otherworldly collection of short stories by master fantasist Kelly Link is equal parts whimsy and menace, where dreams and nightmares walk hand in hand, and butterflies turn out to be cockroaches. Walk around in Link’s peculiar world for a while, and you might run into a dead teenage girl at the 7-11 (“The Wrong Graveâ€), or wind up in another dimension if you open “The Faery Handbag.†In “Magic for Beginners,†you can watch a pirated television show called The Library, where the characters may or may not be real—but only if you can find it, because it’s never on the same channel twice. You can divine your inner goddess in “The Constable of Abal,†conjure your inner werewolf in “Pretty Monsters,†or discover that we are all capable of magic in “The Wizards of Perfil.†You’ll never go camping again after meeting the urban legend-y “Monster,†but may be tempted to believe in aliens after shaking hands with “The Surfer.†You can even try on the evil cousin of Harry Potter’s Sorting Hat in “The Specialist’s Hat.” Each story is as unique as a fingerprint, as surreal as a Salvadore Dali painting, and as unforgettable as your first kiss. Just in time for Halloween, these nine stories, quaintly illustrated by Shaun Tan, are full of tricks AND treats!
Dogface by Jeff Garigliano
Fourteen-year-old Loren’s first mistake was torching the golf course. His next was trusting his mom’s slimy golf pro boyfriend when he said they were going “camping.†Instead, Loren’s mom and her vindictive beau end up dropping him off at Camp Ascend!, a run-down boot camp for wayward teens. The golf course fire was the last straw in a long line of military “maneuvers†the Green Beret-obsessed Loren carried out that finally land him in the dubious care of the “Colonel,†a professional scammer who wouldn’t know a Green Beret from a Navy Seal. The Colonel, his uber-high maintenance wife Kitty and her Neanderthal brother Donovan are the camp’s only staff, and their methods of tamping down turbulent teen behavior are less than orthodox. But they’ve never dealt with a kid like Loren, who actually has some knowledge of espionage & guerilla warfare–even if it only comes from movies. Loren proceeds to turn the camp on its ear by kidnapping Kitty, smoke-bombing Donovan, and stealing the Colonel’s Swiss bank account numbers. But Donovan, whose brain really is the size of a bottle cap, finally gets wily Loren under his ape-like paw. And that’s when the fun REALLY starts. This raucous send-up of a Dr. Phil-type teen boot camp special is a clever indictment of the pop psychology media that touts “tough love” as the answer to all teen troubles. At times Donovan’s pea-brained violent behavior is truly terrifying, but Kitty’s vapid obsession with mail-order spa products and Loren’s dumb-luck escapes help lighten the sometimes dark story. This is the perfect book for those of you who always suspected that adults aren’t nearly as smart as they pretend to be!
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
In the Forest of Hands and Teeth, you never stray too near the fence. You learn to tune out the endless moans and cries. And when darkness comes, your sleep is dreamless, because no nightmare compares to what constantly rattles and claws at the all-too vulnerable border between your village and the silent trees. Mary can’t remember a time she didn’t live with the presence of the Unconsecrated: dead bodies propelled by a savage appetite for human flesh that push against the fence surrounding her village day and night. Her people live in the shadow of the Cathedral and the Sisterhood, obeying the Sisters who enforce God’s laws and praying one prayer over and over: “Please, Lord, let the fence hold.†Despite the obvious dangers, Mary dreams of the world that must exist outside the Forest of Hands and Teeth, and of the salty ocean that her mother told her about but that her neighbors insist is just a myth. She has despaired of ever quelling the longing in her chest for freedom that often feels as desperate as the ragged need of the Unconsecrated. Then a stranger comes to the village, from the fenced-in path that the Sisterhood has forbidden anyone to explore. Her mysterious presence sets in motion a chain of events that catapult Mary far beyond the borders of her tiny village into an uncertain future fraught with fear and death. Let me tell ya something, friends, it’s pretty freakin’ creepy to read an entire book about zombies without ever seeing the word mentioned. The strength of Carrie Ryan‘s walking dead debut is the menacing mood it strikes–I could feel those cold, clammy fingers brushing my neck by novel’s end. But I was left with more questions than answers by the time I turned the last page, and frustrated by the clues Mary found of modern life gone wrong and the potential corrupt nature of the Sisterhood that were dropped and not picked up again. Man, I hope there’s a sequel–otherwise I’m gonna be as unsatisfied as the Unconsecrated! Tired of the same old vampires and werewolves? Then take a lurch on the wild side with Ryan’s disturb-arific zombies as soon as they start staggering into the nearest library or bookstore…
Into the Volcano by Don Wood
Brothers Sumo and Duffy are completely confused when they are abruptly yanked out of school one day by a mysterious cousin they’ve never met, Mister Come-and-Go, “the only man in the world to graduate with honors from Cambridge and…go three years undefeated in the International Extreme Street-Fighting Tourney.†When informed by their harried father that Come-and-Go will be taking them for a hastily planned visit to their eccentric, gout-ridden aunt Lulu’s island home of Kocalaha, optimistic Duffy is thrilled while pessimistic Sumo is bummed and more than a little frightened (“Shark attacks!†“Hostile natives!†“Tidal waves!â€) Once there, the boys are informed that they will be accompanying Come-and-Go and his crew of native sailors and divers on a dubious “expedition,†presumably for the purpose of leading tourists through the maze of volcanic island paradises. But when Come-and-Go takes the boat straight into the heart of an active volcano, Sumo realizes that the adults aren’t setting a new tourist trap, they’re looking for something–something very valuable and somehow related to his scientist Mom, who is supposedly conducting research in Borneo. Sensing danger greater than that they have already faced, Sumo and Duffy set out on their own to discover the secret of the volcano for themselves. And that’s when the REAL adventure begins…my adolescent friends, I have never seen anything quite like Don Wood’s Into the Volcano. While the art and lettering remind me somewhat of my favorite indi-graphic novel, The Interman