New Canadian GLBT YA books

I have been remiss in updating! I have not one, not two, but SEVEN more titles added to my list of Canadian YA GLBT books! (I know, it’s a bit of a specific niche, but one near and dear to me all the same.) I haven’t had a chance to read everything on this list yet, so the blurbs are all the back of the book publishers’ copy. But I can tell you that I’m looking forward to trying to read them all.

Evil? by Timothy Carter. “Stuart Bradley knows there are a lot of reasons people in his small, conservative hometown might not approve of him. He’s openly gay, he’s mouthy in church, and he conjures demons in his spare time—the usual. So Stuart knows something is odd when his little brother catches him ’self-pleasuring’ in the shower and, before he knows it, an angry mob is chasing down every teen who ever had an ‘impure’ thought. Stuart soon discovers that the new preacher in town is more than he seems. He’s a fallen angel-fallen because he became too obsessed with a certain harmless adolescent activity. If Stuart and his demon sidekick don’t stop him, blindness is going to be the least of anyone’s worries.”

Out by Sandra Diersch “No one in Alex’s world is who they seemed to be. Alex struggles with his faith when he witnesses a church member cheating on his wife and learns that his brother is gay. When his brother is brutally attacked, Alex is forced to decide where is loyalties lie and what he really believes in.”

 

 

 

The Uninvited by Tim Wynne Jones . “Mimi Shapiro had a disturbing freshman year at NYU, thanks to a foolish affair with a professor who still haunts her caller ID. So when her artist father, Marc, offers the use of his remote Canadian cottage, she’s glad to hop in her Mini Cooper and drive up north. The house is fairy-tale quaint, and the key is hidden right where her dad said it would be, so she’s shocked to find someone already living there — Jay, a young musician, who is equally startled to meet Mimi and immediately accuses her of leaving strange and threatening tokens inside: a dead bird, a snakeskin, a cricket sound track embedded in his latest composition. But Mimi has just arrived, so who is responsible? And more alarmingly, what does the intruder want? Part gripping thriller, part family drama, this fast-paced novel plays out in alternating viewpoints, in a pastoral setting that is evocative and eerie — a mysterious character in its own right.” Secondary GLBT characters: Jay has two moms.

Will’s Garden by Lee Maracle “As Will prepares for his Becoming Man Ceremony, relatives fill the house, bringing with them memories, tradition and customs. As they work together beading, carving and cooking, Will reflects on their stories of working on railroad construction or surviving Residential Schools. The Ceremony takes on new importance for Will. After the Ceremony Will is inspired to take action to make changes in his own life. An outcast at his high school, where racism is commonplace, he befriends the ‘nerds,’ comes to terms with his new friend’s homosexuality and commits himself to a future of change. He is transformed into the man that he promised to become in his Becoming Man Ceremony. Maracle, of Salish and Cree ancestry, is an award-winning author.”

Inferno by Robin Stevenson. “Dante thinks high school is an earthly version of hell. She hates her new home in the suburbs, her best friend has moved away, her homeroom teacher mocks her and her mother is making her attend a social skills group for teenage girls. When a stranger shows up at school and hands Dante a flyer that reads: Woof, woof. You are not a dog. Why are you going to obedience school?, Dante thinks she’s found a soul mate. Someone who understands. Someone else who wants to make real changes in the world. But there are all kinds of ways of bringing about change…and some are more dangerous than others.”

Skim by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki. “It’s the early nineties and “Skim” is Kimberly Keiko Cameron, a not-slim, would-be Wiccan goth stuck in a private girls’ school in Toronto. When a classmate’s boyfriend kills himself because he was rumoured to be gay, the school goes into mourning overdrive, each clique trying to find something to hold on to and something to believe in. It’s a weird time to fall in love, but that’s high school, and that’s what happens to Skim when she starts to meet in secret with her neo-hippie English teacher, Ms. Archer. But when Ms. Archer abruptly leaves, Skim struggles to cope with her confusion and isolation, armed with her trusty journal and a desire to shed old friendships while cautiously approaching new ones.”

Bonus international title from a Canadian publisher:

Girl from Mars by Tamara Bach, translated by Shelley Tanaka. “Miriam is fifteen and she has lived in the same little town her whole life, going to school with the same kids who know everything about her. But now she’s in high school and wishing she lived in a big city where she could meet new people and see new things. In other words, like fifteen-year-olds everywhere, Miriam is desperately waiting for her life to start happening. Something, anything — a first love, perhaps. And then love comes, in a completely unexpected way, when Miriam meets a new classmate, Laura. Suddenly, life is very complicated and unsettling, as Miriam finds herself lying to her girlfriends, avoiding her brother’s probing questions, and second guessing every move she makes. At the same time she’s constantly on edge trying to figure out Laura’s moods and exactly how her arrogant friend Philip fits into her life. Then Philip, Miriam and Laura take a weekend trip to the big city — a trip that makes everything clear, and more confusing than ever.”

 

An anecdote about series readers and the future of our youth

You’ve all seen it–the news spot, the magazine article, the concerned newspaper column. Kids these days. Video games and the internet means that they’re not reading!

One of the best parts of my job is that I see a lot of kids who are hugely, passionately excited about books. Let me tell you a (true) story.

A few weeks ago, the staff in the kids’ department at our library couldn’t help but notice that one of our libary patrons had more than a hundred books on hold all come in at once. We don’t charge for holds, unless you don’t come and pick them up within a certain period of time, and a hundred missed holds at $2/book is a not inconsiderable amount of money. The people I work with are awesome. When we checked and found it was a kid’s library card, we called and gave them a heads-up about the Giant Pile O’ Books.

Well, the young lady who had put the books on hold came in the next day with her mom. She got her books–pretty much all generic series books like Animal Ark, Puppy Place, Magic Treehouse, and Bailey School Kids. As we suspected, she had just discovered the joy of placing holds through the online catalogue. (So! Many! Books!) Her mom looked at the stack, and said dryly, “Somebody got a little click-happy. I think we’re going to have to put a household limit of ten at a time.”

But, this particular eight year old was THRILLED. She had brought a pillowcase to carry them home in, and swore up, down and sideways that she was going to read every single one. She left with all hundred-some books, and the world’s biggest grin on her face.

This was a reminder to me of two things.

First, don’t discount the power of series books. Yeah, sure, the repetition and pattern of your standard mass-market kids’ series part of building reading and comprehension skills, and the familiar characters and predictatable plots are reassuring and confidence building. But from a less technical perspective, they get kids hooked (heck, series get adults hooked) and enthusiastic and  in love with books.

Also, libraries are seriously awesome. I know, I’m pretty biased on that one, but where else can you get MORE BOOKS THAT YOU CAN CARRY for free? I think I’m going to remember that kid with her pillowcase and giant grin for a long time.

 

The Blue Helmet by William Bell

This ie one of my catch-up posts from the 48 Hour Book Challenge. I don’t know why it took me as long as it did to read this one–William Bell is pretty consistently awesome, and I do try to read most of the Canadian kids and YA award winners. Maybe because I thought it had more to do with gang life than it does, and I wasn’t in the mood for something gritty. Anyhow, I’ve unreservedly recommended it to several people since then, and I’m glad I finally did read it.

Lee’s used to being on his own. His mom died of cancer when he was seven. His dad has worked two jobs for years, trying  to pay off the trip to Italy that was the last thing he could do for his dying wife–a trip where Lee got left behind with his aunt.

Lee doesn’t need his family. He tells himself he doesn’t need anyone, but he’s still trying to get into the toughest gang in his neighbourhood. When his initiation ends with Lee in the back seat of a police car, he’s forced to face up to the fact that someone betrayed him and tipped off the cops. It just confirms what he already knows. You can never show weakness or give in. You have to stand up and fight for yourself because no-one else will.

Lee gets lucky. Instead of jail time, he finds himself facing exile, sent away from Hamilton to live with his Aunt Reena in the town of New Toronto. Lee’s hugely resentful at first, but gradually finds himself drawn into the routine, and into the lives of the regulars at Reena’s Cafe Unique. Some of them are college students, some of them are down on their luck, and others are just plain wierd. When Lee starts delivering meals for Reena by bike, he gets to know Andrea the pharmacist, Krantz, a meterology buff, and Cutter, a paranoid, possibly schizophrenic conspiracy theorist.

Lee finds Cutter fascinating. Cutter has a brilliant mind, top-notch computer equipment, and when he’s taking his medication and having a good week, he’s eccentric. And amazingly enough, he trusts Lee. But when everything changes abruptly and irrevocably, Lee starts to put together Cutter’s story and finds his own life profoundly altered as a result.

William Bell packs an awful lot into a deceptively skinny book. This is a story of choices, of redemption, and of the far-reaching consequences of violence. It’s also a well-paced, fast-moving book starting in the back of a police car. Lee could have been a totally unsympathetic character, but knowing where he’s coming from and seeing the decisions he makes is part of what makes this such a powerful story. And when I realized where exactly the title came from, it was blindingly obvious, and perfectly fitting.

 

Bloggish housekeeping and a new addiction

Well, I still have five books from last weekend waiting to be blogged (and anything else I’ve read lately that catches my interest–probable picks are The Entertainer and the Dybbuk by Sid Fleischman, Half World by Hiromi Goto, and recent additions to two great middle-school mystery series–Enola Holmes and Gilda Joyce.)

In the meantime, I’ve started updating my blogroll on this site to include a lot of the cool blogs found in the vast, sprawling folders of my RSS feed reader. (Got to the book blogs, but not the author blogs, which will have to wait for another night.)

Meanwhile, if you ever want to get anything done again, I suggest you avoid the horribly addictive Plants vs Zombies game. Okay, click if you must, but don’t say I didn’t warn you…

 

48 Hour Book Challenge: The End Results!

I am now done the Forty-Eight Hour Book Challenge! I have accomplished:

• 860 minutes reading
• 355 minutes blogging
• 90 minutes networking

Sum total: 21 hours, 45 minutes, 3334 pages, and 14 books! I read,:

• Castration Celebration by Jake Wizner
• Sea Change by Aimee Friedman
• Death in the Air by Shane Peacock
• The War of Jenkins’ Ear by Michael Morpurgo
• Frost by Nicole Luiken
• Yesterday’s Magic by Pamela F. Service
• Girl from Mars by Tamara Bach
• Inferno by Robin Stevenson
• Wart by Anna Myers
• The Blue Helmet by William Bell
• Sister Wife by Shelley Hrdlitschka
• Daughter of the Flames by Zoe Marriott
• Five Minutes More by Darlene Ryan
• The Demon’s Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan

And here’s a visual or two:

This is my first year, and I think I’ll definitely try it again next year! I hope to be organized enough to donate to a charity per either hours or books read, too. I decided to sign up at the last minute Friday night, and to use just the books I already had at home.

It’s an eclectic mix of books, and only about a third of it is things that I’ve deliberately chosen. All of the library books I have out right now are adult, not kids or YA (which is very unusual for me, considering which department I run!) but I’ve just come off the heavy duty reading of being part of a local book award committee. After six months of a near-steady diet of new Canadian middle school fiction and nonfiction, the lack of restriction is a giddy thing (but don’t get me wrong, there were some fantastic books!). Over the past few weeks, I’ve been trying to read books that have been waiting for me at home, and library books I’ve had out for a while before bringing home everything else that’s been piling up on my mental to-read list, so that factored into what I had on hand. I also had a pile of YA ARCs that are going to end up in the teen prize bag at my library this summer, so those also got added to the mix, and were a big chunk of what I read. Next year, I think I’ll try to assemble a stack of books I’ve been dying to read but haven’t go to yet, and see what that does to my numbers.

I’ve known for a long time that I read ridiculously fast. *shrug* It’s not speed-reading, just my natural pace. I think it’s some fluke of genetics, because I always have. And it used to annoy me as a kid, because I couldn’t understand why people wouldn’t believe that I’d finished that book already. I don’t think my retention is quite as high as some people who read slower, but I have a pretty lousy head for straight memorization and recall on random facts in general. It does mean I re-read books I love multiple times, which a lot of people don’t quite get.

And apparently, comparing my blogging time to my reading time, I write slow. It’s not my typing speed, either. This challenge has been good for me in forcing me to sit down and blog. I find it’s really (really) easy to slide into a habit of thinking, oh, I’ll write about that later, because the reading is the easy part. Now to just make sure I blog about those last five books… but not tonight!

 

48HBC: The Home Stretch…. and we’re done!

I got a late start this morning, but was aiming for another four or five book dent in my pile! I slept in–I have no illusions about winning, since I am not giving up sleep. (I needed catch-up time this weeekend if I’m going to make it through next week.) I do admit to standing in the middle of the kitchen, making coffee and waiting for toast with a book in my hand, however.

11:45 -1:00 Blogging (15 min) and networking (60 min). I needed to spend some time wandering about online and checking out everyone else’s blogs, and let my brain digest the books I read last night.

1:00 – 1:35 The Blue Helmet by William Bell (oh so good! nuanced look at the inherent concept of violence)

2:00 – 3:15 Blogging (some breaks for food and fiddling with my itunes playlist beforehand).

3:15 – 4:10 Sister Wife (also amazing! child brides, fictional story loosely based on Bountiful, BC)

4:25 – 4:45, 5:45 – 6:50 Daughter of Flames by Zoe Marriott (solid fantasy with a kick-ass girl leader to save the day)

7:00 – 7:15 Networking break!

7:15 – 7:45 Five Minutes More by Darlene Ryan (relentlessly painful look at a girl whose father has just died.)

7:45 – 8:15, 8:45-10:15, The Demon’s Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan (Totally targeted at the Supernatural crowd, but a surprisingly good brothers-who-fight-demons story)

Annnnd I’m done! Summary post to follow when I have caught my breathe.

 

Wart by Anna Myers

Book nine of the 48-hour Book Challenge binge!

You could say that it started when Stewar’s cousin declared that he needed to be popular, but would have to ditch his long-time friends Ham and Rachel to do it. But things really started to change when Stewart and Ham’s art teacher showed up hiding in the supply closet, and had to take some time off. Because that’s when Wanda Gibbs, the subsitute came to town. And now she’s a) stuck Stewart with the nickname Wart, b) is dating his dad, and c) is probably a witch who turns her own son Ozgood into a frog periodically to punish him. She’s helped him get a spot on the basketball team, but is brainwashing his little sister. Thanks to her intervention, the most popular girl in the school is interested in him, but now she’s probably going to marry his dad. What’s a guy to do?

It took me a bit to get into this one, but it was a pretty funny, solid middle school read, all things considered. The plot plays off the is-she-or-isn’t-she-a-witch uncertainty quite well right up until the end, Stewart’s geeky friends are awesome in their right–Ham is kind of clueless skinny kid who’s alwasy eating, and Rachel is the sort of girl who collects esoteric bits of trivia and has an elaborate training system worked out to win a local pet show. And his little sister Georgia will throw temper tantrums on demand for Stewart–until Wanda shows up. Then there’s Wanda’s son Ozgood, who plays big band music lous enough to shake the walls, and says things like “I am undone” when he’s upset. An oddball cast and amusing plot–it’s too bad the cover looks like a do-or-die sports story.

 

Inferno by Robin Stevenson

Book eight of the 48-hour Book Challenge binge! I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while, but award committee reading and library books with other people on the hold list have taken precedence. (And thank you again, Robin, for getting me an ARC!)

Dante doesn’t really have any friends at her new high school. Last year, she didn’t need to–she had her best friend Beth, who, though no-one else knew, became her girlfriend. that was when Dante was still Emily, before she changed her name legally. She tells her mocking English teacher that she picked her new name because high school is hell. That goes over about as well as you would expect. Though it’s not the real reason, Dante has a lot to deal with right now. Her mom is fussing about her attitutde and that she’s cut off all her hair, and has signed her up for a social skills group for teenage girls. Beth has cut off all contact. Her English teacher is a bully, and her school is full of brain-dead stereotypes. But then a strange girl shows up at school, and mutely slips her a note reading “WOOF, WOOF. YOU ARE NOT A DOG. WHY ARE YOU GOING TO OBEDIENCE SCHOOL?” Dante is fascinated by both the girl, Parker, and the note. She quickly becomes drawn into Parker and her friends’ anti-authoritarian hijinxs. But as time goes on, Dante begins to see that Parker’s boyfriend is abusive, and may be willing to go much further to change the world than anyone else suspects.

I think this is probably the strongest of Robin Stevenson’s books that I’ve read so far–she’s really cut down on the number of themes and subplots in this one, which makes for a much stronger story overall. Fortuitously, it’s also got the coolest cover–although I’m not taking A Thousand Shades of Blue into consideration since I haven’t read it yet. It’s nice to see a book with a gay teenager protagonist where her orientation is essential to who she is and to the plot, but it’s not a coming-out story. The tension and the stakes mount as the story progressses, and the characters are all unique, believable individuals. It left me wanting more of Dante’s story at the end, but not in an unfinished way–which is a good thing.

 

Girl from Mars by Tamara Bach

Book seven of the 48-hour Book Challenge binge!

Miriam is tired of her boring life, her boring town, and the inbetween-ness of being fifteen. She wants something to happen–and that’s just what she gets with the new girl, Laura. Miriam is oddly fascinated with Laura, but it’s not until Laura kisses her while they’re both stoned that she realizes why.

This is a hard book to blurb, because not a lot really happens–everything unfolds in a cloud of ennui and a series of slow, deliberate steps where small things take on huge emotional and symbolic weight. It’s like CanLit, but German! I am going to assume it’s a good translation (by Shelley Tanaka), because the text definitely has its own distinctive voice and town. I also appreciated that it was definitely set in Germany, and not translated into some generic North American setting. Way more casual smoking than I’m used to seeing–maybe it’s a European thing? I would have liked more closure at the ending (yes, I was disappointed when I didn’t find out why Laura’s obssessed with gumball machines) but I think that’s more indicative of my tastes as a reader than any inherent flaw in the story. This book isn’t going to appeal to a wide audience because it reads like high literary fiction to me, but I think that when it finds the right readers, they’re going to love it fiercely.

 

48HBC: And we’re into the second half…

11:00 pm, after food and a hot shower, and I think I can make it through at least one more book tonight. If not two.

11:15 pm-12:10 am, Inferno by Robin Stevenson

12:10 am -1:10 am, Wart by Anna Myers

1:10 am – 1:15 am, blogging

Total thus far: nine books, 13 hours and twenty minutes. How many books and hours can I cram into tomorrow? We shall see!