In his new novel, “Bird of a Thousand Stories,” which is billed as young adult, but which all adults will find charming, Kiyash Monsef continues the story he began in “Once There Was.” It’s the tale of Marjan, who comes from a long line of Persian healers of fantastical animals. Marjan didn’t realize her talents until her father died, and those who needed her services came for her.
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“Remember Me Tomorrow” by Farah Heron could be placed under many genres. It’s a young adult novel and a mystery, but there’s a paranormal twist and a romance mixed in. Main character Aleeza has a tiff with her best friend and moves out of their shared dorm. The only available room is in a much older dorm across campus, and when Aleeza arrives there, she realizes it’s available because the occupant, Jay, has disappeared.
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In “Dead Below Deck,” author Jan Gangsei creates a young adult thriller that is all about fake identities, dark secrets, the lives of the top 1 percenters, and how far people would go to protect the ones they love. There are four teenagers on the million dollar yacht that is taking them to the Cayman Islands over spring break, and Maggie is the first person narrator.
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Brigid Kemmerer writes fabulous young adult action and fantasy novels, and her novel, “Destroy the Day,” is the last one in the “Defy the Night” trilogy. The novels in the trilogy are gripping, but we’ve had to wait two years for this last one in the series. A suggestion I would make is to reread the first two novels in the trilogy to really feel the whole emotional impact of this carefully written ending to the trilogy.
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Much has been written and admired about “Louder Than Hunger,” John Schu’s brutally, almost painfully honest book about his near-death experience with anorexia nervosa. I think this is a book that will become an important personal experience to each person who reads it as each reader uses Schu’s fictionalized experiences as a mirror that might reflect certain experiences in the reader’s life.
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In “Walkin’ the Dog,” Chris Lynch tells the story of Louis, a boy who loves being home, has no friends, and will be going to the public high school after being home schooled. His father is a retired firefighter who bought a fishing boat and moved them to a seaside town. His mother is an activist whose mental health has been suffering, and she is in a facility working on regaining her equilibrium.
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Small town Texas in the summer of 1964 is the setting in “Mockingbird Summer” by Lynda Rutledge. During this summer, we see a town on the cusp of change, as its Southside (of the tracks) and Northside neighborhoods and implicit Jim Crow laws butt heads with the Civil Rights Era. We see most of the events through the eyes of Kathryn Kay Corcoran, or Corky as she is known to her friends. Corky lives with her parents, her brother, and their much-loved pets. Both Roy Rogers, a large mixed-breed dog, and Goldy, their senior horse, become important to the story, but especially Roy Rogers, whose unquestioning loyalty and instincts are highlights throughout the story.
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Instead of “Once upon a time…” the fairy tales that we read in Kiyash Monsef’s wonderful fantasy novel “Once There Was” begin with different words. When the main character Marjan’s father, who was from Iran, told her the childhood tales about mythical creatures, he started the stories with “Once was, once wasn’t…” The first story is about a trapped unicorn saved by a young girl; that encounter changes the young girl and the lives of some of her descendants. We learn that Marjan is one of those who descended from that girl.
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In “Gather,” Kenneth M. Cardow introduces us to a teenager who has had to grow up much more quickly than anyone should have to. Ian is used to being abandoned; his father left Ian and his mother years before, and then his grandmother left them to move south to be with her sister. So now, it’s just Ian and his mother in the small, run-down family home, on land that has been in Ian’s family for many generations. His father’s family, that is.
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“The Lake House” by Sarah Beth Durst is the summer camp experience you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy. With summer here, it’s time to think of summer camps and camping out. Sarah Beth Durst has thought of the summer camp experience from your worst nightmares.
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I admit that sometimes, I am spectacularly uninformed about the books I read. Take Brigid Kemmerer’s new series which begins with “Defy the Night” and its sequel, “Defend the Dawn.” I was sure that this was a duology, and I was thrilled that I would get to read both books in a row. I was especially psyched to do so while reading the first book and becoming so completely immersed in the fictional kingdom of Kandala, that I didn’t want to wait to find out how it all ended. I really enjoyed meeting and reading about Tessa and Corrick, one an apothecary apprentice and the other the King’s Justice, brother of the king of Kandala, and a feared royal figure.
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With her latest novel, “Furysong,” the last fantasy in the trilogy that began with “Fireborne” and continued with “Flamefall,” author Rosaria Munda has claimed her place as a first class writer who can plan, plot, and execute a series of books wherein each approaches 500 pages—not one page of which feels unnecessary. Yes, the novels are lengthy, but they are chockfull of fascinating characters with whom we empathize, nonstop action, unexpected twists, heartbreaking turns, and dragons who bond to their specific humans. Be forewarned that if you start with the first one, you will probably want to read all three books in a row, and this situation might affect your performance at work or school.
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