New YA titles - Spring 2017

I feel as though there are so many new books to read and comment upon during February, March and April so I am going to keep my reviews short and encourage you to try some yourself – especially with Spring Break fast approaching. Let’s start with this post on YA titles, many of which are listed here with 30 other “Really Excellent YA Books You Need to Know About.” That article is referring to UK releases and showing UK covers, but it’s still an impressive overview containing some titles - like PIECING ME TOGETHER - that we have already highly recommended. 

GILDED CAGE by Vic James is one of several fantasy titles on that list.  I liked how this debut novel – the first in a planned trilogy – combines magic and political intrigue while commenting on social inequality. There is plenty of adventure and suspense as Abi, a servant, falls for the son of the ruling Jardine family and her brother Luke, forced to slave in a Millmoor factory, plots revolution. GILDED CAGE received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal which commented on its “solid YA crossover potential” and “appeal to fans of Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games.”

OPTIMISTS DIE FIRST by Susin Nielsen.  I honestly cannot decide how I feel about this contemporary fiction book; one moment I want to share it with many readers and, yet, I also find a few sections to be unrealistic and somewhat cringe-worthy. You decide – we will have a copy in the library!  I did especially like the “crafter” emphasis and felt the portrayal of two main characters, Petula and Jacob, who had suffered great loss, was well-done.  I also liked the “Breakfast Club” feel to part of this book, but found the easy acceptance of premarital sex unnecessary to the plot which centers on a small group of misfit students in high school. Susin Nielsen is a Canadian author and, sadly, I am not very familiar with her other – often award-winning work – I will be looking for more (seems like a sequel to OPTIMISTS DIE FIRST could be coming, too).

Also on that list, THE EDUCATION OF MARGOT SANCHEZ by Lilliam Rivera is another book where I am curious to hear student reaction.  A quick read, I found it to be rather stereotypical and filled with clichés, but maybe that is not a fair assessment since it is talking about a place undergoing gentrification (Bronx, New York) and a culture (Puerto Rican heritage) with which I am not very familiar.  Margot Sanchez was caught stealing and now has to work off her debts over the summer by doing manual labor at her family’s supermarket.  

There is plenty of family drama and secrets involving serious issues like infidelity and drug abuse, along with Margot’s exaggerated fixation on friends at her new private school.  She could hang with Elizabeth, a friend from her neighborhood who is going to art school, but Margot says, “I always used to take the lead and Elizabeth always went along with me. The [Elizabeth’s] blue hair is daring, but not in a way that makes sense.  What benefits does it have? I’m daring because it will get me somewhere.  Now that I’m in with the right crowd at school I have to keep up.  Blue hair will work for the artsy-folksy crowd at the museum but not at Somerset.”  Overall, I think the appeal of THE EDUCATION OF MARGOT SANCHEZ will be highest with middle school and less mature high school readers.

We are looking forward to hearing your thoughts, reactions and recommendations! Tell us what you think!

The Mother's Promise by Sally Hepworth

I started Sally Hepworth’s THE MOTHER’S PROMISE with high expectations since online reviews were overwhelmingly positive. Often a text like this, with a teenaged main character, leads to engagement and even subsequent analysis and critique in Junior Theme by our students. And I did very much like Alice, a single Mom, and her daughter Zoe who must deal with debilitating social anxiety.  Alice learns that she has stage three ovarian cancer and their lives change.

At this point, I have to step out of the review and encourage readers to turn to the stunningly beautiful essay in the New York Times this past week by a real life writer (Amy Krouse Rosenthal) diagnosed with ovarian cancer:  “You May Want to Marry My Husband.” Its most memorable line?  “No wonder the word cancer and cancel look so similar.”

In THE MOTHER’S PROMISE other characters (nurse Kate, social worker Sonja) appear and begin to provide a much needed support network. Yet, these women were struggling in their personal relationships and this is where the book with its emphasis on marital conflict and potential spousal abuse became less appealing. It felt strange that the men were portrayed so negatively – as if they had no empathy or concerns beyond their own needs. Maybe that is the kind of partner that these caregivers attract (or are attracted to)?  I know nurses and social workers and I truly appreciated the effort to paint them as real people with their own lives and issues beyond the hospital, but that took away from Alice and Zoe’s difficult choices.

Perhaps Hepworth's writing (the four characters share narration) would work for adult book groups where participants would have more life experience and be interested in discussing motherhood and a mother's love? “Readers should get ready for a good, ugly cry,” said Booklist where THE MOTHER’S PROMISE received a starred review. 

Why Wall Street Matters by William D. Cohan

WHY WALL STREET MATTERS by William D. Cohan was just released and it seems fairly apropos with the Dow surpassing 21000 earlier this week. The author, a well-regarded financial journalist, has been appearing in several interviews such as this one from CBS NEWS:

And while writing a review [“Big Bonus, Big Problem”] for Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal, Burton G. Malkiel succinctly outlined Cohan’s concerns about compensation and incentives on Wall Street. Cohan stresses that there have been excesses on Wall Street, but also argues that recent regulations have often been counterproductive.  In WHY WALL STREET MATTERS he begins by providing history, explaining what banks are, and then moves on to talk about innovations in the 1970s and later.  Cohan comments, “what Ranieri [from Salomon Brothers] and his innovation [packaging mortgages] really did was fundamentally change the ethic of Wall Street, from one where a buyer knew a seller, and vice versa, to one where the decision to buy something was separated from traditional market forces.”

Cohan writes based on his own experience and insider knowledge. Calling his book "simple, concise and clear," Cohan says he wrote it because "people need to understand [something so] essential to our way of life."  WHY WALL STREET MATTERS will be an appealing read and high interest for many of our students.