Plot Summary:  Mickey Bolitar is not having a very good year.  His dad is dead, his mom is in rehab, and Mickey is forced to change schools and live with the uncle he doesn’t really know.   When his new girlfriend doesn’t show up to school one day, Mickey grows worried and with the help of his new friends decides to look for her.

Critical Analysis:  I am a fan of Harlan Coben’s Myron Bolitar series.  I think that he has a knack for combining quirky characters with real pathos and lots of dry wit added in for good measure.  When I heard there was going to be a young adult series about Myron and Win, I was interested but wondered how that would work, as they did not meet till college. and Win is, well, not a character you would think belongs in many teen books.  So I was glad when the series about Mickey was announced.

Mickey is actually introduced in the last Myron book, Live Wire.  The beginning of Shelter is the ending of Live Wire from Mickey’s point of view.  I have been disappointed lately in bestselling adult authors who have written young adult books just to capitalize on this growing market.  (I was going to name names, but decided most people would be able to think of at least one…)

So it is both a relief and a delight to report that this is a good beginning to what I hope will be a long running series.  (I was going to be mad at Coben if that weren’t the case.  There are not enough books in this genre being written for teens today but we don’t need poorly written ones either.)

Despite sharing a talent for playing basketball, wisecracking  and a deep love for family, Mickey is not Myron.  I bet Myron wishes he would have thought to yell “Homework” whenever his parents were giving him grief.  Perhaps it is because he is a teen, but Mickey feels things more deeply, and is trying to find the balance between being independent and taking help from others.  Mickey’s friends are great, moving beyond the stereotypes they represent as are the stereotypical jocks who have it in for him.  (Shades of Myron again who just can’t seem to keep his mouth shut around meatheads.)  The secondary storyline about the Bat Lady who says his father might still be alive is intriguing and appears to be a thread that will run through at least the first part of the series.

I hope teens find their way to Shelter, and perhaps to the Myron books as well which aside from a great deal of violence are teen friendly.

Review Excerpts: “Shelter begins one of the oddest—and most appealing spinoff series in recent years….[T]he youngster copes with some adult-sized problems, including his father’s death, his mother’s drug abuse problems, switching high schools, and his new living situation. Everything seems less pressing, however, than the mysteries surrounding the disappearance of a new girlfriend.”–Barnes and Noble

“Edgy and action-filled, the novel has interesting, likable characters, and it should fly off the shelves.”
—School Library Journal

“Crackerjack pace and multi-layered plotting…”—Kirkus Reviews

“Coben’s semi-noir style translates well to YA, and the supporting cast is thoroughly entertaining. It’s a strong start to the series.”—Publishers Weekly

“Quite satisfying and points to a good deal of potential for what might come next.”—Booklist

Reviewed from publisher provided advanced copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Bibliography: Hart, Carolyn. (2009).  Merry, Merry Ghost.  New York: William Morrow.  ISBN: 978-0060874377 (hc) 978-0061962929 (pb)

Plot Summary:  The late Bailey Ruth Raeburn is chosen to return to her old stomping grounds, Adelaide, OK just in time for Christmas and to help four-year-old orphan Keith meet his grandmother Susan.  When Susan decides to change her will to leave everything to Keith, someone makes sure that she can’t.  Bailey Ruth must catch the murderer and protect Keith.

Critical Analysis:  I have long been a fan of Carolyn Hart, especially the Death on Demand series.  When I found out she was writing a new series, I decided to give it a try, even though I am so tired and so over anything paranormal.  Well, am I ever so glad I did!  Bailey Ruth and the heaven she inhabits and the Oklahoma she visits are delightful all around.  Bailey Ruth is as feisty in death as she must have been in life, but her heart is in the right place.  I love the details of the world that Hart has created–Bailey Ruth’s ability to imagine a new wardrobe, to appear and disappear and carry things (but the items remain visible).  She pretends to be a police officer and provides clues to the sheriff.  She breaks all the “precepts” and is worried that she won’t get sent on any more missions.  In this series entry, lots of Christmas details and cerebration, a very dysfunctional family, and a very funny scene where Bailey Ruth and the ghost of the murder victim are pulled over while driving a car.  Well, and a murder.  Delightful and cozy and I recommend it highly (along with the others in the series.)  If you can get the audio version, even better, as the reader is excellent.

Review Excerpts: “When murder and mayhem ensue, Hart’s ghostly detective gets on the track of a clever killer. Bailey Ruth’s pleasure in her earthly wardrobe, her keen observations of the other characters and her unorthodox but expert sleuthing will engage readers from start to finish.”–Publisher’s Weekly

“A cute and cozy mystery.”–Library Journal

Reviewed from public library  audio book copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

 Bibliography: Washburn, Livia. J. (2008). The Christmas Cookie Killer.  New York: NAL Trade.  ISBN: 978-0451225344(t) 978-0451226662 (pb)

Plot Summary: Retired Weatherford, Texas teacher Phyllis Newsom  is sure that her lime snowflake cookies will win the local newspaper cookie contest.  She decides to take some to her next door neighbor Agnes who asks if she might make them with her grandchildren.  Phyllis runs home to find her special snow flake cutters.  Minutes later, she finds Agnes dead and is knocked out by a blow from behind.  Phyllis is determined to track down the killer.  Was it Agnes’ grandson, hiding in the attic and from the law?  the loan shark he borrowed money from?  One of the neighbors with a secret Agnes discovered?

Critical Analysis:  I am a sucker for cozy culinary mysteries. and this one was a Christmas one to boot! I don’t usually jump into a series in the middle, but I didn’t find myself lost or confused by not having read earlier entries.  I did enjoy Phyllis and her roommates and their dynamics, and all of the Christmas touches.  The mystery itself was maybe not the best part, but Washburn has the small town Texas dynamics down pat, and I may seek out another in the series to see what I think.  The recipes also sound divine, and I want to try injecting a ham with Coca-Cola just because it sounds like a great idea.

Reviewed from public library  copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Bibliography: Cohn, Rachel and David Levithan. (2010). Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares.  New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers.  IBSN: 978-0375866593 (hc) 978-0375859557 (pb)

Plot Summary:  On his own in New York for the Christmas holidays, Dash finds a red moleskine notebook in the J.D. Salinger section of the Strand bookstore.  The notebook contains a challenge from the mysterious Lily.  Are Dash and Lily destined to meet in real life?  Or do they only live in the notebook they pass back and forth?

Critical Analysis:  One of my dreams is to visit New York City during the Christmas season.  With this book, I felt like I was there.  I really liked the clever collaboration, and I will need to go back and read their other  joint novels (Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Naomi & ely’s No Kiss List) to see what other fun I missed.  The dares were fun, Lily’s crazy family who assisted her and Dash’s diverse group of friends just added to the story.  Lots of humor and wit along with holiday details and a New York back drop make this an excellent holiday read for teens and adults.

Review Excerpts: “Cohn and Levithan use a familiar but fun formula for this holiday-themed collaboration–think Saint Nick & Norah–mixing an enticing premise with offbeat characters and some introspective soul searching….there are more than enough amusing turns of phrase and zigzag plot twists to keep their attention”–Publisher’s Weekly

“The spirit of the season amplifies Dash and Lily’s loneliness and heightens the connection between them, in another surefire hit from the creators of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2006).”–Booklist

“As they did in Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist (Knopf, 2006), the authors combine their talents to write an appealing book. It makes readers long to buy a notebook, begin filling its pages, and find a friend who might turn out to be more. This book will spend as much time off the shelf as Lily’s notebook.”–School Library Journal

Reviewed from public library e-book copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

]]> http://readspace.net/2011/12/holiday-reading-dash-lilys-book-of-dares-by-rachel-cohn-and-david-levithan/feed/ 0 http://readspace.net/2011/12/holiday-reading-gingerbread-cookie-murder-by-joanna-fluke-laura-levine-and-leslie-meier/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=holiday-reading-gingerbread-cookie-murder-by-joanna-fluke-laura-levine-and-leslie-meier http://readspace.net/2011/12/holiday-reading-gingerbread-cookie-murder-by-joanna-fluke-laura-levine-and-leslie-meier/#comments Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:45:33 +0000 Susan http://readspace.net/?p=1765

Bibliography: Fluke, Joanne; Laura Levine and Leslie Meier. (2010). Gingerbread Cookie Murder. New York: Kensington.  ISBN: 978-0758234957 (hc) 978-0758234957 (pb)

Plot Summary:  Three wonderful holiday whodunuits.  In “Gingerbread Cookie Murder” by Joanne Fluke, Hannah Swensen just wants neighbor Ernie to turn down the music on his over the top Christmas display.  When she finally goes to his condo to confront him, she finds him sprawled on the floor with her gingerbread cookies scattered around him.  In “The Danger of Gingerbread Cookies” by Laura Levine, Jaine Austen is visiting her parents at their retirement complex in Florida where she has to suffer through an awful amateur holiday play.  It may be bad, but she didn’t wish for the “accidental” death of one of the actors.  In “Gingerbread Cookies and Gunshots” by Leslie Meier, intrepid local reporter Lucy Stone knows that there is more than meets the eye to the disappearance of a little boy from the back of his parents’ car.  Between her own holiday preparations, she races to track down the boy.

Critical Analysis:  These shorter novellas are perfect for holiday reading.  They are little treats to fans of the respective authors’ mystery series, and serve as introductions or light diversions for readers who may be less familiar.  I am a long time reader of Fluke and Meier, and also read 2007′s Candy Cane Murder, featuring three stories from the same authors.  (Which reminds me to seek out Levine’s series as well.)  I continue to read Fluke, although I have found the last couple of entries in her series to be uneven.  I actually love her shorter stories because the mystery and action are so tight.   I think the short story and novella are under-utilized forms these days, and look forward to more of these collections.  Plus I am a sucker for holiday stories and Fluke’s recipes.

Review Excerpts:  ”Fluke, Levine, and Meier each offer a yuletide whodunit treat in this entertaining follow-up to 2007′s Candy Cane Murder.”–Publisher’s Weekly

Reviewed from personal copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Bibliography

Plot Summary:  Sylvia left Dreyerville and her fiance, Joe,  8 years ago to deal with a health scare.  Joe never got over it, or her, and now that she is back, he’s angry and hurt.  Sylvia rents a room from the Culvers, an old married couple who have let the years put distance between them.  They all come together and rally around next door neighbor Lottie and her grandson Teddy when Lottie’s Alzheimer’s worsens.

Critical Analysis:  There are no miracles here, but lots of love and small town charm.  I thought this quick delightful read was just what someone might want to fill in an evening while getting in the Christmas spirit.  Martin does an excellent job of moving the story forward with vignettes and snippets of peoples’ lives that show glimpses into their hearts.  A true romance that will appeal to anyone with the holiday spirit.

Review Excerpts: “Charming and romantic….A must read….”–Library Journal

“It’s standard-issue sentimental holiday fare, peopled with wholesome and one-dimensional caricatures, though, notably, there’s no late-book miracle. It has plenty of competition with other seasonal titles, and there’s little to distinguish this from the others.”–Publisher’s Weekly

Reviewed from public library e-book copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Plot Summary:  Former MI5 agent, current Episcopal parish priest, Max Tudor finds the gossip and goings on of Nether Monkslip to be just his speed.  But when the brash president of the Woman’s Institute turns up dead during the village Haverst Fayre, Max’s intuition tells him it was no accident.  He cannot believe that anyone in the idyllic village could be to blame but almost everyone admits to disliking the victim.  But who hated her the most?

Critical Analysis:  Malliet has another winning cozy mystery series on her hands ( see Death of a Lit Chick and Death of a Cozy Writer).  I would love to know more about her reading history, as she seems to know just how much of a twist to apply to genre formulas to create a cast of characters, a place, and a murder mystery that are both so typical and yet fresh and funny and utterly readable.  Max Tudor (could his name be more British?) is as much an interest for being a very eligible bachelor as a former intelligence agent.  Malliet gives him a back story  which she uncovers a little at a time (I am hopeful that future installments will reveal more.)  But more than just Max, we have the wonderful cast of village characters, including the buxom older blonde, the mousy owner of a farm, the blustery Major, the antique shop owner, the elderly school teacher who sees all, and the new age shop owner.  All are far more nuanced and subtle then one might expect, and all are welcome to return in the next in the series.

Readalikes:  At the same time I was reading Wicked Autumn, I had downloaded the audio of 12 Drummers Drumming.  (The first of the new Father Christmas series–not, as I had thought, a mystery series starring Santa Claus.)  Rather, Father Christmas is the new vicar of a small village…the book opens at the village May Fayre…has a wonderful cast of characters…it was so similar I had to set it aside to listen to later to focus on the Malliet.

Review Excerpts:   ”Malliet has mastered the delights of the cozy mystery so completely that she seems to be channeling Agatha Christie.. . [with] ironic humor that contribute[s ] a little spice to the village charm, making the story even more delicious. Religion, espionage, tea, and crumpets: a winning menu.” — Booklist

“Agatha Award–winning author Malliet ( Death of a Cozy Writer ) debuts a superb new series. .. You’ ll marvel at the author’s low-key humor and crystal-clear depictions of small-town life… Malliet, like Louise Penny, brings a contemporary freshness to the traditional mystery.”– Library Journal

Reviewed from publisher provided advanced copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Bibliography: Offill, Jenny and Nancy Carpenter. (2006).  17 Things I’m Not Allowed to Do Any More. New York: Schwartz and Wade.  ISBN: 9780375835964 (hc) 9780375866012 (pbk)

Plot Summary:  A mischievous little girl has a lot of seemingly good ideas but they all seem to get her in trouble.

Critical Analysis:  Books like this one make me miss being a children’s librarian and seeing new picture books and reading them at story time.  This one is so much fun, and such a marriage between the text and the artwork to tell the story, communicate the emotion to the reader.  The pictures, a combination of pen and ink drawings and digitally manipulated images on crumpled paper not only fill in some of the details, but also are the kind that children will want to examine even after the story is finished.  In addition, the text leaves room for the reader or listener to come up with their own ideas about what happens.  Or in my case, to think about other great ideas that might not turn out so well.  ”I had an idea…”

Review Excerpts:  ”Ingenious artwork–a flawless marriage of digital imagery and pen-and-ink–is indisputably the focus of this winning title….striking and subtle–real wood grain, blades of grass, the chrome-plated details on classroom furniture–all are seamlessly integrated around a winsome cast of well-drawn characters….just about picture-perfect”–School Library Journal

“The title is terrifically cheeky, and Carpenter…outdoes herself in these mixed-media illustrations….Kids will be intrigued by the pictures’ playful sense of composition as well as the heroine’s brazenness….”–Publisher’s Weekly

“Our mischievous but delightful heroine is the kind of kid who makes parents and teachers old before their time, but still makes us laugh….Carpenter combines a lively pen and ink black line with naturalistic colors and digital media….The mottled look of the paper is achieved by crumpling it and filing with an emery board; Adobe Photoshop is used to rescan and manipulate the type; bits of photo collage are added for a fresh visual look. The glue she is smilingly squeezing from the bottle on the jacket has an attractive three-dimensional quality.”–Children’s Literature

Reviewed from public library copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Plot Summary:  Teens Keri, Janna and Sione have something in common.  All had an older brother who committed suicide.  Janna tells Keri she and summer fling Sione think it might have been murder, with a pattern of deaths stretching back for years.  They try and catch the person responsible, but when they get close, strange and dangerous things start to happen.  Will they stop the killer from striking again?  Or end up victims themselves?

Critical Analysis:  I have a hard time writing about a book like this, as I don’t want to give too much away, so here goes nothing.

I hesitate to call this novel paranormal.  For me, as of late, that term invokes visions of vampires, werewolves and ghosts in a sort of other world that might look like our world but is different.  Healey instead gives the reader something real.  Real feelings both on the part of the main characters and the secondary ones.  Grief and fear and a need to do something, to take control.   Human feelings and motives that drive actions both good and bad.  This reality adds a layer of fear and suspense and emotion to the events as they unfold.  This story, the setting, and the characters as so well realized that days after finishing the book, I can see it in my mind, playing like a movie.  (It would be an excellent teen horror movie I think.)

Readalikes:  I was reminded of Shirley Jackson’s short story, The Lottery and of Margo Lanagan’s Singing My Sister Down.

Review Excerpts:  ”[A]n intense and powerful novel that explores the effect of suicide on families….skillfully keeps her characters on an emotional roller-coaster even as they deal with physical threats. The climax delivers a gut punch that only underscores the sensitivity of the subject matter (without lessening the thrill at all).”–Publisher’s Weekly

“Healey has got a whopper of a concept here, and strong main characters to make the most of it. It is easy to identify with at least one of the trio—shattered Keri, lovely Janna, soulful Sione—and get swept up in the mystery that surrounds them as they work to protect Takeshi and Aroha, who are endearing.”–VOYA

“Told in alternating chapters by the teens, the story unfolds at an even pace, with the characters developing into fully realized and distinctly different personalities. Healey merges Maori and Samoan words and cultural influences throughout the text. A good choice for teens who prefer their fantasies mixed with more realism.”–School Library Journal

“…Healey (Guardian of the Dead, 2010) seamlessly integrates noir and fantasy tropes to explore issues of suicide, trust, sexuality, race, insecurity and free will in a way that feels fresh.”–Kirkus Reviews

Reviewed from publisher provided advanced copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Bibliography

Plot Summary:  The summer before eighth grade, and Drew is working in her mother’s cheese shop where she hangs out with surf bum Nick (who she also has a crush on.)  When she isn’t working, she plays with her pet rat and ponders her dead father’s Book of Lists.  When she met Emmett in the alley behind the shop after closing one night, she never expected the friendship and adventure that would follow.

Critical Analysis:  This quiet unassuming book is almost perfect.  A perfect picture of what it is like to have your everyday existence interrupted, to allow a stranger to become a friend, to widen the circle of your life.  It is about small events that change us and how we have to take a chance to grow and become the person we are going to be.  At least partially autobiographical in nature, Reinhardt’s mother also owned a gourmet cheese shop, it is also a perfect snapshot of atmosphere, time, and place.  I hope that librarians are preparing their booktalks using the details of rats, cheese and the Book of Lists to entice readers to pick this up.  They won’t be disappointed.

Review Excerpts: “Laced with mystery and fascinating details about Drew’s chief interests—rats and cheese—this quiet novel invites readers to share in its heroine’s deepest yearnings, changing moods, and difficult realizations. Strong imagery…will stay with readers.”–Publisher’s Weekly

“Reinhardt has written another book that will resonate with any readers learning to spread their wings and fly.”–School Library Journal

“[A]  lucid voice that is thoughtful and entertaining without being showy….There is a hint throughout of being a step removed that balances the immediacy of the events being related and the power of hindsight….Quiet yet immensely appealing.”–Kirkus Reviews

Reviewed from publisher provided advanced copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.