QSR: 15 Queer Books Set in Canada

So! I should probably have posted this on Canada Day, but that would have meant I thought of it sooner than the fifteenth. But I thought this would still be interesting, even if it is a little late.

Books in this post come from Casey the Canadian Lesbrarian, Queer YA again and also my own knowledge because sometimes I know things. (Not that kind of thing, Lucia.)

Way to Go by Tom Ryan

Published: April 1st, 2012 by Orca Book Publisher
Genre: Contemporary YA
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): Danny thinks he must be the only seventeen-year-old guy in Cape Breton--in Nova Scotia, maybe--who doesn't have his life figured out. His buddy Kierce has a rule for every occasion, and his best friend Jay has bad grades, no plans and no worries.

Danny's dad nags him about his post-high-school plans, his friends bug him about girls and a run-in with the cops means he has to get a summer job. Worst of all, he's keeping a secret that could ruin everything.


Rhythm and Blues by Jill Murray

Published: February 9th, 2010 by Doubleday Canada
Genre: Contemporary YA
Amazon and I think this is out of print because I can't find it on Indiebound or Book Depository, but there's a kindle version.

Summary (from goodreads): Many of the things in Alya's life have been unexpected: She never anticipated receiving a full scholarship to the private school she attends; she never thought she would end up as a member of Hydra Force, the hottest all-girl breakdancing crew around, or that she would be "discovered" and asked to be part of a cool new girl group called EnChantay... But that's what happens to her, and overnight, Alya's life changes.

She moves to Montreal and begins voice lessons, practicing choreography with the two other members of EnChantay, and filming a video for their single. Yet, of all the unexpected things in her life, Alya is most surprised when she finds herself questioning the person she is, and feeling things that she never imagined feeling...all for one of her friends.

Evil? by Timothy Carter

Published: August 1st, 2009 by Flux
Genre: YA Fantasy
Amazon / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): 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.

(Laina note - I actually WoWed this at one point back when I still did that and my formatting was terrible and actually just don't read that post, it's a mess. Anyways, it sounds interesting.)

Another Kind of Cowboy by Susan Juby

Published: 2007 by HarperCollins Canada
Genre: Contemporary YA
Amazon / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): Alex Ford wishes his father had seen the movie Brokeback Mountain. Because then he might understand that it’s possible to be a gay cowboy. Trouble is, Alex doesn’t even want to be a cowboy; his dream is to ditch Western-style riding and take up dressage. But with his mother long gone, his father ensconced in an RV in the driveway, his messy Aunt Grace the Hair Stylist installed in the kitchen (whose cooking tastes like her hairdressing smells), and his Kung Fu–obsessed younger twin sisters, Alex knows that his dream is highly unlikely. So when he does get the chance to try the meticulously intricate art of dressage riding and then bumps into the supremely self absorbed Cleo at a competition, it’s a whole new world for Alex.

Cleo’s been sent to a very posh, very horsey boarding school nearby because of an unfortunate incident with her handsome chauffeur. Cleo doesn’t get why Alex is so serious about everything, especially when his family is so…interesting. But now Alex is about to lose even the slender hold he has on his dream—and on the secret he’s not yet ready to reveal. Meanwhile, Cleo has fallen in with the party crowd, forgetting all about her precious horse. Does this mean Alex and Cleo’s fledgling friendship is doomed from the start?

First Spring Grass Fire by Rae Spoon

Published: September 18th, 2012 by Arsenal Pulp Press
Genre: Memoir
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): Transgender indie electronica singer-songwriter Rae Spoon has six albums to their credit, including 2012’s I Can’t Keep All of Our Secrets. This first book by Rae (who uses "they" as a pronoun) is a candid, powerful story about a young person growing up queer in a strict Pentecostal family in rural Canada.

The narrator attends church events and Billy Graham rallies faithfully with their family before discovering the music that becomes their salvation and means of escape. As their father's schizophrenia causes their parents' marriage to unravel, the narrator finds solace and safety in the company of their siblings, in their nascent feelings for a girl at school, and in their growing awareness that they are not the person their parents think they are. With a heart as big as the prairie sky, this is a quietly devastating, heart-wrenching coming-of-age book about escaping dogma, surviving abuse, finding love, and risking everything for acceptance.

(Laina note - the library actually has this, so if you're in Saskatchewan too, you can order this through yours. If you're not in Saskatchewan, check anyways! Also, there's a documentary called "My Prairie Home" on Netflix that's also about them.)

10 Things I Can See From Here by Carrie Mac

Published: February 28th, 2017 by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Genre: Contemporary YA
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): Think positive.
Don’t worry; be happy.
Keep calm and carry on.

Maeve has heard it all before. She’s been struggling with severe anxiety for a long time, and as much as she wishes it was something she could just talk herself out of, it’s not. She constantly imagines the worst, composes obituaries in her head, and is always ready for things to fall apart. To add to her troubles, her mom—the only one who really gets what Maeve goes through—is leaving for six months, so Maeve will be sent to live with her dad in Vancouver.

Vancouver brings a slew of new worries, but Maeve finds brief moments of calm (as well as even more worries) with Salix, a local girl who doesn’t seem to worry about anything. Between her dad’s wavering sobriety, her very pregnant stepmom insisting on a home birth, and her bumbling courtship with Salix, this summer brings more catastrophes than even Maeve could have foreseen. Will she be able to navigate through all the chaos to be there for the people she loves?

(Laina note - I really wanna read this one. You may see it around here eventually.)

Gravity by Leanne Lieberman

Published: November 1st, 2008 by Orca Book Publishers
Genre: Contemporary YA
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): Ellie Gold is an orthodox Jewish teenager living in Toronto in the late eighties. Ellie has no doubts about her strict religious upbringing until she falls in love with another girl at her grandmother's cottage.

Aware that homosexuality clashes with Jewish observance, Ellie feels forced to either alter her sexuality or leave her community. Meanwhile, Ellie's mother, Chana, becomes convinced she has a messianic role to play, and her sister, Neshama, chafes against the restrictions of her faith.

Ellie is afraid there is no way to be both gay and Jewish, but her mother and sister offer alternative concepts of God that help Ellie find a place for herself as a queer Jew.

Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard

Published: September 16th, 2016 by HarperCollins
Genre: Contemporary YA
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): All Pen wants is to be the kind of girl she’s always been. So why does everyone have a problem with it? They think the way she looks and acts means she’s trying to be a boy—that she should quit trying to be something she’s not. If she dresses like a girl, and does what her folks want, it will show respect. If she takes orders and does what her friend Colby wants, it will show her loyalty.

But respect and loyalty, Pen discovers, are empty words. Old-world parents, disintegrating friendships, and strong feelings for other girls drive Pen to see the truth--that in order to be who she truly wants to be, she’ll have to man up.

(Laina note - I didn't actually know this was set in Canada before this!)

Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World by Janet E. Cameron

Published: May 7th, 2013 by Hachette Books
Genre: Contemporay YA
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): Stephen Shulevitz remembers the end of the world. Two o'clock in the morning on a Saturday night, in Riverside, Nova Scotia when he realises he has fallen in love - with exactly the wrong person.

There are no volcanic eruptions. No floods or fires. Just Stephen, watching TV with his best friend, realising that life, as he knows it, will never be the same.

The smart move would be to run away - from Riverside, his overbearing hippie mother, his distant pot-smoking father - and especially his feelings. But then Stephen begins to wonder: what would happen if he had the courage to face the end of the world head on?

Rough Patch by Nicole Markotic

Published: May 16th, 2017 by Arsenal Pulp Press
Genre: Contemporary YA
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): When fifteen-year-old Keira starts high school, she almost wishes she could write "Hi, my name is Keira, and I'm bisexual!" on her nametag. Needless to say, she's actually terrified to announce—let alone fully explore—her sexuality. Quirky but shy, loyal yet a bit zany, Keira navigates her growing interest in kissing both girls and boys while not alienating her BFF, boy-crazy Sita. As the two acclimate to their new high school, they manage to find lunch tablemates and make lists of the school's cutest boys. But Keira is caught "in between"—unable to fully participate, yet too scared to come clean.

She's also feeling the pressure of family: parents who married too young and have differing parenting styles; a younger sister in a wheelchair from whom adults expect either too little or too much; and her popular older brother who takes pleasure in taunting Keira. She finds solace in preparing for the regional finals of figure skating, a hobby she knows is geeky and "het girl" yet instills her with confidence. But when she meets a girl named Jayne who seems perfect for her, she isn't so confident she can pull off her charade any longer.

Hello Groin by Beth Goobie

Published: October 1st, 2006 by Orca Book Publishers
Genre: Contemporary YA
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): When Dylan Kowolski agrees to create a display for her high school library, she has no idea of the trouble it's going to cause--for the school principal, her family, her boyfriend Cam and his jock friends, and her best friend Jocelyn. And for Dylan herself.

If only her English class had been studying a normal, run-of-the-mill, mundane book like Lord of the Flies instead of Foxfire things wouldn't have gotten so twisted. Then the world wouldn't have gone into such a massive funk. And then Dylan wouldn't have had to face her deepest fear and the way she was letting it run her life.

(Laina note - I adored Beth Goobie's books when I was a kid. She sounds really interesting, too, honestly.)

Under Threat by Robin Stevenson

Published: January 1st, 2016 by Orca Books Publishers
Genre: Contemporary YA
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): Franny is close to her parents, adores her horse and is head over heels in love with her girlfriend, Leah. But Franny's parents are abortion providers at the local hospital, and an anonymous stranger is prepared to do whatever it takes to stop them. A stranger who phones at all hours. Who knows where they live. Who knows Franny's name.

When Leah's older brother, Jake, refers to her parents as baby killers, Franny starts to wonder if perhaps the threats aren t coming from a stranger at all. If she tells the police about her suspicions, she could lose her girlfriend. But if she doesn't - and if she's right - she could lose her parents.

(Laina note - I actually have read this, and my post about it will be up in late August. Because I really liked it, I really want to check out some more books by the author, including the following.)

Inferno by Robin Stevenson

Published: April 1st, 2009 by Orca Book Publishers
Genre: Contemporary YA
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): 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.

Big Guy by Robin Stevenson

Published: April 1st, 2007 by Orca Book Publishers
Genre: Contemporary YA
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): Derek thinks he might be falling in love. The problem is, he hasn't been entirely honest with his online boyfriend. Derek sent Ethan a photo taken before he got depressed and gained eighty pounds.

Derek hasn't been honest with his employer either. When he lied about his age and experience to get a job with disabled adults, the last thing he expected was to meet a woman like Aaliyah. Smart, prickly and often difficult, Aaliyah challenges Derek's ideas about honesty and trust. Derek has to choose whether to risk telling the truth or to give up the most important relationship in his life.

(Laina note - I really want to see how this handles the fat representation. Hopefully there's not a weight loss arc.)

The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow

Published: September 22nd, 2015 by Margaret K. McElderry Books
Genre: Dystopian YA
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): Greta is a Duchess and a Crown Princess. She is also a Child of Peace, a hostage held by the de facto ruler of the world, the great Artificial Intelligence, Talis. This is how the game is played: if you want to rule, you must give one of your children as a hostage. Start a war and your hostage dies.

The system has worked for centuries. Parents don’t want to see their children murdered.

Greta will be free if she can make it to her eighteenth birthday. Until then she is prepared to die with dignity, if necessary. But everything changes when Elian arrives at the Precepture. He’s a hostage from a new American alliance, and he defies the machines that control every part of their lives—and is severely punished for it. His rebellion opens Greta’s eyes to the brutality of the rules they live under, and to the subtle resistance of her companions. And Greta discovers her own quiet power.

Then Elian’s country declares war on Greta’s and invades the prefecture, taking the hostages hostage. Now the great Talis is furious, and coming himself to deliver punishment. Which surely means that Greta and Elian will be killed...unless Greta can think of a way to break all the rules.

(Laina note - I really liked this series, and yes, they are set in Canada. No one ever seems to talk about how queer they are either!)

So, Scouts, did you find something to read?

Peace and popsicles,
Laina

Things I've Read Recently (36): Random Canadian Books!

If you're new around here, Things I've Read Recently is a series of posts I do that are basically mini-reviews of books that I either forgot to review, didn't have enough to say for a full review, or just didn't want to do a full post about for whatever reason.

Dare by Marilyn Halvorson

Published: Originally published in 1988, this edition was released in 1990 from General Paperbacks which I think is an imprint of Gemini Books, but don't test me. There's a more recent printing that I'll be linking to, released in 2014.
Genre: Realistic YA.
Binding: Paperback.
Page Count: 191
Part of a series? Nope, but a whole lot of her books are kind of cowboy/Western Canada themed.
Got via: It's a library reject.
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound / AbeBooks

Summary (from goodreads): Dare, almost 16, is big, tough, street-wise kid, always in trouble at school and around the town of Crossing, Alberta. His 12-year-old brother, Ty, is just the opposite: quiet, studious, at the head of his class.

When their grandmother dies, the two are faced with the prospect of going to a foster home - until Laura McConnell, a part-time teacher, invites them to her ranch.

If it weren't for Ty, Dare would be long gone... a desire that intensifies into white-hot rage as he clashes with Laura and faces the pain of his past.

Thoughts: This is set in Alberta and that was kind of neat. I'm not from Alberta or have ever been there, but I enjoy reading about different places in Canada. There's something that's fun about reading about places in your country, especially when a lot of books are US-centred. You've probably noticed that I have a soft-spot for even not very good Canadian books because they are Canadian. Now, the book itself is... fine. It's not the most amazing thing in the world, but it was fine.

It is a touch dated in the details like an AC/DC concert in Calgary being the cool thing for teenagers to do, but it is also kind of dated in its tropes. It kind of reads like something a teacher would make you read in like grade eight to make you learn something. This would make a good, like, Lifetime inspirational movie. Like the appeal of an emotional story of two brothers, one of whom isn't making the best choices, going to live with a pretty awesome woman who pushes them to be their best ad how they all learn to love each other is definitely there.

The writing is good, and in researching the author a bit, I think I've actually read another of her newer books. I think she only has upwards to go when it comes to the quality of the writing. I can honestly say I enjoyed this one. The questions I have to ask myself are, would I read this again, and am I going to keep it? Those answers are linked in - no, I would probably not read it again, and because of that, I'll probably be passing it along. My copy is also in pretty rough condition, so it's not like I'm oohing and awwing over the prettiness. Fly free, little bird.

Props to this cover, though, for actually depicting a scene in the book. I like when that happens. I do not personally think I would re-purchase this, but if this appeals to you, you can buy a new edition released in 2014. Cover to the right. Nice new cover.

A Bird in the House by Margaret Laurence

Published: This edition was originally published in 1987 by Bantom Seal. This collection was first published in 1970, and versions of some of the stories were published in various magazines as early as 1963. There have been many editions of this released, with the most recent being 2010.
Genre: Adult fiction.
Binding: Paperback.
Page Count: 179 plus an excerpt of another book, an about the author, a list of other books in this series, and a listing of other books from the publisher.
Part of a series? This is the fourth book of five in the Manawaka sequence, but as far as I can tell, they are only loosely connected by all being set in the fictional same town. I read this as a standalone.
Got via: Library reject.
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): In eight interconnected, finely wrought stories, Margaret Laurence recreates the world of Vanessa MacLeod – a world of scrub-oak, willow, and chokecherry bushes; of family love and conflict; and of a girl’s growing awareness of and passage into womanhood. The stories blend into one masterly and moving whole: poignant, compassionate, and profound in emotional impact.

Thoughts: This was a hidden gem! There are probably a lot of people who are chuckling at me realizing this, though. But I hadn't ever heard of this besides seeing it on my shelves. The format of this is really interesting, as the timeline jumps around at times, and everything is being told by adult Vanessa about her childhood self and family.

(Hence why this is an adult novel about a young character, not a YA novel, which I initially thought it would be because of the cover.)

Things don't have happy endings all the time, and not everything is resolved. Sometimes characters just die, or leave, or other things that happen in life. It's very slice-of-life in a way, but also everything makes Vanessa who she is. The fact that it's set in the thirties and the Great Depression, and Vanessa is an aspiring writer, and the peeks you get of her older self are all really, really cool. The family is complicated, frustrating, and fascinating. They are by far not perfect, and an overreaching theme is about how Vanessa has relationships with those imperfect people.

I liked this one so much more than I ever thought I would. If you ever find this one, guys, check it out. I will definitely be keeping this one. I would probably even buy a used copy of one of the new editions in slightly better shape if I ever ran across one (they seem to be fairly pricy to buy new). Mine looks fairly old. Although I have to say, I do like the cover, even for its datedness. I really like that the model isn't like fashion model thin. She's got a bit of a tummy, and it's cool to see that.

Side note: I read this on Canada Day weekend watching Pirate's Passage. Very Canadian weekend, apparently. It also amuses me that they'll occasionally mention something like Jergens hand lotion, or other brands that you still see today. Considering the setting of the thirties, it's cool.

Out of the Dark by Welwyn Wilton Katz

Published: Originally published in 1995 by Groundwood Books, there was a reprint in 2001. Mine is probably the 1995 one because there's a library stamp from 1996.
Genre: Contemporary MG.
Binding: Paperback.
Page Count: 179 plus the author's note.
Part of a series? No.
Got via: Library reject.
Amazon / AbeBooks

Summary (from goodreads): Faced with the tragic loss of his mother, Ben Elliot is forced into a move he hates. He has had to give up his home and friends in the city to move with his father and younger brother to the tiny village of Ship Cove on Newfoundland's isolated northern peninsula.

The only thing that makes the place bearable is its nearness to the Viking settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows, where he finds comfort in the ancient myths and sagas his mother loved. He also revives his childhood game of imagining he is Tor, a young Viking shipbuilder. But when the Tor game becomes increasingly real and harder to control, Ben discovers that the lines between past and present, fantasy and reality, are beginning to blur - with dangerous consequences.

Thoughts: I'm a little conflicted about this. The writing is really quite good. The Newfoundland setting isn't something I run into a lot in books, and it's vibrant and wonderful. Basically, the only thing that I really didn't like was the Viking stuff. Like actually in the story, it was well worked into the setting and the character's interest, but the random italics got really distracting. Honestly, if they had formatted the Tor stuff (the character Ben pretended to be, not the publisher, ha) differently, it probably would have worked better. There was also some Norse mythology told in italics, most of which Ben's mother had told him at some point. But the thing is, Norse names plus italics make word soup, honestly. I would have preferred hearing it from Ben, not just having the mythology told to me out of the narrative.

Honestly, it's not even that those parts were badly written or anything. But you'd be reading these really interesting scenes about Ben and his family and even just Ben talking about the history of Newfoundland and then bam, suddenly Vikings. Like (and I'm making this up as an example) it'd be Ben and his dad getting in a boat, switch, Tor making a boat for the Vikings or something, switch, Ben picks up the oars. I get the idea behind it, that he's escaping reality and stuff, but it really interrupts the flow of the novel at times. When it's integrated into the story, and thread into what's actually happening to Ben, it's really cool. When it's just thrown onto the page, it's a bit clunky.

And honestly, I spent a lot of time really worried about this kid. He's kind of hallucinating or dissociating or something, and this is obviously because of the loss of his mother. Someone should probably talk to the kid about that! Like, that's a little too glossed over.

However, though, I still liked this one. Again, the writing is good, the setting was awesome, and it's interesting. I just wish the bits that weren't Ben's story had been blended in a bit better. I think that kids who are interested in Norse mythology would really like this, and I would definitely be interested in checking out other books from the author. I even have one on my to-read pile that I'm excited about reading, since the writing will probably continue to improve. Even with this being a bit older, I think most of it still works well. Kids may ask why they don't have computers or internet, but honestly I wouldn't be surprised if rural Newfoundland lacks in a bit of technology - like my aunt in Northern Saskatchewan can only get one internet provider on her farm - and a mention of video rentals raising questions about a lack of DVDs, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. You could have a good conversation from that.

I complained a lot, but I don't think this was a bad book at all. It was a good book, and I can definitely see kids enjoying this. The only thing is, I don't think the cover is the best choice. It reminds me of The Other Elizabeth, which is a book I read about eight hundred times as a kid and I should do a blog post on some day (and can't find a cover picture of online - I'll take one and put it next to this post). But this only has two stamps from people checking it out. Maybe it had an index card that was stamped instead, but the stamps are from 1996 and 2001, so that's a bit of a gap. And the book looks brand new - I thought it was from the mid-2000s, not the 90s. I don't think this cover makes kids look at it and want to read it.

Which is a shame! If you come across this, I'd say go ahead and check it out if you're into kid books. It's worth giving a chance.

Castle Tourmandyne by Monica Hughes

Published: First published by HarperCollins Canada in 1995, my edition was released in 1996.
Genre: I'm gonna call this middle grade fantasy. I don't think it's YA. I think if it was published today, it'd be put out as middle grade.
Binding: Paperback
Page Count: 157 plus a handful of pages of other books the author wrote.
Part of a series? Nope.
Got via: I think honestly this is the copy I had as a kid. I ended up with two copies at one point, and kept the one in better shape, but one I had since I was nine or ten.
Amazon / AbeBooks

Summary (from goodreads): Marg is thrilled that her cousin Peggy is coming to stay for the summer. But Peggy - prickly, sarcastic, and downright mean - has no time for her "baby' cousin"... until Marg receives a beautiful Victorian dollhouse for her birthday. Strangely drawn to Castle Tourmandyne, Peggy insists on assembling the dollhouse in spite of its printed warning: "Be careful to make this house with love".

Soon Peggy is haunted by terrifying dreams in which she is trapped in the dollhouse, a place without love or protection from evil. Marg alone can save her. But first, Marg must enter Castle Tourmandyne herself - and confront the spirit within.

Thoughts: I was so nervous to re-read this. This was one of my favourite books as a kid, along with another of the author's books. (My Name is Paula Popowich - I should talk about that some day, too.) Reading this was super nostalgic for me, since I read it so many times as a kid. It's one of very few books I brought with me when we moved from Ontario to Saskatchewan. And I'm glad to say it has held up pretty well. There's a few dates aspects - video tapes, green and pink plastic roller blades - but I don't think it affects it badly, and the writing has held up well.

The idea of a haunted dollhouse is just delightfully creepy. (And seriously, check out this list when you're done reading this post. Look at all the creepy doll books.) The scare factor is definitely kid-appropriate. While I still think it's creepy and appreciate that, it's not going to give me nightmares or anything. It's kind of like Goosebumps or Fear Street. Scary for kids, but in an appropriate way.

One thing I noticed as an adult was that occasioanlly Marg's dialogue sounded much older than a twelve year old. I don't think twelve year olds in 1995 said "shan't". I woner if part of that was that the author wasn't published until fairly late in life, and also that she was British. I could see a British kid saying "shan't". But honestly, I know from reading this as a kid that it didn't bother me. I loved this as a kid.

I like the relationship between Marg and Peggy, how they fight, and how complex they are. Peggy is kind of a jerk! And yet she is also presented as a sympathetic character, and her growth and emotions are so important to the story. The message is good, I adore two girls fighting evil together through love, and it's just creepy enough. It's a little old, but I still enjoyed re-reading it, and it will be staying on my shelf.

So, two are staying, one is a maybe, one will be passed along.

Don't forget to enter the contest! Ends on Friday!

Peace and cookies,
Laina

YA Review: Bones

Bones by John Wilson

Published: April 1st, 2014 by Orca Currents/Orca Book Publishers
Genre: YA Mystery
Binding: Hardcover
Page Count: 117
Part of a series? Yes, this is a sequel to the first book, Stolen.
Got via: The library
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): Sam and Annabel are visiting Drumheller, Alberta, where the farmland Sam's mother lives on is host to a dinosaur dig. Annabel, an avid learner, is thrilled to have access to paleontologists and spends as much time as she can near the dig, much to Sam's dismay. But when they learn the dig has uncovered scientifically important bones, even Sam's interest is piqued. In fact, the whole town is talking about the dig. When Sam and Annabel learn that Humphrey Battleford, a famous collector of stolen goods, is in the area, they are on high alert to keep the ancient bones safe.

Review: I did a dinosaur Storytime at work and there was this book I wanted called Drumheller Dinosaur Dance. When I searched for it on the library site, this one came up, too, and I was both intrigued and already logged in, so I decided to order it, and I'm glad I did. I was really busy when I read this because it was a month before my semester ends (Edit: Now the end of semester is less than two weeks ago, ahh!), and I had tons of work to do *pause for panic* (Edit: Still panicking!), but the power went out for a whole 10 seconds, and killed my internet for several hours. Since I do my school online, I completely ran out of homework that I could access! So, reading. And that was a really rambly intro that had very little to do with the book.

Anyway. I liked this one a lot. It is the second book of the series, and I have not read the first, but I think it stands fine on its own as well. It quickly catches you up on the events that happened in the last book without rehashing them completely. I wouldn't mind reading the first at all, but it's not necessary to enjoy this one.

I also really enjoyed that it was very Canadian.

Plot Talk: This is set in Drumheller, Albert, and if you don't know anything about Drumheller, that's where the dinosaurs are! Obviously not all the dinosaurs, but a lot have been found in the area, and they have a museum with a very large fossil collection, and statues and stuff, which is super cool. I have a note to add stuff when I have internet, so here's a link to the World's Largest T-Rex which you can climb, and here's some pictures of statues.

Sam and Annabel are visiting Sam's mom who lives on a farm where a dinosaur skeleton has just been found. Fossils are totally valuable and they end up on the lookout when their arch nemesis shows up - the famous "collector" of stolen goods mentioned in the summary.

That's a touch tongue-in-cheek, I'll admit, but the plot is pretty much described in the summary. The book is only 117 pages. However, I don't really have a problem with the length or the plot. I think for a book this length, a straightforward, more simple plot is better. Too much going on can become rushed or convoluted, and Bones avoids that.

Characters: Again, in a book this length, the character also can't be as deep or as fleshed out as they'd be in a longer book, but they're fine. Having a relatively small cast of characters does help with that. They aren't my absolutely all-time dear to my heart characters, but they were solid, and I don't have anything to complain about in that respect.

Both Sam and Annabel were good characters. Annabel is a genius and proud of that, and I adored that. You gotta love a girl who loves learning. She's also funny, possessing a good sense of humour. Sam is a cool dude, too. He almost seems to deal with anxiety - he mentions being one to worry a lot, and how that affects his life, and that's an awesome character trait. I like the idea of mental illness representation, although it would obviously be better if it were explicit.

Sam and Annabel are dating, but it's not a super huge part of the book for readers who aren't so much fans of the whole romance deal. Their relationship is something I really did like, though. It seems somewhat new. As I've not read the first, I don't know how long they've been together, but I'm pretty sure it's only a few month. Sam has some insecure moments, and gets a little jealous of another dude, but they *gasp* talk about it and they quickly get past that with no feelings hurt or needless drama.

Plus this is super cute:

"Your girlfriend is smart," Dr. Bob says with a smile. I blush violently, but I'm happy. Annabel is my girlfriend, and that makes me very lucky.

PG-13 stuff: Nothing to really speak of. No language, not really any violence. This would be good for younger readers, I think.

Cons, complaints, bad stuff, etc.: A minor typo or two that I noticed a bit more because of the shortness, but only one or two - not nearly enough to make it look sloppy, but I'm an honest girl, so I'm mentioning it. Characterization could be slightly better, but that's just what's gong to happen when you have a short book, and I don't think the length is a bad thing. Not every book needs to be 300 pages.

Um, that's about it besides two little nitpicks - it never says how old they are! My guess is 14-15 because Sam can't drive and it's not mentioned as out of the ordinary. Related to that is - I don't know if I quite believe kids that age know who Deep Purple are!

Mostly those last two are just me being silly - they don't really affect the reading experience, but I have a blog because I like talking about books, right?

Cover comments: Well, it caught my attention on the library website! I think it's quite cool. Not overly busy, but eye-catching. I think kids would like it, and also that it would look good as a neat little paperback. I've read Orca paperbacks before, and they are basically pocket sized, provided you don't have those horrible tiny/fake pockets.

Conclusion: Ultimately, I enjoyed this one. It was a nice, quick read, but not rushed or under developed. I think it would be great for younger readers as I mentioned before, but also for reluctant readers as it's short, but solid. Short books always have drawbacks just as a format, but they have their pros as well. If you're a quick reader like me, you can bang them out fairly quickly (unlike this review which took like three episodes of House Hunters to write, and like two episodes of this random house flipping show to type up and format), but reluctant readers are often drawn to them because they're shorter.

Basically, Bones and I are cool. We can totally be bros. I love mysteries in MG/YA, I love the archeology angle and totally have since I was a kid, and this is a very good, solid book. Solid 3.5 roses out of five, and a strong recommendation.



Please excuse any typos or weird sentences. I'm typing this up and posting this very late Sunday night because I have a little time, and I've been doing math all day, so my brain is a little fried. I wanted to get this up to go up on Monday, though.

Thanks for reading!

Peace and cookies,
Laina

Things I've Read Recently (12)

So if you're new around here, Things I've Read Recently is a series of blog posts I do that are basically mini-reviews for whatever reason. Right now you should be getting one on the first Monday of the month for at least three months. We'll see how I keep that up!

Heartbreak River by Tricia Mills

Published: April 16th, 2009 by Razorbill
Genre: Contemporary YA
Binding: ARC
Page Count: 248 in mine, 256 in the finished copy according to goodreads
Part of a series? Nope
Got via: I won it in a contest. I'm not that late with my reviews
Amazon / Book Depository / IndieBound

Summary (from goodreads): Alex thought she'd be spending the summer focused on her family's rafting business, burying the memories of her father's death last year, and leaving behind all the messes she made in its wake.

But when Sean returns to town, she is forced to reckon with her mixed-up crushy feelings for him - more powerful than ever before. It takes another tragedy to make Alex realize Sean has loved her, and forgiven her, all along.

Review: I hate to say it, but I wasn't wowed by this one. It was fine, but it just didn't do it for me. It was... fine. Just fine. It had some cute moments and it'd probably be a good beach read. But we just never seemed to click. I kept wanting more and it never really got there for me.

And then there were a few things that bothered me. There were a handful of cultural references that quite dated the book. It's only five years old. It shouldn't have felt as old as it did. There was some slutshaming and a couple of really gross moments of body shaming. One, calling a girl Sean might be dating a "fat ho". The girl, later in the book, is thin. So they're using that as an insult. "Fat" isn't an insult.

And then there was this lovely exchange:

I lifted my snacks. "I tend to eat when I'm upset. It's a wonder I'm not the size of Denmark by now."

"You're a long way from that."

"That's sweet of you to say, but you might want to reserve judgement until after I've scarfed all this."  

- pg. 68 of my ARC. I don't own a finished copy.
And apparently there is not one in EVERY SINGLE LIBRARY IN SASKATCHEWAN.
Anyone have one and could check that for me?

Why is it sweet for him to say she's not fat? What if he agreed, "Yeah, you're looking a little chubby lately"? Would that be an insult? In this book, apparently it is.

I know these aren't huge things to some people, but I find them thoughtless and flat-out rude. You will have fat readers. (Hi.) And now you've told them that looking like them is something insulting. It's probably not on purpose, but it is careless.

Besides really disliking that, I just didn't connect. So if you really wanna read it, go for it (although I just tried to find it on my library's website, thinking I could check an ebook version, maybe, and apparently it just doesn't exist. Not a single copy in all of Saskatchewan. What's up with that???), but honestly, I wouldn't reread it, and I might end up weeding it for the shelf space, honestly.

Oh, and trigger warning for suicide.

Scat by Carl Hiaasen

Published: 2009 by Random House
Genre: MG Contemporary, maybe a bit mystery
Binding: Paperback
Page Count: 371 pages
Part of a series? No, but the four kid books he's written would make a great boxed set or combination present if you wanted to give someone a gift
Got via: I bought it locally, actually

Summary (from goodreads): Bunny Starch, the most feared biology teacher ever, is missing. She disappeared after a school field trip to Black Vine Swamp. And, to be honest, the kids in her class are relieved.

But when the principal tries to tell the students that Mrs. Starch has been called away on a "family emergency," Nick and Marta just don't buy it. No, they figure the class delinquent, Smoke, has something to do with her disappearance.

And he does! But not in the way they think. There's a lot more going on in Black Vine Swamp than any one player in this twisted tale can see. And Nick and Marta will have to reckon with an eccentric eco-avenger, a stuffed rat named Chelsea, a wannabe Texas oilman, a singing substitute teacher, and a ticked-off Florida panther before they really begin to see the big picture.

That's life in the swamp, kids.

Review: Let's get this out of the way - I've read Hoot, Flush, and now Scat (there's a sentence) and they all sort of follow the same basic formula. Big business does something for money, threatens animals, kids save the day. But it works, you know? It's funny, it tackles some big issues, they have weird, wonderful characters in a way that works amazingly well in MG and it's just good.

Scat even does something I don't usually like - it uses multiple adult POVs along with Nick's, who is the only kid POV. And it does it really well. I also loved the focus on Nick's dad being a recent amputee due to serving in Iraq. Lots of kids with military parents could probably use this.

I also really like the cover. It's bright and colourful, but simple. I think kids would love it.

Random notes I couldn't fit in:

- Mild ableism
- Do people know how hard rigging is? Like it's really dangerous. That's why you make 25 dollars an hour to do it. It always seems a little weird to me when people use oil drilling as a "get rich quick" scheme
- Also crude oil stinks so it's not the easiest thing to sneak!

True Confessions of a Heartless Girl by Martha Brooks

Published: 2002 by Groundwood Books
Genre: Contemporary YA
Binding: Paperback
Page Count: 210 pages
Part of a series? Nope
Got via: It has a library stamp and the copyright date highlighted which means it had been more than 5 years since it was published when it was donated to the library. It was basically new though. But my library won't usually put in books that are over 5 years old, even if they are new

Summary (from goodreads): In the midst of a heaven-rattling summer storm a young stranger blows into a small prairie town. On the run after taking her latest boyfriend’s truck, with a pocketful of stolen money and a heart full of pain, seventeen-year-old Noreen Stall seems to invite trouble. And trouble comes soon enough as Noreen’s new mistakes trigger calamities that shake the lives of the residents of Pembina Lake: Lynda Bradley, a divorced mother and owner of a failing café who’s given up on life and love; Dolores Harper, the village elder who, in spite of her signature sweatshirt that says MEDDLING FOR JESUS, has lost her enthusiasm for helping others; and Del Armstrong, a middle-aged bachelor farmer who is still paying for the tragic events of his own seventeenth summer.

Set against the vast skies of a prairie landscape, with a rich cast of unforgettable characters and an unlikely heroine as endearing as she is tough, this affecting novel reminds readers that it’s never too late for forgiveness – and that sometimes the most unlikely messenger can deliver a small miracle.

Review: I'm kind of meh on this one. I mean, it was fine. But the problem was... it was just fine. I remember reading other books by Martha Brooks that I liked. But I just wasn't wowed. I liked how Canadian it was. There was a Co-op gas station in the town Noreen landed in! And there were a ton of POC which was awesome. Noreen's backstory was told in an interesting way.

But I think there was a little too much focus on adult POVs. I don't mind when they're well-done - and these were fine - but I think there could have been more Noreen POV, frankly. Oh, and warnings for child abuse, implied sexual assault, I guess is how I'll say it, and miscarriage.

All in all, fine book. Not one I'd reread, I think, and considering I only paid a quarter for it, I might just end up weeding this from my collection for the shelf space.

OH and this isn't the cover I have, but I couldn't find a picture online so we'll go with this one. It's close enough.

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Published: 2004 by Washington Square Press
Genre: Adult Contemporary
Binding: Paperback
Page Count: 423
Part of a series? Standalone
Got via: Either a library sale or a yard sale, I can't remember which. I think I got it fairly recently, though.

Summary (from goodreads): Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate -- a life and a role that she has never challenged...until now.

Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister -- and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves.

Review: I knew going into this I was going to cry. And hooboy did I cry. Buckets. Very damp buckets. What I didn't expect was how much I'd like it. I knew it was going to be good, probably. I knew it had sold like six bajillion copies and the movie looked really good and friends had told me they loved Jodi Picoult, that she was one of their favourite authors. But I thought it would be, honestly, dry and kind of boring. *hides* *cough* Stephen King *cough*

Well, I was wrong. It's told in 1st person, which helps for me a lot. A lot of 3rd person novels feel a little removed to me, frankly, especially in adult books. And I can totally understand now why so many younger readers love this book. It almost reads a lot like a YA, doesn't it? Most especially Anna's chapters. The others don't, always, and it kind of illustrates how different Anna's motivations were from everyone else's and also how very young she is.

Anna is such a good thirteen year old, she really is, and I so loved her voice. I just... I wanted to wrap her in blankets and feed her soup.

I won't go into too much of Spoiler Land, but I will talk about the ending a bit. My initial thought was that I hated the ending. That it wasn't fair and it made me cry and it hurt and I didn't like it at all. Having had a little space, I still think it was fair. But there's a QandA with Jodi at the end of the book and she states that this isn't an easy book and there are no easier answers. And I think... I think that's right and I think I'm okay with that.

I'm definitely keeping this one. I'm also excited to read the other Jodi Picoult books I've bought. Love this one, seriously.

Peace and cookies,
Laina

YA Review: The Break

The Break by Nelsa Roberto

Published: March 2012 by Great Plains Teen Fiction
Genre: Contemporary YA
Binding: Paperback
Page Count: 204 in my copy
Part of a series? Nope
Got via: The publisher sent me this along with two other books to review
Amazon  / IndieBound / Publisher's website since this is a smaller publisher

Summary (from goodreads): Watching Nonna 24/7 wouldn’t be such a big deal. We could do lots of stuff together. I just had to keep her busy.

Abby Lambert’s plans to ski with friends over spring break are ruined when her surgeon mother and stepfather announce they have to leave the country on an emergency medical mission. Instead of partying with her friends, Abby must stay home and look after her increasingly confused grandmother. At the nursing home where Nonna likes to play bingo, Abby runs into her notoriously aloof classmate, Kyle, who volunteers there. Despite his arrogance and mysterious past she finds herself drawn to him. Maybe staying home for spring break won’t be so bad — except for Nonna’s weird behaviour, which seems to be escalating.

Abby manages things pretty well … until one terrifying and desperate night, where life as she knows it changes forever.

Review: I was surprised by this one. You guys know I'm kind of hard to please when it comes to contemporary books, but this one worked for me. A whole lot of it was very cute and in general it was solid. I liked that so much of the book focused on Abby's relationship with her grandmother, especially, but also some with her mother. The romance was cute, if not my favourite part of the book.

I do kinda wish it were longer. But mostly it works as a short, quick read, and I think it would be good for some reluctant readers who aren't going to go for super long books. Might be a good book report book, you know? (...kids still do book reports, right? Or reasonable facsimiles? That has to be the only reason I get so many hits on certain reviews, lol.)

Plot Talk: So, basically, Abby's mom and step-dad end up going to Ecuador for a Doctors Without Borders thing and Abby has to skip a ski trip with her friends to look at her grandmother. Meanwhile, said grandmother is getting more confused, more frequently - and Abby's alone to deal with it.

(Somebody give me a high five for that!)

Anyways, it's a simple plot, but fairly strong. With the length of the book, a simple plot is the best idea so things don't get rushed. It was pretty well-paced, but occasionally I did wish that certain chapters or scenes had been given more time or a slower pace. A few did unfortunately come off somewhat rushed.

Characters: Abby was sweet. She absolutely loved her grandmother and wanted the best for her, even if she didn't really know what the best thing really was. She was well-intentioned, but didn't always make the best decisions and things got out of hand sometimes for her. That's realistic, you know? On the romance side, Kyle was okay. He was kind of underdeveloped and it felt like other characters told Abby (and therefore us) more about him than anything else. Part of me wishes the book had been longer so he could get more "screentime" without cutting into anyone else's.

Now on the other side of things, you have Nonna, Abby's grandmother. Very Italian, very much a grandmother. The book is very much about her and Abby and it's kind of heartbreaking watching her deteriorate and how Abby tries to deny it because she's scared. I also like how Abby and her mother start to work on their relationship, too. That was mostly towards the end, but it gave the ending a really hopeful note and having it be tentative and kind of new worked very well so that it wasn't clunky or overdone.

PG-13 stuff: The book does have a death in it. Not really anything for language, but there is some underage drinking and drug use. There is also an attempted sexual assault so be careful on that front. Be kind to yourself.

Cons, complaints, bad stuff, etc.: The length kind of comes back to me. If it had been maybe 50 pages longer, a lot of things could have shone more. I don't really think the length was bad, but it could have been better. Other than that, really, my only complaint is that sometimes the dialogue could be just a touch unrealistic. It was luckily rare, but still noticeable when it happened.

Cover comments: Eh. Out of the three books I got from Great Plains, this is my least favourite cover. I don't think it's terrible, but I'm not a huge fan of the floating head in the sky thing personally. It's really not bad, but I think it could be better.

Conclusion: The Break is a nice, quick read. There were some funny moments, some cute moments, some moments that made me sniffly. It did have a few little problems, but it was enjoyable and my favourite out of the three books I received to review, quite honestly. My over-all impression was that it was a solid book. And solid is good. A, heh, solid three and a half roses.



Other Notes:

- I couldn't fit it in, but there's a fair few "old people and teenagers can totally be friends" books. Some of them Skinnybones and the Wrinkle Queen, Being With Henry (I think, it's been a while since I read it), and, I'm assuming at least, since I just bought it and haven't read it yet, The Cardturner. Do you guys know any like that?

Peace and cookies,
Laina

YA Review: The Green-Eyed Queen of Suicide City

Hey, trigger warnings on this one - for suicide especially, okay, guys? Be kind to yourself. Don't read things that aren't good for you.

Alright, let's get on to the review!

The Green-Eyed Queen of Suicide City by Kevin Marc Fournier

Published: April 24th, 2012 by Great Plains Teen Fiction
Genre: YA Paranormal
Binding: Paperback
Page Count: 198
Part of a series? Nope.
Got via: The publisher sent it to me to review.
Amazon (Paperback) / Amazon (Ebook) / Book Depository / IndieBound / And since it's a smaller publisher, here's the link on their website.

Summary (from goodreads): Bethany, a beautiful and popular teen, hangs herself the night before Halloween. Her devoted sister Rose follows her into a frozen death, and into a city where trees bleed along the banks of a river of blood. Meanwhile, Addy is visiting from Montreal, determined that Natalie's mother will give birth to her baby while she is there.

Ghostly footprints and dangling corpses, a baby born in a snowstorm, a mysterious cemetery, one girl who never sleeps and another who craves blood, New Year's fireworks and an unexpected kiss - all tied to a legendary queen who lives in the hidden centre of Suicide City.

Review: Guys, I don't know. Maybe this just isn't my thing. Maybe it's completely me, but something about this just didn't do it for me. It wasn't really hard to get into or slow to read or anything like that. The voice was decently compelling, even with the switching between 1st and 3rd person which I generally think clashes a little. But... I guess it felt like the book was building and building and building - and then it ended. The ending felt so much more like a middle than anything and there was a lot left danging. It felt unfinished.

In general, the premise was strange. Again, it might be me. I don't know. Maybe it was just that I couldn't get into the Suicide City thing. I just... it was horrifying. Terrifying. And maybe it's a thing for me that the idea that people who hurt that badly would hurt for the rest of eternity, maybe it's just a thing I can't get into. I really don't know. I just... I can't say I enjoyed those chapters, and the ending was... it got bad and it didn't feel hopeful, even. Just kind of horrible.

Plot Talk: This is a hard book to do a plot thingie for. Basically, Natalie's chapters tell what happened to her in the weeks leading up to Rose's death, and Rose's chapters describe what happens after her death and in her search to find her sister in the Suicide City.

Characters: So, The Green-Eyed Queen was told through alternating POVs. The contemporary/"normal" chapters were told in the 1st person POV of Natalie. I liked Natalie a lot. Her chapters are set a few months in the past, largely, leading up to Rose's death. Most of her chapters were more reminiscing, telling things slowly, and for the most part they weren't much linked to Rose's besides a few little glimpses into her life. Apparently they were close for some time, but that wasn't explored much and they weren't close when Rose died.

Rose was, well, dead. She was kind of numb at first more than anything, but her chapters didn't feel removed like some 3rd person POVs can, which I admire. The book never really talked about why she killed herself or anything besides that once she was in the City, she was desperate to find her sister. While Natalie's story ends with some decent closure in her arc and growth in her character, although there were still some dangling threads. However, Rose's storyline felt very unfinished. It really felt like her story was only half done.

The other characters were solid, nothing amazing. Natalie's best friend Addy was pretty typical, the "wild" best friend, you know? Raised by a single mom, eccentric. Not that unique, ironically, for how the book tried to make her unique and special. And I actually really liked Natalie's mom. She was cool. On Rose's side, the characters weren't as well developed. There were a lot more characters and they would come and go fairly quickly and fairly frequently.

All in all, I kind of wanted everyone to have more time to shine and with the book being so short, it just doesn't happen.

PG-13 stuff: Mostly mild language. One or two f-bombs that really stood out for how little other language there was. On the trigger-y side of things, there's a lot of talk about suicide, obviously, some of it cavalier. There ends up being a lot of gore and (SPOILER) there's even cannibalism. Sometimes, honestly, it's gross and disturbing. Especially the last couple chapters.

Cons, complaints, bad stuff, etc.: I think I've figured out what my biggest issue was with this book - it felt more like two books than one. One was basically a friend dealing with grief contemporary book, one was a pretty dark paranormal book. I don't know if that really worked for me. Because I really liked Natalie's story, but Rose's story was not super my thing and it just didn't match. And while Natalie's story wraps up decently, Rose's just kind of ends in, you know, unspeakable horror. There's basically no resolution for her at all.

There was also some slut-shaming and some comments about rape that were kind of gross. I wasn't fond of that. It got too close to jokey.

And this isn't exactly bad, but I thought it was weird - Natalie's step-dad is black... and it's not said until page 73. Out of 198. Almost all the other characters were described by page 2-3. It just kind of stood out in a jarring way.

Cover comments: It's fine, you know. It suits the story. I think it's really nice for a small-press, especially.

Conclusion: This is such a hard one for me. I thought the premise sounded so interesting, but the execution just didn't work for me. Some of the gore really grossed me out, I'm sorry to say. It felt so separated, so much like two different books, and neither of them really felt long enough. At the end of the book, I wanted more, not because I loved it so much, but because it felt so unfinished. This easily could have been 400 pages and it would have been so much more satisfying.

*sigh* I feel so wishy-washy! I have such a hard time rating this because I liked the Natalie chapters, but the Rose chapters didn't work for me. I guess I'll have to go with a 2.5 for this one.



Other Notes:

- EYEBALLS
- That's all, I just needed to say that.
- There's a moment where a farm they called a "PMU farm, a pregnant-mare's-urine farm. It's where they take the" [urine] "out of pregnant horses and sell it to make birth control pills." There's a farm around here that my aunt told me was that, so I googled it. Turns out? Most birth controls these days are synthetic hormones. The only hormones made from horse urine are actually used in hormone replacement therapy. For menopause. I don't know if it's the same type of thing used in other HRT. And there are only one or two I could find, which are being more and more replaced by synthetic hormones since those have been proven to not be great for people.

I know things sometimes.

Peace and cookies,
Laina

YA Review: How to Tend a Grave

Look, another review! I'm kinda proud of myself, heh.

Okay, this is a serious book, so let's get serious and pretend that Olivia Newton John's Physical didn't start playing in my head the second I said "let's get serious".

How to Tend a Grave by Jocelyn Shipley

Published: March 2012 by Great Plains Teen Fiction
Genre: Contemporary YA
Binding: Paperback
Page Count: 178
Part of a series? No.
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): When Liam’s mom is killed, he thinks life can’t get any worse. He’s wrong. He’s forced to live with a grandfather he’s never known, in a small town where kids called Youth and Crime lead the local gang. They’re posers, but they mean trouble, and their favourite hangout is the cemetery where Liam’s mom is buried. But the cemetery is also where Liam meets Harmony, a gorgeous but unusual girl who records the names of all the babies buried there long ago. Besides their grief, both Liam and Harmony have secrets.

The very different stories of these two fifteen-year-olds interweave brilliantly in this fast-paced, engaging and unforgettable novel about family, love and healing.

Review: Little bit of background - if you don't know (and you may not), Great Plains Publications is an indie Canadian publisher and they publish YA under the Great Plains Teen Fiction label. And now you know something new!

How to Tend a Grave is told through the alternating POVs of Liam and Harmony. Liam loses his mom at the beginning of the book and, through Harmony's diary entries, we learn that she has recently had a late-term miscarriage. The book deals largely with the process of them both grieving. I kind of have a lot of mixed feelings about it. I liked a lot of it, but I also had some issues with it. I thought that the Harmony parts, being that they were in first person, were much stronger than Liam's third person parts. His parts tended to be kind of rushed with not enough time to really get into his characterization or motivation. In fact, the whole book could have done with expanding a lot of scenes. This easily could have been a 300 page book and it would have been a lot better, I think.

Plot Talk: The plot had some very unique aspects. Liam's plot wasn't entirely unique - dead parent, move to new town, get into trouble - but his mother being a sex worker was something that I don't really see that often. And I really actually liked how the author presented that. His mom wasn't a drug addict or anything, and, while Liam hated that she was gone a lot at night and wasn't exactly comfortable with the idea of his mother having sex at all, it was treated respectfully and she wasn't really shamed for her choices for most of the book, besides when Liam latched onto it as part of his grieving process.

But the part that I thought was absolutely unique was Harmony's plot. Her POV comes in the form of journal entries. She's almost sixteen and she's dealing a recent late-term miscarriage. What's unique, I think, is that she has such mixed feelings about it. She's grieving, she's sad, she wants the baby back, but she's relieved, she's guilty, she's guilty about being relieved, she knows she probably didn't want to be a teen mom. It's a really interesting story that I actually would have loved a lot more of in the book.

Characters: The biggest characters are Liam and Harmony. Liam, again, is dealing with the recent loss of his mom. Unfortunately, I think because of the rushed pacing and maybe even the choice to use third person in writing his POV, he comes off kind of flat. You don't really know that much about him at the end of the book. His motivations in going along with the Youth 4 Crime gang is vague and doesn't make sense. His character could have been a lot deeper and more complex, and I'm disappointed it wasn't.

Harmony's character seemed a lot more developed, which is funny because she got fewer chapters. Maybe it was because she had interests and stuff, or because we learned more about her parents, I'm not sure. Maybe it was just because her POV was in first person. But you felt like you knew Harmony more, and her voice was much stronger than Liam's. And I hate to say it, but she was honestly just more interesting than Liam.

I also thought it was a very strong point that she talked pretty frankly about her miscarriage.  Her journal entries are addressed to her lost baby, suggested as a grief tool by a counsellor. I think it was unique that, while obviously it was sad and scary and everything, she didn't gloss over the medical side of the miscarriage, if that makes sense. She talked about how she bled without it sounding like a horror movie, about having medical procedures, about how she didn't want to see the baby. It's not unemotional, mind you. But it rings very true to life. It feels like how a fifteen year old girl might react in that situation, even her slightly-odd coping methods.

Harmony's parents were imperfect. They put a lot of pressure on her to keep the baby even though she wasn't sure she wanted to - and in fact was at one point very sure she didn't want to. Harmony even states that she felt her parents made the choice for her because they wanted another chance at having a kid, since they'd only been able to have her. They are also grieving throughout the book, and it takes most of it for their relationship to be better at all. I actually wish there had been more about them healing, maybe even a confrontation since Harmony had a lot of feelings hidden.

Liam's grandfather was pretty neat. I liked the way he and Liam bonded over his garden. I do again wish that they'd had more screentime, though. He's another one who suffered from the book being so short.

Cons, complaints, bad stuff, etc.: The voice, especially in Liam's POV, is rough sometimes. There are a lot of scenes that really could have been expanded to deepen the characterization and it does end up feeling rushed because of that and some characters come off shallow.

Okay, this next part is going to be a little spoilery. Not terribly much, but a little. Skip it if you want, but it shouldn't ruin anything. Why is everything that's a con a spoiler? Alright. So it comes out at one point that there was a forty-five year old who had an affair with a seventeen year old. Who was his student, as he was her history teacher. And this character's father says this:

"If I'd known at the time... and I didn't. And he swears it was mutual. Which doesn't excuse him, but I didn't. And he swears it was mutal. Which doesn't excuse him, but he might not be completely to blame. You have to realize that (character) was seductive."

NO. This is victim blaming. I don't care what the age of consent was (and yes, in 1996, it was stupid in Canada and way too low as far as I'm concerned). When you are forty-five, you cannot have sex with your seventeen year old student and call it consensual. That student is a child who you are in a positition of authority over. I just... I had a lot of problems with that and I didn't blame the character who ended up being enraged and disgusted by it.

PG-13 stuff: The afore mentioned spoilery part. Harmony's miscarriage is discussed frankly, along with the conception (which she does not remember - trigger warning on that). Liam's mother is a sex worker and that's also discussed frankly. There is, weirdly, not a lot of language going on. There's some violence.

Cover comments: I really like the cover. The contrast of the pink of the roses against the mostly grey cover is lovely. It's also very presentative of both plots. The gravestone being Liam's plot, the mobile being more of Harmony's. It's beautifully designed and absolutely eye-catching.

Conclusion: I wanted to like this one so much more than I did! I love finding great Canadian Lit and I really thought it sounded amazing. Unfortunately, it really suffered from being so short and such quick pacing, and Liam's chapters were weak. Because I did like Harmony's chapters a lot, I'm going to give this a three out of five.



Other notes:

- This is set in the fictional town of Dunlane, Ontario. There are, however, ghost towns named Dunblane in both Ontario and Saskatchewan, apparently, and a Dunblane in Scotland. And sad things happened there.
- It's mentioned that Harmony's mom is part Asian, so Harmony is biracial. Diversity, yay.
- Worst gang name ever.

Alright, what do you guys think about this one?

Peace and cookies,
Laina