Newly-Reads
****THE LAST TRUE POETS OF THE SEA by Julia Drake (Hyperion, 2019). This is a tightly woven, gripping novel. One of its strengths is style: the teen protagonist's voice is convincingly carried by a graceful stream of polished prose, at once lyrical and idiomatic. This combination is rather Shakespearean, and indeed the novel is loosely modeled on "Twelfth Night." Readers familiar with that play will enjoy a resonance here and there, but those who aren't won't know they're missing anything.
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Drake's protagonist, Violet, is a vibrant, complicated character who keeps surprising herself. She wobbles between recklessness and courage, making some bad choices, some good friends, and some important discoveries about herself and her family. As her journey crosses paths with others, Drake insightfully explores the tensions between teenage self-discovery and obligations to parents and siblings.
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In many YA novels, family is a mere foil for the peer-centered plot. Here, the family relationships are just as complicated, just as much a matrix for revelation and growth as the peer group, yet the two are not complimentary. The demands compete and the choices Violet makes in each have an impact on the other. One of the lessons Violet learns is that her choices matter, not just to herself.
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Readers who have a sibling with mental illness will especially appreciate Drake's nuanced portrayal of Violet's emotional conflicts as she comes to terms with her brother's suicide attempt and ongoing struggles. To Drake's credit, every character in the novel--peer or parent--is individualized, shaped by losses, anxieties, desires, flawed coping strategies; shown to be vulnerable, and not judged. Nobody's perfect. People try.
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Though the themes are serious, the plot is more of a romp, involving a summer job at a run-down aquarium, two love interests, and the hunt for a shipwreck Violet's ancestor survived. The coastal setting is beautifully captured. Each page is textured by compelling concrete details and descriptions of Violet's physical sensations, including her panic attacks and her sexual relationship with Liv. Violet is attracted to people of both genders, but resists the label "bisexual." NOTE: The book is frank about drinking, and marijuana, and especially female sexuality, which may be welcome to some and not to others. Recommended for upper teens, who may then want to read "Twelfth Night"!
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***THE EXPLORER by Katherine Rundell (Simon & Schuster, 2017). I had a few quibbles, but they were outweighed by the beautiful prose and mesmerizing story of four children who survive a small plane crash and meet up with a hermit living in the jungle somewhere in South or Central America, who finally agrees to help them. The time frame is hazy (early 20th century), as are all the characters' back stories; some details don't add up, and the author is not critical enough of the colonial tensions between the English characters and their surroundings. But the setting is so powerfully evoked and the survival story so gripping that most readers won't be too bothered.
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****SCAT, by Carl Hiaasen (Knopf, 2009). Hilarious and so well plotted, with important themes about environmentalism and capitalist greed, and characters who explode stereotypes (especially of delinquent boys). It's probably a bit longer than it needed to be, but I loved it. Especially recommended for teenage boys who don't love school.
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****LIONS AND LIARS, by Kate Beasley (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2018). A lively comic romp involving a boat wreck, a camp for delinquent boys, and an oncoming hurricane. Smart about group dynamics and the ups and downs of friendships between middle school boys, who may be particularly tempted to put their own social standing above the well being of even their closest friends. Highly recommended. Also recommended by the same author: GERTIE'S LEAP TO GREATNESS, which has the most winning deeply flawed character since Harriet the Spy.
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*****TUMBLE AND BLUE, by Cassie Beasley (Dial, 2017). One of my very favorite middle-grade novels, this is the wonderful story of two cursed kids who set out to undo the legacy foisted on them by their respective family histories. It's is a delightfully vivid, entertaining story that also explores big questions about power of heritage and shows characters coping with poverty and less than perfect parenting. Highly recommended. Also recommended by the same author: CIRCUS MIRANDUS and its sequel, THE BOOTLACE MAGICIAN (which has the best annoying character ever, a prima donna parrot named Chintzy).
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Classic Favorites
MARY POPPINS and the four sequels, by P.L. Travers. These wonderful books hold up quite well (better than the movies) because the main character is so tart and strict. She's like the teacher you hated at the time but later realized was your best. Also, of course, the very un-Hollywood, real fairy tale magic (think of the old women with gingerbread fingers pasting stars in the sky) is paired with an intense, unsentimental portrayal of the real work of work and class dynamics. Not to be missed by any child, ever.
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THE DARK IS RISING sequence, by Susan Cooper. I loved this series as a middle-schooler, and aspire to strike the same balance between social realism, enchanting magic, and the moral seriousness of a cosmic struggle between good and evil.
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Y.A.
Great realistic novels about problems that concern teens (self-image, friends and first love, social belonging vs. isolation, dysfunctional families, and conflicts with parents: TANGERINE by Edward Bloor (Harcourt, 1997), FAT KID RULES THE WORLD by K.L. Going (Speak, 2003) and FAR FROM THE TREE by Robin Benway (Harper Collins, 2017).