Graceling (YA 2008) - Kristin Cashore

Kristin Cashore's YA novel Graceling is far better than its book trailer, which comes as no real surprise. The trailer does give you the basic information: Katsa is a Graceling, a person born with an unusual gift. You can spot Gracelings by their eyes, each a different color. These graces vary in kind and importance: one might be able to talk backwards. Another might be able to predict the weather. Katsa's grace is....well, killing people.

It's a grace she uses in service to her king. She's not required to kill all the time, just when necessary. Often it's her fighting skills that are called upon as in the book's opening. Katsa is sent by the king to rescue a man kidnapped by the leader of another kingdom. While on this mission, Katsa learns that there's more to this rescue mission than she was led to believe. She's about to begin a journey that will reveal things about the seven kingdoms that she's never suspected. And, of course, she's going to learn something about herself. This is, after all, a "quest" fantasy.

Graceling will be familiar enough to most fantasy readers, yet sprinkled with fresh ideas and interesting characters. Sure, there's some formula at work, but the story kept me engaged, although there's a little too much romance for my taste. This is definitely one of the better of the Books for the Beast selections I've read this year. Recommended.

(Note that the new book in the Graceling series, Fire, is actually a prequel.)

Unwind (YA 2007) - Neal Shusterman

The premise of the near-future YA novel Unwind:

Pro-Life and Pro-Choice groups battled it out and decided on a compromise in the form of The Bill of Life, which states that life is sacred and not to be tampered with until a person reaches the age of thirteen. At that time, parents may "retroactively abort" or "unwind" their children, sending them to "harvest camps" where body parts and organs can be removed and given to those who need them. So who gets unwound? Bad kids? Juvenile criminals? Orphans? Wards of the state? The answer is anyone. Until a person reaches the age of eighteen, when life once again becomes sacred, it's a fight for survival.

Shusterman tracks the intertwining lives of three kids: Connor, a troublemaker whose parents have had enough of him; Risa, a ward of the state being unwound to free up space at the orphanage; and Lev, the tenth child of strict religious parents who have offered him up as a "tithe."

So many important moral, philosophical and cultural issues are raised in Unwind, I'm going to let you discover them for yourself. Shusterman has succeed not only in producing a first rate thriller, but also a look into our social conscience. Highly recommended.

Deadville (YA 2008) - Ron Koertge

Ron Koertge’s Deadville is one of those quiet little novels that could easily slip off the radar into oblivion. It certainly doesn’t deserve such a fate. What the novel lacks in action and adventure, it more than makes up for in humanity and self-discovery.

Since his sister died of cancer two years earlier, Ryan has been pretty much sleepwalking through high school and life, listening to his iPod and/or getting stoned most of his waking hours. When Charlotte, the most popular girl in school, has an accident and falls into a coma, Ryan feels compelled to visit her hospital room every day. He hardly knows her and she’s way out of his league, but he shows up like clockwork anyway.

Just when you think the novel is coming dangerously close to displaying the typical YA stereotypes (the distanced parents, the school bullies, the unapproachable girl, etc.), Koertge does something wonderful and/or beautiful. This is one of those rare novels that contains plenty of teenage humor without sacrificing humanity. Ryan does go through a personal transformation, but it’s not one of startling revelations coming on the heels of dangerous confrontations. His transformation happens so slowly that less careful readers may not even be aware of what’s happened. But something has happened. It’s not often that I read any YA novel and tell myself, “I’d like to read that again,” but it sure happened with Deadville.

YA Overload

It certainly looks like November (or at least the second half of November) is going to be YA Month. All of the above have either just come in at the library or have been recommended to me by people whose opinions I value. Right now I'm listening to The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves by M.T. Anderson. So far there's no indication that this volume will not be as superb as the first, a beautifully written engaging novel. This volume may even be better. Anderson never ceases to amaze me.

I've certainly enjoyed them, but haven't been blown away by the last few things I've read from Neil Gaiman, but The Graveyard Book may change all that. Everything I've heard has been stellar.

The same can be said for The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. Just try putting the book down after this opening line:

The first thing you find our when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don't got nothing much to say.

And then there's Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams, recommended by a co-worker.

I might need a little grown-up reading in December...