Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Young Adult

  • Gateways by Jessica Schaub – Y/A Fantasy

    Mind bending is one thing, but when teenager Victoria Nike paints her landscapes – and then falls through them into another dimension – you know you’re in for a treat in this charming and intelligent fantasy, Gateways.

    There are many similarities between Victoria’s story and that of Dorothy Gale: the emerging of special powers, real or imagined; companions both human and beast; an ultimate confrontation with a wicked witch.

    That said, in Gateways, Jessica Schaub has created a wonderful fantasy that takes readers on a journey into parallel worlds, where mages – beings who can invoke the elements and use their energy – coexist with sphinxes and other fantastic beasts. It’s also a tale of self-discovery, of innocence lost and wisdom gained. Schaub succeeds in placing teenagers into a story of mystic powers and magical without her characters losing their modern savvy and their wisecracker-y. This refined skill in storytelling keeps the elements of this story believable.

    When Victoria sees her mother’s growing distress, she notices her world changing in subtle ways as well. She retreats into the art room at school, where she paints. When she abruptly finds herself inside of her painting, she has no idea of how to climb out. Her art teacher, Anna Witherspoon, comes to her rescue. Anna is a Painter of gateways, and so, apparently, is Victoria.

    When she returns home, Victoria and her twin best friends, Tucker and Bobby Martin, are told by their parents to flee. “No matter what,” Mr. Martin tells his boys, “keep her safe.” Victoria takes Tucker to hide with her inside a painting of a forest.

    But that particular painting holds a prisoner, Lucian – a fallen mage accused of murder. Lucian wastes no time in escaping with the painting – the portal leading back to Victoria’s world – and so she, Tucker, Bobby, and Anna have no choice but to set off to recapture him in order to stop him from perpetrating further harm.

    This is a coming-of-age novel, and much like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, Victoria learns that things aren’t always as they seem. Bad people turn good, and good turn bad. Family history enlightens and relationships shift. But that is life and Victoria realizes that though her world has suddenly opened into ever-expanding opportunities, there truly is no place like home.

    A great read with a magical – air-bending quality that will draw the reader in and not allow them to leave until the very last page.

    5 Star Best Book Chanticleer Reviews round silver sticker

  • Tupelo Honey by Lis Anna Langston – Y/A

    Tupelo Honey by Lis Anna Langston – Y/A

    A stick-to-the-ribs portrait of an extraordinary girl who overcomes the deck stacked against her in the deep South. Tupelo Honey is one of our favorites.

    When you read more than a hundred books per year, it’s exciting to find one that surprises you. Tupelo Honey by Lis Anna Langston is one of those, sneaking up quietly to bust expectations and leaves you thinking about the story long after closing the book.

    Part of the surprise comes from being able to read on multiple levels. On the surface, it’s a sardonic YA adventure through tough modern times. Underneath, a unique and subtle paranormal story grounded in today’s world. At the deep level, a poignant coming-of-age tale about what it’s like to be a neglected child in a twisted family, and how spirit and smarts let one avoid a doom that seems inevitable.

    Tupelo Honey is a preteen girl in Mississippi whose mother is an abusive junkie. Her father is unknown but his place is filled by a compassionate drug dealer; her grandmother can offer only love and shelter; her uncles are both crazy; her best friend is suppressed by severely religious parents. Then there’s Mooshi, her invisible pal—half human, half dog—who comforts and helps through his silent presence. Only Tupelo Honey can see him.

    She accepts his existence (and others’ disbelief) without question, just as she accepts the poverty, insecurity, and frequent illegality of her life. While she’s wise beyond her years, she’s also still a child who craves loving parents and safe routine. There are so many abnormal people in her world that she takes them as normal, so her emotional reactions are low key where more privileged and conventional people would be freaked out.

    This gives the book a sort of creepy, quiet tone from the opening page that seduces the reader onward. Tupelo Honey simply tells her story as she grows through the year that turns her life around.

    The author has mastered the art of showing versus telling, giving just enough information so the reader can figure out what’s going on without having to back up or skip forward. Nothing about Tupelo Honey’s story is familiar enough to guess what’s going to happen next, making it an understated page-turner for youth and adults.

    5 Star Best Book Chanticleer Reviews round silver sticker

  • CREATURA (Book 1) by Nely Cab – Do Dreams Come True? YA Paranormal #Mortal

    CREATURA (Book 1) by Nely Cab – Do Dreams Come True? YA Paranormal #Mortal

    A young girl living in Los Fresnos, Texas, whose loss of control over her dreams sets her on a long journey to discover how hundreds of years of history between gods and humans will turn her life upside down in the first book of this paranormal young adult series.

    Isis Martin, a high school junior just starting to think about college plans, is living with her single mother Claire, who separated from her father just before his death. Her biggest problems are her recent breakup with her first love Gabriel and her lack of sleep, the latter of which is caused by a recurring nightmare in which a terrifying and mysterious creature that returns every night to threaten her.

    Frustrated with the nightmare, Isis confronts the creature, who surprises her by questioning why she has intruded on his realm. He teaches her about a history between humans and gods that she doesn’t want to believe – until he forces her to by proving himself to be real by showing up at her high school.

    Everyone is intrigued by the mysterious and alluring new student, David, but Isis is more intent on getting away from him and his disturbing past. He, on the other hand, is hell-bent on figuring out how a typical girl can intrude on the divine realm in her sleep. David works against the prejudices built by hundreds of years of complicated and bloody history between the mortals and gods to try and understand Isis.

    As David and Isis work together to figure out what her dreams mean, they are impeded by his meddling family, her well-meaning but nosy mom, and her ex, Gabriel, popping up at an inopportune time.

    Cab’s first novel in her series has some of the expected elements in a typical teen paranormal romance and a few unpredictable developments. Her overarching plot about the long history between Greek gods and humans cleverly adds a new and unique twist to a familiar paranormal narrative.

    Cab’s main character, Isis, shows herself to be tough and an independent thinker early on in the novel, which makes her an easy character readers will easily identify with. But, as is common with teen paranormal romance, the roles of the characters are clearly defined. Nevertheless, their romantic narrative has a sweet nature and more than a few affectionate moments that readers will appreciate.

    An unexpected delight of the novel was the wonderful relationship between Isis and her mother, Claire. They have an amazing amount of care and adoration for each other, but they also treat each other with mutual respect and friendly nature of two gals helping each other sort through their complicated romances. The interactions between Isis and Claire provide entertaining reprieve from the rest of the plot.

    Overall, Cab uses traditional romantic narratives to appeal to avid paranormal readers, and she makes it stand out by developing an entertaining history between divine beings and mortals.

    This is our pick for young readers experiencing “Twilight” withdrawals and hungering to get their hands on a unique take on a familiar struggle between two lovers plagued by forces beyond their control.

  • JANE SINCLAIR by Tom Edwards – 1800s romantic adventure

    JANE SINCLAIR by Tom Edwards – 1800s romantic adventure

    A rich romantic adventure set in late 1800s England that is suitable for Young Adults and fans of Romantic fiction, “Jane Sinclair” touches on personal themes of success and failure interwoven with major social and economic issues of the era.

    The tale’s heroine, Jane, is the only child of a Hampshire farming couple that dote on her and offer her every opportunity for education. Clearly exceptional, the girl soaks up learning so that by the time she encounters the upper-class Charles Cholmondelay, destined for study at Oxford, she proves herself his intellectual equal while charming his heart.

    However, his father, the brutal Sir Richard, is determined his son will have nothing to do with a commoner; his threats to her family cause Jane to run away to London, where, desperate and penniless, she fortuitously winds up in the household of a kindly man named Bob. Bob will all but adopt Jane, and, impressed by her honesty and intelligence, will help to set her up in a small business and, ultimately, in the management of a garment factory. There Jane shows her considerable entrepreneurial and leadership skills, and, recalling her own humble origins, demonstrates that she is well ahead of her time in wishing for her factory workers to have basic rights and to be treated more humanely—a cause which is ahead of its time.

    Making a name for herself as the lone female in a high-level business position, Jane meets again with Charles, now graduated and ready to work as a lawyer. They plan to marry soon, but Charles decides he needs one last adventure before he settles down. He sets off to sea with friends, while Jane goes to France and to inspect and purchase a new exotic clothing line. She also develops a friendship with members of the Suffragette movement and shows herself an admirable public speaker on their behalf. When she hears that Charles and his friends have been shipwrecked, though, her idyllic world collapses and she nearly dies from despair. Charles meanwhile is the captive of ruthless pirates, and escape seems all but hopeless.

    The author of this intricately layered saga, Australian Tom Edwards, is himself an artist and adventurer; the scenes he depicts of Charles at sea doubtless come from his own experiences in the Royal Navy, sailing around the world with friends in a small boat, and living in many unusual locales.

    On nearly every page of his tightly constructed story he demonstrates the care he has taken with historical detail, down to the soap brand Jane will use, the clothing she chooses to wear and manufacture, and even the toilets, or “WCs,” she insists on providing for her workers. The dialogue and use of idiomatic phrases also show much care, as does Jane’s a brush with a real person, Mrs. Goulden, mother of the noted English suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst.

    Jane Sinclair by Tom Edwards deftly combines an entertaining and well-conceived rags-to-riches story from the female viewpoint, with a passionate tale of love lost and regained, a stirring vision of manly exploits on the high seas, and a respectful acknowledgment of the ideals of the early feminist movement.

  • I, ANGUS: Book 4 of the Eternity Series by Mike Hartner – historical fiction

    I, ANGUS: Book 4 of the Eternity Series by Mike Hartner – historical fiction

    Immediately, readers are swept up in an adventure taking place in Northern Scotland during these harrowing times. The English have invaded and land is bereft with broken homes and broken families. In particular the story follows the war-ravaged life of fifteen-year-old, Angus Mackenzie. As the first pages of the book unfold Angus is tasked with leaving the safety of his family’s castle to deliver a message from his father to a neighboring king.

    The trip is not an easy one nor is it without profound dangers. Twists and turns occur not only on the trail, but in the journey itself. Eventually Angus makes it to neighboring castle and comes upon Angela, the daughter of the king he was to deliver his father’s message to. Angela is alone in the castle. The return of her father’s rider-less horse one day, was an ominous sign.

    What ensues is the pairs quest to find her father. As the story unfolds these two teens who have been through so much, fall in love in the midst of dark times and terrible hardships. Their travels in search of her father lead them to a battlefield and a cave where they take up temporary residence and nurse wounded soldiers back to health. Thus begins Angus’ personal journey as he grapples with challenges and trials that will test him and shape him.

    Mike Hartner delivers in a young-adult book that is rich in historical details and large on adventure.The author does an exceptional job of making readers care about his main character, Angus. They become emotionally attached to Angus as a young adult and invested in the story as he progresses through middle aged adulthood. Utilizing war torn Scotland as the backdrop Mike Hartner has delivered a gem of a historical fiction novel certain to please many a young adult reader.

    I, Angus is another addition to author Mike Hartner’s The Eternity Series.  Each of the books tells its own story so they can be read as stand-alone volumes. The author presents a main character readers will become emotionally invested in. Set in war torn Scotland and rich in medieval lore with castles and kings and knights, this story will surely please many young adult readers.

  • ALONG the WAY HOME by Christi Corbett — a harrowing cross-country journey in 1843

    ALONG the WAY HOME by Christi Corbett — a harrowing cross-country journey in 1843

    A headstrong young woman, her much younger brother, and their widowed father procure the services of a reluctant trail guide to take them from their well-to-do home in Virginia across the country to their new homestead in the Oregon territory in 1843.

    The wealthy Davis family, though burdened by the loss of their mother, is doing well tending to their profitable hardware business in Virginia. Kate Davis is quite happy spending her days helping her father take care of the business, despite the disapproval of those who thinks she should be more focused on finding a husband than balancing budgets. But Kate’s father shocks her and her brother one day by announcing his plan to sell family business and start anew in Oregon, packing up the life she has known and loved.

    Though they are able to find an experienced guide for their journey, they are starting late into the season missing opportunities to join up with a wagon train. The small party heads out on their own on the unforgiving Oregon Trail. 

    Their guide, Jake, finds himself struggling to convince a privileged family of the sacrifices they must make in order to make to survive the journey across country along with just how  untamed the Wild West is.

    Christi Corbett’s “Along the Way Home” is a thoroughly researched examination of the troubles and misfortunes faced by hundreds of thousands of settlers, ranchers, farmers and families that made their way across the perilous Oregon Trail in the mid-19th century. Though the plot has expected moments, they are scenes that many readers will not have seen coming. The unexpected pitfalls and sidetracks mirror the unpredictability travelers faced along the infamous route. 

    The historical plot and research definitely aren’t the only draw of this novel. Corbett’s characters are all layered with rich backstories and relate-able misgivings as they learn and adapt to the harsh journey. Kate is an easy heroine to get behind as she matures from being pampered by servants and overly concerned about societal expectations to transforming into a persevering young woman who endures pain and heartache while braving incredible dangers and taking risks. Readers will also root for Jake, a weary trail guide with a tragic childhood who respectfully and tirelessly helps the Davis family despite all that their ignorance of the dangers that awaits them, which puts him in harm’s way again and again as he rescues them from their own guileless ways.

    The rich and heartwarming romance that develops through connection during hardships and loss will be an endearing point for many readers. Natural dialogue and rich imagery make the novel flow well and allow the reader to focus on the plot and the adversities of the adventurers.

    Along the Way Home by Christi Corbett is sure to satisfy those seeking a heartwarming read but will really attract pioneer history buffs and those who enjoy reading about the real-life drama of the Wild West. It is a page-turning novel that accounts the harrowing cross-country journey of courageous pioneers whose risk everything to follow their dreams. 

  • WOLF EYE’S SILENCE – Book 1 by Elisabeth Ward – an enlightening and satisfying tale of the Old West

    WOLF EYE’S SILENCE – Book 1 by Elisabeth Ward – an enlightening and satisfying tale of the Old West

    This is a page-turning story of survival that takes place in the Old West. It is a story about one cultures struggle to maintain their identity while the other embarks on expanding their own. “Wolf Eye’s Silence” is the first in a five-book series by Elisabeth Ward. Set in the Wyoming Territory and covering the time period from 1864 to 1880 the story follows two brothers. Deeply entrenched in the interactions between the Cheyenne and the onrush of whites from the East are twelve-year old Samuel Ferguson and his thirteen-year old brother Johnny whom we follow over the course of twenty years.

    In the opening pages of the book the brothers are separated from their parents and wagon train which has been attacked by Indians. Their father is killed in the wagon train attack and they watch helplessly as their mother is led away by rope, a captive of the attacking Cheyenne. As first instincts take hold they do what anyway young boy would do: they run and hide. Eventually they are rescued by a US Army scouting party and taken to Fort Teton.

    The boys are taken in by the commanding officer, Major Armstrong and his wife, Bessie. The boys however handle the horrible event that they witnessed in opposite ways. Johnny readily adapts, pitches in to assist in day-to-day life, but Sammy becomes withdrawn, barely speaking or interacting with others. Major Armstrong imparts a respect for all inhabitants of the West including the Indians but sprinkles this with caution. Johnny in particular consumes this teaching and eventually joins the US Army.

    Sammy however takes a different life path. Major Armstrong begins to realize that in essence Sammy is being kept prisoner in the fort as he has no interest in the military life. Sammy is sent to live outside the fort on a homestead with “Miz” Lizzie Heiter and her son Josh. Lizzie Heiter is a widower who can stand her ground and becomes a central and enjoyable character to this tale.

    This engrossing story, like life contains, fleeting moments of joy sprinkled amongst the pain, anguish of losing family, and fear of what lies ahead with the Indian nations. Through it all Elisabeth Ward builds a compelling story that enlightens readers while keeping them engrossed in the daily struggles of an unpredictable and agonizing collision of cultures. Author Elisabeth Ward does an exceptional job bringing the very real struggles of survival to with of the story’s cast of fascinating characters vividly to life in this book.

    Sure to satisfy, this well-crafted and fast-paced story is aimed at an older young adult market and those who enjoy a satisfying Old West tale that takes place after the gold-rush and during the building of the First Transcontinental Railroad.

     

     

  • ENVOY of JERUSALEM by Helena P. Schrader, Ph.D. — Dramatic & Inspiring

    ENVOY of JERUSALEM by Helena P. Schrader, Ph.D. — Dramatic & Inspiring

    A page turner that pulls back the curtains on history, Envoy of Jerusalem reveals a vivid cast of characters and an intriguing account of the 12th century Crusades– a well-researched and compelling tribute. Fans and readers of historical fiction will find this work immensely satisfying.

    This is the third and final installment in a series of three books Schrader has written with the Crusades as her backdrop. This third volume begins in 1187 after the Christian armies have just suffered defeat at the hands of the enemy. To make matters worse they have lost Jerusalem and the mood is defeatist and gloomy. The story once more centers on the author’s heroic figure of Balian Ibelin, as well as his family and entourage. A quick search of history reveals that Balian is an actual historic figure who lived from 1143 to 1193. I thoroughly enjoyed Schrader’s thoughtful and vivid portrayal of Balian d’Ibelin.

    Envoy of Jerusalem is a perfect bookend to Schrader’s epic trilogy on this period in Christiandom’s history. As with the other two volumes, Helena’s masterful writing leads readers deeper into the intriguing storyline as each page turns. She sprinkles a huge cast of characters throughout, and breathes life into each one making them seem as if they will walk right off the pages. Her descriptive detail of each scene makes the reader feel as if s(he) is right there–an eyewitness to history in the making in this sweeping epic.

    History truly does come alive in this series. The Crusades were one of the most harrowing times in the early Middle Ages—kingdoms were at stake and religions were galvanizing, and future trade routes were in the making. The Crusades were a struggle both physically and financially as well. Whether they were effective or even necessary are still debated by historians. Yet one thing is certain: They left an undeniable mark on the course of human history. Very real battles occurred that affected very real people. Author Helena Schrader brings the human factor to the forefront in “Envoy of Jerusalem.”

    Yet action abounds as well, as it is a story with a major military conflict as its focal point, along with political intrigue, noble family dynamics, and power plays that that will pull readers in and won’t let them go. In short, Envoy of Jerusalem effectively takes on the tumultuous times surrounding the Third Crusade with the Holy Land as its setting, and Schrader portrays multiple aspects of life of this time and place vividly while maintaining historical accuracy.

    All of these inner workings of a massive military push are dealt with in this series of books that build up to the grand finale in Envoy of Jerusalem. It takes a very skilled author to take a topic as dense as the Crusades into a compelling read of well-researched historical fiction. Helena Schrader pulls it off with flying colors. Her success lies in the development of the characters.

  • A TOWN BEWITCHED by Suzanne de Montigny — Middle Grade Urban Mystery

    A TOWN BEWITCHED by Suzanne de Montigny — Middle Grade Urban Mystery

    When vivacious, red-haired fiddler Kate McDonough suddenly appears in the tiny Canadian town of Hope, it brings disturbing changes for Kira Montgomery and her friends.

    Kira already has problems. She plays the classical violin, and “Kids make fun of me enough as it is because I’m a child prodigy—AKA a nerd.” The IGs (In-girls) at school also mock her best friend, Charlotte, because she is adopted, and Chinese. Kira’s beloved father died recently. He had promised to buy her a special violin, but now it’s just too expensive. And after she plays “Danny Boy” at his funeral, that tune starts haunting her.

    Now, to Kira’s disgust, everyone in Hope is enchanted by the magnetic Kate’s Celtic tunes, even Kira’s own family. Kira believes she’ s being stalked—could it be Kate? Worst of all, Hope is in turmoil because someone is killing birds and leaving ugly graffiti everywhere, even painting “Liar” on Kira’s father’s gravestone. Trying to make everything right, Kira lands in serious peril.

    Author de Montigny sets her plot in motion with action from the first page. Kira is regular enough for teen readers to identify with, yet possessed of some extra perception and grit that make her a fitting heroine. Suzanne de Montigny adds extra layering to this supernatural YA yarn with special musical details, from Beethoven to the Celtic strains produced by the mysterious Kate.

    A Town Bewitched offers a magic formula for the young adult audience: a high school full of competing cliques; a beautiful, mysterious stranger; a dark, malevolent presence; and a bold young woman who rises above her personal woes to set things right.

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  • LEGACY by Jesikah Sundin, Book One of the Biodome Chronicles

    LEGACY by Jesikah Sundin, Book One of the Biodome Chronicles

    A captivating YA hybrid of sci-fi and medieval fantasy, mystery, and romance, Legacy opens The Biodome Chronicles series with divergent worlds on a carefully planned collision course.

    Cyberpunk culture in 2054: hard-living, nihilistic youth who hate themselves as well as the world. Fillion Nichols, a brilliant but dissolute hacker, can claim a third object of hatred: his father, Hanley Nichols, mastermind—and, as Fillion suspects, cult leader—of New Eden Enterprises. He is the creator of New Eden, a hand-picked community living within the real-life Biosphere 2, to test the psychological effects of long-term isolation. To study the second generation of Biospherians who’ve never interacted with the Outside world, Nichols’ team created The Code, a strict set of rules to which the inhabitants closely adhere.

    The first generation play along—quite literally, as LARPers role-playing per a script created by Hanley Nichols, one that includes a noble class divided into four houses and social mores gleaned from medieval times. For the young people of New Eden Township, however, although they have a vague sense of being an experimental colony, all they really know of life is that it’s an agrarian affair based on ritual, work, and the laws of nature.

    Heirs to the Earth Element noble house, chivalrous Leaf and temperamental Willow Oak Watson, discover all is not as idyllic as it seems. They learn soon after their father’s death that secrecy and murder have also been scripted into the game. A mysterious death card, a lost scroll, and a secret underground room lead the siblings to a portal to the Outside world, and to Fillion Nichols, self-professed Dungeon Master of New Eden.

    Once Willow conquers her terror of “magic” satellite communications, she finds herself spellbound by the strangely dressed, tattooed, and pierced young man. Fillion is equally captivated: not only by Willow’s beauty, but by the fact that the Watson children supposedly died nearly six years ago. His father went to trial on charges of negligence and manslaughter, and though never convicted, the infamy lingered on the family name.

    Although he is now the Earth Element, Leaf finds that the other Elements are determining his future, even making conditions for his marrying the daughter of the Fire Element, whose son passionately pursues Willow. Meanwhile, Fillion endures his own trial for falsifying IDs, resulting in a 90-day sentence, which, as he’ll soon find out, was also manipulated by his father from the start.

    As Leaf and Fillion grapple with understanding their respective legacies, New Eden Enterprises begins preparation for the project’s completion, Even as their increasingly twining paths are set out by their elders, the two young men are determined to discover the mystery behind Joel Watson’s murder and the unexplained faking of his children’s death.

    Laced through with excerpts from news reports and interviews with both the real Biosphere 2 participants and the fictional members of New Eden Enterprise, and infused equally with near-future technology and ancient ceremony, Legacy will entice readers into its unfolding story.
    2014 winner of Chanticleer Book Reviews Great Beginnings Cygnus winner for Sci-Fi/Fantasy, National Indie Excellence Award Finalist for Science Fiction, Cygnus Award for Sci-Fi/Cyberpunk, Dante Rossetti Award First in Category for Sci-Fi/Cyberpunk, and the Dante Rossetti Grand Prize Award for Young Adult Fiction.