Young adult books: Is the genre getting stale?

So, what’s the slug in YA genre? Someone on Goodreads posed a good question: Is there any originality out there? There seems to be molds every writer is trying to fit into. Let’s name two popular  molds:

The Twilight Mold

The Hunger Games Mold

The Twilight mold has a basic plotline like this:

Girl meets boy

Boy turns out to be supernatural

Possible love triangle?

The Hunger Games Mold:

Dystopian present

Dystopian future

Fighting for survival(some supernatural slant possible)

I can not fault authors who write within the paranormal or dystopian lines. Their storylines are basically original and the characters are unique so I can not be mad. However if teens are feeling as if their reading choices have become stale,  what can we do to shake it up?

I crawled around on Examiner.com and Amazon to find some unique reviews. I will list some of the books here that will hopefully wake up your enjoyment to YA reading again.

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

Halflings by Heather Burch(Twilight fans will love this, but at least it has the faith factor for Christian Readers)

River of Time Series by Lisa Tawn Bergren

The Bluford Series-recommended to librarians and schools)

Monster and other great books by Christopher Pike

I hear that another book, Divergent is swinging on the mountain of success as well.

*If you have read any of these books, please share here.  Feedback on this blog enables me to be sure I am putting out the right stuff, so comment, share, email, whatever. Let’s chat.

‘A Song for Bijou’ is a sweet love story for middle grades

Image courtesy of Bloosmbury USA Children’s Books

Alex Shrader likes Bijou Doucet.

She is the new girl at St. Catherines’s.

There is only one(or two) major problems: Bijou is Black, well, Haitian to be exact. Alex is an American white boy, and one VERY important fact remains: Bijou comes from a strict family with an even stricter uncle. Boys are not allowed to call or be around Bijou and that goes for bad friends who are girls as well.

Through Alex’s helpful, but very unique and funny friends, he learns more about this girl with the braids who is from Haiti. It is fairly cute how Alex looks online to study her culture and the language(French) so he wouldn’t freak out and sound stupid once he speaks with her. Alex may be self-conscious, but Bijou sees something in him that is not in other boys. Alex is sweet, very kind, smart and tall with very pretty eyes.

Author Josh Farrar spent time researching and interviewing real Haitians while in Brooklyn, New York to give the book its spicy, but middle grade appeal. Bijou and Alex are the two speaking in the story(1st person POV), each taking a chapter or two so the reader can see their perspective. The book was full of fun, cultural and ethnic appeal, bullies, Spring dances and everything we all loved and hated about middle school.

Personal Reaction:       I feel that this story was clean and perfect for children, teens, and adults. I personally enjoyed the different ethnicity of each character and the city life was reflected very well. Alex was the typical boy and Bijou was an exotic girl with a past but admired very much by Alex. I recommend this book based off of the characters alone.

She’s a naive little girl in ‘The Heavenstone Secrets’

The Heavenstone Secrets by V.C. Andrews

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Heavenstone Secrets features the most naïve, easily controlled, not too bright protagonist and it took mental muscles just to move through the pages without too much grimace.

Semantha Heavenstone, 14 is trapped under her controlling sister’s watchful gaze and the whispers she hears through the dark mansion inherited from her grandfather holds more darkness and more mystery than what anyone could fathom.

Semantha’s sister Cassie Heavenstone is very critical of everyone has a reply for everytime Semantha says something dumb: “Christmas trees, Semantha. Christmas trees.”

But things gets worse for the lovely Heavenstone family and Semantha in particular.

Their mother gets pregnant at 42 and Cassie, the ever intelligent, super clever 16 year old, literally develops a hate for her mother but she vies for her father’s affections and cares not for her own mother’s health.

Second, Cassie begins to ask Semantha deeply personal questions about boys and sex and Semantha, in fear of her sister takes her crazy advice because “Cassie knows best”

Third, a tragedy happens and Cassie’s behavior gets worse. She manipulates the family with astuteness, her clever words and heavy knowledge(I swear, I never knew a sixteen year old could be so mature and scary!) Then she begins to wear their mother’s dresses, her jewelry, and fixes her hair like their mother too…

She thinks she is Semantha’s mother and things get even more weird for the Heavenstones.

Okay, I hate bringing up spoilers so I will say this: Semantha did have a way out from under her sister’s thumb and that could have been by telling someone the truth. But she didn’t and after reflecting on each character in the book, I find it is everyone’s fault why Semantha eventually ends up the way she does at the end.

For one thing, her father much like the one in the March family series was easily controlled by his older daughter’s words. The mother was simply weak- she was no backbone for Semantha. Their uncle Perry, although I liked him more than anyone else in the story- could have done sixty percent more to help Semantha. Then there’s Semantha- asking dumb questions to Cassie, defending her when Uncle Perry wants to know why she is afraid of Cassie, feeling in fear all the time and then she simply just does not think at all.

I hate to say this of a character in real life or fiction- but Semantha brought all of this pain on herself. Hopefully in Secret Whispers she will not be as weak or stupid.

View all my reviews

Coming of Age Novel Filled with Spooky Premonitions, Love, and Gangs

A Slip in the Right Direction-Rachel Berry

I had the pleasure of receiving a lovely, coming of age novel from author Rachel Berry.  What makes this book unique is that the main character has some spooky moments. Slip has been told by his mother that he has a gift. He does not realize it fully until a number of things go wrong. Most of these visions he shares with his little cousin “Jay”. He has an older sister named Christine who is aware that Slip is certainly special. Read more on Suite101.com!

Getting over ‘overweight’ bullying.

Bullying is not slowing down. Now by a long shot. Remember the old saying? “Same devil, new tricks?” Well, according to Health Day on Yahoo health, a child being overweight increases their chances of being bullied by 63 percent. This is definitely not okay for the bully, but it certainly puts a stump into pediatricians’ and parents’ minds.

Obesity is so much more common today and there seems to be nothing available to stop it. At one point, people thought that being smarter and studying harder would make the bully go away, but that doesn’t work. All it means is that the bully will pick on you for your intelligence and your weight, adding a double whammy to the victim’s psyche.

So, whats the solution?

There are no easy answers here, Dana Rofey, an assistant professor with the Weight Management and Wellness Center at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh offers a  few suggestions for parents, teachers, and others:

1. Be supportive. If your child comes to you and tells you whats wrong, please validate their feelings, let them know that what they feel isn’t imaginary and that you are on their side.

2. If the child seems not to want to discuss it, gently remind them you will continue to check up on the situation.

For more information please visit: http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/problems/bullies.html

For information on internet bullying please visit: http://www.helium.com/items/1494543-internet-bullying