THE SCORPIONS OF ZAHIR by Christine Brodien-Jones

Brodien-Jones, Christine. The Scorpions of Zahir. New York: Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2012. ISBN-13: 978-0385739337. $17.99.

Adventure! Archaeology! Lost civilizations and whacked out astronomy! The Scorpions of Zahir packs all of that and more into its colorfully bound exterior, promising the reader an extraordinary adventure. The tale, which follows a young girl and her family as they journey to Morocco in search of her archaeologist father's missing partner, ensnares the reader with a mythical mission to uncover, save, and revitalize the lost civilization of Zahir from being overrun by monstrous scorpions. It just so happens that a rogue planet (though why not meteor?) called Nar Azrak is on course to collide with Earth, specifically upon Morocco, at the same time. Only the restoration of Zahir and its protective qualities can reestablish the balance between planets, people, and beasts. There is a lot to take in, both mythically and astronomically, but the creativity of the storyline unfolds fairly straightforwardly, especially as a foundation for witnessing the determination and growth of the young protagonist, Zagora Pym. Her unbridled enthusiasm carries this story through the wilderness of a foreign country and a cosmic myth come to life; for me, her rambunctious behavior is the most enticing feature of the book and will appeal to middle grade readers of all kinds.

The storyline itself is outrageous and exciting, but does struggle to stay coherent near the end. It's difficult to imagine an actual planet colliding with Earth, but that lapse of scientific grounding may not matter to young readers. They most likely will enjoy the unintentional mischief young Zagora plants herself in while exploring the inner and outer workings of Morocco. Brodien-Jones' lush and aromatic descriptions of the people, markets, and streets of Morocco (Marrakesh in particular) fully demonstrate her own captivation with the city and its mysteries. In this lens, it does offer a beautiful entry into another culture, although at times veers dangerously into fully exoticizing rather than bringing a sense of familiarity and universality to her Moroccan characters. Still, the focus lies squarely on Zagora, and any faults one may find in the plot or other characters can be assuaged somewhat by the creation of a spunky and thoughtful young female protagonist. Her youthful zest and frenetic energy lead her to follow her impulses first and thoughts later, but over the course of the story she learns the value of her family members and friends as well as herself, and finally gains enough control to help solve the mystery. That this wild adventure story circles around the important features of this young girl make the story appealing on so many levels.

Though the climax gets lost in the immense imagery Brodien-Jones demands us to visualize, it does not lose its heart for a step. Astronomy, myth, and science feature prominently in the story, making this both a magical ride as well as a treat for the intellect. A worthy read for some heartfelt, spunky fun.

Reviewed by Alya Hameed

A TIME OF MIRACLES by Anne-Laure Bondoux

Special Feature: Review by a Middle School Student

Bondoux, Anne-Laure. A Time of Miracles. Trans. Y. Maudet. New York: Delacorte Press, 2009. ISBN: 978-0-385-73922-1. $17.99 US, $20.99 CAN.

It is the 1990s and civil unrest is spreading throughout the Caucuses. Blaise Fortune (aka Koumaïl), a homeless seven-year-old orphan, sets off on a difficult and passionate journey alongside Gloria, his devout caretaker, out of the Republic of Georgia towards the free land of France. Throughout Bondoux’s heart pounding story of sacrifice and survival, these two helpless mendicants depend upon each other to reach the Promised Land and, most importantly, learn to persevere through the power of love.

In this fictitious young adult novel, the two exiles struggle through times of poverty, exhaustion, and distress, while growing together in spirit and family. Koumaïl and Gloria both sacrifice their own desires and needs for each other’s wellbeing, but they never lose the hope they have of arriving in France, away from the troubling and dangerous political unrest and near the answers to Koumaïl’s past. On foot, the pair transition from one refugee camp to another, each time listening to intense and harsh stories and seeing the physical and emotional scars of other refugees. In one instance, one of the refugees explains, “They came into our house with Kalashnikovs. They shot my husband. Fatima saw him fall on his prayer rug. Ever since then, she refuses to open her eyes.” Gloria, the mother-like figure, nurtures and guides Koumaïl through these many refugee camps and the countless miles in between. In response to the great sadness surrounding Koumaïl’s life, she, as a nurturing mother would, soothed the young boy by whispering, “There’s nothing wrong with making up stories to make life more bearable.” She releases enigmatic bits and pieces of Koumaïl’s life, from their first meeting at the site of the train derailment to the story of his beautiful mother. With her different and calming stories, Gloria teaches Koumaïl to love with all his heart and to keep from “catching a despair.” This is the impetus that propels the two’s emotions and determinations and is what leads Koumaïl to decrypt his past later on in the storyline.

Bondoux beautifully illustrates the passionate and suspenseful journey across Europe while opening up the mind of a poor nomad who lays prey to the chaos in this world. In this riveting novel, love and hope are put on the line and the importance of family is strongly expressed. A young Koumaïl develops into an adolescent in a bloody world and, ultimately, learns the immense power of love.

This exceptional work of literature leaves readers nail-biting questions and allows them to distinguish for themselves their own paths and values. “Is there a difference between a lie and a made-up story?” Will you learn the foolproof remedy of despair? Learn for yourself in this powerful novel, A Time of Miracles.

Review by Mauro Schenone, 8th grade

CHILD OF THE MOUNTAINS by Marilyn Sue Shank

Special Feature: Review by a Middle School Student

Shank, Marilyn Sue. Child of the Mountains. New York: Delacorte Press, 2012. ISBN: 978-0-385-74079-1. $16.99 US, $18.99 CAN.

Child of the Mountains is a story about hardship and the perseverance of love for one’s family. Lydia, the main character, faces many challenges throughout the story, particularly figuring out how to get her mother out of jail.

It all starts when Lydia’s little brother, BJ, gets sick. He has a disease called cystic fibrosis, which makes it hard for him to breathe. They find out that the hospital will treat BJ free of charge as long as they can study him and his disease. The family jumps at the chance to help BJ and other kids with the disease. As Lydia and BJ’s mother is going over the paperwork, the nurse tells her to just sign it and not to worry about reading it. She signs it, only hoping that the doctors will help her baby boy. Everything seems to be going all right; BJ has to travel back and forth to the hospital, but he still gets to spend time with his family. Then tragedy strikes: Lydia’s grandmother dies. The family is devastated, but soon recovers and keeps trying to help BJ. When BJ’s condition worsens, Lydia and her mother go to the hospital to see him before he dies. But the nurses will not let him leave. So Lydia and her mother decide to break him out of the hospital. Once they get home with BJ, he dies. Lydia’s mother is accused of murdering BJ, and is sent to jail after an unfair trial. Lydia is sent to live with her aunt and uncle. Her teacher, Mr. Hinkle, and his fiancee, a lawyer named Mrs. Parker find out about her mother’s unfair trial and decide to help Lydia. They get Lydia’s mother another trial and this time it is fair. Lydia’s mother gets to go free and they both move back to their old house.

The author writes the story from Lydia’s point of view like it is Lydia’s diary. She writes it in the mountain dialect of West Virginia, which makes it difficult to understand at first, but also makes you feel like you are truly present and listening to Lydia and her family members. The author also talks about what is really happening to Lydia at that moment and Lydia’s thoughts and memories she has of her brother and grandmother, which makes the plot more interesting. Overall, the book was well written and a very intriguing story. The reader laughs at BJ’s antics and cries about the tragedies that happen to Lydia’s family.

Reviewed by Caroline Melancon, 7th grade

ALL THE EARTH, THROWN TO THE SKY by Joe R. Lansdale

Lansdale, Joe R. All the Earth, Thrown to the Sky. NY: Delacorte Press, 2011. ISBN: 978-0385739313. $16.99. Ages 12-15

If Delacorte Press played in March Madness, I’d pick them as a winning seed in my bracket. With Joe Lansdale’s novel All the Earth, Thrown to the Sky, Delacorte wins again.

Jack, Jane, and her younger brother Tony are orphaned in Oklahoma during the dust storms of the Great Depression. Armed with sixteen dollars and a “borrowed” Ford, they head out into the world: staying put means a slow starvation; moving out affords them at least a chance to live. Along their way, they get tangled up with bank-robbing gangsters, a slave-driving pea farmer/sheriff, and various other dubious characters. In what I’ve read so far from them, Delacorte never shies away from tackling tough issues in a respectable way. Their authors give kids adult responsibilities: Jack’s parents die in the first two pages; he’s buried them in the barn by the third page—no use wasting any time! Jack realizes that when the bank confiscates the property, the bank will own his parents’ bodies, but he says, “I had always been taught it wasn’t the body that mattered, it was the life inside it. That life was long gone now.” In my opinion, that’s tough stuff for a teenager, but it’s dealt with in an appropriate and mature way.

After losing his parents, Jack considers suicide, but decides against it, rationalizing: “I wanted to be like the heroes in books I had read about, who could stand up against anything and keep on coming.” This sentiment inaugurates a prevailing theme throughout the book: reading itself has power. Time and again, the characters, particularly Jane, compare themselves to heroes in books and draw inspiration to persevere. At one point, Jack picks up a book of poems, forming the words with his mouth, enjoying the way it feels to read; it almost works like a therapy of sorts in time of crisis. Frequently, when the trio meets new people, Jane makes up stories. When one older woman catches her in a lie, she asks Jane why she makes up stories when the truth is strange enough? Sometimes, however, the fiction is easier to bear than the facts. We see Jane accept the truth of their situation when she introduces them truthfully (and the new person dismisses it as falsehood!). Ultimately, she finds her destiny inextricably linked with her stories, but in an unexpected way: rather than making up stories, she writes down what she observes in the world around her.

Lansdale writes with an exquisite voice, giving detail and description in an Oklahoma dialect without compromising readability for young readers. For example, Jack muses about the prevalence of death: “It was the sort of thing that stunned you at the same time it made you feel as empty as a corn crib after the rats had been in it.” About Jane’s tall tales, he says, “She went on painting the barn, so to speak, when there wasn’t no need for paint, or for that matter, when the paint bucket was empty.” The affection between the three hits the reader with a poignancy. Jack develops an attraction to Jane for all the “right” reasons: she’s pretty, she has a pleasant voice, she’s smart, and she smells good. The developing romance is age-appropriate and tasteful. When a swarm of grasshoppers eats the entire backside of her pants, Jack ties what the grasshoppers left behind of his shirt around Jane's waist to cover her exposed rear end. The pair kiss twice, and although the trio spends many nights sleeping together, sex never arises as a remote possibility. While Jack and Jane’s affections for one another play an important role in their character development within the novel, the tale definitely is not a love story. The ending makes clear that growing up means moving on: Tony gets adopted by a kindly older widow, Jane finds her way as a writer out west, and Jack joins up as a carnival worker.

Lansdale’s novel serves not only as an enjoyable insight into the Great Depression through the eyes of children, but also as a timeless study of perseverance, spunk, and adolescence.

Marisa Behan

STARTERS by Lissa Price

Price, Lissa. Starters. New York: Delacorte Press, 2012. ISBN: 9780385742375. $17.99.

One of the latest offerings in the dystopian young adult fiction field, Starters features Callie, a 16-year-old orphan living in a post-biological-warfare Los Angeles, where the Spore Wars have wiped out every living soul between the ages of 20 and 60. Living on the streets of LA, where she fights “unfriendlies” and allies with “friendlies,” Callie is in dire need of money for permanent shelter for herself and her sickly brother, Tyler. This desperation pushes her to Prime Destinations, an organization that uses teenagers’ bodies as vessels for elderly people who want to feel young again (in this dystopian society, Enders, as they’re called, live to be well over 100 years old). In return for a hefty sum of money, Callie must simply allow a chip to be implanted in her brain and essentially go to sleep for days at a time while a 150-year-old Ender gads about and enjoys the blessings of youth and beauty.

Callie is understandably hesitant at first, but when a fire takes away her and Tyler’s only remaining belongings and they are forced on the run yet again, with Tyler coughing all the way, Callie determines that the money she’ll get from Prime Destinations is worth relinquishing control of her body. She gets control back, though, when she wakes up in the middle of her renter’s borrowing period. While Callie tries to figure out what went wrong, she enjoys the opulent lifestyle led by her renter, Helena, and starts a romance with Blake, a rather wooden love interest. As her feelings for Blake (inexplicably) grow, Callie also hears from Helena, who reveals that Prime Destinations is not as legitimate as it appears. The pressure builds as Callie races to stop the government from supporting Prime Destinations' nefarious plans. The plot races through its romance and reveals, ending with a cliffhanger that paves the way for book #2 in this trilogy.

Starters is fast-paced and simply written, sometimes to its own detriment. The hurried pacing overshadows the development of Callie's character, motivations, and history. The Spore Wars are not explained in depth, and we learn that they only wreaked their havoc a year prior. I would have liked to see more explanation of their destructive properties and more specifics about how Callie went from having a home to being a street urchin in a matter of months. Such a rough transition could have offered a great deal of personal exploration for Callie, but her emotions are explored only shallowly. We get the occasional comment on how nice it is to sleep in a comfortable bed again, and of course Callie is in awe of Helena's wealth and gorgeous home, but there is no emotional impact or self-reflection in Callie’s experiences. Tyler, Callie's sick brother, is her motivating force in life, but we don't really get any backstory to their relationship or why she feels so compelled to take care of him beyond older-sibling obligation. Additionally, the author, Lissa Price, suffers from a case of telling, not showing, as she uses her secondary characters as vehicles for exposition and not as well-rounded people that enhance Callie’s story. Finally, the flat romance between Callie and Blake calls to mind YA insta-love, wherein two characters are suddenly transfixed by each other for no apparent reason. On Callie and Blake's first date, Price again tells us instead of shows us what's happening. Apparently whatever conversation Blake and Callie had was killer, but we don't get to know what they talked about.

Despite its shortcomings, Starters delivers a fantastic concept and raises interesting ethical questions. I see echoes of Robin Wasserman's Skinned, with the idea of the brain inhabiting another body, and Marie Lu’s Legend, with a bleak, post-apocalyptic Los Angeles cityscape. Like both of those novels, Starters features an urgent desire for survival and a contemplative look at the lengths to which governments will go to maintain control. With its fascinating premise and the promise of further character development in the rest of trilogy, Starters will surely be a commercial hit.

Reviewed by Jill Coste

THE LILY POND by Annika Thor

Thor, Annika. The Lily Pond. Trans. Linda Schenck. New York: Delacorte Press, 2011. ISBN: 978-0-385-74039-5. $16.99 US/$18.99 CAN. Ages 10-12

Delacorte Press has earned its reputation as a publisher of high-quality adolescent literature, particularly their translations. While Annika Thor’s The Lily Pond didn’t blow me away with quite the same force as Anne-Laure Bondaux’s A Time of Miracles (2009), it lives up to the high standard set by Delacorte.

Stephie Steiner is a Jewish refugee in Sweden during WWII. While historically Sweden was one of the few safe havens for these refugees, not all Swedes felt pleased about the influx of “visitors” to their cities, schools, and culture. Stephie faces an anti-Semitic teacher, who attempts to frame her for cheating, a chilly host family,who treats her like a servant, and even a prejudiced fellow Jewish friend, a long-time resident of the city who blames new refugees like Stephie for the recent growth of anti-Semitism.

In addition to anti-Semitic/anti-immigrant prejudice, Thor explores class identity. While Stephie’s parents were rich in Vienna, the Anti-Semitic legislation had taken all of their assets. Her meager stipend doesn’t compare to that of her peers. Her “fancy address” hides the fact that she’s simply a lodger. In addition, she befriends another girl, even poorer than she, who lives in a very small apartment with her six siblings and parents. These two factors set her at odds with many of the social butterflies at her school.

Along with these weightier issues, Thor addresses the familiar young adult problems of self-identity, first love, and friendship. Stephie’s unrequited crush (and complete misreading of this fellow’s actions) is innocuous and entirely age-appropriate.

Through these challenges, Stephie grows in self-assurance, finding her own way in a new land, largely on her own, without the help of a parent-figure.

The prose translation reads smoothly, and one scarcely notices that it is a translation at all. Stephie’s character and emotions are well-developed; I identify easily with her indecisive moments and her guilt, and her anger resonate with me as a reader. A lovely exploration of a unique episode in European history, I’d be proud to put this book on the shelves in my classroom.

Marisa Behan

A TIME OF MIRACLES by Anne-Laure Bondoux

Bondoux, Anne-Laure. A Time of Miracles. Trans. Y. Maudet. New York: Delacorte Press, 2009. ISBN: 978-0-385-73922-1. $17.99 US. Ages 12+

When I turned the final page of this book and closed the cover, I said aloud to my empty kitchen, “Wow. That was an incredible book.” I can see why Random House decided to translate it from the original French for the American market. The fictional narrator, Blaise Fortune, also known as Koumaïl, tells his story – as a war refugee in the Caucasus – and grips the reader’s heart.

The memoir-like novel is a tale of abject poverty and homelessness, but never asks the reader to feel pity, or to feel sorry for Koumaïl and his mother-figure Gloria. Gloria and Koumaïl have been running away from war for as long as he can remember. They sacrifice food and energy for one another’s well-being, while always hanging on to their dreams, trying as hard as they can not to “catch a despair.” Gloria always puts a positive spin on their trials. She tells Koumaïl, “There’s nothing wrong with making up stories to make life more bearable.” She takes their often shocking situations and turns them into little blessings for Koumaïl‘s sake. For example, the first time we see them move to a new place, she instructs Koumaïl to dig a hole behind their shack (made of a corrugated tin roof, next to a garbage dumping ground):

“Finally, she shows me a spot behind one of the walls, where I’m supposed to dig a hole.
“What’s it for?” I ask.
“Well, it will be to do our business!” she answers with a wink.
“Oh, OK.”

It gives me a funny feeling to dig our toilet. In the Complex, we shared toilets with the other people on the floor, but here we’ll have our own private corner. Gloria says that we’re becoming bourgeouis. I don’t understand that word, but she laughs so hard that I laugh with her, right by the edge of our future poop hole.”Bondoux illustrates the cruelty of war through other characters like Koumaïl’s friend Fatima, a young girl who has refused to open her eyes since she saw her father shot on his prayer mat, or Stambek, whose “mind had stayed in the rubble” when a bomb struck their house. The prevailing theme of the novel is one of hope – regardless of who surrounds you and how bad the situation is – hope and family sustain you as you “always walk straight ahead toward new horizons.”

The book is beautifully told, a magnificent insight into the life of a nomadic refugee, and later, a lonely child immigrant far from home.

Marisa Behan

TOKEN OF DARKNESS by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Atwater-Rhodes, Amelia. Token of Darkness. New York: Delacorte Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-385-73750-0. $16.99

The main theme of Token of Darkness is constructed around Cooper Blake, his traumatic accident and its consequences. Due to a car crash, Cooper has to readjust his life and cope with the multiple facets of scars which now dominate his life. Not only did he miraculously survive, but since then, he is accompanied by Samantha, whom solely he can see.

Samantha becomes the center of his life, while he draws back from his friends, including his football team. Although she has no memory of her former existence, she helps him to come to terms with his new situation. Since the accident, Cooper is able to not only see Samantha, but also the shadowy demons which lurk in the dark to feed on weak humans and which threaten him and his surrounding again and again.

Cooper tries to return her kindness and support, but does not know where to start. He gets unexpected help from Brent, Delilah, and their mentor Ryan. All three have experiences when it comes to paranormal incidents: Brent is a telepath, Delilah is the manipulative captain of the cheerleading squad and a witch, and Ryan belongs to a long line of sorcerers. None of these three trust Samantha, and want to save Cooper from the potential threat she poses.

Token of Darkness is dominated by a dark and thrilling atmosphere. Amelia Atwater-Rhodes manages to tell a fast-paced story about growing up, trusting ones instinct, seeking help in times of need, and looking behind the mere façade of a person. In order to move forward in life, all of the characters need to face their problems, even traumatic experiences. Friends are paramount in achieving this aim; only with their support, Cooper is able to break his social isolation, and to become a happier person.

Karin Kakorski

Review: JULIET IMMORTAL by Stacey Jay

Jay, Stacey. Juliet Immortal. New York: Delacorte Press, 2011. ISBN: 978-0385740166. $17.99

It’s been a while since I read something so compelling that I took it everywhere I went, just so I could read it whenever I had a spare moment. Stacey’s Jay’s imaginative novel is impossible to put down. The initial concept is outlined in the book jacket, arresting in its so-simple-it’s-amazing hook: “Juliet Capulet didn’t take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most…Romeo Montague.”

Now come on! How brilliant is that? Don’t you wish you had thought of it? And Stacey Jay takes that wonderful premise and runs with it, creating a novel steeped in intrigue, mystery, and the dueling forces of good and evil.

In Jay’s novel, Romeo kills Juliet as a sacrifice to gain immortality. After her death, Juliet becomes an Ambassador of Light, a spirit who can inhabit bodies on earth when her help is needed to unite soul mates, and Romeo becomes a Mercenary, an immortal soul on the side of evil. The erstwhile lovers meet again and again on earth in their respective afterlives, always fighting each other for soul mates. If Juliet unites them, she scores one for her team of Ambassadors. If Romeo can convince one soul mate to kill the other, the Mercenaries’ power grows. But are Romeo and Juliet simply doing what they have to do to keep their immortal bosses happy, or are they pawns in an ancient game? And when Juliet finds her own forbidden love – and it’s not Romeo – will she ruin her chances at a peaceful afterlife?

Stacey Jay takes the common conception of Romeo and Juliet as the ultimate pair of lovers and turns it on its head. Juliet hates Romeo, and Romeo is slick, sadistic, and deceptive. With vivid descriptions of graphic violence and macabre visions, the novel edges into gothic horror territory. The suspense is thrilling, the characters are just mysterious enough, and the sense of “What is going on?” will have you racing through the book’s 300 pages to see what will happen to these formerly fair lovers.

Along with the mysteries and unanswered questions, the characterization of Juliet and her relationship with Romeo contributes to the suspense. Juliet – always on the side of good but carrying a bitterness and resentment that darkens her – ultimately learns what love is for. And because Romeo and Juliet have such an epic history, there’s an element of wistfulness for what they used to be. While you may not root for them to end up together, you do feel sorrow for the tragedy they both went through.

Overall, Juliet Immortal is a tantalizing exploration of a fantastic concept. It does suffer a little from the common YA ailment of instant, all-consuming love between teenagers who have just met, but… so did Romeo and Juliet.

Jill Coste

Review: PAPER COVERS ROCK by Jenny Hubbard

Hubbard, Jenny. Paper Covers Rock. New York: Delacorte Press, 2011. ISBNL 0=385-74055-5. $16.99

In Paper Covers Rock, narrator Alex Stromm, a student at a prestigious Virginia boy boarding school in the 1960s, struggles with the death of a friend by keeping a journal – the next “Great American Novel” – using the anonymous pen name “Is Male,” based on Moby Dick’s narrator “Ishmael.”

In the weeks that follow his friend’s accidental drowning, an incident in which Alex played a major role, he struggles with issue of truth vs. falsehood, confronts the reality of loss and his guilt regarding the accident, and realizes that his choices in friends play a major role in the shape of his life. The journal helps him escape his fear and guilt.

Through all of this, Alex’s English teacher, a recent college graduate in her first year of teaching, fosters his creative writing, as well as his fantasies. The hot-for-teacher crush, while slightly “icky,” is written in a believable way and she suffers the consequences for letting down her guard and allowing herself to get too close to a student.

Overall, Paper Covers Rock is an excellent read – not overly exemplary in terms of teenage behavior, but real and pragmatic in terms of the consequences of one’s poor choices.

Marisa Behan