waiting on wednesday (83)

Today I’m participating in "Waiting On" Wednesday, a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. Its purpose is to spotlight upcoming book releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

I've read one Justine Larbalestier book, How to Ditch Your Fairy.  I thought it was quirky, fun, and I know it would have appealed to teen me (I was a very dedicated teen athlete as well as a bookworm, and I never thought there were enough books for my demographic - especially books featuring girls-who-play-sports!).  I also checked out the short story collection Zombies vs. Unicorns, which she co-edited with Holly Black. Those (positive) reading experiences led me to Larbalestier's blog and Twitter, and I've found that she's articulate, funny, and interesting on social media as well as a great writer of fiction.  So I was quite disappointed when I heard that her latest book hadn't sold in the U.S.  It seemed like pure bad luck.  But hey, that's changed!  It's coming!  I'm super stoked.  Razorhurst will be released by Soho Teen on March 3, 2015.

Sydney’s deadly Razorhurst neighborhood, 1932. Gloriana Nelson and Mr. Davidson, two ruthless mob bosses, have reached a fragile peace—one maintained by “razor men.” Kelpie, orphaned and living on the street, is blessed and cursed with the ability to see Razorhurst’s many ghosts, and she sees the cracks already forming. Then Kelpie meets Dymphna Campbell.

Dymphna is a legendary beauty and prized moll of Gloriana Nelson. She’s earned the nickname “Angel of Death” for the trail of beaus who have died trying to protect her from Mr. Davidson’s assassins. Unbeknownst to Kelpie, Dymphna can see ghosts, too, and as Gloriana’s hold crumbles one burly henchman at a time, the girls will need one another more than ever.

As loyalties shift and betrayal threatens at every turn, Dymphna is determined to not only survive, but to rise to the top with Kelpie at her side—and to save Kelpie from both the living and the dead.

What books are you waiting on?

september zombie event comes to a close...with unicorns?

Part of the fun of the ‘zombie craze’ is that authors who wouldn’t usually write a zombie story are getting on board and adding to our culture’s overall entertainment value. This includes authors of young adult books. And this is also how an anthology called Zombies vs. Unicorns comes into existence. Only an awesome, completely ridiculous world could spawn such a wondrous thing. And yes, I’m going overboard. I think you like it.

It's a question as old as time itself: which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? In this anthology, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (unicorn and zombie, respectively), strong arguments are made for both sides in the form of short stories. Half of the stories portray the strengths - for good and evil - of unicorns and half show the good (and really, really bad-ass) side of zombies. Contributors include many bestselling teen authors, including Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, Maureen Johnson, Meg Cabot, Scott Westerfeld, and Margo Lanagan. This anthology will have everyone asking: Team Zombie or Team Unicorn?

Holly and Justine are like competing Most Extreme Challenge (MXC) moderators. And by that, I mean they’re taking potshots at each other, each other’s choice of mythical being, and at the individual contestants (err…stories), all while being dubbed over in a foreign language. The result is hilarious, and the book is worth reading if only for their ‘introductory’ comments. BUT! Let me highlight my favorites for you and convince you to read this for yourself....

“Love Will Tear Us Apart” by Alaya Dawn Johnson

A dark, music-heavy zombie story featuring two misunderstood young men. One is struggling not to become a monster, the other already is – can they change? Is there hope?

“Purity Test” by Naomi Novik

Made of hilarious, in all sorts of ways. Combine a snarky heroine, a unicorn who can’t be too fussed about particulars, and five baby unicorns addicted to chocolate milk – what could go wrong?

“Bougainvillea” by Carrie Ryan

A seriously haunting story that draws from the true horror inheritance of the zombie canon. It’s a magnetic tale, set in the world of The Forest of Hands and Teeth, very shortly after the Return, on the island of Curaçao.

“The Children of the Revolution” by Maureen Johnson

Is the protagonist TSTL (too stupid to live) or just unlucky? Maureen Johnson crafts a hilarious and slightly horrifying zombie story that manages to do make fun of both celebrity adoptions and celebrity cults. Funny + frightful = fantastic.

“The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn” by Diana Peterfreund

Tragedy, teenage angst, a freak show, and a baby killer unicorn make for an out-of-the-ordinary story. Fans of Peterfreaund’s Rampant and Ascendant will be pleased, and newcomers to killer unicorns will probably be both confused and entertained. But what’s not to love about a boy named Yves?

“Cold Hands” by Cassandra Clare

Wow. Stunning story that takes the zombie trope and turns it on its head. Weird, wonderful (if you can use that word in conjunctions with a zombie story) and chilling. I think I may scream the next time someone with cold hands touches me.

“The Third Virgin” by Kathleen Duey

Mix a sociopathic unicorn in with a scarred young girl, and you have a disturbing story in an extremely well-written sort of way.

“Prom Night” by Libba Bray

What better way to close out the anthology than with a chilling, absorbing, but not so gory or violent that it’s painful sort of tale. One word? Haunting. Explores how people cope with loss, inevitable mortality, and what the law really means. Big themes for this magnificent (and oddly funny) little tale.

Recommended for: fans of zombies, unicorns, anyone not sure about either but willing to dip a toe in and test the waters, and those who like a little bit of horror with their comedy (but only every once in a while). Silly, suitable fun for the older teen set. Enjoy!

This is my final entry in the September Zombies event. Yay!

teaser tuesday (55)

It's Teaser Tuesday, a bookish blog meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here's how it works:

Grab your current read and let it fall open to a random page. Post two (or more) sentences from that page, along with the title and author. Don’t give anything vital away!

“And though they were clearly not doing well, I guess the voices in my brain were telling me that these kids had dieticians and had spent a lot of their short lifetimes on private aircraft (that has to mess with your inner ear balance), and maybe that’s just what being really rich looks like.

But there was another voice in my hear – a quieter one, way in the back, telling me to leave, to get out of the house and away from them, to go back into the rain, to hitchhike to London or starve or even just to call home.”

-p. 149 of Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier’s (eds.) Zombies vs. Unicorns, from “The Children of the Revolution” by Maureen Johnson

teaser tuesday (49)

It's Teaser Tuesday, a bookish blog meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here's how it works:

Grab your current read and let it fall open to a random page. Post two (or more) sentences from that page, along with the title and author. Don’t give anything vital away!

“Will you take just a few steps this way? So I can stay hidden. If anyone else sees me, I will end up in the zoo.

‘And if I try to tell anyone, we might end up roommates?’”

-p. 367 of Kathleen Duey’s “The Third Virgin” in Zombies vs. Unicorns by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier, eds. (ARC version)