Pulp

Talley, Robin. Pulp. Harlequin Teen, 2018.

Abby's magnet school requires every senior to complete a special project connected to one of their classes. Abby chooses her creative writing class and delves into the world of 1950's lesbian pulp fiction. She begins researching one particular author and is captivated both by her story and by the story she writes. Abby is determined to meet this author, if possible, but since she wrote under a pen name, this is proving to be very difficult.

The best word I can use to describe this book is "meta." There is Abby's story of living in 2018 and going to protests and working on her senior project, and then there's the story of Marian Love, the author she is researching, and there is the story that Marian herself is writing in the 1950s. There are times when it feels a bit like one of the holodeck episodes of Star Trek: the reader is not always sure which layer of story they are reading.

I loved Abby's research and the disparity between the world Marian was forced to live in and the world Abby is growing up in. I, too, am now tracking down as many of these pulp novels as I can get my hands on. Although there aren't many teens who can relate to attending a school where they are encouraged to attend protests (or where their teachers join them at protests) or where they can work on such a large capstone project, I think most teens will be drawn in by Abby and her group of friends and will enjoy reading about Abby's research into the "ancient history" that is the 1950s. Highly recommended.

Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: homophobic language, particularly in the scenes of Marian's life; quite a bit of sexism as well in Marian's life - all of this is appropriate for the time period described
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

Read-Alikes: Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Phoenix Goes to School

Finch, Michelle. Phoenix Goes to School. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2018.

Phoenix is going to school for the first time, and she is wearing a dress. She is nervous about the way her classmates will react to her since she is transgender, but she need not have worried. She has support from her family, her teacher, and her new friends.

This is a cute book to introduce young children to the concept of gender diversity. Co-written by a transgender child and her parent, this book is appropriate for its age level, although the story tends to go a big longer than many children would have patience for. Colorful illustrations grace every page. This would be a good book to use in a classroom situation along side I Am Jazz or Red: A Crayon's Story. Recommended.

Recommended for: kids
Red Flags: none
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley for the purpose of review.

Ready Player One

Cline, Ernest. Ready Player One. Crown Publishers, 2011.

It's 2045 and the world is falling apart. Wade is a high school senior who lives at the top of a stack of mobile homes. He goes to school online via the OASIS, a virtual reality world invented by a genius game designer. When the game designer dies, he leaves a cryptic message and puzzle for the world: the first person to find three keys to go through three gates will inherit his fortune. Wade becomes a gunter (egg hunter) looking for this hidden "Easter egg" in the game. But as he gets closer to finding answers, he discovers that others are also searching and are willing to do whatever is necessary to get him out of the way.

I cannot believe I didn't read this book when it came out. I must have picked it up and put it back down a dozen times, but it wasn't until this past weekend that I actually tried to read it. And then I couldn't put it down. And I wasn't paying attention to anything else - food, sleep, sunshine - because I just had to find out what happened. Once I finished it, I turned back to the front and started reading again, which is something I don't think I've ever done. This book is simply fantastic. It is certainly an homage to all that made the 1980s what they were, but inside of that there is the adventure story and the mystery of the different riddles Wade and his friends had to solve. I haven't seen the movie yet, as most of the time when I love a book I do not love the movie, but I do highly recommend this book.

UPDATE: On page 173 of the paperback edition, Parzival and Art3mis are having a conversation, and Parzival asks Art3mis: "Are you a woman? And by that I mean are you a human female who has never had a sex-change operation?" This is unbelievably transphobic and once my spouse pointed it out to me, it left a bad taste in my mouth. The story itself would be fine without this ridiculous line. 

Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: lots of threats of violence, both in the real world and in the game
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

Read-Alikes: Ender's Game, Scythe, Proxy

The Someday Birds

Pla, Sally J. The Someday Birds. Harper Collins, 2017.

Charlie has a set routine that he thrives on, but when his father is injured overseas and is sent to a hospital across the country, everything about Charlie's routine is thrown off as his family adventures across the country to reunite with his father.

I love Charlie and I love the way his family usually accepts his differences and is willing to accommodate him. The cross-country road trip descriptions were accurate, and Charlie's obsession with finding all the different birds on their someday birds list was adorable. (He should have stopped to see the sandhill cranes when he was in Wisconsin Dells, since there's a crane sanctuary nearby.) This is a sweet story and would make a fantastic classroom read-aloud. Highly recommended.

Recommended for: tweens
Red Flags: none
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

Read-Alikes: The War that Saved My Life, Rain Reign, Fish in a Tree

Charlie Hernandez and the League of Shadows

Calejo, Ryan. Charlie Hernandez and the League of Shadows. Aladdin, 2018.

Charlie loves studying the mythology of his Latin American culture. He knows all the stories about all the different monsters and gods from all the countries in Central and South America. But when Charlie is teleported into the very mythological world he loves so much, he will have to keep his wits about him in order to save his family and the rest of the world.

This book is a perfect read-alike for the many Rick Riordan mythology stories, and as there are still scores of fans of these books, this will be an easy book to recommend. There is plenty of adventure and fantastical stories in this book, and the compelling, action-filled story will keep readers turning pages to find out what happens next. Recommended.

Recommended for: tweens
Red Flags: mild fantasy peril
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

Read-Alikes: Aru Shah and the End of Time, The Storm Runner

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Edelweiss for the purpose of review.