"The Chosen One" by Carol Lynch Williams

The premise:
Thirteen year-old Kyra Leigh lives with her father, three mothers and twenty brothers and sisters on an isolated polygamist compound in the Utah desert. In this community, pleasures of the modern world are seen as directly from Satan, women are completely subservient to men, and everyone is under the direct control of Prophet Childs. When Kyra is "chosen" by God to be a wife to her 60 year-old uncle, she must decide whether to stay on the compound and face a life of abuse or try to escape to an unknown life apart from her family outside the compound in the "real world".


My take:
I can't imagine a much more horrifying thought for a thirteen year old than the threat of being married off to your 60 year old uncle - especially at an age when sexual confusion is at an all-time high and self-esteem at an all time low. What Kyra endures is abuse, plain and simple, and she is faced with a decision that any girl her age may one day face - stay or escape. She is a highly realistic and relatable character for young adults and serves as an excellent role model to a reader who may be facing a similar situation.
To a reader unfamiliar with the polygamist underground, this story would easily read like complete fiction and wouldn't have the same impact as it does on those who know the historical context. It's important to the story that the reader know that Kyra's situation is a reality for a lot of young women. I wish there had been an addendum to the text that spoke of this for the sake of the reader.
Overall, I enjoyed being along for the ride as Kyra came to realize she was being mistreated and decides to do something about it. Definitely a worthy contender for the Gateway Award.

Favorite passage:
(Kyra, speaking of her secret trips to the bookmobile) "But oh, how my life changed with his stopping. My life changed when I started reading. I was different with these sinful words."

Lost and Found by Shaun Tan

2011 (out in April)/128 pgs.


About the Book: Lost & Found is a compilation of three previous Shaun Tan stories, The Red Tree, The Lost Thing, and The Rabbits, that were previously released in limited release.


Sarah Teenlibrarian Says: The three stories collected here are a perfect example of Shaun Tan's creative (and sometimes a bit odd) artwork and storytelling style. The obscure creatures and world that Shaun Tan's characters live in is like a darker Dr. Seuss. The drawings are intricit and even though the text itself is easy to breeze through, you want to spend your time taking in the details on each page.

The first story, The Red Tree, almost reads like an inspirational story, ala The Blue Day Book. While this might be a turn off for some readers, the artwork is what makes this story stand apart. Although there's an inspirational point to the story, it never gets too sappy or preachy and instead feels a bit more bittersweet.

The Lost Thing is my favorite entry in this collection. We hear a story about the day a young man found a lost thing and what he does with it. In some ways it reminded me of what would happen if Pixar teamed up with David Wiesner. Again, this one has a moral to the story, but it's subtle and it leaves the reader with lots to think about.

The Rabbits (written with John Marsden) is a history lesson on imperialisim with rabbits. This is one I can see being used in classrooms and I think it would work with a 5th grade and up audience, where I think the other two stories might be a bit lost on readers that young.

A great collection of three fantastic tales. I would recommend Lost and Found to those who might be a little shy to pick up a graphic novel as the format and stories are a introduction into the genre.

Black Cat: Volume 14: Alliance

by Kentaro Yabuki, 182 pages

In order to take advantage of information sharing, Train and his gang pass a rather silly recruitment "test" and join up with a loose alliance of other sweepers dedicated to capturing Creed. The intel on the villain's location is proved accurate, but not in a pleasant way, as the sweepers' numbers are quickly reduced.

This may be a fluffy series, but it's a fluffy series with some sharp, prickly bits that pop out and remind you why it has an "older teen" rating. The bad guys are not nice.

Black Cat: Volume 13: Dear Friend

by Kentaro Yabuki, 192 pages

Train finally sits down and tells his partners Sven and Eve about his history with Creed and the friend, Saya, he lost to the madman's twisted logic. Deciding Creed's just too dangerous to avoid any longer, the three sweepers vow to track him down and bring him to justice.

It's good to see that Train has grown up enough to no longer desire to carry out that justice himself. He's not an eraser anymore. And besides, bloodlust is exactly what Creed is desperate to see in Train's eyes again. I don't think it would bother the baddie terribly to know it was directed at him, either, loony evil person that he is.

The Boys by Jeff Newman

2010/40pgs

About the Book: A new boy has moved to town, but he's too shy to join in the baseball game.

Sarah Teenlibrarian Says: I love this little picture book! It's a wordless picture book (the only words are the days of the week) and it's the story of one boy's week and his desire to play baseball in his new town.

The illustrations are cute, although at times felt a bit undone. (There's a bird on one page that appears to missing a head!) The storyline may be a bit hard for younger kids to follow, but with the help of adult guiding them, I think they would enjoy it. I'm not sure if kids would get the humor as much as kids, but I found it hilarious!

The whole book reminded me of a Pixar short. Definitely worth looking at.

Dr. Horrible and Other Horrible Stories by Zack Whedon

2010/78pgs

About the Book: Five vignettes tell background stories on Penny, Captain Hammer, Moist, the ELE, and of course, Dr. Horrible.

Sarah Teenlibrarian Says: I am obsessed with Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog. The songs are pretty much in a constant loop in my head, I watch the DVD on a regular basis, and as any devoted fan, I will take any bit of Dr. Horrible I can get until Joss Whedon hopefully decides to bring us more. So of course, I had to check out the Dr. Horrible and Other Horrible Stories comic.

The stories are perfect for fans. Since they are written by Zack Whedon, who was also one of the writers of the webisodes, so I trusted he could give us some fun insight into these characters. We get a look at Captain Hammer and his view on heroes (Captain Hammer: Be Like Me!), some background info on Moist (Moist: Humidity Rising), and a look into Penny's life before that fateful day with the van (Penny: Keep Your Head Up). While these three comics were good and I enjoyed reading about the characters, there were two comics that stood out and had the feel of the web series.

Dr. Horrible starts with an early look at Billy as a child and gives us a glimpse at what might have sparked his interest in supervillinay. It also gives us an early encounter between Dr. Horrible and Captain Hammer and goes well with the series as it sets up Captain Hammer as Dr. Horrible's nemesis.

The story about the ELE (The Evil League of Evil) was my favorite of the collection. The league characters cracked me up and I thought the story was full of the quick-witted jokes that are one of the reasons I love Dr. Horrible in the first place. This story is worth picking up the collection for!

Overall the stories go well with the web series and it's a great addition for Dr. Horrible fans. While the artwork at times isn't my favorite, the stories make up for it. If only it too came with a soundtrack, the comics would be perfect! Highly recommend to any Dr. Horrible fan and will leave you wanting more Dr. Horrible. Please Joss, give us more?

Sarah's Child by Linda Howard 335 p.

Rome Matthews is struggling with the loss of his wife and two little boys in a tragic car accident. Can Sarah Harper, his wife's best friend help him through this crisis. And should she tell him, she has been in love with him for years. This all makes for a heart wrenching love story.