"The Book of Jonas" by Stephen Dau

272 pages

Jonas is only fifteen when is family, and basically everyone he has ever known, is killed during a US military operation in an unnamed country in the Middle East. With the help of an international relief organization, he eventually finds himself living with a foster family in Pennsylvania. Naturally, he has some major trouble assimilating to American culture and dealing with what happened in his home country. Over time, he begins telling his court-appointed counselor about a US soldier named Christopher who saved his life the night his village was destroyed. Meanwhile, Christopher's mother, Rose, has dedicated her life to finding out what really happened to her son, who disappeared after the encounter in Jonas' village. When Jonas and Rose finally meet, something that has long been buried in Jonas' past begins to make its way to the surface, building to a shocking conclusion. 

This is a truly stunning debut novel. It haunted me for days after I finished it, and it's one of those that I don't think I will ever forget. The Book of Jonas raises some intense questions about war and the consequences of violence without demonizing either side. I like that both Jonas and Rose's perspectives are shared--and we get glimpses of Chris's through his diary--because it gives a more well-rounded view of a bad situation that destroys lives from all sides. This story also made me think about how subjective and fragile our memories are, and how two people or groups of people can see and remember the same event very differently. This reality means that we have imperfect perspectives of both history and current events, which is something I don't usually think about very much. On top of all this great food for thought, I also just enjoyed this story in itself. I like the way it is written in very short chapters, both because it seems to fit Jonas' fractured state of mind and because I simply get more sucked into books that are broken into small parts. The suspense builds nicely right up to the last page, and the conclusion isn't too neatly wrapped up--which would feel false--but it is still satisfying. Dau is definitely an author to watch.  

May B by Caroline Starr Rose

2012/231pgs

About the Book: May has been sent to a neighbor's homestead to help out. It's only for a few months and it's a way her family can earn some extra money. Plus, it's not like she's doing much in school anyway-she's having trouble reading, so why does she need school? The neighbor's new bride isn't liking life on the Kansas prairie and she needs help cooking and cleaning. But when a tragedy leaves May alone as winter approaches, May must rely on her wits to survive.

Sarah Teenlibrarian Says: May B is a book that appeals to my tween self. If I had read this as a tween, I would have devoured and loved. I was obsessed with Laura Ingalls Wilder and living on the frontier (of course it was much more glamorous in my mind!) so this book was right up my ally.

May's story is told in verse which packs a powerful punch to May's journey. It works well because for most of the novel, May is alone, trapped in a snowstorm and trying to survive. I tend to not like books with little dialogue and with May on her own for most of the story, there's not a lot of dialogue happening in this book. But the verse format worked well for the story. It shows the seriousness of May's situation-she is alone and trying her best to survive. I felt May's emotions and related to her more with the verse poetry. Each poem was like a glimpse into her thoughts instead of reading one long passage of her internal narration. I'm probably not describing it very well, but it worked wonderfully to help tell this story!

There's also a storyline that deals with May's dyslexia. May dreams of growing up and becoming a teacher, but she can't read. She's always had trouble in school and she had one teacher who has encouraged her dreams and one who has not. May has a difficult time trying to figure out who to believe and if she should hang onto her dreams of teaching. The nice thing is that her struggle with dyslexia isn't laid out all at once and told to us. We're shown slowly throughout the novel that May is struggling in school. This works well because we come to discover May's dyslexia by it being shown to us instead of being told.

The frontier aspect of the story will have lots of appeal to fans of historical fiction. May describes the household, the landscape and her struggle to survive. I would hand this book over to readers of Little House on the Prairie who I'm sure would love it.

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

2011/272 pgs

About the Book: It's 1975 in Vietnam and ten-year-old Kim Ha and her family are praying for her father's safe return. He's been missing for the past nine year and war rages on around them. When the opportunity arises for the family to leave Saigon on a navy ship and come to America, the family decides to take the chance and hopes for a better life.

Sarah Teenlibrarian Says: Inside Out and Back Again is a beautifully written novel in verse debut. The book is partly based on the author's own experience as a child, and it's clear she's writing what she knows and cares deeply about her story.

Kim is a strong, brave character who has a lot of spunk and a great voice to her narration. Her transition to America isn't easy. In Vietnam, she was smart and had friends, whereas in America she is taunted and teased and feels dumb because she doesn't know the language. But she doesn't let that stop her, which I loved about her. She stands up for herself and she was a character you couldn't help but like.

The book is getting some early Newbery buzz and deservedly so-it's a touching and memorable debut and well done in verse format.

Clarity by Kim Harrington

2011/256 pgs

About the Book: Clarity "Clare" Fern has a special gift-she's a psychic and see visions about people's pasts. When a teenage girl is found murdered in her quiet Cape Cod tourist town, Clare's cheating ex-boyfriend enlists Clare's special talent to help solve the case. Clare is still mad about the fact that he broke her heart. But when the top suspect in the cast becomes Clare's brother, she knows she has to help. Clare joins up with Gabriel, the hot son of the town's new detective to bring the murderer to justice. But will Clare's gift fail her just when she needs it most?

Sarah Teenlibrarian Says: Clarity is a supernatural mystery that is an easy and addicting read that I think will appeal to fans of Meg Cabot. The writing and mystery reminded me a bit of Cabot's books and the banter is fun. The book is a fast read and Clare is an engaging character. She has a quirky family and she's easy to like and root for.

The mystery is a bit simplistic and I would have liked things to be a bit fleshed out more. Clare stumbles upon clues fairly easily and I wanted a bit of a more complicated mystery and puzzle to figure out. There's also a large cast of characters which means a lot of people to keep track of. Clare also has a lot of potential love interests for Clare, which I found a bit annoying, since she mentions many times that she's a loner and viewed as a freak at school because of her gifts. Sure, we have our love triangle, but I kind of hoped that her brother's best friend would become a possible love interest as well! It's also a bit convenient how the teens end up working on the case, but that can be overlooked fairly easily.

Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy Clarity and I think it sets up what could be a great new mystery series. I really hope we see more of Clare. While it doesn't end on a cliffhanger and the mystery is resolved, the book does leave a few things open and I would love to know what happens next. It's easy to get pulled into the story and finish it quickly. I liked that while Clare has a psychic power, that's not the focus of the book, the focus is the mystery and her power aides in solving that. I also liked her relationship with her mom and her brother-I love great family dynamics in YA! I just hope that the future volumes in the series give us a more complex mystery.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

2011/496pgs.

About the Book: In futuristic Chicago, the city has broken up into factions depending on value you hold most important. Are you selfless? Abnegation is for you. Value honesty about all else? Candor is your faction. Is bravery the most important thing? Dauntless is where you belong.

Sixteen-year-old Beatrice was born and raised in Abnegation, but she knows she can't stay. At the choosing ceremony, Beatrice decides to switch factions and become Dauntless. But becoming Dauntless won't be easy. The Dauntless will only accept ten new members into their faction and to become Dauntless, the initiates must compete and train in various skills.

Beatrice transforms herself into Tris and tries to excel at Dauntless training and decide who to trust. But Tris is hiding a secret from them all-one that could be dangerous to her and her new faction. As she uncovers a growing unrest among the factions, Tris must decide where her allegiances belong.

Sarah Teenlibrarian Says: This book is getting a lot of marketing a buzz behind it and is being touted as the "next Hunger Games." As Nancee mentioned in her review, Divergent is similar to The Hunger Games without feeling like a copy. Fans of The Hunger Games series would be the first group I would give this book to.

Tris is an interesting character and her world is an interesting take on the dystopian genre. Instead of it being the entire country or world, this dystopia focuses on one city. I did wonder what was going on in the rest of the country, so hopefully we get more answers in future books (because yes, this is a series, everything is in YA these days). I found Tris to be gutsy and a bit soft and she balanced these two very well. She's never really a pushover yet she's never really a completely strong kick-butt girl either. She falls in between which gives her room to grow throughout the novel. I also liked that Tris showed a bit of a soft side, it made her more relatable to me.

Even though the book is almost 500 pages long, it really is a quick read. I finished this in two days as the story was engaging enough to keep me reading. There were a few things that were a bit predictable and I would have liked there to be more that I can create theories on for future books, but I still had a lot of fun with it. Even though there were things I saw coming, there were others that I didn't which kept the book interesting. I did think the author tried to squeeze just a bit too much in this book and there a few things that weren't as fleshed out as I would have liked. But hopefully these details will be given a chance to be fleshed out later on.

There's also a romance and I have to say I liked it. It wasn't love at first sight and the author took time to develop the characters and gave them a chance to like each other before the romance took off. Although this was one area that Tris bugged me a bit-she's a bit dense and I wanted to keep telling her that boy wasn't being mean, but liked her-it took her forever to see that!!

If you like dystopian, add Divergent to your list of books to read in 2011. With all the buzz surrounding this one and the popularity of dystopian novels, I'm sure this will end up being a book that gets talked about, especially with teens. Look for it in May (or ask your teen librarian for an ARC!)