Category Archives: Upcoming Releases

It’s true that the moment I realized Cat Winters would be at the American Library Association’s annual conference in Chicago, that I resolved to finally meet her. I had already professed my love for Cat Winters’ writing style in this blog post from April 3, 2016 and then having finished her newest Odd and True that will be due out September 12, 2017 just a week before the conference, it solidified her unique storytelling and her articulate and creative writing because after numerous books and short stories that I’ve read of hers I can say: she’s consistently awesome.

First the book, then the picture of when we finally met!

And it all starts for me in telling you when True says to a gentleman in the memorable quote: “Tell little Celia you met a polio survivor who now hunts monsters.” This summarizes both the perseverance of the sisters, Odette and Trudchen, but specifically Trudchen during a point in history in the early 1900s that polio was a debilitating disease and one had to depend on others for help.

So when Odette encourages her sister to escape away from their aunt’s home, it becomes a magical adventure. Which leads to a memorable scene: That split second decision that True makes to get on the train with Odd when Odd returns from years away and little contact. True realizes it’s now or never and gets up from her wheelchair, abandoning it for her leg braces and hightails it on the train, leaving her aunt speechless. It was True drawing a line in the sand. Yet, in second place for a memorable scene is the resolution, which would be a total spoiler if I were to really tell you, so I won’t go there!

But I will go there long enough to tell you that for me, the memorable character while equally shared among the cast of well-developed adults might just have to be the young girl we meet at the end of the story, who we learned about periodically as that thread unfolded throughout the monster-hunting adventures and allowed readers to fall in love with Odd as much as True. It was rich and heartbreaking but why Winters tells an especially captivating tale.

While I missed her at a YA authors speed dating event in the morning, I rushed to her signing on the exhibit floor where I was able to capture the moment when I finally met THE Cat Winters.

Fangirling aside, I advise you to make yourself a cup of loose leaf tea and hunker down for a dark exploration of monsters and the motivations of one supernatural family.

It only took me half of the train ride from New York City to Albany to devour Jason Reynolds’ newest YA Long Way Down that will celebrate its book birthday October 17, 2017. Yes, we will be ordering multiple copies for our HS library. Yes, we continue to be in awe that our HS library hosted him a month after the release of his co-written All American Boys. Yes, I will read everything that this guy writes. So what’s so special about this book? I’ll start with the most..

Memorable character: By far it’s each person that walks into that elevator with Will and no, I don’t want to explain anything more other than to say that they all have their own agendas, all have their own histories, and add a deeper layer before he makes his weighty decision. Which leads to the most…

Memorable scene: Which is clearly the ending. My favorite kind of ending. The kind that ends similarly to Wink Poppy Midnight by Genevieve Tucholke or The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton, which is to say darkly with a big question mark around what will happen next and, that you’re fairly certain as a reader that the author should never/could never/would never write a sequel that answers the question.

Memorable quote: And when Reynolds’ pulls off an ending like this, it’s true that the entire book was tragically and beautifully written to build the suspense and provide the motivation to do X. And surprisingly, the book is verse. I’ve followed his poetry posts on social media and know he’s gifted, so creating a novel in verse seems like a natural extension of this talent. Rather than ruin it with in-line text, here is a full-page spread in which Dani is asking Will a valuable question:

So, what’s my advice? If you aren’t lucky enough to land an advance copy, be sure you’re the first in line on October 17th to get your own copy from your independent book store. And if you’re in charge of ordering for a YA collection, I advise you to order multiple copies. You won’t regret it.

A heroine with a deadline. I can definitely relate since I’m recovering from an extremely busy October where I took hold of the motto that you’ve got three choices: give in, give up, or give it all you’ve got. I got through October and Mara needs to figure out who is killing her friends and fellow freeks from the traveling circus that has been her and her mother’s livelihood. They’ve settled in Caudry and at an innocent party, Mara meets Gabe and things change.

Memorable character: For me it was Mara, a girl on a tight timeline to be able to get a hold of her powers in order to save those that she loves.What’s more endearing.

Memorable scene: Really it was the entire atmosphere of the story, not a particular scene that drives Freeks. With the resurgence of the 80s, especially after the release of season one of Stranger Things coupled with American Horror Story doing a sideshow-themed season a few years back, this is a time and ambiance that readers want to go back to. For teen readers it’s to understand and learn, for adult readers of YA, a time to reminisce. Hocking works the setting into each situation that vividly captures the imagination.

Memorable quote: It’s also this carnival world that endears readers and fears for the freeks’ lives. And who better to sum up the desperate need to catch this predator than Gideon, who also selflessly expresses why readers want to see Mara succeed when they hatch a plot to kill it. “A creature like this doesn’t just go away. We can’t run from it, and even if we can, that only means that it will harm others. I’ve spent my entire adult life trying to protect those that society forgot or threw away. I can’t just leave this thing running loose to kill anything it wants.”

Boy, don’t you hope that with as little carnage as possible they catch this beast and put an end to the suffering? With romantic overtones that provide some necessary distraction, the book is a story about family: a family that travels in a circus together and wants to live and co-exist, love and laugh like everyone else.

This is advised for lovers of carnival culture, readers that have enjoyed Hockings’ other series that include Watersong and Trylle, and anyone who roots for the heroine to come out on top even when the *ahem* cards are stacked against her.

This is Carson’s second trilogy: her first, Fire and Thorns, was a masterpiece of gorgeous cover art with a plucky heroine, plenty of action, and an imaginative world. After staying up late to read the second book in Carson’s new planned Gold Seer trilogy, Like A River Glorious, I can confidently proclaim this an equally intelligent masterpiece to her first threesome.  Carson does not waiver in her abilities to create realistic and likeable (or very dislikeable) characters that wrap you up in their world.

Memorable character: I’m going to go with the man behind the woman on this one. I’m not going to talk about our main character, the kick-butt and take-names Leah Westfall, who makes bad decisions, thinks about them, tries to correct them, and realizes that home is not a place, but people. Instead, I’m going to talk about Jefferson McCauley Kingfisher who has been in love with Leah since they were tykes, a man that will “do just about anything for the woman he cares about.” And even though this relationship is friendship and romance, it’s not the kind of romance that overpowers this magical history ride. It’s his supportive nature, his ability to overcome insane odds from an abusive household to discrimination and physical abuse at the hands of Leah’s Uncle Hiram. And he does it with a smile because “if he can find something to grin about in our situation, then maybe there’s reason to hope, after all.”

Memorable quote: So I’ve already quoted the book twice and have about twenty such highlights in my digital copy, but I’d say the paragraph that sums up Leah’s epic journey as well as her magical ability is “for a moment, I am happy, maybe the happiest I’ve been since Uncle Hiram murdered my parents and stole my life from me. I have sunlight on my face, and the siren call of gold singing under my skin. I’m with family again, my real family now, whatever the law says, and I’m doing something I’m good at.” It’s Leah’s confidence even in the face of adversity and indecision that ultimately pulls through.

Memorable scene: And the quote leads to my favorite scene, though not a particular scene, but instead the setting of Glory, California; the shanties that become a small town with the teamwork of Leah and Jefferson, Widow Joyner and her kids, Major Craven, Hampton, Jasper and Thomas, Henry, and the Hoffmans. To see this grow from nothing as they move westward is a phenomenal sight.

I would advise everyone to pick up this series if they haven’t already and carve out the next day or two to soak in every word. It needs to be on library shelves and shared widely because with adventure, history, and magic, a reader can’t go wrong. Then it’s the little things interjected (like justice and friendship or questions of loyalty and sexuality) that like the gold dust that coats Leah, adds just a bit more shine to make it sparkle.