Format: Young Adult

The Totally True Story of Gracie Bryne

The Totally True Story of Gracie BryneThe Totally True Story of Gracie Byrne by Shannon Takaoka
on October 31, 2023
ISBN: 1536228788
Genres: Magical Realism
Format: Young Adult
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads
five-stars

The Totally True Story of Gracie Byrne by Shannon Takaoka

Sixteen year old Gracie Byrne, like most teenagers, wishes her life were different.  Her parents are recently divorced and her grandfather has passed away. Gracie, her mom, and her brother have decided to move in with her grandmother, whose Alzheimers has gotten worse.  Having social anxiety does not help with starting a new school.  

Gracie stumbles upon a blank journal of her grandmother’s.  A gifted writer, Gracie starts weaving tales, using the cute popular boy from her new school as a muse.  Then the impossible happens.  The stories begin to come true.  Acting as a moral compass, her friend and cute neighbor, Tom, helps Gracie navigate the ins and outs of this magical “gift.”

The author skillfully blends family, friendship, romance, and magical realism into this novel for young adults.  Younger readers of the middle grade novels The Silver Pencil by Alice Dalgliesh or The Bronze Pen by Zilpha Keatley Snyder will age up and love this novel as well. 

Reviewed by Heidi Kopishke, Camden Hills Regional High School, Rockport, ME.

five-stars

Caught in a Bad Fauxmance

Caught in a Bad FauxmanceCaught in a Bad Fauxmance (Joy Revolution) by Elle Gonzalez Rose
ISBN: 0593645790
Genres: Romance, Science Fiction
Format: Fiction, Young Adult
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads
five-stars

For years, Devin Baez’s family and Julian Seo-Cooke’s clan have hated each other with a mutual loathing that peaks during the annual Winter Games at their Florida camp compound.  They earnestly compete – and audaciously cheat – to win the top prize and bragging rights. But it has been four years since Devin and his papi, twin sister, step-mother and step-brother have been to camp, four years since Devin’s mom died. Facing that loss is hard enough without having to deal with the smarmy, ultra-rich Seo-Cookes and their despicable father who stole papi’s invention and made millions off it without so much as a share to the Baez’s. So when Julian asks Devin to pretend to be his boyfriend in order to snub an ex, Devin shockingly says yes, if secretly only to get the inside scoop on how to defeat the insufferable family once and for all. The stakes are high, shenanigans ensue, and a romantic happy ending satisfies. This is a fun and clean romance that sometimes splashes into more serious moments of grief and familial discord. The secondary characters, especially the touching relationship between Devin and his twin sister Maya, bring weight to what could be a trope-filled enemies to lovers story. Instead this fauxmance to romance rises to the top with its mix of sweet emotions, funny pranks, and a fabulous comeuppance.   Reviewed by Melissa M. Orth, Richmond Middle/High School, Richmond, ME

five-stars

Gather

GatherGather by Kenneth M. Cadow
Published by Candlewick Press on October 3, 2023
ISBN: 1536231118
Genres: Realistic Fiction
Format: Young Adult
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads
five-stars

Ian is a resourceful, hardworking teenager who helps keep him and his mom afloat after she is injured at work.  Although their house is falling down around them, Ian is motivated to stay by a deep connection with their Vermont land.  Life at home for Ian is a roller coaster as his mom deals with addiction and poverty, but Ian has neighbors and people at school who rally around him and support him however they can.  Ian also has the love of his adopted dog Gather, his best friend and companion.  When life takes an unexpected turn, Ian and Gather must survive for a time on their own together.  The story is narrated by Ian and his voice is unique and compelling.  He uses foreshadowing in his storytelling, which helps the book maintain its pace.  Ian is such a likable character who readers can’t help but root for. He faces his hardships head on and his story is ultimately one of hope and the importance of a community gathering around people who need support.  Highly recommended for libraries with YA patrons.

 

reviewed by Lindsay Varnum, Orono Public Library

five-stars

All That Consumes Us

All That Consumes UsAll That Consumes Us by Erica Waters
on October 17, 2023
ISBN: 0063115964
Pages: 416
Genres: Horror, Romance, Supernatural
Format: Fiction, Young Adult
Goodreads
four-stars

Erica Water’s new gothic, dark academia novel, All That Consumes Us, is at times confined by genre tropes, but slowly it becomes its own contemporary hybrid. Tara Boone, a struggling 17 year old freshman at a private southern college, is accepted into an elite and secretive society, Magni Viri, after the tragic death of one of its members. Tara is in the Jane Eyre mold: a penniless, functionally orphaned girl with big dreams who is held back by self-doubt. At first it is difficult for Tara to fit in with the seemingly privileged and supernaturally talented Magni Viri students, but she will do anything for the guaranteed success promised to all its graduates – or will she?

The combination of Tara’s insecurities and the obfuscations of everyone around her make the middle of the book drag, but fortunately, genuinely surprising plot twists emerge. In true gothic fashion, Tara believes she is being haunted and her increasingly restless nights cause the atmosphere of dread to swell like a cicada’s whine. Unlike its genre’s predecessors, All That Consumes Us is refreshingly diverse. Though underdeveloped, the main lovestory is queer and there is purposeful diversity in the side character’s race, gender, class, and ability. This book will be appreciated more by future English majors who have read the heavily referenced The Secret History & Jane Eyre, but at its core this is an atmospheric ghost story lush with spooky, autumn vibes that many readers will enjoy.

Reviewed by Ivy Burns, Merrill Memorial Library, Yarmouth

four-stars

Sinner’s Isle

Sinner’s IsleSinner's Isle by Angela Montoya
on October 31, 2023
ISBN: 059364333X
Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Format: Chapter Book Fiction, Young Adult
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads
two-stars

A mysterious isle, a powerful witch, and a clever pirate.  These are the ingredients that make up this romantic fantasy.  Women gifted with powers by the goddess Xiomara, known as majestics, are labeled evil by the church and are exiled to Sinner’s Isle.  Once the women come of age, they are subjected to a bonding ritual in which they are linked with a nobleman of the kingdom and become controlled by them.  Rosalind, the most powerfully gifted amongst them, is expected to bond with the young newly crowned king.  Her domineering mistress, Doña Lucía, has other plans.  Trying to take her freewill back, while also stopping an unjust system, she and her best friend attempt to escape.  In a twist of fate (or magic), Mariano, the son of the most notorious pirate of the kingdom washes up on the isle.  Mariano’s mother was killed by a majestic, and wants nothing more than to get off the isle.  When he meets Rosa, an immediate love connection known as a “heartsong” pulls them together and he becomes determined to escape by her side.  

All the ingredients of this novel suggest an epic romantic adventure: magic, pirates, princes, kings, good versus evil.  The two “lovers” only have a few scenes together.  The novel remains set on the isle for the entire book, even with the idea of piracy being quickly introduced.  The reader must experience Rosa’s inability to have any control over her own fate and constantly being viewed as an object of men’s longing and desires (possibly the author’s reaction to political issues, as she alludes to in her author’s note).  The idea of a heartsong makes one think of the imprinting phenomenon portrayed in the Twilight novels or mating bond in A Court of Thorns and Roses.  One must question if that is actual love. This novel may provide adolescent readers with unhealthy models of relationships.

The book is appropriate for ages 14 to 18.  The intended audience is those who enjoy fantastical or supernatural romances.  Mostly Latino and many LGBTQ+ characters make up the cast.

Reviewed by Heidi Kopishke, Camden Hills Regional High School, Rockport, ME.

two-stars