Summer school turns out to be a gift for Alek, not a punishment, in One Man Guy, while the One Last Kiss was not really the one that Cassidy would have wished for. Love by the Morning Star gives a new spin to YA literature set during World War II in which a half-Jewish girl’s and a Nazi-sympathizer’s daughter’s identities are switched. Andrea Cremer fans will find enough steampunk and history to satisfy them in her latest, The Inventor’s Secret.
Barakavia, Michael. One Man Guy. Farrar. May 2014. Tr $12.95. ISBN 978-0374356453.
Gr 8-12—Alek Khedarian is surprised when his family takes him out to eat (why would one want to eat out at an American establishment when Armenians could whip up food three times as good?), but he’s even more surprised when his parents tell him he’s going to miss the family vacation to do summer school, all because of a few lousy Bs.
But summer school, although hellish, brings with it Ethan, a beautiful, cool, and free-spirited guy who leaves Alek in awe. As Ethan takes Alek under his wing and shows him the world (read: New York City), Alek begins to realize that Ethan wants to be more than friends, and that he might be okay with that.
I had very high expectations for this book, because finding queer romance about people of color is hard, and the summary looked promising. As I read, though, I cringed. I cringed so much that my mother told me my face would freeze that way. My biggest problem with this book was the Sarah Dessen-y vibe that it gave off. Sarah Dessen writes well, but her characters are flat and unrealistic, and her books are predictable. That’s how I felt going into One Man Guy.
Alek and Ethan don’t talk like normal teenagers. They don’t talk like adults, either. They talk like aliens, basically, and it was hard to read their dialogues without cringing. On top of that, there was very little character development; Alek and Ethan were little more than tropes, and it was obvious from the beginning that there would be a massive break up over something ridiculous.
I did like some elements, though; Barakiva definitely knows how to write families, and the Khedarians were believable and adorable. And although Ethan and Alek spoke like aliens, they were a cute couple. In short, this book was mediocre. Elements were likable, but nothing was particularly poignant.
Note to authors: Please, please, please do not write queer characters that use words like homo, faggot, and dyke. I am queer, and I have friends who are gay, straight, asexual, pansexual, etc. and we NEVER use words like those so casually because they are slurs. A minority group can take back a slur, but the way Ethan says it is not only disrespectful but really weirdly worded. (This is referencing the Rufus Wainwright concert specifically, by the way.)
Queer romance, straight up (haha pun), is what drew me to this book. Ethan and Alek are adorable, if a little fluffy for YA. A lot of authors skip the whole physical side of queer relationships, which confuses me. Straight YA romance will occasionally bring up a full home run while LGBTQ YA romances hardly venture past first.
Recommended for anyone looking for a fluffy romance. This had a very rom-com feel to it, and fans of Sarah Dessen will eat this up. I also enjoyed the way the ‘crazy Mediterranean family’ trope was written in this book, and liked it overall.—Arooq K., age 15
Cremer, Andrea. The Inventor’s Secret. Philomel. April 2014. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0399159626.
Gr 7 Up—Nearly all her life, Charlotte has been hiding in underground caverns with other children of rebels after the British won the Revolutionary War. All is well until one day, a boy with no memory appears, warning them of great danger, sending Charlotte and her friends on a dangerous mission to the center of the British industrial empire.
The Inventor’s Secret is a very action-packed book and very interesting, but it seems a little like the author wrote the whole story out, then replaced all the words she could with words from an SAT list. It was interesting that there was so much futuristic technology in the past in this book and how the technology is important to the plot, but in a very subtle way. All in all, this book was pretty good, though you might not recommend it to every single one of your friends.
This book mixes several genres but still manages to keep the plot very interesting. The romance is there, the adventure and the suspense are there throughout the book, and there is historical fiction on top of that.
I would recommend this book to people who like other steampunk-type books and movies. People who enjoy historical fiction also might enjoy this book for its historical references and details about the characters’ way of dress and manners. This book is probably best for middle-schoolers and fans of Rift (also by Andrea Cremer).—Michelle F., age 13
See The Inventor’s Secret: Behind the Scenes with Andrea Cremer.
Neal, Bethany. My Last Kiss. Farrar. June 2014. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0374351281.
Gr 7 Up—Cassidy Haines was just a normal teenager until she got caught up in a web of lies that ultimately led to her death. Now she’s back and determined to find out who’s to blame, even if it means facing the horrible things she did in the last weeks of her life.
My Last Kiss was addicting and suspenseful. It gripped me from the beginning and I just had to keep reading so I could figure out how Cassidy died. The characters were very relatable and seemed like ordinary teenagers, which really helped me get into the book. Also, as the reader, you were able to solve the mystery of Cassidy’s death as she does. While reading, it almost felt as if you were Cassidy and were just as shocked by each new revelation as she was. I think it was an overall amazing book as it had the right blend of romance, suspense and mystery.
I was interested to see what realizations she would come to about herself and the people around her, and I was curious to see how she died. I thought the book sounded similar to Lauren Oliver’s Before I Fall, which I really enjoyed, so I thought I would probably like this book too.
I would recommend this book for older middle schoolers and highschoolers, along with some young adults, depending on if they like YA. I think girls would enjoy this book more than boys would. Fans of Lauren Oliver’s Before I Fall would probably really enjoy this book as it is similar in theme. It also had a similar feel to If I Stay, by Gayle Forman.—Annie D., age 15
Sullivan, Laura. Love by the Morning Star. Houghton Harcourt. June 2014. Tr $12.99. ISBN 978-0547689517.
Gr 8 Up—Hannah is a half-Jewish girl living in 1938 Germany, a world where being Jewish (even a little bit) is dangerous. Luckily, her other half is English, and she goes off to England to live at Starkers, the grand country estate of a distant relative.
Anna was born poor, but with her pretty face, she’ll manage to snag a rich husband. Fortune comes in the form of a spy mission her Nazi sympathizer father signs her up for, as she’ll go to work at Starkers, an estate that has a dashing (and single) heir.
There is a mix-up, though, and Anna is received as a relative while Hannah is received as a kitchen maid. While it looks as though everything has gone wrong, it is more right than ever thought possible.
I really enjoyed this book. It reminds me a lot of a more modern-day Downton Abbey. And although the characters are predominantly white (England, even 1930s England, isn’t devoid of people of color), there’s plenty of queer representation, which was amazing to see. The scandal and the drama definitely kept me hooked, and although I hated Anna for taking Hannah’s place, I grew to love her character and adore the way the story played out.
Downton Abbey can get serious, but when you bring in the plight of refugee Jews during this time, the book becomes heavier. People think of YA lit as fluffy, meaningless writing that appeals only to teens who want a quick fix for their love story/action-adventure needs, but this book manages to be serious and historical yet playful and romantic at the same time, and I applaud Sullivan for that. Very well done. Although the whole “fans of Downton Abbey will LOVE this” promo is getting a little old, this book will definitely appeal to fans of period dramas, scandals, and love stories.—Arooq K., age 15