Going Bovine

I moped when Marcelo in the Real World did not win the Printz Award this year. (Marcelo is a gorgeous book and I highly recommend it to anyone over the age of 14 -- adults included!) But I knew that I could not nurse that sense of injury for long without reading the actual Printz winner, Going Bovine. If I was going to be self-righteous, I might as well do it without being a hypocrite. A marginal distinction, I grant you, but still one I was willing to make.

Y'all, Going Bovine is weird... but it might deserve the Printz Award. In this strange story, Cameron Smith contracts mad cow disease and ends up on a road trip quest to save the world and find a cure. He is accompanied by Gonzo, a hypochodriac dwarf, and Baldur, a Norse god cursed to appear as a lawn gnome. Cameron is pursued by the fire giants, who wish to kill him, but thankfully has the help of punk angel Dulcie to find his way. It could all be a hallucination of his spongifying brain... or maybe it's real. And maybe it doesn't matter if it is or isn't.

Libba Bray skewers social norms with satire and sheer oddity without harping on them, which works better than you'd ever guess. The book mocks materialism and prosperity gospel and religious cults and sexual obsession, all while admitting that we seek those things to cure a very real emptiness in our lives. Death is a real presence, not a romantic plot device. Cameron is authentic, funny, and strange as hell. It's a smart, funny, and (have you caught on yet?) WEIRD book. Its notable failures come in an excessive amount of set-up (100+ pages) and the need for stronger editing (at a 500+ page finish).

Verdict: A complex, unusual story that exceeds Libba Bray's previous work and deserves the accolades.

Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind

I picked up the first book in the Miss Julia series on a whim, based on the recommendation of one of my teen patrons at the library. Never heard of it before. Figured it would be either cheesy or a Mitford imitation.

As lovely and comforting as the Mitford novels are, the Miss Julia books spin off into a different world. If the plot were a news blurb, it would be this: Wealthy widow of self-righteous Presbyterian banker takes in dead husband's love child and lover in small-town scandal... and it only gets crazier from there! Miss Julia's search for a voice and independence in the wake of her husband's death is endearing and funny all at once, as she wrestles through the very real ramifications of doing the right thing with a philandering dead husband and a gossiping small town looking over her shoulder. You cannot help but love her. And if you grew up Presbyterian like I did, you will spend quite a bit of time snorting at her endless quests to overcome the session (of elders), the newest building remodel plans, and the Calvinist machinations of the world.

Verdict: It is a truly funny, silly, enjoyable read. I will definitely be treating myself to the rest of the series in-between more serious reading.

Beautiful Creatures

Confession: about 100 pages into this 500+ page book, I wanted to write an utterly scathing review. "Twilight set in a campy gothic Deep South! Another doomed romance, overlaid with too many episodes of Charmed and excessive melodrama!" I would write.

But I can't.

Don't get me wrong, now. I still think there are many weaknesses to this book, and I am disappointed in it in light of what it could have been. No book ought to take over 200 pages to lay out clear characterization and setting. (I'm looking at you, Tales of the Madman Underground.) Like many young adult books in the past few years, the writing is bloated and it uses cliche hooks -- doomed romance, mysterious girl, disapproving families, a Chosen One, etc. -- to keep readers sticking with it for hundreds of pages until the stage is fully set. If it hadn't been so hot at my library, I may not have stuck with it.

Despite these glaring problems, it offers some wonderful treats. The damage of secrets and half-truths in families and communities; a teen male narrator (so rare lately!); a surprisingly ambiguous ending; a complex supernatural world that was unbelabored and intriguing (despite the over-description of the trite Southern town); confusing loyalties; a naturally unfolding romance (well, as much as can be expected with magic involved); deeply flawed characters... in short, the things that had me reading those last 200 pages compulsively. I can think of more than one reader to whom I'll pass on the title with a wink and a nod this year... if it ever gets off the growing holds list!

Verdict: I expected this to be to Southern gothic fiction what Twilight is to Wuthering Heights, but it is better than that. Garcia and Stohl just need to tighten up that writing (A LOT).

Julie Andrews Collection of Poems, Songs, & Lullabies

I will confess at the outset that I did not read this in print format; I listened to the audiobook. Can you blame me? Who wouldn't want to hear the poems and lullabies in this book read by Julie Andrews? (Her elocution alone makes me long for the days of finishing schools!) So take this for what it is: a review of the audio version, admittedly absent of consideration for the watercolors that accompany the text.

It is fun. And that's about it. Andrews' collaboration with her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, is enjoyable in the shallow way that you enjoy a decent cover of one of your favorite songs. However, it lacks the passion and inspiration that I'd hoped for. The choices of poems and songs for inclusion is truly what Andrews and Hamilton claim them to be: nothing more than their favorites from throughout the years. In that way, my disappointment is a bit unwarranted; after all, they never claimed this collection to be the end all and be all of children's poetry collections. Andrews' reading is delightful, and Hamilton's is adequate. The stories behind their favorites are nice, if what you are interested in is their family life rather than the poems themselves. Nice. It's all just... nice.

Verdict: If I were to purchase a multi-author poetry collection (audio or print!) for my family, I'd still go with John Lithgow's gorgeous romp for all ages, Poets' Corner.

Front & Center

This book is the follow-up to Dairy Queen and The Off Season, and I ADORE IT. D. J. Schwenk wrestles through what it means to be a part of a team and a family without losing your sense of who you are, with such a lovely and authentic voice. Her fear and confusion is so real, but so is her courage. She's funny, too! I still laugh at the silly little side comments you can miss if you aren't paying attention.

It is a marvelous thing to finish up a trilogy that started strongly and only got better with each book.

Verdict: One of my favorite heroines in teen fiction!

Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone

Every review I've read says "frothy"... and really, there is no other way to describe it! It felt like being plopped into an Oscar Wilde play, only focused on dresses and cute lords instead of late-Victorian social norms. The inclusion of Uncle Augustus' compulsion towards bug-eating was entertaining.

Verdict: Enjoyable and shallow.