Kiss of Broken Glass by Madeleine Kuderick

I will pick up any novel in verse I can get my hands of, so it was an easy decision to read Kiss of Broken Glass by Madeleine Kuderick. This book takes place over 72 hours when Kenna, as a result of being caught cutting herself at school, is institutionalized. The novel itself is an incredibly quick read, because of both the format and the short page count (only about 200). However, while it does provide a brief glimpse into the addictive nature of self-harm--even when a person doesn't start out with that intention-- as well as the community and potential for peer pressure, it's not actually an incredibly emotional read.

Perhaps because there's not enough time for development of the relationships, but for a book on such a serious topic, I felt like Kiss of Broken Glass was a bit superficial at times, especially when it came to the characters. Even components I appreciated such as Kenna's relationship with her parents, were often still simplistic, and I really wish that in particular the cutting group that she was a part of had been explored more. This is the first book I've read that deals with that real life possibility, and I wanted more from it.

Overall, there are definitely elements of Kiss of Broken Glass I appreciated, but it's a novel where I feel like with another hundred pages I just would have connected to it so much more. 

Release Date: September 9th 2014 Pages: 224  Format: Egalley
Source: Edelweiss  Publisher: HarperTeen  Buy It: Book Depository

A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman

A novel in verse is an auto-read for me, but add in some less conventional elements such as a multicultural setting, and it gets immediately moved to the top of the reading pile. Such was the case with A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman, the story of Veda, a teenage girl whose entire life revolves around dance, against her parents wishes, until an accident leaves her with a below-the-knee amputation. As Veda adjusts to life with a prosthetic leg, she decides not to give up on her dream, taking dance classes again and trying to discover who she is now, and what it is she really wants.

A Time to Dance is definitely a novel that is heavier on the emotion than it is on the plot and action, although there is enough to keep the story going. Veda goes through something really tragic, and Venkatraman's description of how she deals with it and what happens afterwards is well done. Without considering the fact that it took place in India and dealt with a different culture, the story of A Time to Dance wasn't that unique and reminded me a lot of The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen, where a girl who loves running loses a leg and starts over again. I probably would have been more impressed if I hadn't already read Van Draanen's novel, but I still enjoyed reading this one.

I think the character development in A Time to Dance is really well done and although the story was a bit expected, it was a quiet book and I really appreciated the setting, making it a worthwhile and quick read. 

Release Date: May 1st 2014 Pages: 320  Format: Egalley
Source: Netgalley  Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books  Buy It: Book Depository

You Are Not Here by Samantha Schutz

I just love my novels in verse, so when I had a chance to pick one free book out of any, I instantly went for You Are Not Here by Samantha Schutz. I'm not sure why I waited until that moment to pick up a copy, but it was an easy choice. You Are Not Here is the story of Annaleah, after the death of Brian, the boy she loved but who never quite made their relationship official. As a result, Annaleah ended up ditching her friends, and when Brian dies she finds herself alone.

Even though he is already dead by the time You Are Not Here starts, I definitely wasn't a fan of Brian and the way that he treated Annaleah, but at the same time, it felt like she should almost no better. Of course, she is a teenager and it is much easier to judge from the outside than inside that feeling of first love. In terms of emotion and grieving, Schutz captures it very well with her verse, the complicated balance between mourning and moving on, and the feelings that Annaleah has for Brian. Perhaps as a result, You Are Not Here feels like a very personal book, and the other characters do not have much dimension to them, and their relationship with Annaleah is less strong.

Overall, I thought Schutz did an excellent job with the verse in You Are Not Here as well as capturing emotion in a vivid way, so that even though the other characters and storyline could have been stronger, I would still be interested in reading more from Schutz in the future.

Release Date: October 1st 2010 Pages: 292  Format: Ebook
Source: Personal  Publisher: Push  Buy It: Book Depository

Smoke by Ellen Hopkins

 
Smoke is the sequel to Ellen Hopkins' book, Burned, which was okay but not my favourite from her. Hopkins writes in verse which is a format I adore, and her books are the kind that deal with dark issues in a raw and honest way. As a result, I would easily pick up anything she wrote ever, so when I had the opportunity to read Smoke, of course I did. Unfortunately, it reconfirmed that this is just not my favourite Hopkins series. It's not bad, but it's just not to the standards of some of Hopkins other books for me.

In Smoke, Pattyn is on the run after Ethan's death and the loss of her baby, while her sister Jackie is left at home trying to tend to their large, shattered family. Both Pattyn and Jackie have secrets, and unlike Burned the book is told from both their perspectives. I thought that added in a unique element and I am always blown away at how different Hopkins makes her narrators sound even when they are both using the verse format.

I'm not convinced that Burned needed a sequel, and although it did end on a cliffhanger asides from tying that up Smoke feels a bit unnecessary. Although it's a very dark novel, it also manages to tie things up a bit too perfectly, *spoiler* and is too reliant on finding magical love interests who can solve everything, *spoiler* something that just doesn't feel authentic, or empowering, in the context of the book. I will definitely continue to recommend many novels by Ellen Hopkins in the future, as well as pick them up myself, but unfortunately Smoke will not be on the short list.

Release Date: September 10th 2013 Pages: 543  Format: ARC
Source: Publisher  Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry  Buy It: Book Depository

Orchards by Holly Thompson

Orchards is a powerful novel in verse by Holly Thompson, about the repercussions of bullying and the meaning of home. In this novel, Kana Golberg is sent away to live with her mother's family in Japan after a classmate commits suicide. During her summer in Japan, Kana works on the orange farm and is forced to reflect on the role she may have played, and what she could have done to stop the bullying. It's a simple story, but its strength is really in the setting. Thompson brings the Japanese farm to life, and deftly takes on the cultural issues felt by Kana who is half Japanese and half Jewish-American. There definitely aren't enough novels with biracial protagonists, and I thought this one did an excellent job with mentioning some of the unique issues without making it Kana's defining feature.

I thought it was really interesting how even though the novel was in verse, it was still divided up into chapters. The verse writing is excellent, and the page and line breaks are thoughtful and well-placed. It really added to some of the fragmentation of Kana's thoughts at times, and made it quick, easy, and lovely to read. The story is complimented by some illustrations, though I found them unnecessary. Thompson's words illustrated everything I needed to see.

Ultimately, I don't know why I waited so long to pick up Orchards, but as soon as I did I couldn't put it down. I devoured half the book that night before bed, and read the rest before work the next day– I just couldn't leave until I finished it. The writing was smooth and lyrical, and it was easy to form an emotional connection with Kana, even though– or maybe because– she wasn't perfect. I will definitely be recommending Orchards and I'm very excited to pick up Thompson's followup, The Language Inside when it is released in May.

Release Date: February 22nd 2011  Pages: 336  Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher  Publisher: Random House  Buy It: Book Depository

Collateral by Ellen Hopkins

In Collateral, Ellen Hopkins' second adult novel, Ashley, a young woman who doesn't believe in war, falls in love with Cole, a man who is fighting in it. Having been together for five years and four deployments, Ashley pursues her MFA while Cole is away. She never imagined her life this way, but her love for Cole leaves her no other option. The only problem is, Cole may no longer be the person she fell in love with.

The novel goes back and forth in time, from when Ashley and Cole were just falling in love, to their present situation five years later. I really liked the magic of when they were first together, and I feel like Hopkins captured that initial infatuation perfectly. I didn't find the tense-switching confusing, but I was desperate to know exactly how things went so wrong and that definitely kept me reading.

Like Hopkins' young adult books, many of which I have read and loved– including the Crank Trilogy and Identical– Collateral is written in verse. The verse is complimented by poetry written by Cole, which added an interesting dimension to the story by giving insight into what he was thinking and feeling. As always, I thought Hopkins' verse flowed smoothly and was really easy and enjoyable to read.

However, while I did think Collateral was incredibly well-written, but I don't think I enjoyed it quite as much as I've loved Hopkins' young adult books. This has very little to do with the fact that she's writing older characters here, and more to do with some of the storyline that just rubbed me the wrong way. In general, Hopkins' writes the kind of books that make the reader think, and although she still mostly does that in Collateral it sometimes became too preachy for me to really enjoy it. At some points, it felt more like a message than a story. Ashley spends a lot of time talking about how the war Cole is fighting in is wrong, and the overall tone of the book is pretty negative. It also sometimes felt like Hopkins was simplifying things too much for the sake of the story, including Cole's story.

That said, I feel like many of my reasons for not falling completely in love with Collateral have to do with this book in particular, so it hasn't changed my adoration of Hopkins, nor the likelihood that I would pick up another novel by her again in the future– including adult titles.

Release Date: November 6th 2012  Pages: 496  Format: E-galley  Source: NetGalley/Publisher
Also by this Author (YA): Crank (Crank #1); Glass (Crank #2); Fallout (Crank #3); Identical; Burned (Burned #1)  Publisher: Simon and Schuster  Buy It: Book Depository

This is a review by Zoë. You can find her here on Goodreads or on Twitter @strandedhero

October Mourning by Lesléa Newman

October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard by Lesléa Newman
 
Release Date: September 25th 2012
Pages: 128
Format: E-book/Hardcover
Source: Netgalley/Publisher
Publisher: Candlewick
Buy It: Book Depository

On the night of October 6, 1998, twenty-one-year-old college student Matthew Shepard was lured from a Wyoming bar by two young men, savagely beaten, tied to a remote fence, and left to die. Gay Awareness Week was beginning at the University of Wyoming, and the keynote speaker was Leslea Newman. Shaken, the author addressed the large audience that gathered and remained haunted by Matthew's murder. October Mourning, a novel in verse, is her response to the events of that tragic day.

There are some events that are so important to remember because of their complete horror, and the reminder that they serve not to let such things happen again. I think Matthew Shepard's brutal beating and murder, simply for being gay, is one of those events. In October Mourning, Newman reimagines what those final moments were like for Shepard, written from a variety of perspectives including inanimate objects like the fence he was tied to. It's both a collection of poetry and a novel-in-verse, as Newman says the book is meant to be read in order, and together it tells a definite story.

In some ways, Newman's style of telling the story reminded me of Ellen Hopkins, for her ways of playing with formatting, occasional rhyme, and even scattering words across a page when the poem called for it, like in "Stars". Despite its serious nature, October Mourning is a collection with a sense of humour, telling the events from the perspective of the road, the truck, or even the clotheslines (a poem which begins "They strung me along / I got tangled up").

The problem for me, was that the collection often seemed too concerned with being clever, like in "Once Upon a Time", where Newman begins "Once I hung out in bars / Now I hang out behind bars". Occasionally, it feels like she scarifies the raw emotion that is where October Mourning is most powerful, and swaps it out for a snappy ending like in "Raising Awareness", where she writes "It was gay awareness week / He was caught unaware".

Overall, October Mourning was great to see for a YA audience, but I did find some of the poems were a little too clever for their own good. While Shepard's murder is a horrific event that will always be engrained in my memory, I'm not sure I can say the same for Newman's book. The more emotional pieces in October Mourning, like "How to Have the Worst Day of Your Life", were good, but while the subject matter of the book was heart-breaking and important, from the perspective of a reader, I wanted more from the collection as a whole.

Lies, Knives, and Girls in Red Dresses by Ron Koertge

Lies, Knives, and Girls in Red Dresses by Ron Koertge
(Illustrated by Andrea Dezso)

Release Date: July 10th 2012
Pages: 96
Format: E-galley
Source: NetGalley/Publisher
Publisher: Candlewick
Buy It: Book Depository

Once upon a time, there was a strung-out match girl who sold CDs to stoners. Twelve impetuous sisters escaped King Daddy's clutches to jiggle and cavort and wear out their shoes. And Little Red Riding Hood confessed that she kind of wanted to know what it's like to be swallowed whole. From bloodied and blinded stepsisters (they were duped) to a chopped-off finger flying into a heroine's cleavage, this is fairy tale world turned upside down.

This isn't a book I disliked, but there wasn't anything that special about it either. If a writer is going to revisit fairytales, especially in verse form, I feel like there should be something really exciting and original about their execution. Unfortunately, even though there were passages and poems I enjoyed in Lies, Knives and Girls in Red Dresses, when I finished the book I was left thinking Transformations by Anne Sexton is so much better. Not exactly the thought I was hoping to have.

There's a nice bit of snark and contemporary wit to Koertge's writing, and it was one of the things I did enjoy about this collection. In "East of the Sun and West of the Moon", he writes "Don't you just / love a curse with an escape clause?" a sentiment that rings true for the fast majority of fairytales,  at least once Disney gets its hands on them.  In "The Ogre Queen", Koertge quips, "Sleeping Beauty? Just another narcoleptic with a pretty / face if you ask me."

Then there are poems that are less successful, ones that seem more like snippets then the full story. "Little Match Girl" was an unpleasant surprise because it rhymes, but there were others that simply didn't make an impact at all.

In addition, the illustrations in this book as done by Andrea Dezso, at least the e-copy I had, are beautiful. I'm pretty sure they are made using paper cut-outs, which is a unique and enchanting technique, perfect for what Lies, Knives and Girls in Red Dresses contains. However, my favourite illustration is actually featured on the cover, while many of them seemed to tell stories more interesting than the poems themselves.

Even though I wanted more from this book, more to the poems, more to the story, more than its slim 96 pages, there were still moments that left an impact. In "Wolf", Koertge writes:

"we take him out, leaving just a few
bones so the message is clear:

This is our forest. Perfect before you came.
Perfect again when all your kind is dead."

Is Lies, Knives and Girls in Red Dresses worth picking up? If it interests you, sure, though I'd test out a library copy first. But if you're looking for the real genius of fairytale retellings in verse, I can't help once again recommending Anne Sexton's Transformations- it's everything I wanted from Koertge's Lies, Knives and Girls in Red Dresses but didn't quite manage to get.

Fallout by Ellen Hopkins

Fallout (Crank #3) by Ellen Hopkins

Release Date: September 14th 2010
Pages: 662
Format: Hardcover
Source: Borrowed
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Also by this Author: Crank (Crank #1); Glass (Crank #2); Identical; Burned (Burned #1)
Buy It: Book Depository

Hunter, Autumn, and Summer—three of Kristina Snow’s five children—live in different homes, with different guardians and different last names. They share only a predisposition for addiction and a host of troubled feelings toward the mother who barely knows them, a mother who has been riding with the monster, crank, for twenty years.

When I read the first two books in this trilogy, Crank and Glass, the final novel Fallout hadn't been released yet. As a result, it unfortunately took me a year and a half to finally pick up the conclusion to this heart-breaking story, based partially on the life of Hopkins' own crank-addicted daughter. With so long between books, part of me wondered if the novel would have the same power as its predecessors retained in my memory. The answer? It definitely does.

Fallout reminds the reader that some of the most tragic consequences of drug addiction are not the ones that happen to the addict. Each of Kristina's children have had their lives irrevocably changed by her decisions, and the grip the monster has on her life. The way that Hopkins deals with this complex and emotional issue is rich and authentic, and with each page I found a little bit of my heart breaking for Hunter, Autumn and Summer.

This was my first time reading a Hopkins novel with three points-of-view, and I was in awe of the way she transitioned between them and the intricate ways the stories came together. Each child showed different consequences, or fallout, of the addiction. Even when the characters made choices I didn't agree with, I couldn't help imaging that things could have been different. Summer's story was especially sad because she spent so much of her life in foster-care, while knowing that her grandparents had adopted her older brother and given him a home– an incredibly painful situation. However, Hunter's voice and story was my favourite to read, possibly because I felt like I already knew him a little from the first two books whereas the girls were both brand new.

My only complaint is that were newspaper articles interspersed with the story that didn't particularly add anything in my opinion, and threw off the pacing since the rest of the book was written in verse. Out of the five Hopkins novels I've read so far, this trilogy is definitely my favourite. Maybe it's the real life inspiration taken from Hopkins' own daughter, but these are such emotionally raw books, and Fallout is no exception. Ultimately, Fallout is a powerful and realistic portrayal of the far-reaching consequences of addiction, told in the clear and poignant verse.

Audition by Stasia Ward Kehoe

Audition by Stasia Ward Kehoe

Release Date: October 13th 2011
Pages: 458
Format: Hardcover
Source: Borrowed
Publisher: Penguin
Buy It: Book Depository

When Sara wins a  scholarship to study ballet, she moves to a strange city where she's deeply lonely-until she falls into the arms of Remington, a choreographer in his early twenties. At first, she loves being Rem's muse, but as she discovers a surprising passion for writing, she begins to question whether she's chosen the right path. 

I love novels in verse, but Audition was one of those "not quite there" books for me. I didn't dislike it, but for a novel that started off with such potential, and had such beautiful portions about dancing, the last quarter just fell flat. And maybe my expectations were a bit high, but the book is blurbed by Ellen Hopkins of Crank, who is the reason I got into reading verse novels in the first place. So yeah, I wanted a lot out of Audition, but unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that it would have disappointed me regardless.

Sara's relationship with Remington was not only creepy– which I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be, but that didn't make it any less disturbing– but also really reminded me of the movie Center Stage. Released in 2000, Center Stage might be a bit of an old references for many YA-ers, but it's a film about a group of teenagers at a ballet academy, there's a lot of drama, including this one girl that doesn't seem to belong there, until she begins a scandalous relationship with one of the dance teachers. Sound a little familiar?

Of course, there are only so many stories in the world, and Kehoe definitely brings her own unique take to this one, particularly because of her writing, which was lyrical and poetic in a way that worked fantastically when describing dance. But the familiarity of the story definitely made Audition a harder sell.

But that's actually not where the book went wrong for me. What happened was that, Sara has a revelation that I just didn't believe. It's a huge shocking announcement, and even though Audition is written in first person POV, I felt totally surprised and confused when I read it. The character development just wasn't there, and in the end I felt cheated, as if I had missed something that would have made the turn of events more realistic. And it was that climax that overshadowed everything else I could have possibly liked, or disliked, about the novel.

When I pick up a book, I want to be transported to another world: Kehoe does that with the first three quarters of Audition, and then takes a wild turn into the unbelievable. Unfortunately, even lovely writing and an interesting story can't contemplate for poor character development, but Kehoe kept my attention long enough with Audition that I might still be willing to try a future novel by her. 

The Wild Book by Margarita Engle

The Wild Book by Margarita Engle

Release Date: March 20th 2012
Pages: 144
Format: E-galley
Source: NetGalley/Publisher
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books
Buy It: Book Depository

Fefa struggles with words. She has word blindness, or dyslexia, and the doctor says she will never read or write. Her mother has an idea gives Fefa a blank book. "Think of it as a garden," she says. Soon Fefa starts to sprinkle words across the pages of her wild book. And when her family is threatened, it is what Fefa has learned from her wild book that saves them.

Maybe it's because I followed up reading The Wild Book with May B. by Caroline Rose Starr, another MG novel in verse about a girl struggling with dyslexia that I absolutely loved, but this novel didn't really live up to the potential. There were some lovely turns of phrase and images, but I found the story itself lacking. It was also this strange sort of book where it seemed too mature in language for its potential audience, but then too simplistic in style for older readers. I'm not really certain who the book is intended for, but despite my love of novels in verse, it apparently wasn't me.

At under 150 verse pages, The Wild Book is extremely short, and unfortunately that seemed like a detriment at times. Often, it came across as a good outline more than a complete book. Engle has some gorgeous images, but the story itself lacked vividness, it felt like it was a picture that hadn't been completely filled in. The historical setting in a lawless Cuba intrigued me, but I never quite felt like I really got to know it either. Overall, The Wild Book didn't quite work for me, but it's short enough that if it intrigues you it may be worth picking up a library copy to try.

Review Elsewhere: May B. by Caroline Starr Rose

"Ultimately, May B. is a moving story of survival – a quick book to read, but the memory of it will last much longer."

Click here to read the rest of my review (Scroll to second half of article).

Irrelevant side note: I absolutely love this cover! Perfect for middle grade but with enough ambiguity to it that an older reader could pick it up, I think the art work is lovely.

Review Elsewhere: Exposed by Kimberly Marcus

"An emotional and powerful novel told in verse, Exposed is both raw and poetic in style; there is a lyrical nature to Marcus’ writing that makes it beautiful and compelling to read."

Click here to read the rest of my review.

The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus by Sonya Sones

The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus is the first adult fiction release from novel-in-verse writer Sonya Sones who has previously published four young adult books including What My Mother Doesn't Know. Although I hadn't read any of her YA, I had her positive things about Sones and so I was definitely interested to see how she took on more adult issues, something I haven't seen before in verse which usually seems restricted to YA. The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus tells the story of Holly, a writer approaching her fiftieth birthday who must be at least loosely based on Sones herself. For Holly, dealing with menopause is bad enough, but she's also got an editor breathing down her back, a teenage daughter about to move across the country for university, and a mother who's gone a bit crazy from all the steroids her doctor has been giving her. Plus, Holly's husband Michael is acting a little suspicious and she's alternatively worried about if he might be cheating and whether or not they'll have anything left to talk about once their daughter, Sam, moves out.

As I said, I was pretty surprised by the concept of an adult fiction novel written in verse but Sones definitely manages to pull it off as I quickly breezed through a book of about 430 pages. I'm including one example of a verse in the novel, although it's a bad one since I'm pretty sure it's the only one (or at least one of very few) that ryhmnes, but it's one that makes me laugh a little and shows what's so good about The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus, the sense of humour Sones has:

MARRIAGE IS A FIRE

First it burns with desire,
with uncontrolled lust.

You touch each other
and you combust.

But if no one remembers
to stir the embers,

to feed them, poke them,
tend them, stoke them,

the blaze that once sizzled
will sputter and fizzle.

Which is why
I always say:

thank the Lord
for lingerie.

It is probably accurate to call The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus chick lit, but it's chick lit in the best definition of the genre. The novel deals with female issues, particularly the aging married female, in a fun and enjoyable way. The book itself seems to have the same mood swings menopausal Holly suffers from, going from a cheerful to tragic and back again.

One aspect of the novel that was totally lost on me was the title, which matches the name of a poem in the book. Although there is nothing wrong with the poem, The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus, I don't really think it was memorable enough to share the title with the book. I also don't really approve of using a store name in the title, as we don't have Neiman Marcus in Canada and I had no idea what the book was talking about when I first heard it. I assumed it was the name of a character and was waiting to be introduced to this "Neiman". Honestly,  I think the book deserved a better title. The other issue I had with the book is that I didn't particularly enjoy the writer's block story line. The best parts of the book are those that deal with Holly's real human relationships, not her avoidance of work.

Overall, The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus is a fun and enjoyable read that certainly deals with "marriage, motherhood and mayhem" but was also surprisingly touching. It was refreshing to read a book that deals so honestly with aging and what it is like when children leave home, but even though I am the still the child and not the mother in that relationship I found a lot to appreciate in the book. The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus is an honest and insightful book with a sense of humour about the fact that we may get older, but that doesn't mean we can't get a little wiser too.

Release Date: April 5th, 2011
Pages: 432
Buy the Book
Source:

This review was a part of TLC Book Tours. Click here to read what other tour hosts thought. For the purpose of this review I was provided with a copy of the book which did not require a positive review. The opinions expressed in this post are completely my own.