Mary: The Summoning Book 1

Monahan, Hillary.  Mary: The Summoning.  Disney Hyperion, Sept. 2014

Horror isn’t usually one of my favorite genres, simply because too often it seems silly rather than scary or trite rather than original.  And Mary: The Summoning could have easily fallen into either the trite or silly category, based as it is on the premise of the Bloody Mary urban legend/slumber party game.  But it doesn’t.  Instead, author Hillary Monahan takes her source material and weaves a tale that is genuinely creepy with characters who are authentic, interesting, and relatable.  Mary is one of the most intriguing examples of young adult horror I’ve read in recent years.

Shauna, the story’s narrator, is a part of a group of four high school friends who are encouraged/cajoled/badgered by group leader Jess McAllister into attempting to summon the ghost of Bloody Mary in a bathroom mirror.  Like Shauna, Kitty and Anna are somewhat reluctant but intrigued, and the attempt is made.  And, to their great surprise, Bloody Mary herself appears in the mirror.  Be careful what you wish for, they say, you just might get it. 

But once isn’t enough for Jess.  “It was supposed to be a cool thing,” Jess says later, “but it went weird.”  Weird is an amazing understatement for the horror that Shauna’s life quickly becomes.

The next summoning attempt is both a success and a disaster.  Mary appears again, but this time she is stronger and much more dangerous.  Shauna is more than physically hurt when Mary escapes the mirror; she’s haunted now, by an angry specter that can appear anywhere there is water or a reflective surface.  And she not only wants Shauna; she wants her to suffer…and everyone she knows is suddenly at risk.  And Shauna is desperate for help, and answers. 

But Monahan is careful to make Mary more than the villain of the piece.  How did this young woman from nineteenth century New England become the monster in the mirror?  And if Mary died in 1864, why do the legends of her hauntings not begin until the 1960s?  Letters written by Mary to her sister, letters about a young girl bullied and abused by the church pastor and others in the church, offer glimpses of a sweet young heart driven to madness, perhaps even dreams of vengeance?  But how did Mary die?  And where does her power come from?  Like Shauna, the reader needs the answers, needs to understand how this could come to be.  Is Mary a demon or a victim?  And can solving that mystery help Mary, and Shauna, find peace?

Mary is brilliantly paced; the story moves quickly as events unfold in a few short days.  Supernatural horror mixes seamlessly with teenage relationship drama, family relationships, and negotiating high school.  Shauna is an excellent narrator, an authentic teenage voice trying to hang on to sanity in the midst of a situation which makes no sense, but which must be endured and raged against if she wants to survive.  The supporting cast – Jess, who is keeping secrets that may prove deadly; Anna, quick to blame and anger, but still willing to fight to help Shauna; Kitty, distracted by her on and off relationship with football hero Bronx but firmly on Shauna’s side; and Cody, the last girl/woman to successfully summon Bloody Mary, whose willingness to help is tempered by a fear of Mary reattaching to her own life – all surround Shauna with actions and opinions that both help and hinder her fight to find the answers that will free her from Mary’s bony grasp.   

If I have a complaint about this novel, it’s the fact that it doesn’t end; it just stops.  Yes, I realize that the Book 1 subtitle implies that it’s part of a series.  I like series.  But, I like authors who write series books like J. K. Rowling.  I like books where each volume is both a complete story AND part of the larger story arc.  As a reader, I need a sense of resolution, some kind of closure to feel the author gave me at least part of the answer.  Cliffhangers annoy me on television, but they’re worse with books because book 2 may be a year or more away.  That’s a long time to wait for resolution, especially since book 2 may lead to book 3…or book 7. 

But, I confess I will be eagerly watching and waiting for Book 2, because I do want to know what happens next.  Monahan convinced me to emotionally invest in her story and her characters, not merely Shauna and her friends but in Bloody Mary too.  I want to know what happens next, and that, in my mind, is the proof of a story well-told.

ARC received from NetGalley.

Bombs Over Bikini

Goldsmith, Connie.  Bombs Over Bikini.  Twenty-first Century Books, 2014.

For most children and teenagers today, the drama of the Cold War and fears of imminent nuclear war are mostly just historical mumbo-jumbo.  Even harder for them to understand are the terrible fearful immediately post-war years, when the US and the Soviet Union were locked in a feverish race for better and more deadly weapons, explosive power that would make even the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki seem insignificant.  In Bombs Over Bikini, Connie Goldsmith helps to make that time, and the consequences of the combination of fear and arrogance, real for today’s youth by focusing on the Bikini Atoll bomb tests and the terrible damage done to man and land alike by men playing with forces that they had no hope of understanding or controlling.

Careful to keep the likely age of her readers in mind, Goldsmith is nevertheless frank as she expounds on the actions of the American navy and its associated scientists as they exploded a series of ever more powerful atomic bombs on Bikini and surrounding atolls.  Photographs give life to the naval authorities, common sailors, and island peoples, even the animals who too were victims of the bombs tests as Goldsmith details how many were exposed to horrific levels of radiation both during and after the tests.  Inset boxes within the texts offers additional information on key individuals or further explanation of mentioned topics.    Chapters are short and the narrative accessible; the book is carefully paced to keep the reader engaged and to prevent the boredom often associated with reading history textbooks.  Footnotes, a rich bibliography, glossary, and suggested list of additional resources confirm the veracity of Goldsmith's text and encourage the reader to explore the topic further for greater understanding of the American nuclear program, the dangers of radiation and radioactive fallout, and the peoples of the Marshall Islands.

History classes, in my experience, often fail to address America’s failures and mistakes at both the national and international level.  Books like Goldsmith’s are important for young readers because they shine a light on the darkly shadowed elements of our history that we would perhaps be happier to forget, but which must be known so that they cannot be repeated.  Bombs Over Bikini is a brilliant introduction to this sad chapter of American military and scientific history, a straightforward condemnation of the indifference with which the people of the Bikini Islands have been and continue to be treated by the US Government, and a warning for those who would pursue knowledge without careful consideration of both the current and future dangers.  

ARC received from NetGalley.

Things That Go Bump in the Night

Stroud, Jonathan.  The Screaming Staircase: Lockwood & Co. Book One.  Disney Book Group.  September 2013.

I picked up this book, I confess, because I loved Stroud’s Bartimaeus Trilogy, and I was hoping for something in a similar vein.  And there are certain similarities.  The story is set in an alternate England, one in which the supernatural is normal, or at least expected.  The main characters are young, adolescents with exceptional and preternatural gifts.  And the adults whose lives intersect with those of Stroud’s young heroes are often antagonistic; certainly they are not helpful or supportive.  Indeed, the book’s narrator, Lucy Carlyle, her boss, Anthony Lockwood, and colleague George Cubbins must battle not only the ghostly Visitors who infest London and Britain, but against an adult world which tries to control how and when they can use their gifts.   

But it is the differences between this new series and Bartimaeus which are perhaps most compelling.  Missing is the wonderful snark that Bartimaeus himself provides the reader with his footnoted commentaries.  That trilogy, for all its action and moments of horror, is funny.  And it is/was that humor that made me such a fan of Stroud’s previous work.  The Screaming Staircase does have flashes of that wonderful humor, often in Lucy’s thoughts about her boss and George's commentary on life in general, but overall, it is definitely more horror than comedy.

And that is no way a criticism.  Indeed, I was reminded more of Rick Yancy’s Monstrumologist series (which I also love) than Stroud’s earlier works, though I must confess there is much less bloodshed here.  From the Lucy and Lockwood’s first encounter with an angry Visitor to the group’s terrifying night in one of England’s most haunted residences, this book is legitimately, absolutely must keep reading horrifying in the best sense of the word.  The adult reader knows, logically anyway, that if a book is marketed as first in a series, the heroes must survive to see the story through.  But, J. K. Rowling showed us that not all the heroes must or do survive, that main characters can be sacrificed for the greater good.  Stroud keeps the pages turning, through twists and tangles until the dramatic climax is reached.  And, like Rowling, he both gives the reader a sense of both resolution and anticipation, closing the chapter of this particular episode while also setting up a continuing story arc to tease the reader with the next possible adventure.

Interesting, likable, and multidimensional characters with potential for continuing growth combined with a deft touch at world-building makes this first in a series novel a definite winner for both teen and adult readers.  And while the male/male/female friendship triad has become a common one in young adult fiction in recent years, Stroud's characters do not fall easily into that kind of trusting dynamic.  Instead, their relationship(s) are ones in which everyone has secrets and bonds are slow to form, even as they face ghosts and death together.  Competition, ego, disparate personalities, and those secrets conspire against Lockwood & Co, but slowly they do begin to realize they are stronger together than they are as individuals.  The Screaming Staircase offers a hint of the kind of power team this oddball group could become;  I find myself already impatiently waiting for whatever adventures will next befall Lockwood & Company.

ARC received through NetGalley.  

Coming of age and coming out

Lavoie, Jennifer.  Andy Squared.  Bold Strokes Books, 2012.

Coming of age and coming out are two themes that appear frequently, not only in literature for young adults, but in literature as a whole.  Indeed, they appear often enough that, done poorly, the story can quickly slip into cliché.  In Andy Squared, Jennifer Lavoie does a fine job of avoiding that slide as she details the coming of age and coming out experiences of a small-town soccer hero struggling to find his own path to maturity.  Andrew and Andrea, both nicknamed Andy, are twins who share starring positions on their respective soccer teams, a bedroom, and plans for college.  But the comfortable shared pattern of their lives is rocked when Ryder, handsome, charming, and a little exotic, moves to their small New York town from Texas.  As his friendship with Ryder grows, Andrew discovers a new hobby, new dreams, and the reason why none of his relationships with girls has ever worked out.  As their relationship becomes both romantic and physical, Andrew struggles to come to terms with this new identity, finding surprising support along the way.  But when their secret is exposed to small-town high school minds, will Andrew be strong enough to admit, to himself and to the world, the truth about his relationship with Ryder?  And will his relationship with his twin ever be the same?  Lavoie is deft and careful with her subject, crafting a story that will work for most high school-aged readers.  While the implication of sex is present, both with Andrew’s past girlfriends and with Ryder, such activities are off-screen; kissing is as far as Lavoie takes her details.  This lack of physicality allows the story to focus on the emotional struggles of learning something new about yourself and finding a place for your new self in a world that perhaps isn’t ready for that personal evolution.  From her teenage protagonists and their supporting cast of friends to the adults that guide and support both Andrew and Ryder, Lavoie’s characters are interesting and well-drawn; if there is a lack at all here, it’s that Andrea, Andrew’s sister, is a bit shallowly drawn.  It would have been interesting perhaps to see more of her internal thoughts, though certainly her actions for good and for ill do allow the reader to judge her and the relationship between the two. 

Andy Squared is definitely a recommended title for readers, male or female, gay or straight, who are struggling with establishing an individual identity outside of the expectations of the people who love them.

ARC received from NetGalley.

The Immortal Rules

Kawaga, Julie. “The Immortal Rules.” Harlequin Teen, April 2012.


 I love GOOD vampire fiction, have since I was pretty young. But too much bad vampire fiction in recent years, particularly some very popular young adult vampire fiction, was starting to rather taint the whole genre for me. And then this gem of a YA novel crossed my path. Julie Kagawa’s “The Immortal Rules,” the first book in a planned series, introduces one of the most captivating protagonists I’ve encountered in a novel. Allison Sekemoto is strong, determined, fiercely moral according to her own code of beliefs, and almost suicidal loyal to the families she makes or joins. Kagawa crafts a compelling dystopian future, one in which vampire overlords both enslave humanity as blood donors and protect them from a greater threat to survival in the form of feral “rabids.” This chaotic existence forces those, like Allie, who eschew the vampire protection to scavenge to survive in hostile and dangerous world and will soon demand that Allie make the choice to become what she hates in order to survive. Allie’s journey, and the people she meets, will force her to rethink what it means to be human and how exactly to separate what makes a person human and what makes a monster. And that journey will have consequences not only for Allie, but possibly for all of humanity. Kagawa’s heroine is a powerful representation of the human instinct to survive and to thrive even in the darkest circumstances. I eagerly wait for the next book to see how Allie’s story will continue to unwind.

 Advance reading copy received through Netgalley.