Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd (Random House/David Fickling 2008)

Cindy: From the haunting cover, readers are warned that this will be a novel of sacrifices. Fergus finds a body buried in the peat he is digging in Northern Ireland. It turns out to be from 80 AD, another body preserved in the bog. He begins to dream about the mysterious past of the girl, who apparently was murdered. Woven into this story is the 1980s politics of the Troubles, and the hunger strike by the political prisoners at Long Kesh, including Fergus's older brother. A romance with the archaeologist's daughter and Fergus's involvement in delivering secret packages that may contain bomb-making ingredients complicate his life. This is very different from the author's A London Eye Mystery, which I also loved. Fans of David Almond's books are going to admire this one for its magical realism bits, religious themes, and superb use of dialect. Even if readers have to scramble to research more about the Troubles, they'll have no trouble relating to Fergus's response to his first kisses: “Why wasn’t the whole world doing this all the time, why?”
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Lynn: Cindy has been after me to read this book for weeks and something always bumped it down the stack. Don't let this happen to you! I was prepared from the blurbs for this to be grim and while there are definitely dark and grim elements here, the overall tone is one of optimism and hope - despite all of man's idiocies, life is full of promise and with joy to be found in the most unexpected of places. Dowd weaves multiple plot threads effortlessly and the pace never falters. I was equally enthralled by the various stories, never impatient with any of them, and captivated by the beautifully developed characters. The cast is large from Welsh border guard to grieving mother to Iron Age girl and all spoke with convincing authenticity. The several mysteries are nicely resolved and the astute reader has all the clues needed. This is a beautifully crafted book that satisfies on multiple levels and deserves to win attention and awards. It completely won my heart and I am saddened again at the loss of this gifted writer.

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott (Simon Pulse, 2008)

Lynn: Scott's masterfully crafted book has to be the most emotionally challenging book I read this year with a storyline that troubled my sleep for many nights. Kidnapped at age ten, "Alice" has been sexually and emotionally abused for the past five years. With her body maturing despite near starvation, Alice knows that Ray will kill her soon but first he wants her to lure and train her replacement. This is definitely a book for only our most mature teens. So why blog about this wrenching book? First, this blog is about noteworthy books and the writing is extraordinary. The spare, matter-of-fact prose, while not graphic, somehow magnifies the horrifying impact. Skillfully sketched scenes reveal volumes about the characters. I can still feel Alice's paralyzing sense of hopelessness and helplessness. Secondly, there is an underlying reminder of how important it is to really see the people around us. Alice's extreme situation is fortunately rare but sexual and emotional abuse is far more common than most of us would like to believe. Living Dead Girl is a wake-up call for all of us .
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Cindy: I agree with Lynn wholeheartedly about this book. She's been waiting for me to finish it for weeks, but as Chris Crutcher says on the jacket, it's a book you HAVE to put down but are drawn back to. Every few chapters I had to walk away from it. The writing in this powerful story is exquisite, despite the very grim nature. It's quite clear what Alice has been forced to endure for years without the descriptions descending into the gratuitous or salacious for shock value. Every word seems to be carefully chosen, and the story is spare in its eloquence. For me, it wasn't the sexual abuse that was so horrifying (as awful as that was) it was how broken and, as Alice says, how "wrong" she has become. It is impossible to imagine her ever recovering from the persistent psychological abuse she has endured. "I want to run but I can't. I can't. I tried and it didn't work, it never works, every day I am an open sore, a walking scream, and it doesn't matter. No one sees me. I want to run, but I know there is nowhere I can go."

When I was four, my mother left me locked in the car alone, in a K-Mart parking lot in Elkhart, Indiana while she went inside to pick up a few things. I had the window cracked to get some air and was startled when a man walked up to the car and started to talk to me through the crack. He wanted me to unlock the door, he asked other things of me, and even though I didn't know really what he was talking about, I knew it was wrong and I rolled the window the rest of the way up and kept the door locked. He fled when someone approached the area and my mother soon returned. She never left me in a car again, but I've often thought of that incident over the years, when I read a book like this, and am certain if I had unlocked the door that some harm would have come to me.

Lynn and I often talk about how differently adults read these types of books from the way teens read them. I loved horror movies as a teen, not so much as an adult after reading too many horrific news headlines. I read a book like this and think of my two teenage daughters and worry. Teens will read this book and perhaps take some caution from its story, but mostly they will read it for the horror of the story, just like they devour the Child Called It memoirs by Dave Pelzer. In some cases, I think it is a comfort as a teen to read about someone's life that is worse than your own. "I've got it bad, but not this bad." In other cases, there is comfort in knowing that you are not alone. This book is not for our middle school students, but one of our goals is to highlight the best books of the year, and this is one of them.

Next up will be a funny book--we need it after this one.

President's Daughter Series by Ellen Emerson White

Cindy: Senator Hillary Clinton and Governor Sarah Palin have both made this presidential election year very memorable, but Author Ellen Emerson White wrote about a woman in control of the White House back in 1984. The series, about Meg Powers, the daughter of the first female President of the United States, has been revised for currency and re-released with the newest book in the series, Long May She Reign. I had somehow missed these the first time around, but discovered them when I was assigned this fourth book to review for Booklist. While the story earns its title, "Loooooong..." with a slow moving plot, the intricate details about life in the White House and having Secret Service men escorting Meg to college are fascinating. The emotional recovery from the stress of having been held captive by terrorists in book three and coming to terms with her mother's choice to refuse to negotiate for her release are events that would require a slow healing process, so the narrative pace is warranted. I still haven't read the rest of the series, but maybe I should take one home to read while I watch the election results roll in...I hope you elect to read these, too.
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Lynn: Since the moment she read Long May She Reign, Cindy has been nagging me to start this series. I am hopelessly compulsive when it comes to reading books in order, so I ignored her and waited till this summer when the new editions came out and, darn, she was right again. I loved the first one and can hardly wait to read the rest. Yes, the political detail was fascinating but it was Meg's voice that really won me over. She sounded like a real teen to me: smart, sarcastic and a little self-absorbed, but very real. Meg's conflicted feelings toward her mother are so well portrayed that I found myself talking back to the book. Whatever your politics, this series is a winner.
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Cindy: Lynn, You know I am ALWAYS right. :)

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Cindy: One of my favorite books of the year for its techno-savvy and its in-your-face themes dealing with privacy, safety, and public policy. W1n5T0n is in the wrong place at the wrong time during a terrorist attack on San Francisco and is detained by the Dept. of Homeland Security when he refuses to give up his passwords. When he is released days later he decides to fight back against the folks who want to take away his privacy for the sake of national security. Teens who love technology will eat up this thriller. I got a new license plate after reading it, realizing I could finally get my READ plate (it hasn't been available in my state) by becoming a "hacker librarian."
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Lynn: This was a real page-turner for me with an electrifying plot full of twists and turns. There is a lot of very geeky technology that was completely fascinating - and SCARY – but a reader can skip over much of that if so inclined. Doctorow clearly has something to say but he never let it get in the way of his thrilling story or his very well written characters.

Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan

Lynn: Wow! I am a rabid fan of Lanagan’s short stories and I was really excited to read this new full-length novel. It is a fantasy and uses a fairly conventional narrative style so it may be more accessible to more readers. It is still a very demanding book and will challenge readers in a different way. The emotional wallop is extremely intense, especially in the first 70 pages of the story. It is the tale of a young girl, 14, in some Middle Ages type place, living in extreme poverty. Since the death of her mother, Liga’s father has sexually abused her, aborted the children she conceives and completely isolated her. After her father dies, she gives birth to a child and is gang raped. In anguish and despair, she decides to kill herself. When something magical intervenes, Liga finds herself living in the place of her dreams – where nothing would ever hurt her again. But what price must she pay for her safety? The writing is brilliant and I am sure that rereading will yield treasure. The characters are beautifully developed; world building is extraordinarily rich as Lanagan plays cunningly with form and genre. Her trademark unique use of language is also present.

The subject matter and bawdy sexuality will make this a controversial book and I am sure it will be much debated. It is definitely for mature readers but should not be missed! This is one of my top three for the year.