Once again, we have come to the close of YA Fest, and this year DSN is ending things with Elizabeth Acevedo's With the Fire on High. Last year, Acevedo entered the scene with The Poet X, a book that took me by surprise given my general apprehension when it comes to poetry. The time, Acevedo has gifted us with a story in prose set in one of my favorite cities, Philadelphia.
The Situation: Emoni Santiago is in her senior year of high school, and beginning to make those common early adult life decisions. The thing is, she has already made plenty of them as a young single mother. Living at home where it is just her, 'Buela, and Babygirl, Emoni has to carefully split her time between her daughter, school, her part-time job at a local Burger Joint, and her favorite hobby: cooking. 'Buela had always said that Emoni has magic hands, and pretty much anyone who has ever eaten her food agrees. So when the chance to take a culinary arts class at school comes up, Emoni is excited, but also hesitant. She is already struggling to keep up in her regular classes. Plus, the culinary arts class includes a chance to travel to Spain, a trip that Emoni is sure she will not be able to afford. Add in Malachi, the handsome new kid from Newark, and Emoni's world has somehow become even more complicated.
The Problem: Since she had Babygirl freshman year, Emoni and 'Buela have been able to make it all work, even when having to deal with Tyrone, Babygirl's father, and his less than supportive parents. But now, 'Buela has been going to more doctor's appointments than usual, and the culinary arts class is proving more challenging than Emoni thought, even with her natural gift for spices and flavors. And to add another pressure regarding school, it is college application time, but Emoni is not even sure college is in her future. Babygirl has been pretty much her entire world ever since she was born, even to the point that Emoni has put off dating. But much like with the culinary arts class, Emoni has to think about what she really wants out of life, and then find ways to make that happen, even with her already tight time constraints.
Genre, Themes, History: This is a young adult fiction novel set in modern day Philadelphia. Emoni lives with her grandmother, 'Buela, who adopted her and raised her when her father returned to Puerto Rico shortly after she was born. She became pregnant with Babygirl (real name Emma) as a freshman in high school, and after deciding to keep her, she and 'Buela have managed so far to keep their small family going, despite money always being tight, and both of them always being busy. Emoni must deal with all of the usual nonsense that comes from being a teenager attending high school (especially being a teenage mother attending high school), while also raising a daughter of her own, which means making sure Babygirl gets to Day Care, arranging visitation with Tyrone, and also being sure not to overburden 'Buela or taking advantage of her time, while working a part-time job she is not all that thrilled with.
Emoni's world is further complicated by her relationship with her own birth father, who has opted to live in Puerto Rico and support his home community over being in Philadelphia with his daughter and granddaughter. During somewhat frequent calls, Emoni bites back the desire to air her frustration and anger, instead opting to be grateful that he is around enough to communicate with at all. Her dream is to be a chef, in her own kitchen, creating the food she has been creating for years. But again, it all comes back to what is best for Babygirl, and Emoni simply is not sure if her dreams intersect with what she needs to do to raise her daughter. Though she has been careful to not let anyone else hold her back, she has a hard time not letting her own fear get the best of her.
My Verdict: This book is incredibly impressive. Just shy of 400 pages, what it manages to cover, and the finesse with which it does it, is nothing short of amazing. It is much more than a story about a teen mom who loves to cook and the difficulties that come with that. There are complex relationships as well as recipes; complex and likable characters, as well as a few that are not so likable; and to top it all off, it is set in Philadelphia, one of my favorite cities in the US (and one that I pretty much ate my way through when I was there, so it works for me that this book dealt so much with food). Emoni has been through some things, and yeah, it has effected how she sees people and how far she feels she can trust many of them, but she is not so jaded that nothing gets in, and is not so headstrong that she cannot be helped. And while her grades may not be the best, she is incredibly smart. She is the kind of heroine we need more of.
Favorite Moment: *spoiler alert* When Emoni returns to the culinary arts course after walking away for a week due to an embarrassing interaction with Chef Ayden.
Favorite Character: Chef Ayden is the teacher of the culinary arts class that Emoni decides to take at her high school. He is tough, but fair, and can clearly tell Emoni has a gift, while not letting that be a reason for her to ignore the rules of his class. I also like 'Buela, who is the rock and stabilizing force in Emoni's life.
Recommended Reading: Of course, I recommend The Poet X, Acevedo's previous book, and winner of the 2018 National Book Award.
Now we have come to the third week of YA Fest with Stephanie Garber's Finale, the third and final installment of her Caraval series. I started reading this series reluctantly, not sure of my chances of continuing after the first book. But I pressed forward and am glad I did. Finale brings everything back together in the dramatic whirlwind that is the adventures of the Dragna sisters. And of course, a massive spoiler alert must be issued for anyone who has not read the first two books in the series.
The Situation: It seems the impossible has happened, and the Dragna sisters have found their mother. When the Fates were released from the Deck of Destiny, they were able to take their mother with them, and now they only wait for her to wake up. Well, that is not entirely true. Scarlett, the elder sister, has been waiting to meet Nicolas, the man she was supposed to have married as arranged by her father, and Donatella, or Tella, waits every night for Legend to apologize for how he left things. Each have their own competing suitor who would rather have their attention and are not shy about showing it. Julian has been by Scarlett's side since the beginning of all of this, and absolutely refuses to leave it. Jacks, on the other hand, has alternated between villain and hero in Tella's story, and while he may be intriguing, he is not the one she waits for every night. Caraval may be over, and Legend has taken the throne, but the sisters still have loose ends that need tying.
The Problem: If the lives of the Dragna sisters were not complicated enough, they must now also deal with what it means to have the Fates freed from the Deck of Destiny. They are known to feed off of fear, and love to torture mortals. And when the most powerful among them decides it is now his time to assume the throne, matters go from complicated to deadly. Winning Legends' heart must take second place in Tella's list of priorities as she knows she must kill this new threat. With everything that has already been taken from her, it seems her sister could be next if they both do not find a way to defeat a power that only has one true weakness. Scarlett must play a dangerous game that will bring her closer to her mother than she has ever been, and Tella must make a decision that could give her the love of her life, while taking her own mortality.
Genre, Themes, History: This is a young adult fantasy novel that brings to a close the adventures of Scarlett and Donatella Dragna. Their story began in Caraval, the first novel and the series, and continued in Legendary. While the first book followed Scarlett, and the second focused on Tella, this one splits the attention between the two, though Tella gets a slightly larger portion of the adventure. And while there is plenty of the 'will they/won't they' for both sisters, Tella is the sister who has a harder time coming to the final decision as far as who she will ultimately give her heart to, and who is even worthy of receiving it. Their world is once again full of magic, color, and wonder, but also intense emotions, danger, despair, cruelty, and even death. This has all long stopped being a game to play, and now that the Fates are loose, everything takes on a darker reality. It may be true that not every Fate is cruel, but they are all certainly dangerous. It is a quest that requires the sisters to stick together, and for them to believe that love can do anything.
My Verdict: This is a satisfying conclusion to one crazy and dramatic series of events. There is so much that happens in this one book that it probably could be broken up into its own three-part movie or mini-series. After turning the last page, I could hardly believe how far Scarlett and Tella had come in less than 500 pages, much less over the entire trilogy. And maybe it took the perspectives of both sisters coming together, but all of the pieces finally started to fit together and makes sense for me. While reading Legendary, I felt like I was constantly accepting my own confusion and simply going along with the ride, which is not altogether a terrible thing. But with this book, the world was no longer some far off place too fantastic to be real. Even the characters began to take on a more realistic shape, including the ones who could do obviously supernatural and otherworldly things. This book felt more grounded, while still being full of a magic and danger and characters that could only come from the imagination.
Favorite Moment: *spoiler alert* When Scarlett meets Nicolas and discovers that he is nothing more than a gentle giant with a big lovable dog.
Favorite Character: Julian comes through big time here, but I also loved the Assassin: one of the more dangerous of the Fates who I would have loved to see more of.
Recommended Reading: Definitely the Sea of Ink and Gold series by Traci Chee.
The DSN YA Fest is moving right along with the pick for week two: The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen. I absolutely love knowing that every other summer there will be a new Dessen book to read and discuss. Publishing is such a nebulous thing, but we can always count on a summer read from on of the most popular and successful YA authors today.
The Situation: Emma Saylor (her dad calls her Emma, while her mom always called her by her middle name, Saylor) is ready for summer. Now that her dad's wedding is over, he and Emma's new stepmother, Tracy, will be off to Greece for their honeymoon, while her Nana is ready to explore the pyramids of Egypt. At 17 years old, Emma could easily stay at home alone, except Nana's apartment, where her and her father had been staying, is being renovated, and their new home in another neighborhood is not yet complete. When Emma's summer plans to stay with a friend fall through, Nana has the somewhat offbeat idea that Emma stay with her other grandmother, Mimi, out in North Lake. Emma's mom died five years ago after a long battle with substance abuse, and she has been to the family-owned hotel in the small lakeside community only once in her life, and it was so long ago that she cannot remember it. But she is headed there now, and she is about to meet and stay with another side of her family that she knows nothing about.
The Problem: At first, there are so many people to meet, many of which Emma is related to, that she begins to draw out a family tree. When she finds out about Mimi's directive that she is not to be put to work, something that everyone here does, including the incredibly pregnant Trinity, Emma pushes back and insists on helping out cleaning the hotel rooms. And then there is the issue of her name: Mimi knows her as Saylor, but Emma is used to only her mom calling her that, and her dad almost refuses to. Throughout the summer, Emma has to work out who exactly she is going to be, while also getting to know her mom's side of the family, as well as the history and stories behind North Lake. Turns out there is plenty her dad has not told her, and it is a boy named Roo who is able to fill in the gaps. Now Emma cannot imagine her life without the family she did not even realize she had, so what will happen when dad and Nana return from their trips, and she is once again removed from this tight-knit beach community, and the stories of her mother?
Genre, Themes, History: This is a young adult fiction book set mostly in around the joint communities of North Lake/Lake North. North Lake is where Emma's maternal grandmother, Mimi, owns and operates Calvander's, a beach side hotel that is always booked throughout the summer. Across the lake, only three miles away, is the other beach side community of Lake North, which is also always booked throughout the summer, but with an entirely different kind of clientele. While Emma's mom was from North Lake, her father worked at Lake North, and that is how they met. When Emma arrives, it is easy to see the separation between the two communities, though she easily identifies with her mother's side of the lake, especially once she begins to get to know her family and their friends. She essentially must make up for lost time, going through old photo albums and snatching up stories as they are told. And then there is the issue of her own place in all of this. At home with her dad, she is Emma. Her mom always called her by her middle name, Saylor, and Mimi does the same. If only to avoid confusion, Emma decides to go by Saylor, at least for the remainder of the summer, though it is a choice her dad does not quite understand. So she spends the summer not only learning about her mom and her family, but also herself.
My Verdict: This is a lovely book, and anyone who has lost a parent, or anyone close to them, to substance abuse will understand Emma's pain and her father's desire to protect. Anyone who has lost a close family member at an early age will also be able to relate to Emma's desire and need for photos and stories about her mom, stuff that her father has always been reluctant to share. The Rest of the Story is a great summer read, not only because of its somewhat idyllic setting by the lake, and with the teenagers from both sides of the lake always having a plan to do something together every night, but also because Emma's story is all about gearing up for big changes, and making the decision as to how she wants to live the rest of her life. Plus, it is a summer of getting to know her mom's side of the family, and doing things she never imagined, while confronting those things she never wanted to.
Favorite Moment: When Emma insists on helping out at the hotel, even though that means taking on the role of cleaning hotel rooms.
Favorite Character: I adore both grandmothers, Nana and Mimi. Both are set in their ways, though one is used to wanting for nothing and not blinking twice about spending a lot of money on something, while the other is no stranger to hard work and has run a beach hotel for most of her life. Ultimately, they each want the family to come together, even if it is for a short time in the summer.
Recommended Reading: My favorite Dessen book is still Along for the Ride, which also takes place over the summer, where the main character is taken out of her element and sent to stay away from home. But I also recommend The Moon and More, as well as The Truth About Forever.
Welcome! Welcome! Welcome to DSN's annual YA Fest, where every post for the month of June will cover a new young adult fiction novel. This is the third year in a row that I have done this, and for the second year in a row, the latest novel by Sandhya Menon will kick things off. There's Something About Sweetie is not quite a sequel, but more of a companion novel to 2017's When Dimple Met Rishi. This time focusing more on Rishi's younger brother, readers enter a complicated world of young love, self love, and parental expectations.
The Situation: Sweetie Nair is getting ready for her 17th birthday celebration, among other things. She is also the star athlete on her high school's track team, and with the end of the school year in sight, she must stay focused for finals. Add to it that she assists her mother on Saturdays when they sell sweets at the market, and Sweetie has a lot going on, but she is happy. For the most part. All it can take is a comment made about her weight, and Sweetie is reminded that many people see her as 'less than.' And to add insult to injury, a lot of the comments come from her own mother. Ashish Patel's world may be completely different from Sweetie's, but a recent breakup is also making him feel less than worthy. Not only is he now having a hard time simply talking to girls, but his basketball game is also suffering. Desperate to move on, Ashish does what he never thought he would do, and that is ask his parents to help set him up with someone new.
The Problem: Ashish's parents are all for this plan, but unfortunately, Sweetie's mother has refused the offer. Ashish is handsome, muscular build, popular, and Mrs. Nair believes he and her daughter would be too much of a mismatch. Once Sweetie is able to move forward from the painful realization that her own mother does not believe she is good enough for Ashish, she decides to plot her own path. With the blessing of Ashish's parents, the two begin to date, not only agreeing to keep it a secret from Sweetie's parents (for now), but also to follow a literal contract laid out by the Patels. The couple can only go on official and sanctioned dates, some of which Ashish is less than excited about. But despite the formalities, and their differences, Ashish and Sweetie kind of...work. In fact, they work really well. Ashish does not give Sweetie's weight a second thought, and Sweetie is fully aware of Ashish's emotional baggage. They both agreed to this more because of something they wanted to prove to themselves, and it is up to them if the relationship is going to survive beyond what is written in a contract.
Genre, Themes, History: This is a young adult fiction novel that follows two Indian-American teenagers. Ashish Patel is the younger brother of Rishi Patel from When Dimple Met Rishi. He is his brother's opposite in nearly every way, but when he realizes how much of a slump he is in, and how well it worked out for his brother when their parents set him up with Dimple, he decides to go for it, and that is how he meets Sweetie. In the Author's Note, Menon acknowledges that the messages that Sweetie gets from her mother were similar to ones she got as a teenager growing up in a South Indian household. To be fat as a woman was synonymous with being a failure, and Sweetie's mother is constant in telling her daughter that she has to cover up her arms, will never be happy unless she loses weight (even though she already is happy), and will not even acknowledge her daughter's successes on the track team, instead insisting that she would be even faster if she were thinner. But despite everything that is thrown at her, Sweetie combats it and slays it, opting to live her life instead of hiding on the sidelines.
My Verdict: This book was a slow burn for me. I liked the characters well enough, especially Sweetie, and I was thrilled with the idea of following Ashish's story, of only as a chance to see how the other Patel brother navigated his life in contrast to the artistic golden child that is Rishi Patel. For whatever reason, the beginning was hard to get into, and things did not really pick up for me until somewhere in the middle. Though Ashish and Sweetie immediately click, for me their relationship did not become engaging until their second date at the Holi Festival. Even so, the slow build pays off immensely in the end, and once the story began picking up momentum, it did not stop, and the conclusion was more satisfying than I expected. It is a book about what it means to fight stereotypes and stand up for yourself, even when a lot of the attacks you face come from inside of your own home.
Favorite Moment: When Sweetie challenges Ashish to a race around the track and easily beats him.
Favorite Character: Sweetie, easily. Though any one of her three friends from the track team would be easy picks too.
Recommended Reading: Both of Menon's previous novels are just as delightful. But I also recommend My So-Called Bollywood Life by Nisha Sharma.
Once again, we have come to the close of YA Fest, and this year DSN is ending things with Elizabeth Acevedo's With the Fire on High. Last year, Acevedo entered the scene with The Poet X, a book that took me by surprise given my general apprehension when it comes to poetry. The time, Acevedo has gifted us with a story in prose set in one of my favorite cities, Philadelphia.
