by Gemma Halliday

Hartley is suspicious her boyfriend is cheating on her. So not cool, right? So, she does what any normal possibly-scorned teen does: she breaks into her boyfriend’s house to find proof.

And she finds proof all right: the dead body of the girl her boyfriend was apparently hooking up with.

Not a good development for a relationship.

Hartley decides to take matters into her own hands when her now ex-boyfriend is implicated as the murderer. He may be a cheating scumbag, but he’s no killer. At least, Hartley’s pretty sure he’s not.

I’ve been wanting to chat about Deadly Cool for awhile now. This was one of my favorite reads of the Cybils. So let’s talk about why:

First and foremost, this is what I like to call a pop culture tome. Basically, there’s texting, snarkiness and a touch of not-quite-real self awareness on the part of the main characters. To me, this isn’t a bad thing. I actually love it. But, I know some people find it annoying. Fair warning there.

Hartley is a touch crazy, zany, smart and sassy. As I mentioned above, she’s also overly self-aware, which can seem a touch unbelievable at times. The following exchange happened right after she discovered her boyfriend was likely cheating on her:

“Holy effing crap, that sucks!”
I turned to her. “Effing?”
Sam shrugged. “What?”
“We’re censoring now?”

To me, that’s probably not the normal reaction to discovering your boyfriend has been less than faithful. But, still. Funny. Which you know I approve of.

I also really love when main characters discover they are Smarter and Better than they realized. And Deadly Cool has a few of those characters that I came to adore.

The actual murder mystery is well done. I speculated on who the actual killer was at the very beginning, but ended up changing my mind by falling for a few red herrings. Hartley’s handling of the mystery was part Veronica Mars, part Scooby Doo and part lucky all rolled together. All things I approve of.

The biggest issue I had was WHY for the love of all that is good would Hartley want to even begin helping out a boyfriend who cheated on her. I mean, it’s one thing to believe he’s not guilty. It’s completely another to aid and abet. Come on.

All in all, I loved this campy romp. I read it in one sitting and laughed out loud numerous times. I’m very much looking forward to the sequel! I also am on hold to try one of Halliday’s adult novels, which appear to be in the same vein as Deadly Cool.

Available: Everywhere. You know you want it!
Published by: HarperTeen
My copy came from: the publisher, for the Cybils
Social Suicide, the sequel, is set to come out: April 24, 2012!

As I mentioned before, I was initially selected to be a second-round judge, meaning I would be working as we speak with Jackie, the YA Fiction panel’s fearless leader, on selecting a winner of the seven shortlisted books.

There was a bit of a change during the last week of October and I was asked to switch to a Round 1 judge. I, obviously, accepted the change. And the craziness BEGAN.

For our category, 196 books were nominated. While I wasn’t required to read ALL of them by any means, I did need to read roughly 70 books by Christmas (roughly 9 weeks, or 8ish books per week). I had already read 8 of the titles, so that was a bit of help, but not much. So I read.

I read a lot.

Starting late had both good and bad effects. The bad was the fact I was grossly behind my fellow panelists. They were starting to clear the 20, 30 and 40 books read mark by that time. It was hard not to feel like I was bringing down the group. The good, though, was I mostly read only amazing, please-everyone-read-this books. With all 6 panelist being well ahead of me, I read a lot of their shortlisted books. So that was great.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the books that started to pour in. I know it sounds wonderful – and it was. BUT. There was a point, somewhere in mid-December when I would get another book and almost be horrified by it. Mostly because my to-read stack was looking like this:

Between books from the library and the publishers, this was my to-read stack.

Nearly every book with the spine out (except for the very top right stack) was a book for Cybils. I also had a stack behind these. And this was taken on Thanksgiving. By the end of it all I had a long row on the floor. It was overwhelming, truth be told.

[This is probably an excellent time to thank all the publishers, authors and, of course, the awesome public librarians in my area that provided books to me and the other panelists. I am so very grateful for all the help and support. Esp. since I live in Alaska.]

I also read a fair number of ebooks from the public library and I was finally able to confirm that I am a slower reader of ebooks than I am of regular books. True story.

When all was said and done, on Dec. 26, I had read 62 books + 2 rereads. Not quite 70, but I was pretty proud of myself. All said, I read about 18,200 words. Every. Single. One of them.

I would never, ever have made it through each page without my awesome fellow panelists, who welcomed me with open arms and didn’t mind my beginner questions and butting into conversations that had been going for weeks. Jackie, Carrie, Kelly, Paula, Jordyn and Leila: you are awesome. And I thank you. (I also want to thank Sheila, who made sure everything was square for us throughout the madness.)

For our panel, we had a Google group to exchange our thoughts/rants/joys about whatever book we were reading. I’m not sure I’ve ever had my life surrounded by books quite as much as I did for those 9 weeks. It was glorious. It changed how I read and, probably, how I will review books. The 6 women on the panel were my allies and I loved getting about 40 emails from them a day (this number is an understatement, actually).

The Cybils crew tries to warn you from the time you apply to be a panelist or judge about how much work is involved in this endeavor. Really, they do. But it’s easy to think “yeah, but it’s reading! how much work can that be?!?”

A lot.

But, for me, worth every minute. (And every late Christmas present laden with apology for being so late. If I get the honor to do this again I will be much better prepared! I swear it!)(And with my DVR. The DVR was holding me back!)

Okay, they’ve been up for a few days now. My lack of blogging about them is not due to my lack of interest! Rather it is due to me being scared out of my mind for teaching my first class. But now that it is all out of my hands, I’d really like to say:

I am so incredibly excited about the 7 books selected by the Young Adult Fiction panel.

The decision-making was awful, to tell the truth. And I’m working on a post all about how the Cybils were for me, personally. But I just want to show off the jackets of the seven books the Cybils judges are now reading. I do not envy their jobs in the least.

This may sound ridiculous, but I think they look awesome all together like that. To read the blurbs myself and my fellow awesome panelists did for these books, head over to the Cybils website. And if these look as awesome to you as they did to us, remember to support the Cybils and purchase through their Amazon affiliation!

I promise, back for a About My Cybils post (plus loads more book reviews) soon!

Happy New Year, all! May 2012 bring excellent stories and characters into your life!

While Jamie’s not thrilled to be a summer au pair on a tiny island, she takes her job in stride and does her best to entertain her charge, Isa, in the big house Isa’s absent father owns.

But things start going wonky almost immediately. Jamie isn’t sure, but she swears she keeps seeing a teen-aged couple hanging around the house. And that weird, not possible things are happening inside the house.

In this re-telling of The Turn of the Screw, all is not what it seems in the creepy-crawly, terrifying Tighter.

…

I have never read The Turn of the Screw but I assure you that if it’s half as creepy as Tighter, I’ll be saving it for another day. Cause wow. The lights were left on after reading this guy.

Griffin has written a tight, compact story that is filled with twists, turns and bumps-in-the-night. The reveal at the end took me by surprise, which was excellent and even MORE creepy.

This is one of those that you read aloud at the campfire or on Halloween. Well done, all around.

But seriously. Creepy.

Jake “Magic” Martin just needs to help win the soccer state championship on Saturday. That’s it. If he does that, it will be three championships. Three. A perfect prime number.

And if he can get that magic number Three, the spiders in his head will go away. He’ll stop having to rely on those prime numbers to get him out of the house and through the day. He’ll be…normal.

Just one more win. That’s it. Three.

…

So, I’m going to come right out and say this: I didn’t really like this book. BUT I didn’t like it because it was so incredibly well done that I felt tense throughout the entire thing. It was like I was in Jake’s mind and something was about to go horribly, horribly wrong if the numbers didn’t work out right.

A fascinating, if tragic, look inside the head of a teen dealing with obsessive-compulsive disorder, among other things. I can’t say I liked Jake, because I never really felt like I knew him – just his disease and his huge efforts to hide his disease. But I felt for him. I wanted him to win that third championship so he could become normal just as much as he did.

I also felt for him because he seemed so incredibly lonely. Which was a tragedy itself.

So, while I can’t say that I loved this book, I thought it was really well done. And eye-opening. And it made me FEEL, which can never be discounted.

Welcome to Oregrove High, where football isn’t just a high school past-time, it’s a way of life. Fueled by under-the-table steroids and the allure of high-profile football scholarships, winning on the field means everything.

But there’s another team at Oregrove High. The men’s gymnastics team – not as low on the totem pole as the cross country runners, but nowhere near the elite football players. But this band of boys is sick of the football team getting their way both on and off the field.

But at Oregrove, standing up for what is right comes at a very high cost.

…

Look at that cover. Intense, right? Still, it doesn’t even begin to show how intense Leverage was. This is one of those books that is so well written and so involving that by the end the reader feels gutted.

I feel like I should point out that this is not your average sports rivalry book. It is dark and the issues escalate throughout the novel. There are consequences – big, awful consequences. It might almost be too much if it weren’t for the friendship of Danny (gymnast) and Kurt (football player).

I cannot express how much I loved this friendship. Or how much I loved both Danny and Kurt individually. The story alternates their POVs and both voices were unique and realistic. They both make awful choices and they both suffer those consequences. In a story that was filled with darkness and hate, they were the light needed to make it okay to continue on.

This is a novel about a lot of important things: bullying, assault, and drug use, among other things. But, to me, this was also a story of unlikely friendship and how important true friends are and the difference they make.

P.S. (Slight spoilers here) Some may gripe about the ending. I completely understand that. I fully understand that, really, in this day and age, it could never go down like that. But I was okay with it. In fact, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

P.P.S. I also have to acknowledge my love for sub-character Fisher, who basically played the spirit of chaos and mischief. While doing as much harm as good, in the end, I think everyone needs a little chaos in their life

Thanks for understanding, lovely readers. For today, I present 3 excellent titles with the common theme of romance. There’s more to each, obviously, but romance is the tie that binds.

What Happened to Goodbye
by Sarah Dessen

McLean and her dad have been moving around the country fixing restaurants, each trying (and mostly failing) to move on from the bitter divorce that tore apart their family. Something about this current move, though, is different. Maybe it’s the boy next door, maybe it’s the restaurant – whatever it is, it’s making McLean take stock.
I liked this recent release by Dessen, but it isn’t my favorite. I thought McLean was an interesting main character and, as a sports fan, I loved how basketball played into things. The highlight of the book, for me, though, was Deb. I want a whole book about Deb. A poignant and entertaining read.

The Anti-Prom
by Abby McDonald

One night. Three different girls. One wild, prom-avoiding ride.
Okay, not much of a description, but there you have it. We follow three girls who have to work together for some major revenge plots on prom night. I liked The Anti-Prom way more than I expected. I found it endearing and loved the one-night-only timeline. A good read about friendship and the pains of romance.

Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn’t Have)
by Sarah Mlynowski

April’s mom moved to Paris after the divorce and April decided to stay with her dad, where her life was. Until her dad gets a job in Cleveland and now she’s being forced to move again – unless she can stay with her equally parent-less friend?
I appreciate the premise of 10TWD; what teenager doesn’t wonder what life would be like bunking with your BFF forever? But what made me really like it was Mlynowski’s writing style. I loved the way the book was presented: list form, with appropriate headings. Mishandled, this storyline could have been jumbled and down-right confusing, but it’s not. And there are some pretty adorbs boys in it, too!

All these books are now available!

All except the Dessen (which I got from the library), were provided by the publisher. All three were read for the Cybils!

Lina has a comfortable life in Lithuania. She attends school, draws, gossips with her cousin – the problems of the world in 1941 are outside her sphere and life is, for the most part, happy.

Until the sphere pops and her family is uprooted in the middle of the night by the Soviet police with only twenty minutes to pack a scant amount of things. She has no idea where she’s going and her father hasn’t come home either.

I thought Between Shades of Gray was wonderfully written and absolutely haunting. I knew vaguely of the awful treatment in the Baltic States during WWII but had no real idea of what happened and this novel really brought that home.

What made Gray so glorious, I thought, were the glimmers of hope and resilience many of the characters had throughout the book, even though they were in the most awful and horrendous of circumstances. I haven’t pulled for characters this much in a long time.

A really great, historical fiction read. Loved.

Where this book came from: library
Publisher: Philomel Books
Available: Now
Read for: Cybils

p.s. Once again, obligatory apologizing for the short reviews. This is a quantity over quality thing for the moment.

by Lisa Roecker

Kate’s best friend is dead. She died in a freak fire in an old building on the school grounds. The fire was ruled accidental, but Kate just can’t believe it. But she does know that Grace is gone.

Until an email from Grace comes in with clues about something going on that night. Something about a secret society. But ghosts can’t email, can they?

The Liar Society really surprised me. It was not anything like I expected in such a good, refreshing way. Kate’s character was really what stood out to me – she thought clearly and concisely – and even when she was doing something stupid, she called herself out on that. I was just so happy to have a character to support that wasn’t blindly stumbling along. Kate (and her awesome sidekicks) really was working things out.

The ending, though, is UGH. UGH is the only way I can put it. I mean, fair enough, there are going to be more Liar Society books. A cliff hanger was inevitable. But this was almost like a punch in the stomach!

I’ll be tuning in next time, though.

Where this came from: Library
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Available: Now
Read: for the Cybils.

by Ally Carter

After the events of Heist Society, Kat has decided to use her skills for good by returning other high-priced items to their proper owner. By herself. Which doesn’t make her old crew particularly happy. But, it makes Kat happy. It keeps her removed and busy. And she’s good at it. Until the mysterious Visily Romani pops up on a business card – held by a woman looking to get a Very Important gemstone back to proper authorities. The gemstone, the Cleopatra Emerald, isn’t just ridiculously hard to steal – it also holds the special honor of the one thing her family has forbidden as an object of affection. Mostly because the gem is cursed. But Kat doesn’t believe in that, does she?

Let’s just get this out: I really liked Heist Society, but I found Uncommon Criminals to be better. The heist(s) were awesome. Kat was angsty. Visily Romani was as mysterious as ever. The stakes were high. And the story of the Cleopatra and Antony emeralds (while fiction – I checked Wikipedia, so it must be true!) was super intriguing. And, of course, Hale was there. Win!

I did not like how few of the old crew were involved with this one, but I forgave Ally because she did let us meet more of Kat’s super crazy family (and learn their BACKGROUNDS).

Uncommon Criminals was a great caper story, fleecing both the fictional characters and the reader (I was fleeced, at least). I very much look forward to the next.

Publisher: Hyperion
How I got a hold of it: I bought it.
It’s also a Cybils nominee, so read for that.

p.s. Dear Ally, at some point in the series, can we address the possibility of the Antony Emerald again? Because, yeah. That is such a cool idea. Thanks! Love, Kell

p.p.s. Visily Romani must have an excellent business card company that he utilizes.