Waiting on Wednesday: The Rivals (The Mockingbirds #2) by Daisy Whitney

Waiting on Wednesday (WoW) is a weekly meme hosted by

Breaking the Spine.

My first and second  and eighth WoW posts were about my guilty pleasure reading - romantic (often paranormal) paperback/mass market novels. My third and fourth WoW posts were YA (young adult) titles. My fifth and sixth WoW posts were about adult literary fiction. My middle grade WoW post is here. And now, featuring another YA:

The Rivals (The Mockingbirds, Book 2)

by Daisy Whitney

9780316090575, $17.99, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (Hachette)

Read my book review of Book 1, The Mockingbirds, here.

Not sure how I feel about the new cover for this series, but I'm still excited to read Book 2!

Publisher's description: 

When Alex Patrick was assaulted by another student last year, her elite boarding school wouldn't do anything about it. This year Alex is head of the Mockingbirds, a secret society of students who police and protect the student body. While she desperately wants to live up to the legacy that's been given to her, she's now dealing with a case unlike any the Mockingbirds have seen before.

It isn't rape. It isn't bullying. It isn't hate speech. A far-reaching prescription drug ring has sprung up, and students are using the drugs to cheat. But how do you try a case with no obvious victim? Especially when the facts don't add up, and each new clue drives a wedge between Alex and the people she loves most: her friends, her boyfriend, and her fellow Mockingbirds.

As Alex unravels the layers of deceit within the school, the administration, and even the student body the Mockingbirds protect, her struggle to navigate the murky waters of vigilante justice may reveal more about herself than she ever expected.

Waiting on Wednesday: Witch & Wizard: The Gift by James Patterson & Ned Rust

 Waiting on Wednesday (WoW) is a weekly meme hosted by

Breaking the Spine.

My first and second WoW posts were about my guilty pleasure choices (mostly mass market paperbacks with romantic and/or paranormal themes). I'm proud to finally introduce my first Young Adult (YA) WoW post!

Shop Indie BookstoresWitch & Wizard: The Gift
by James Patterson & Ned Rust
9780316036252, $17.99, Little, Brown (Hachette), Pub. Date: December 13, 2010

This book is the sequel to Witch & Wizard published last year, co-authored by James Patterson & Gabrielle Charbonnet. He (James Patterson) has started doing this co-authorship thing; I'm inclined to be somewhat skeptical, but I don't know much about the process, so I'm hesitant to give an uninformed opinion.

For instance, I really enjoyed book 1 in this series. Will I enjoy book 2 as much with a different co-author? Will the voices remain the same? Will the tone of the book remain the same? Will I be able to tell the difference? While I admire, to an extent, what I presume to be one of the inspirations for co-authorship - lesser-known authors gaining greater recognition within the industry by having their name attached to the big J.P. - I'm curious to know who does the bulk of the writing. Do they write chapters back and forth? Do they discuss plot and characterization together? Or does J.P. come up with an idea, the co-author writes it, and J.P. edits it before it gets published? How does it all work, really?

Either way, I'm looking forward to book 2. Here's the synopsis:

When Whit & Wisty were imprisoned by the wicked forces of the totalitarian regime known as the New Order, they were barely able to escape with their lives. Now part of a hidden community of teens like themselves, Whit and Wisty have established themselves as leaders of the Resistance, willing to sacrifice anything to save kids kidnapped and brutally imprisoned by the New Order.

But the One has other plans in store for them: He needs Wisty, for she is "The One Who Has the Gift." While trying to figure out what that means, Whit and Wisty's suspenseful adventures through Overworld and Shadowland lead to a jaw-dropping climax and conclusion: the highly-anticipated fulfillment of the heart-pounding opening prologue of book one... The Execution of the Allgoods.

Book Review: The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney

The Mockingbirds

by Daisy Whitney

9780316090537, $16.99, Little Brown (Hachette)

E. Lockhart’s The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks meets Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak in this debut novel.

I love the tagline for this book:

“Hush little students, don’t say a word…”

There’s something slightly creepy about nursery rhymes used in non-nursery rhyme contexts. While this isn’t a YA horror novel, the teens at Themis Academy do need to watch their backs. Because while the administration at this private boarding school may believe all their students are perfect, the Mockingbirds are fully aware that not everyone acts honorably all the time. Where the administration fails to enforce any sort of consequence for dishonorable conduct, the Mockingbirds step in to pick up the slack.

When Alexandra Nicole Patrick gets date-raped in her junior year by a popular member of the water polo team, she knows going to the administration is not an option. Neither is going to the police, which will only result in lots of publicity, hysterics from her parents, and Alex getting yanked out of Themis – none of which she wants to deal with. What does Alex want? Justice. And there’s only one place to go for justice at Themis Academy – The Mockingbirds.

An underground system for justice, the Mockingbirds are a student organization set up several years ago by Alex’s older sister. Their purpose is to be judge and jury for student-against-student crimes. There are three tiers of Mockingbird participants, a system of checks-and-balances, and above all, fair justice dealt out to all parties involved.

With the help and support of her roommates T.S. and Maia, Alex accuses Carter Hutchinson of date rape. There’s only one problem – Alex doesn’t remember a lot of details from that night. If she was too drunk to say yes, then it follows that she was too drunk to participate in consensual sex, and therefore Carter raped her. Or did he?

As the Mockingbirds investigate, Maia cross-examines, and T.S. offers moral support, Alex tries to retain some semblance of her before life – before the rape, before she avoided the cafeteria for meals, before she started mapping out new Carter-less routes to class, and before she began having flashbacks to a night she’d almost prefer remain a mystery. Alex just wants to focus on playing the piano, on the possibility of getting into Julliard, and on her new crush-like feelings for Martin, one of the three students on the Mockingbirds’ board of directors. It’s when Alex learns more about the Mockingbirds’ history, when other female students let Alex know similar things have happened to them, and when Alex gets tired of living in the difference of before vs. after that she begins to realize the importance of standing up, speaking out, and ensuring that justice – even an underground, student-run justice – is the only way to finally get back to being just normal.

Book Review: The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

The Mysterious Benedict Society

by Trenton Lee Stewart, illustrated by Carson Ellis 

Hardcover: 9780316057776, Little, Brown (Hachette), $17.99

Paperback: 9780316003957, Little, Brown, $6.99

This post was originally published here in March 2008. This version on Afterthoughts... has been edited from the original post.

I just finished a book called The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart.

First of all, great title and great author name. Let's face it, we all judge books by their covers, and I've noticed an astonishing correlation between good book titles, good author names, and good reads. Admittedly this doesn't always ring true, but try it with your favorite books and see if my theory holds up.

So this book...it's been called a science fiction book but I'm a little bit against placing books in a particular categoy. There are so many stereotypes and connotations (both positive and negative) that go into those words and I'd much rather judge a book on its cover than in its classification. Regardless, I thought it might be a good place to start and then I can break down that science fiction box for you and explain why it's just a good read.

What is "science-fiction-y" about this book is the central plot. Someone has been sending subliminal messages through television and radio broadcasts. They are undetectible by most humans, so though people are receiving and reacting to these messages, they're not conscious or aware of that fact. 

Mr. Benedict (the one of the "Mysterious Benedict Society") IS aware. He's a scientific genius (and one of the good guys in the book) who has figured out a way to translate and record these messages. Even though he used to be a well-respected government official, no one will listen to him now because they've all been slowly brainwashed by those subliminal messages.

This is the best part because this is where the kids come in. Certain children have the ability to resist these subliminal messages. They are young enough and value truth enough that their brains automatically do their best to resist the evil messages. Som Mr. Benedict puts together a team of children as secret spies to go into enemy territory and gather as much information as possible about who and what are sending these messages.

The real story is how this team of four unlikely child heroes have to work together to solve this mission before they themselves can't resist those messages anymore. All four children have unique talents, but they don't know how to work as a team or even how to be friends.  

This book is packed with adventure (though it's not scary), good laughs (though the children in the book don't always think it's funny), friendship, teamwork, and yes, a few fights. It will keep you engrossed right to the very end with some surprising twists and turns. For instance - why did Kate's dad disappear? Does Sticky's family really not care about him? Why is Constance such a sleepy grouchy baby? Will Reynie ever see Miss Perumal again? How can Mr. Benedict appear to be in two places at once? And how on earth are these 4 kids going to stop THE WHISPERER?

Read The Mysterious Benedict Society to find out!

Once you've read the first book, don't forget to check out these two sequels:

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey (book 2)

by Trenton Lee Stewart, illustrated by Diana Sudyka

Hardcover: 9780316057806, Little, Brown, $16.99

Paperback: 9780316036733, Little, Brown, $6.99

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma (book 3)

by Trenton Lee Stewart, illustrated by Diana Sudyka

Hardcover: 9780316045520, Little, Brown, $16.99

David Foster Wallace Vocabulary

Thanks to @kentmeusemarian for today's post! (Follow me on Twitter: @rebf)

David Foster Wallace was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer, whose most famous work, Infinite Jest, was included in Time magazine's All-Time 100 Greatest Novels list.

Hardcover: 9780316920049, Little, Brown & Co., $35
Paperback: 9780316066525, Little, Brown & Co., $17.99

In his work, he had much occasion to check out his favorite American Heritage Dictionary, and while he was there, circled a multitude of words. Though this article doesn't really go into detail about why DFW circled all these words, this is, apparently, a complete list of the words he did circle.

Were they his favorites? His most-used? Words he could never remember the definitions for? Words he most-loved to use at dinner parties? Was he studying up for an adult spelling bee? We may never know, but you should check them out.

-Rebecca

Check out this post on my personal blog.

She said, He said: Novels with multiple narrators

A sales rep friend posed this question online today:

I have a writer friend who is looking for YA (or adult) novels that are told in alternating voices. She wants examples where each character has a chapter and they go back and forth between points of view. It’s a bonus if the characters live in different time periods.

The varied responses from the people who answered her, and the fact that I'm working on a YA novel told from various view points, made me reflect on that topic.

A co-worker once lamented about dual-narrator novels, saying something to the effect of, "Unless it's written really really well, it's a cop-out" (I'm paraphrasing greatly here). After I heard her reasoning, I admit I judged dual-narrator novels more harshly, despite writing one of my own.

The way I defend my own writing is that I didn't want to tell the entire novel from a third-person omniscient narrator POV, and both main characters are, ya know, main characters with two distinct voices, so...mine works (I hope).

But what really makes a novel work with multiple voices and in which cases is it unnecessary to the plot? A lot of novels have more than one main character, or really important secondary characters; why should they not all have their own voice? Often scenes are told from the POV of a character other than the main character, but almost never in first person. It is the omniscient narrator that allows the reader to gaze through the eyes of a secondary character, and it abundantly clear that the POV of the primary protagonist is the central focus.

Of course, I'm also confusing this subject by talking about POV (point-of-view), voices, and narrators, and all that doesn't include various storytelling formats such as diary entries, letters, phone conversation transcripts, and the recently more common emails and text messages. Where do all of these fit into the subject of multiple narrators?

While I don't have concrete answers to the questions I've posed, here are some books to hold up as examples for things I think they do particularly well.

My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger (9780142413432, $8.99, Penguin) is my go-to favorite for multiple narrator/multiple format storytelling. This is a YA novel about three contemporary teenagers. The novel exhibits three different main character points-of-view, with plenty of secondary characters, texts, emails, IMs, diary entries, and expository scenes.

Another favorite contemporary YA novel that switches not only narrators, but also time periods, is Printz Award-winning Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta (9780061431852, $8.99, Harper). Warning: It makes me sob (good tears) every time I read it; it's that good.

A new, not-yet-released YA novel told by dual narrators is Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan (9780525421580, $17.99, Penguin, Pub. Date: April 2010). Interestingly, the two different view points are written by two different authors.

My favorite adult novel, though sadly out-of-print, is Letters from an Age of Reason by Nora Hague (9780060959852, Harper). Told in alternating sections, letters and journal entries chronicle the relationship between a white American living in England during the Civil War years, and the high-yellow former slave from New Orleans she falls in love with.

Also told in letters, is a non-fiction book, 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff (9780140143508, $13, Penguin), which covers the decades of correspondence between Helene, the American author, and the people from the bookstore at 84 Charing Cross Road. Also adult.

Similar to 84... is the best-seller The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (9780385341004, $14, Random House). Also about an American author corresponding with British people, this takes place right after WWII, and delicately showcases the friendships and budding romance. Also adult.

Nora Roberts, also writing as J.D. Robb, often writes scenes from a secondary character's point of view, though it is always clear who the main character is. Her more romantic novels are almost always told primarily through the woman's point of view, but a great strength of her novels are the scenes that are seen through the man's eyes. In her J.D. Robb ...In Death mysteries, not only does the reader see Eve Dallas's and her husband Roarke's POV, but scenes from various victims' POV are often presented as well.

For another great mystery, read Darling Jim by Christian Moerk (9780805092080, $15, Henry Hold (MPS)), told from the POVs of a postman, a dead woman and her diary, and a live woman and her diary, among others.

I've noticed YA fantasy novels have a propensity for being told with dual narrators. Here is a quick list of books I've read that showcase dual or multiple narrators that are currently on the store's shelves:

Hearts at Stake (9780802720740, $9.99, Walker & Company (Bloomsbury, MPS)) and Blood Feud (9780802720962, $9.99, Walker & Company (Bloomsbury, MPS)) by Alyxandra Harvey

Incarceron (9780803733961, $17.99, Penguin) by Catherine Fisher

Leviathan (9781416971733, $19.99, Simon) by Scott Westerfeld

Sorcery & Cecelia, or, The Enchanted Chocolate Pot (9780152053000, $6.95, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) by Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer

Witch & Wizard (9780316036245, $17.99, Little, Brown & Co.) by James Patterson & Gabrielle Charbonnet

Do you have any examples of novels of this ilk you'd like to share?

-Rebecca

Summer 2010 Picturebook Highlights - Little, Brown and Company

All the way to number six in the Summer 2010 Picturebook Highlights series is Little, Brown and Company!

Overall, I have to confess there are more novels on this list I'm excited about than picturebooks, but these three did stand out for me (and I'll review the novels as I read them, promise!):

Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down
by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney
9780316070164, $16.99, already available

This award-winning husband-and-wife team have created another hit, in my mind. Lyrical text tells the story of lunch counter sit-ins during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Beginning with four friends, who will come to be know as the Greensboro Four, blacks and whites across the South began peacefully protesting segregation by sitting at lunch counters, politely waiting to be served. With a refrain throughout: "A doughnut and coffee, with cream on the side," and highlighting words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and activist Ella Baker, this picturebook is a beautiful introduction to an impressive moment in America's history. Brian Pinkney's characteristic illustration style - sweeping washes of color with black line overlay - enhance and compliment the text. A timeline and author's note at the back of the book make this perfect for both individual storytimes and classroom use.

Shark vs. Train
by Chris Barton, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld
9780316007627, $16.99, Pub. Date: April 2010

The illustrations are what make this book a success. The premise is two little boys have chosen a shark and a train from their box of toys and are, in typical fashion, battling to see which toy will win. Quickly the perspective of the book changes to show the shark and the train competing against each other, with cartoonish word bubbles adding text that will make both adults and kids laugh. Basically, two big-kid guys had fun making a kids picturebook.

I Don't Want a Cool Cat!
by Emma Dodd
9780316036740, $15.99, Pub. Date: August 2010

A follow-up to I Don't Want a Posh Dog!, the rhyming text and bold yet cool illustrations are sure to create a similar success. "I don't want a cool cat. A treat-me-like-a-fool cat. I just want a purry cat. A small, soft, furry cat." Who could resist? Just make sure you're ready to, or already have, a cat in your life!