More on the competition-- Review of A Blue So Dark

A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler is the second of my fellow nominees for the YA Book of the Year Award from Foreword Magazine that I have read. And, for the second time, I am thoroughly honored to be nominated with this totally excellent novel.

This novel is told through the voice of fifteen-year-old Aura Ambrose, who is artistic, sarcastic, and keenly insightful. Her father is MIA and her mother, also an artist, is a schizophrenic who was decided to go off of her meds. Aura vividly describes the disintegration of her mother's mental state, as well as her own life, as the illness takes over. Standard teen moments, likether first kiss with that boy, are interspersed between moments of Aura skipping school to put out the fire her mother attempts to start in the bathroom.

Beautiful and terrifying, the book explores the link between mental illness and creativity, from the perspective of a family member. There were a few minor complaints I had-- I wish Schindler had taken her time a bit more at the onset, showing us mom before she got sick, and creating some normalcy for Aura before we see her life crumble. Overall, though, a wonderful read and highly recommended.

Sizing up the competition...

...Well, not really. Before Max and Menna, I never anticipated myself writing young adult fiction, and so I'm trying to read as much in the genre as I can. I catching up, and falling in love with this genre, very, very quickly! So when my book was nominated for a ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award in the Young Adult category, I was curious to read the other books in this category. I've gotten through one so far, but can honestly say that I am honored to be nominated in the same category!

The Second Trial by Rosemare Boll is the story of Danny, who unknowingly grew up the son of an abusive, manipulative father. Danny's dad abused his mom in secret, and Danny's mom did her best to cover it up. Thus, when Danny finds himself at a trial sentencing his father for the attempted murder of his mother, he is still not even sure that the abuse ever happened... and just as he starts to understand how dangerous his father is, the man is released from prison, sending Danny, his mom, and his sister into witness protection... and starting over.

I've railed before against all YA fiction writers believing that teens are nothing but angst-filled, back-talking, selfish, juvenille kids. In the case of Danny, Boll has taken every one of those attributes and made it not only believable, but understandable, and I loved this book.

Wonderfully characterized, Danny and his mother come to life on the page, revealing an unsettling tension between them. My empathy for Danny, being transplanted into a new world after discovering that his whole life was full of lies, ran deep. Nonetheless, as a woman, I felt an enormous sympathy for his mom, who tried, above all else, to do what was best for her kids and had to watch as these decisions turned their lives upside down.

Never veering into the melodramatic or trite, the book has a straightforward prose, allowing a reader to assign his or her own feelings and assessments to these extrodinary situations instead of directing. I appreciate that, and Boll's subtley building to a climax that is muted (I keep using that word), but nonetheless powerful.

An outstanding first novel!

A year in review...

I’m taking a page from my fellow Lucky Press author Sarah Martin Byrd (wonderful lady that she is) and musing back over last year to this. I must say, what a violent difference a year can make. I mean, I have the same job, but from car to house to family, very little else has stayed the same.

Clearly, there have been the bad changes, bad being the biggest understatement I can think of. I lost my mom, and therefore everything else just feels a little bit empty.

I turned 30 and lost my youth J. I know that is an exaggeration, but it really did feel like a fundamental change.

And then there is my writing. A year ago, publication of Max and Menna was this nebulous concept that made me smile but still seemed virtually impossible. And now… now it is a book. A real book that I can hold in my hands, and something that makes me feel more and more every day that my voice is relevant, that I am a “real writer,” and that maybe there is a future here.

Which is why I am very excited to announce (drum-roll please) that Max and Menna is a finalist in the Foreword Book of the Year Awards, Young Adult fiction category. To those of you, like me, who have always thought it hokey when Oscar nominees say “it’s an honor just to be nominated,” let me assure you, it isn’t hokey. Just to be a finalist, combined with lots of great reviews (and thanks to all of you that contributed), have made me feel more and more like a “real writer.”

My publisher Janice should change her business cards to read “I make it happen.” Because she helped make it happen for me, and has introduced something so good in my life that it has helped to overshadow a very tough, transitional year. I seriously owe her big!