STACKED

books

STACKED’s first book GIVEAWAY!

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Since we’re new to the blogging world and we’d love to see who’s checking out our stacks, it’s time for the first official GIVEAWAY here at STACKED. Please read carefully and follow the easy contest rules to be entered in a drawing to win a copy of After the Moment and one other title of my choosing (and I promise it’ll be good — I’m debating among a few titled picked up during January’s American Library Association Midwinter Conference).

Contest Rules:
1. You must comment on this entry with your name and a link to your blog if you have one.
2. Recruit one new reader to our blog — all they need to do is comment with their name and a link to their blog if they have one and mention that they were directed here by you. They will be added to the contest, too, if they bring in a new reader.
3. If you don’t recruit a new reader, you can add a link to your blogroll to our blog. Just let us know which you did. We’ll also hang on to your links and include them on our blogroll (good reads to good reads is a good thing, isn’t it?)

Simple? You’re right. We want to connect to more readers, so we’re hosting the contest in order to find them.

The contest begins TODAY and runs through the end of the month (May 30 being the final day for the contest). Depending on how generous I am feeling and how many readers we’re able to connect with, I may throw in another book for a second winner. You will, of course, need to stay tuned for details.

After the Moment, Garret Freymann-Weyr

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It’s difficult to be a young male in our culture — there really are only a few acceptable stereotypes within which you can fall: the alpha male, the gay male, the sensitive mommy’s boy, the nerd, or the creepy guy. Although we know males are much more than a stereotype, sometimes in growing up, it seems those are a boy’s options for how to live and behave.

In Garret Freymann-Weyr’s After The Moment, we meet Leigh: a guy in his early 20s reflecting back on his last years in high school and considering how he has come of age. Although the story is not about becoming a man in the traditional sense, Freymann-Weyr (a woman, by the way) delineates what it means to grow up and understand pivotal moments in one’s development, particularly where it relates to love.

Leigh is a high school junior, living in New York City with his mother, a romance novelist, when his father Clayton calls to break the news that his new wife Janet’s former husband Seth has died in a terrible accident. This news has not yet been broken to Millie, Janet’s young teenage biological daughter and Leigh’s beloved step sister. It will be Leigh’s job to come down to Maryland and break the news to her, since she adores and admires him more than anyone else in the world.

While he is in town to help Millie come to grips with the news, he meets Millie’s good friend — also a junior — Maia Morland. As you’d expect, Leigh’s got an incredibly attractive girlfriend at home, but he becomes quite entranced with Maia and not for the reasons he adores his girlfriend Aster. Rather, there is something about Maia that speaks to him at a much deeper level. When Millie is beginning to feel more at ease with the loss of her biological father, Leigh returns him only to be asked by Millie and Clayton to consider relocating to Maryland for his senior year to continue helping Millie cope with her loss. After surprisingly little consideration, he jumps at the opportunity.

After The Moment explores the huge amounts of growth and change that happen to Leigh as he begins a relationship with Maia; it’s not a sheerly romantic relationship, but rather a relationship that is about growth, change, and uncertainty. Leigh wrestles with many excruciating decisions during this year, including Maia’s mental health, his role as a protector, and his role as a male living a fear-free life (Leigh spends many pages in this story reflecting upon the Iraq war and the young men his age both fighting in the war and dying and those trying to avoid the war and dying as civilians). As is likely clear as well, Leigh’s also fighting the demons that come with a difficult family structure, a girlfriend in New York and girlfriend of a different sense in Maryland, the values and ethics of love and sex, and plotting a post-high school life.

Throughout the book, I was very impressed with some of the situations that Freymann-Weyr depicted, particularly through the eyes and mindset of a 17 year old male. There was a true depth to this character and he was utterly relatable and sympathetic. As a reader, I felt entirely on his side and began really thinking about how tough it is to be a guy. This same story told through the perspective of a woman wouldn’t be as powerful or thought provoking, even if it was well-written. This is a story of growing up that both males and females will relate to, and it will definitely open up the eyes of females while garnering a sense of understanding from males.

After The Moment was paced well, and the descriptions and scenarios were quite believable, though at times I found some situations contrived or unnecessary — I thought, actually, there were too many uninteresting and inconsequential characters cluttering the story lines that were brought in immediately and then left to sort of fend for themselves in the end. While many readers might find the fact that not one single family was a “healthy, normal” one (everyone had been divorced, remarried, or multiple iterations of either), I think that might be a point of comfort for some. I become quite obsessed with familial structures when reading, and while I initially got mad that there could be no role models of normality in the story, I thought that actually heightened the ability of Leigh to grow as a male. This becomes crystal clear in a final conversation between Leigh and his father.

I found Maia to be a frustrating character throughout the book; the girl had a lot of problems that I felt she could solve for herself. But then I stepped back for a moment and realized that she is the perfect metaphor for what Leigh is dealing with as a male on a daily basis — she needs help and love, and while many could easily dismiss and ignore her and her problems, he found her absolutely worthwhile. Quite a way to parallel the ideas about the Iraq war and the future!

Overall, I was incredibly impressed with Freymann-Weyr’s After The Moment and believe that it is the perfect book for the older set of teens. The story is set up as a flashback, with Leigh and Maia in their early 20s reflecting on their 17 and 18 year old lives. Although the book will be marketed for those 14 and over, I think that the real audience will be those between 16 and 26. There is a real sense of connection from both ends.

This is not your typical romance book, so while girls who like romances may swoon for Leigh and this one, I think that this could be sold to guys. I think it should be sold to guys, actually. After The Moment breaks stereotypes and bends the artificial rules in such a manner that males may find themselves feeling more confident about how they act and think. I think Leigh will be relatable — he loves soccer, he has a tough family life, and he doesn’t deny enjoying sex — but he’s much more complex than that. I think there is still a bit of a lag in the young adult literature that bulks guys up as much more than just their personal interests. This one is a definite in that arena. I am eager to see what the reception is for both males and females.

After The Moment will be available from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt press May 17. I was able to pick up a copy at a conference, and I’m very glad to have had the opportunity to read it. Keep your eyes peeled for a GIVEAWAY of this book from us very soon.

Double Take Part II

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I don’t really notice a lot of cover art. It took me several Sookie Stackhouse books to realize that the artwork actually gave away plot points. I’m pretty dense at times.

However, I have my first addition to the “Double Take” game, despite my lack of observational skills. When Kelly first added The Zookeeper’s Wife to her Goodreads list, I thought, “Oh, I’ve read that.” Then I skimmed the description and realized, “Um, this has nothing to do with gay Thatcher-ites living in London.”

Yes, I was foiled by the covers. Let’s examine.

Published first, the paperback version of Alan Hollinghurst’s The Line of Beauty.


The book art depicts a view of a white walkway in a wooded garden as seen through a close-up of a wrought-iron fence. For a book about a man who desperately wants to be part of a privileged London world, this is a fitting cover. Private gardens (and keeping people out of them) play a large role in this novel.

Then, the similar-but-not-quite-the-same cover of Diane Ackerman’s The Zookeeper’s Wife.


I haven’t read this one yet, but from what I understand, Ackerman tells the story of Warsaw zookeepers who shelter Jews from the ghetto during the Nazi occupation of Poland. Notice the white walkway; the dark green of forests, the muted light; the curlicues of the iron bars. The photograph was taken from a different angle of a different fence, but the feel (and effect) of the cover bear a resemblance to The Line of Beauty. The superimposition of official documents underneath Diane Ackerman’s name also adds a different element to the cover, giving clues to the plot of the novel.

I prefer the Hollinghurst rendition, but only due to personal taste. I find myself photographing items from uncomfortably close angles, so the assymetry of the Hollinghurst cover appeals to my aesthetic. The Ackerman cover is a little too perfectly composed; I prefer photographs that are not centered. For both, though, I keep thinking back to the many snapshots I’ve taken over the years with the same subject matter. The idea of a gated pathway seems to be an almost ubiquitous allegory for things that we cannot have. It’s not surprising that this type of composition is striking.

Any other comments? We’d love to hear them.

Double Helix by Nancy Werlin

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Double Helix, by Nancy Werlin, is a mystery-thriller about modern-day scientific advancement and the ethical price humanity pays when trying to play God. While it’s a page-turner with an engaging protagonist, the ground it treads is a bit too familiar.

Eli Samuels is about to graduate from high school. Despite his father’s protestations, he refuses to think about college. It’s not because Eli doesn’t think he’s smart enough (he’s the smartest kid in his year), or because he doesn’t like to learn. His mother has Huntington’s Disease, and caring for her has eaten up all of the family’s money. Eli knows his father can’t afford to send him to college, so why bother with the charade of filling out applications?

On the night that Eli’s father finally realizes his son hasn’t applied anywhere, Eli has a bit too much to drink, sends off an email to none other than Dr. Quincy Wyatt, geneticist and head of Wyatt Transgenics, and asks him for a job. To Eli’s embarrassment, Dr. Wyatt does not simply delete the email, and instead asks to see him. Unbelievably, he hires Eli as a lab assistant, a job that normally goes to someone with a college degree. Eli’s excited to be working with a man who is regarded as a genius in the biogenetic field, a man who seems intent on mentoring him, a man with whom he doesn’t have to hold back when discussing scientific matters. Eli has always felt his brain is a handicap, and it’s refreshing to talk with someone whose intellect not only matches his, but surpasses it. Moreover, the work Dr. Wyatt is doing with DNA – the work Eli himself would be doing – could change the world.

Eli’s father does not share his excitement. Barely on speaking terms with his son, he begs Eli in a letter not to take the job. He can’t tell Eli why, he just asks that Eli trust him. Bit by bit, Eli finds out just why his father is so adamant about avoiding Dr. Wyatt and what Dr. Wyatt’s research has to do with his family. He also discovers something shocking about himself.

Double Helix reminds me a lot of Mary Pearson’s The Adoration of Jenna Fox. However, I thought Adoration was more tightly written with a more surprising plot and a more satisfying payoff. I was never surprised or shocked by the events of Double Helix; I expected the final revelation and was disappointed there wasn’t more to it. The payoff at the end is what makes or breaks these bioethics mystery-thrillers. Double Helix‘s just didn’t pack enough punch.

Werlin has created a very three-dimensional character in Eli. His actions are a mixture of frustrating, disappointing, and laudatory, just as a teenager’s actions generally are. Even when I wanted to shake him for his treatment of those he loved, I could understand. By the end of the book, he had grown considerably. Werlin is able to pull off an authentic teenage male voice, something I’ve seen female young adult authors struggle with sometimes. That said, I still don’t feel the characterization was as strong in Eli as it was in Jenna. In all fairness, this may be because Jenna’s situation demanded more character growth. I loved Adoration so much that it seems unfair to constantly compare Double Helix to it. Werlin’s book was still a great read and I enjoyed every minute of it.

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Double Helix to teens interested in reading a good mystery or thriller. It’s quick, exciting, well-written, and the science behind the plot is spelled out in plain English so most teens won’t have a hard time understanding it. The ethical questions it raises are important and timely, even if they have been raised by numerous other authors before. (It’s worth mentioning that Werlin does have firm answers to the questions her book asks, and many readers may not agree with them. But then what is the point of reading if we are only fed what we already believe?) For readers who haven’t read many books about this topic, it’s a great starting place. It might spur them on to finding more of this subgenre. For someone such as myself who devours stories like these, it seemed a bit “been there, done that.” There are more inventive books out there.

Double take

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With inspirational credit to the Alea Pop Culture blog, I thought it would be interesting to look at cover art that appears on multiple books, making them eerily similar. In a sea of fiction, how does one navigate when there are so many similar looking books (admit it, you DO judge a book by its cover, at least initially!).

While perusing some of the new titles for 2009, both those that have been released already and those to be published soon, I ran across this cover double. Published first:

Andrew O’Keeffe’s The Boss to be published by Greenleaf April 30 uses a tie to stand in place of the “o.” The Boss is a humorous and all-too-realistic story about working beneath a number of bosses making absurd demands, stealing ideas, and squelching main character Lauren’s creativity. This book’s geared for an adult audience.

Coming out literally days after The Boss is this book geared for the young adult audience:

Initiation by Susan Fine is set for release in May by Flux publishers. Rather than use the image of the tie with the same stripped design (though in different colors) as part of the title, it’s meant to stand alone as the background image. Initiation is a story a middle class Latino boy trying to survive — forget fitting in at! — an elite private school in Manhattan.

So, which cover did it better? Personally, I think the design is pretty interesting, period, which is the only reason I even noticed it. I had put Initiation on my to-be-read list last night and found The Boss this evening. I’m curious if this will cause any confusion given their similar publishing time frames, albeit different topics and target audiences.

Do you know of any other covers that look similar? Share with us in the comments!