When the reviewers below say this book is like "Titanic" mixed with "The Shining", believe them. It is exactly that. So there is romance (I mean, it's the driving force of this book) and reincarnation, no elevators of blood but definitely a malevolent hotel. It's a good, quick read, fun to read during the Halloween holiday, but nothing terribly spoopy and more romance than I've read in a while (but that's because I've been actively avoiding it).

Also, after reading the author credits I did realize this would be an appropriate book if any librarians are looking for Catholic school book clubs or any teen book club that can't include cursing or sex (there are instances of attempt-ish rape, and 1910's "dirty talk"), but I think this would work well as it's all pretty tame.

I honestly...don't know. I loved Fangirl and really enjoyed Carry On, but I don't remember either books being anything like this. Or as discombobulated. Or...I dunno. If I read this on A03? Cool! I'd love a road-trip fic with my fandom's favorite characters! Officially published in a book that will have another sequel after this? It's tiring to think about because I don't think I enjoyed this book enough to want a sequel.

I swear I've read a graphic novel like this before, but I couldn't find it in my GoodReads reviews... Well, it seems similar where a graphic novel artist creates a graphic novel biography about his life, which wasn't easy, growing up. In this one, Jarrett is raised by his grandparents and when he is in middle school he learns it's because his mom is addicted to drugs and has been in either jail or a halfway house recovering. Jarrett is good at art and draws comics for his school newspaper. This is his life. The art seems to be drawn with ink brushes and...watercolor? Colors are sparse and muddied by black tints, nothing is bright or pops out, lines are wobbly and thick, creating a unique style, but definitely not drawn to be "pretty" or impressed, more to get the gesture and the feeling of the panel down, but not polished up when finished, making it feel "gritty". If you're looking for a book for kids or teens about parents that are absent due to drugs, then this would be a good pick. It just wasn't very... exciting? Attention grabbing? But, that's life. If I were to turn my life into a comic it would be extremely boring (and that's how I like it, thankyouverymuch).

Need a book about racism? Stuck in a rural town and finding yourself surrounded by skinheads? Are your parents LITERALLY the worst? Then this book is for you!

Mock Printz contender #1. Notes:

This book took a while to get into with all the connections and people having nicknames and whatnot, but eventually, as the pieces started coming together, it became a much more interesting book. I knew The Freak was dead pretty quickly. I was reading this while getting my tattoo (don't worry, it wasn't a racist tattoo!) done and I was like, "Oh, I think this character is dead. She just kicked a garbage can and her parents, downstairs, said 'I hear noises from up there all the time'." Definitely was getting ghost vibes from that.
In the author notes she mentions how the whole scene where The Shoveler sees the White Power tattoo on Mike's forearm was something that happened to her in real life. She said something like,"You can't strip search your friends so always be aware." And that's true. She also said in her acknowledgements, "I promised my teens in the last book to flip off all the awful adults in their life. My finger is getting tired, how do you put up with this crap?" This is a good quote to lead me into my final analysis of this book:
Adults do suck. You are not set in your ways. It's not your genes that define you. You are responsible for you, but that also means making sure you don't pass on the suck or let another person get away with being awful. We all have a duty to stop inhumane and racist behavior by not spreading it ourselves and not putting up with it in others.
Is this going to be a Mock Printz winner? I don't know. It's got a great setting of an awful, racist, whitewashed, rural town in Pennsylvania. The characters are totally it's driving point, but there may be too much for some readers to keep track of. It took me a little while. It has a very relevant and great message for today's teens. I believe it was pretty well researched and the author used much of her own life's experiences to make the story truly believable.

Thank you, this book, for not being uselessly overly dramatic. Thank you for having wonderful characters and a main character that I adore in her strength. THANK YOU FOR SHOWING TEENS COMMUNICATING. I can't count how many times an author creates drama that isn't needed with weak-ass plot turns just because a character won't communicate their feelings or puts words in another person's mouth. Thank you for having a single, teen mom being an awesome mother and making really mature and wise decisions. Thank you for making a really wholesome page turner about family, future, and cooking and putting faith into all three.

Okay, I'm ready to admit a shameful, teen librarian secret: I never read Speak. Whew, that was tough. So coming from that angle, here is my review of this book:
It is a follow up of the author's life, response to her first book, and her book tours and the teens she met there. For the second half at least. As a person who didn't read Speak I'm thankful she included the story of her life in the beginning. My favorite part of the whole book was her time in Denmark. It was very soothing, which I'm sure was her intention. I'm not a fan of prose and it takes me a while to get into it. The POV switch every once in a while was jarring and any reading rhythm I had going was lost.

Anyway, that was my personal review, now on to my Mock Printz review: Has a sequel book ever won the Printz award? Not that it matters. When it comes to Laurie, her books are always well researched, including references and help lines at the end, and as for the material, it's based off her real life, so I should HOPE the content is well researched. Setting... would teens be confused about when this all took place? The author does a good job keeping the story timeless (and sadly teens of today can relate to growing up in a broken family and sexual abuse and rape just as teens in the 1970s could). The book layout was pretty nice, echoes of Speak are evident.
Dunno, I wasn't too thrilled with this one, but that doesn't mean it's not a bad book or doesn't have a chance in winning the Printz!

Akwaeke brilliantly found a way to deliver a message about today's world, today's controversies, by presenting them as an endangered issue in the future. Bigotry? Hate? Homophobia? Rape? Racism? Corrupt politician and billionaires and drug companies? Gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, GONE! But at what cost? We don't know at what cost, we just know that Jam is living happily in a world where the "angels", people who fought to bring the world to this state of peace, was brought up by loving parents that survived the dark times of the past and are glad their daughter is safe and healthy. This is the author's message, sometimes heavy handed, but nonetheless one that needs to be heard by all ages: WAKE UP PEOPLE, WE ARE CURRENTLY LIVING IN THOSE DARK TIMES. Look what we could have if we finally all took a stand for what is right, treated humans like humans, did what was necessary to make sure EVERYONE was treated equal (and as Jam mentions, the angels made some very harsh sacrifices to correct society, not even wanting to talk about the depths that were sunk to). Anyway, read this book. It's weird but I think you need the suspension of disbelief to take a step back and see the world through the very innocent and new eyes of Jam.

Also, it is a little bit Nightvale-ian. Such a different town full of strange diverse people but they're all so accepting (Except for Desert Bluffs, kill your double!).

This is totally my Mock Printz winner pick. The characters are so interesting and well-rounded. The premise is original and new. It covers VERY relevant topics for the current times. It is so atmospheric, it's as thick as the smoke coming from Pet's mouth. The storytelling is amazing, like a strange sci-fi bedtime story. It reaches a wide range of audiences and would most certainly draw in reluctant readers.

Was anyone else a bit confused? I guess I should have read this book more quickly, but the wide cast of characters-both living and dead- doesn't help a simple-minded reader like myself. Bouncing between the two of them also didn't help me much. Repressed memories and flashbacks also confuse the heck out of me. I still got the gist of it, and I enjoyed it when I wasn't lost. The very end of the book was a great page turner. It just took a lot to get there. Reading the author's notes, she found her inspiration for this book through her late mother-in-law who was an orphan in Chicago during WWII and the stories she told about her time there. I think she has a solid base for this book and her main character Frankie (based off her MIL Fran) but adding the ghost whose POV we hear this story through (as well as her own story in bits and pieces as she comes to terms with her death) made it a bit scrambled and off the track. Heck, both their stories could be separate books altogether, but in one book it made it feel too crowded. I understand that the story of Pearl and Frankie share some elements but I was still a bit discombobulated reading this book.

Mock Printz Review: Nope, sorry, this one is dead last for me. I know she was a winner of the Printz in the past for Bone Gap, but this book just didn't stand out to me as an example of excellence for teen literature written this past year.