In my last column, I looked at debut novels by authors established in other fields of writing; in this piece, we’ll delve into more debuts, most of them more or less “pure” debuts by first-time authors. First up is a debut almost 30 years in the making. Yukito Ayatsuji’s The Decagon House Murders was first published in 1987 in Japan and has now been published in English by Locked Room International. Regular readers will remember that I’ve been beating the drum for this indie publisher for almost two years now, starting with my review of Paul Halter’s The Crimson Fog and the Tiger’s Head. I note in my review below several similarities between Halter and Ayatsuji; anyone who’s enjoyed Halter should certainly read The Decagon House Murders. The novel is good fun as a stand-alone mystery but even better fun for fans of Ayatsuji’s predecessors— most notably the great English mystery novelists of the 1920s.
We’ve written before about novels that put a premium on setting, and today we have two fabulous debuts that fit into that category. Robert Gipe’s graphic novel Trampoline looks at the fictional but carefully crafted Canard County, KY, where many things are happening at once: a mining company is tearing the community apart while protagonist Dawn Jewel deals with her family in crisis and homicide charges. J. Ryan Stradal’s Kitchens of the Great Midwest should perhaps have been featured in my previous column, as Stradal is an accomplished short story writer and has worked in film and television, but fortunately his debut novel fits in well with Gipe’s, invoking—as the title should make abundantly clear—the Midwest, particularly Stradal’s home state of Minnesota. Married as I am to a Minnesotan, I appreciate Stradal’s light jabs at that fabulous state, but even those who have never been to the Midwest should find themselves sucked into this story of food culture in what most people assume to be a food wasteland.
It wouldn’t be an Adult Books 4 Teens column without a great science fiction novel, and for this column we have Kristy Logan’s The Gracekeepers. Technically, this is a postapocalyptic novel, positing an Earth with severely raised sea levels, leaving only tiny scraps of land above water. But for the most part, Logan treats this as an entirely foreign world, mining the drama between “damplings”—people who live almost entirely on water—and “landlockers,” who live on the remaining land. A somewhat low-key work compared to the standard speculative novels teens are used to, this is nonetheless a great choice for thoughtful young adults.
Rounding out our debuts—for now—are three thrillers about different kinds of survival. Claire Kells’s Girl Underwater is about the literal kind—wilderness survival after a plane crash. Strong teen characters, fast-paced thrills, plot twists, and romance should make this a slam-dunk for teens. Maggie Mitchell’s Pretty Is takes on survival of a different kind as two young women try to pick up their lives after being kidnapped and held captive for six weeks. The thriller aspects of the novel begin when the two women meet up several years later on a set of a movie written by one of them and based on their experience. And finally, we have Lauren Frankel’s Hyacinth Girls, focusing on yet another type of survival—survival of high school and the bullying that is all too common. Frankel takes a nuanced approach to the subject, placing one of her protagonists, Callie, in the role of both bully and victim, and another—Callie’s mother—in the uncomfortable position of not knowing the truth about any of the accusations. The bullying eventually becomes life-threatening, and the novel races to a suspense-filled ending that’s perfect for teens looking for a page-turning novel.
AYATSUJI, Yukito. The Decagon House Murders. tr. from Japanese by Ho-Ling Wong. 228p. Locked Room International. 2015. pap. $19.99. ISBN 9781508503736.
Available for the first time in English, Ayatsuji’s debut novel was first published in Japan in 1987, the same year that Paul Halter, another giant of locked room mysteries, made his debut. Ayatsuji reinvigorates the classical English mysteries of Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Ellery Queen, and John Dickson Carr by stripping them down to their essentials and examining their moving parts. In this novel, six members of the Kyoto University Mystery Club—each taking the alias of a famous mystery writer—assemble on an abandoned island and take up residence in a decagonally shaped house. Soon enough, the students begin to be killed off, and the race is on to discover the murderer’s identity. Meanwhile, back on the mainland, two members of the club who chose not to go receive mysterious letters that lead them to believe something is afoot on the island. Along with an enthusiastic partner, they set about trying to solve a mystery from years past, which has connections to the island. Ayatsuji leaves no doubt about his intentions, making copious references to Christie’s And Then There Were None, and even the characters are well aware that they have stumbled into a work of their favorite type of fiction. The metafictional trappings are good fun, but they wouldn’t mean much if the mystery itself weren’t equally fun and tricky. And it is. VERDICT For teens who love a good cozy mystery, but especially for those who have read Halter and other writers of cozy metamystery.–Mark Flowers, Rio Vista (CA) Library
FRANKEL, Lauren. Hyacinth Girls. 288p. Crown. 2015. Tr $25. ISBN 9780553418057; ebk. ISBN 9780553418064.
Rebecca, guardian to 13-year-old Callie, has just learned that Callie has bullied Robyn, a girl from school. Certain that Callie would never do such a thing, Callie’s friends stand up for her, and the accusation goes nowhere. When Callie herself becomes the target of relentless bullying, it appears to Rebecca that Robyn turned the tables and has become the bully. Rebecca, treading on very unfamiliar ground, is Callie’s guardian because her best friend Joyce was killed in an automobile accident. As the first narrator, Rebecca relates the events in Callie’s life while seeking to understand how to handle them based on her own childhood relationship with Joyce. Callie doesn’t know the real story behind her mother’s accident or of her father’s subsequent suicide. This leaves the girl unsure of who she is and whether she might become like the imaginary people she believes they were. Teens’ interest will pick up when Callie tells her story. Readers need both perspectives in order to understand how Rebecca, through her struggles to understand, keeps missing clues to what is really going on. Fearing for Robyn’s life as much as for Callie’s, Rebecca is determined to make everything all right, but sometimes, others intervene to make decisions for themselves. Teenage friendships, loyalty, and when to stand one’s ground is at the heart of this story. VERDICT The race to the suspenseful end will keep readers reading long into the night; the conclusion will inspire much thought.–Connie Williams, Petaluma High School, CA
GIPE, Robert. Trampoline: An Illustrated Novel. illus. by Robert Gipe. 315p. Ohio University Pr. 2015. Tr $28.95. ISBN 9780821421529.
With her bird’s nest of hair, thick neck, and uneasy stare, Dawn Jewel’s caricature jumps off this work’s cover. But this wisecracking 15-year-old from Canard County, KY, has more to worry about than her looks. She’s fighting a war on two fronts: against the mining company that’s all but separated her community from its home, Blue Bear Mountain; and against the enemy within, Dawn’s family in crisis. Since her father died suspiciously, her mother’s gone AWOL, leaving Dawn’s grandmother nominally in charge of her and her brother. Uncle Hubert is primarily a bad influence, employing Dawn to sell moonshine. Then the family faces possible homicide charges when someone is killed in a car accident while Dawn is driving. Only Aunt June provides respite, encouraging Dawn’s artistic talent, cooking her a decent meal, and taking her dancing. Despite these troubles, Dawn’s stream-of-consciousness commentary about her family is biting and funny. Throughout it all, Bilson Mountain’s community radio hums beneath the chaos: from the Velvet Underground to Black Flag, deejay Willett Bilson’s playlist turns him into Dawn’s late night crooner as, shyly, they find each other. Turns out teenagers still fall in love, no matter how heavy things are at home. Gipe’s powerful sense of place will seep into teen readers’ lives. VERDICT This is a killer debut of one teenager’s flight from destruction—strong stuff tempered with humor and love.–Georgia Christgau, Middle College High School, Long Island City, NY
KELLS, Claire. Girl Underwater. 320p. Dutton. 2015. Tr $26.95. ISBN 9780525954934; ebk. ISBN 9780698186194.
Avery is the youngest in a family of athletes from Boston. She’s a sophomore at Stanford when the plane she’s taking home from school crashes in the Rocky Mountains. She is one of the only survivors, along with Colin (a teammate) and three young boys. They spend five days huddled in the wilderness, facing severe cold, snow storms, and a bear attack. Both Avery and Colin are uniquely qualified to survive—Avery’s father is an emergency room doctor who taught her the basics, even taking her along to the ER on Saturdays to work by his side as she was growing up. Colin has a preternatural calm and optimism, as well as strength and a way with kids. But something happens on the fifth day that makes Avery so ashamed she cannot visit the boys or Colin after their rescue. She even lies to the media. Kells’s choice to alternate chapters between the event and its aftermath effectively ramps up the suspense concerning the details of the tragedy and Avery’s subsequent struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder. Avery is a strong, if flawed, character, and teens will love her deeply emotional, and at times angsty, story. There is a strong bond between Colin and Avery that brings a will-they-or-won’t-they element to their relationship. Colin is a truly good person, and readers looking for a humble hero will swoon. VERDICT With the pacing of a thriller and the heart of a romance, this novel steers readers through one young woman’s survival of a devastating tragedy.–Angela Carstensen, Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York City
LOGAN, Kirsty. The Gracekeepers. 304p. Crown. 2015. Tr $25. ISBN 9780553446616; ebk. ISBN 9780553446630.
This speculative tale is set in a water world filled with archipelagos, where people are either “damplings” (born, raised, living, and dying on the water) or “landlockers.” The two mix sporadically and usually with distrust at events like religious revivals or when the circus comes on land. They also interact when there’s a death, as damplings go to landlocked “gracekeepers” to bury their dead, a process that involves prayer and the body being placed in the sea with a captive bird marking the spot until the bird dies. The two groups collide when Callandish, a gracekeeper, is asked to bury a member of the Excalibur troupe, and meets North, a dampling who works with a semi-tame tiger. Each recognizes a certain loneliness in the other, and a need to somehow rectify past mistakes; ultimately, Callandish takes off to visit her mother and to find North, hoping to fulfill her need for companionship and forgiveness. The evocative descriptions of life as a gracekeeper and circus member or as a dampling or landlocker give the work a magical tone. The future Earth setting, in which oceans have risen so high that there are no continents, is something touched upon but not stressed by the author, helping readers to immerse themselves in the narrative. VERDICT Recommended for teens looking for speculative fiction with strong character development and a quiet plot, like those by Kent Haruf.–Laura Pearle, Miss Porter’s School, Farmington ,CT
MITCHELL, Maggie. Pretty Is. 320p. Holt. 2015. Tr $26. ISBN 9781627791489; ebk. ISBN 9781627791496.
When they were 12 years old, Lois and Carly May were abducted from the streets of their respective towns and taken to a cabin in the Adirondacks, where they were held captive for six weeks by a man they knew only as Zed. Now in their early 30s, they have not had any contact since that summer. Lois is an English professor who has written a pseudonymous thriller based on the abduction, and Carly May has become a B-list actress named Chloe Savage, who has just received the script of a new movie based on Lois’s novel. Meanwhile, one of Lois’s students somehow knows about her past and is showing an unhealthy interest in her. Chloe and Lois agree to meet on the British Columbia set of the movie, where past and present collide in unexpected ways. Alternating between Chloe’s and Lois’s narrations, and between the present-day and their respective memories of that summer, Mitchell’s debut novel explores the rich psychological territory of how the protagonists perceived the events of that summer, how it affected their relationships with their families and with each other, and how it marked the course of their lives. VERDICT This is an engaging thriller that will intrigue teens who were fascinated by Jaycee Dugard, Elizabeth Smart, and other tales of abduction.–Sarah Flowers, formerly of Santa Clara County (CA) Library
STRADAL, J. Ryan. Kitchens of the Great Midwest. 320p. Viking/Pamela Dorman Bks. 2015. Tr $27.95. ISBN 9780525429142; ebk. ISBN 9780698196513.
Stradal’s novel chronicles the young life of Eva Thorvald, beginning with her birth to a mother who would rather become an expert sommelier than a mom and leaves with no forwarding address. Eva’s father dies shortly after of a heart attack. The narrative then moves on to three key moments in Eva’s life: her preteens; her teens, and her 20s. Each section ends in a suspenseful way, and many of the characters reappear in later sections. Eva’s teen years are crucial to the other parts of the narrative. Her arrival in a new high school brings romance with a boy who is awkward but smitten. Meanwhile, she works in a restaurant to help her ailing uncle and guardian pay the bills. In the restaurant, Eva learns about food and acquires a reputation for her marvelous palate, which paves the way for her 20s, when her dinners, given as private reserved affairs, bring her fame and satisfaction. There is much to love here for readers of all ages. Stradal’s gentle humor pokes fun at such Midwest customs as calling any cold food a salad and satirizes a few young foodies, too. The plot moves quickly, and the unusual and stimulating structure allows readers to think about what may have happened during the gaps. And teens will enjoy seeing a girl who cannot finish high school nevertheless become a success. VERDICT A very special novel that most readers will hate to see end.–Karlan Sick, Library Consultant, New York City