Bunheads, by Sophie Flack (fiction) - dance, dream, stretch, strain, strive, dance

If you sleep under a ballerina blanket,
practice second position waiting for the schoolbus,
live and breathe ballet - then you're probably a bunhead.

On this Fun Friday, we catch up with 19-year-old Hannah, who's living the dream of many a young girl, dancing every night (and weekend matinees) in pointe shoes and tutus, a professional ballet dancer while still in her teens.

But those cute little grade-schoolers can't know the realities of being a corps de ballet dancer - sewing yourself into your shoes before every performance, dieting constantly, plagued by bunions and muscle strains, worrying about being promoted to soloist or being cut from the company roster.

Listen to the author talk about her recent experiences in the corps de ballet and you'll know that Hannah's story may be fiction, but it's also very true.

Read Bunheads along with Audition (review) for a deep journey into the world of teen professional ballet dancers - you'll never look at those dancing Snowflakes in The Nutcracker quite the same way again.
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Book info: Bunheads / Sophie Flack. Poppy Books, 2011. [author's website] [author interview] [publisher site]

Recommendation: Hannah is a ballet dancer, not a ballerina – not the star…yet. Moving to New York at age 14, she’s danced with the Manhattan Ballet Company for 5 years, doing homework between performances, stretching tired muscles and massaging her bunions after twice-daily practices, striving for perfect technique and lithe flexibility.

When the calendar turns to fall, it’s time to begin rehearsing The Nutcracker. A holiday favorite of audiences from Thanksgiving to New Year, it’s merely part of the routine for the dancers who perform over 50 different ballets in the Company’s repertoire.

Excitement builds as the director choreographs a new ballet for the Company and selects dancers for each piece. Hannah is thrilled to become Lottie’s understudy, practicing the lead ballerina’s dances as her alternate, less-thrilled to see that Zoe is also chosen as Lottie’s understudy. Competition is an integral part of Company life; friendships are often optional.

Sometimes she escapes the endless cycle of studio to apartment to studio by visiting her cousin’s restaurant, journal in hand. A chance meeting with singer-songwriter Jacob after his guitar performance there shakes up Hannah’s perfectly orchestrated life – could she really find time for a relationship?

When Lottie is hurt and Hannah suddenly steps into the spotlight, will her performance get her promoted to soloist? Can her body cope with the demands to be ever slimmer and stronger? How much of real life is Hannah willing to sacrifice to remain a dancer?

Personal dreams and performance realities dance their erratic and realistic duet in this well-crafted debut novel, as the author’s own experiences as a professional ballet dancer provide behind-the-scenes details. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

My Brother's Shadow (fiction)

To keep your family alive...
would you lie?
would you cheat?
would you steal?

Germany's people go to sleep hungry in 1918, as young men and old men go to fight in the Great War. Kaiser Wilhelm assures them that the war is almost won - his lies do not fill empty bellies or heal maimed soldiers.

Moritz does all he can to support his mother, sister, and grandmother with his older brother Hans still fighting in the trenches, their father dead in the war. What about his dreams of becoming a writer?

We stand in the ration lines with Hedwig, hear the radical speeches at secret meetings, and see protesters cut down by government police as Moritz struggles to make sense of his world. Schroder, author of Saraswati's Way (review), accurately portrays defeated Germany as the seeds of its future actions toward Jews and the rest of the world are planted in the bitterness of the War's closing days.
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Book info: My Brother's Shadow / Monika Schroeder. Frances Foster Books/FSG, 2011. [author's website] [publisher site] [book trailer]

Recommendation: Moritz knows he’s lucky to work at the printers – Berlin in 1918 is a place of hunger and desperation. Older brother Hans is now fighting on the Western Front, leaving the 16-year-old as head of their household; Father died at Verdun in the early days of this Great War.

His mother and sister trudge home day after day, reeking of chemicals from the munitions factory, chilled to the bone from standing in ration lines that shortchange them on food. The British have successfully blockaded all German ports for 4 years now.

The Kaiser says that Germany is winning the war, but secret meetings of the social democrats call for public demonstrations to end the fighting. Moritz discovers that his mother not only attends these forbidden meetings, but is a leader in the anti-war movement, now hunted by the police.

Desperate to feed his family, Moritz is pulled into his brother’s old gang of thieves, stealing from rich men’s brimming pantries and bakers’ dwindling supplies of chalk-tainted flour. He meets a young lady in an unfamiliar neighborhood and wonders if there will ever be a peaceful time to discuss books with Rebecca Cohen.

A letter in unfamiliar handwriting arrives – Hans has been wounded badly. Will he survive? Will the Kaiser really agree to an Armistice to end the war? Can mother and Hedwig stay safe in the protest marches? Revolution? Is more fighting the answer to everything?

This compelling story takes readers into Germany’s dark times during the closing months of World War I, when anti-Semitism began to take root and the massive reparations demanded by the Allies would cripple the Germany economy for decades. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn (fiction)

One dream.
One chance.
One life, forfeit if the secret is discovered.

To be chosen to assist a Dragon in protecting their land from disastrous typhoons, Eon struggles to master the intricate swordwork that will win a place at the annual competition.

She cannot deny the pull of dragon-spirit that whispers through her veins, risking execution for daring to compete in this men-only world of the Dragoneyes.

Strongly echoing the customs and traditions of ancient China, Eon's world is swirling with intrigue and treachery, even before the long-absent Mirror Dragon roars in from the Spirit World to upset the order of the Imperial Palace.

Now available in paperback, the tale of Eon is continued in Eona - don't miss either volume of this fascinating adventure!
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Book info: Eon: Dragoneye Reborn / Alison Goodman. Viking, 2008 (hardback), Firebird, 2010 (paperback). [book website] [author's website] [publisher site] [book trailer]

Recommendation: Only one chance to become Dragoneye apprentice… Soon Eon’s years of training will be over as he competes against 11 candidates. Perhaps the Dragon’s spirit eye will overlook his crippled leg?

Eon feels the mighty Rat Dragon’s spirit ripple through his blood, even after the swordmaster’s ambush on the competition field. Ten dragon brothers and the whole empire watch as the ascendant Dragon selects Dillon as his apprentice. Eon now must run away before anyone discovers that this 12-year-old boy is really a young woman who risked execution for a chance to serve the Emperor as Dragoneye!

Suddenly the long-dark twelfth dragon mirror brightens. For the first time in living memory, the Mirror Dragon has appeared to select an apprentice – and chooses Eon. In this imperial court of protocol and ceremony, no one knows what to do with an apprentice who has no master to train him or how to deal with two ascendant dragons in one year.

Soon, the ascendant Dragoneye and his dragon must travel north to help control the weather – for the Dragoneye Lords serve during their Dragon year to keep the empire safe. But the angry Rat Dragoneye doesn’t want to share power with Lord Eon, who might discover his plans to use dragon power to overthrow the Emperor!

Will Eon’s secret stay a secret in the rumor-filled Imperial Palace? How can Eon practice working with the Mirror Dragon without the correct instruction? Why do the dragons agree to help the Empire year after year?

This thrilling adventure set in a land much like ancient China reveals the rippling scales of dragons in the storm clouds overhead – and the bitter venom hiding in human hearts. First in series, 531 heart-stopping pages. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

Amplified (fiction)

Amazing rock guitar skills.
Determination to make great music.
Seriously paralyzing stage fright.
Two out of three, okay??

The band members are skeptical about whether anyone from ritzy Westside can really play authentic lead guitar. What would a rich girl know about true industrial rock?

Throw in the synth player's bright blue hair (his tutu doesn't clash), the lead singer's habit of chasing cute girls just before going on stage (it's her life, but gotta be on time), and Sean's hostile attitude toward Jasmine - well, stage fright might be the least of her worries... not really.

Tara Kelly effortlessly brings readers into the highs and lows of the C-Side band. On this Fun Friday, root for Jasmine to break through her fears and play what's in her soul.
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Book info: Amplified / Tara Kelly. Henry Holt, 2011. [author's website] [publisher site]

Recommendation: Well, that’s that. Thrown out of dad’s house because she wants to play guitar for a year before going to college, Jasmine has to find a job and somewhere to live – now.

When her old car dies in front of a repair shop, she hopes that’s a good sign; an encounter with a scowling dude who works there convinces her otherwise. So with the car in the shop till she can pay for parts, Jas is forced to carry her electric guitar everywhere as she searches for a non-crazy roommate (why is this so hard in coastal California?) and competes with every high school kid for a no-experience-required job.

An ad seeking a guitarist catches her eye – hmm, room to rent included. “Guys only” or not, it’s her best hope, so she puts on her best rock musician face and asks for an audition. The band’s singer helps her get a job in a psychic’s shop, while Jas tries to steady her nerves before the tryout. And in walks the guy from the car shop, bass player for the band and the singer’s brother, ready to toss Jasmine out without even hearing her play…

Is Jas really good enough to be in C-Side? Will Sean ever get over his attitude toward her? Can Jas get over her stage fright and actually perform on stage (or is her dad going to win the argument about musicians being losers)?

Musicians will love the swooping descriptions of the indie rock music that Jas and her new friends create, while readers less familiar with musical vocabulary will find new ways to explain what they hear in their favorite songs, thanks to the author’s lyrical ability to turn melodies, harmonies, and rhythms into evocative printed words. Come on over to the club scene of Santa Cruz and the raw world of industrial rock – Amplified. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

Between Two Ends, by David Ward (fiction) - jumping into the world of 1001 Arabian Nights

Can you truly dive into the pages of a favorite book?

If you remember the stories of One Thousand and One Arabian Nights, then you know about the cruel king, the murdered wives, and clever Scheherazade who kept herself alive by telling the king stories each night.

And you know about the brutal world into which the modern Shari has gone, bewitched into the pages of the "unexpurgated" Arabian Nights, where the king's wicked behavior was not sugar-coated or glossed-over.

So on this World Wednesday, it will take a pair of bronze pirate bookends, a long-dormant wishing well, and all of Yeats' courage and ingenuity to set Shari free from her enchantment and bring her back to her grandfather... will it be enough?

An exciting tale from the author of The Grassland Trilogy (reviewed here, here, and here) - are you ready to go Between Two Ends with Yeats?
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Book info: Between Two Ends / David Ward. Amulet Books, 2011. [author's website] [publisher site] [author video]

Recommendation: Yeats wonders why his depressed father insists on returning to Gran’s house now – something dreadful happened there 20 years ago, something that is never discussed with him.

Meeting eccentric Mr. Sutcliff, stumbling upon that old wishing well in the garden, and uncovering a bronze bookend suddenly takes Yeats into the heart of his family’s mystery.

When his dad was a boy, he and adventurous Shari explored every inch of the garden and read every book in his poet-grandfather’s library, including one special copy of Arabian Nights. One terrible day, Shari was kidnapped from their garden, and William couldn’t stop the men as they escaped with her down the well. Losing his friend has kept him on the brink of madness for years and has turned her grandfather Mr. Sutcliff into a recluse, both certain that their Shari had been taken back in time, back into the oft-told story of her namesake Shaharazad, back to the realm of a king who killed his bride on their wedding night, night after night, bride after bride.

By finding the long-lost pirate bookend and sending a wish into the well, Yeats has reopened the portal into Shaharazad’s world. Does Yeats have the courage to venture into the realms of story and imagination with the pirates? Can a modern boy survive in that brutal ancient kingdom? Can he find Shari and convince her to come back to her grandfather?

This skillful combination of now and way-back-when will keep readers turning its 304 pages, traveling with Yeats to a far-off time and place where danger is the only certainty. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

The Line (fiction)

Does a fence keep enemies out or keep its citizens in?
Who controls the truth?
Can people truly do what's right in defiance of their own society?

Welcome to a possible future on this Metaphysical Monday, to the "Unified States" where Rachel and her mother need to be unremarkable, to not draw the attention of government agents who are looking for any reason to remove possible security risks.

Imagine - agents having the power to imprison people who can't pay a random tax on the day it's enacted, to strip a family of all its possessions and force them into the perpetual poverty of the Labor Pool, to make people just disappear ...
Her mom still has a copy of the original rights bill, even though it's treason to mention it.

The peacefulness of propagating orchids with Ms. Moore in the Property's greenhouse won't last long when the message arrives from The Others across The Line - how can the mutated former citizens talk like regular people?

A chilling look at an all-too-plausible dystopia where government boundaries and policies determine everything - except compassion. Rachel's story continues in the newly published sequel, Away.
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Book info: The Line / Teri Hall. Dial Books, 2010. [author's website] [publisher site] [book trailer]

Recommendation: Rachel wonders about The Others, the mutated creatures that exist across The Line. That invisible barrier still protects the Unified States from the results of a terrible war. No one crosses it now; no one worries about the Unified citizens who were trapped outside The Line when the experimental bombs landed.

She and her mother are safe here on The Property, working for Ms. Moore, growing orchids. After Rachel’s dad was lost in the war, they were lucky to find Gainful Employment away from the city – where joining the ranks of the Labor Pool means inescapable poverty, where government agents remove those who are “security threats”.

But when a voice recorder gets past The Line with a plea from The Others for medical assistance, Rachel must decide if she can help – and how she can get the medicines through The Line. Her mother reminds Rachel that the government-controlled news isn’t always the truth and reveals secrets about her father’s past. Ms. Moore explains her connection to The Line as they try to work out what they can do to help The Others without alerting the government agents.

Why did the government close The Line so fast that many of their own citizens were trapped outside? How did anyone survive those attacks? Why doesn’t anyone come back when the agents take them away?

Join Rachel in this dystopian future as she weighs the options – stay safe on her side of The Line or do what’s right despite the danger. First in a series, followed by Away. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

Same Difference (fiction)

Sort of rude,
Fairly crude,
Still totally inept at social interaction.

It's Fun Friday for us, but not so much fun for mid-20s Simon, as a fleeting glimpse of an old high school friend sets off a chain of reminiscences and regrets.

Simon's high school acquaintances couldn't even remember that Koreans weren't Japanese - why did he expect them to show a little respect to Irene who was trying to make her way through the sighted world?

And you've got to wonder why Nancy decided to open the letters addressed to the former tenant of her apartment. Did this Sarah really move without a forwarding address to avoid being contacted by Ben? Did Nancy really write back to Ben, pretending to be Sarah!?

Derek won the 2004 Eisner, 2004 Harvey, and 2003 Ignatz Awards with Same Difference as a self-published book; it's even better in this hardback reissue, published this week with spiffed-up art and Derek's notes about how he used sites he knew to create an authentic setting for this mostly-not-autobiographical story.

If your local library doesn't have it yet, head for an independent bookstore to get Same Difference - hope your copy has the cool acetate cover with the fish! Proof again that comics ain't just for kiddies.
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Book info: Same Difference / Derek Kirk Kim. First Second Books, 2011. [author's website] [author's blog] [publisher site] [author interview]

Recommendation: Regretting the past is familiar for Simon in his mid-20s, but worrying about his pal Nancy’s offbeat response to misdelivered mail is new territory.

Unexpectedly catching sight of an old friend from his small-town California high school, Simon explains to his friends why he just can’t go talk to her. Even several years after graduation, he feels the pain of being an outsider, a grunge-rock Korean surrounded by waves of belligerent Anglo blockheads.

Irene transferred in during their senior year. Since they had two classes together, sometimes Simon would walk with her to class. Oh, and she was blind, so the local yokels loved to make stupid jokes about that, too. When she hinted about going to the dance together, he bailed out, made an excuse about visiting relatives…but didn’t.

Nancy finally lets Simon know about the mail that’s been coming to her new place – mail from Ben Leland to the last tenant, mail that professes his undying love for Sarah, mail that Nancy opens, week after week, and then answers!

When a package arrives from Ben, Nancy decides that she has to get an actual look at him and wrangles Simon into driving her to Pacifica – Simon’s hometown.

Can they find Ben? Will Nancy really try to take a peek at him? Or contact him? Will Simon cross paths with Irene again and get the nerve to apologize? Sometimes growing up is a lot more difficult than it appears on the surface.

Derek Kirk Kim has successfully melded several episodes of his famed webcomic into a single graphic novel which won several awards as a self-published work. Enjoy this new edition with wacky introduction by fellow West Coast cartoonist Gene Yang, plus Derek's notes on creating his characters and setting. (Review copy courtesy of the publisher.)