This Month in Mormon Literature, May 2015

The LDStorymakers Writers Conference and Whitney Awards Gala is being held May 15-16 at the Utah Valley Conference Center in Provo. Segullah authors have been doing their annual Whitney book reviews. There are lots of contest and award announcements, including the Mormon Lit Blitz, The Artists of Utah 15 Bytes Magazine annual Book Awards, the Segullah Writing contest, etc. Michael Austin has been doing some interesting work on early Mormon writing, and Tyler Chadwick is doing a series on Mother in Heaven poems. James Goldberg (poetry) and William Morris (short story) have self-published Mormon literary collections. The Mormon Artists Group has published Tim Sutton’s Memoir. Valyenne Maetani has received a starred review from Kirkus for her debut YA mystery. Matthew Kirby, Liesl Shurtliff, and Kasie West have also received strong reviews for their new MG or YA novels. A thatrical version of Shannon Hale’s The Princess Academy is coming to BYU, and T. C. Christensen’s film The Cokeville Miracle will be released next month. Please send news and corrections to mormonlit AT gmail DOT com.

Contests and Award annoucements

The finalists for the Fourth Annual Mormon Lit Blitz have been announced. They include fiction by Annaliese Lemmon, Eric Jepson, Julia Jeffery, Katherine Cowley, Scott Hales, and William Morris, poetry by Darlene Young, Emily Harris Adams, Merrijane Rice, and Tyler Chadwick, and essays by Heather Young and Lehua Parker. The pieces will run May 18-30. Mormon Aritist Podcast interviewed Nicole Wilkes Goldberg about the Mormon Lit Blitz.

Currently in its third year, the Artists of Utah 15 Bytes Book Awards is an annual program to celebrate the best Utah books in Fiction, Poetry and Art. This year’s nominees for the 15 Bytes Book Awards are juried by members of the 15 Bytes staff and guest judges. In May, we will be announcing the winners, who will receive a modest cash award. To be eligible for the 2015 15 Bytes Book Award, a nominated book must be written by a Utah author and/or have a Utah theme or setting; be published in 2014; be professionally published and bound, and assigned an ISBN.

Finalists included:

Poetry: Laura Stott, In the Museum of Coming and Going. “In the first section of Laura Stott’s collection In the Museum of Coming and Going (New Issues) the reader discovers each poem serves as an exhibit for an animal as diverse as those on Noah’s boat. The animals and people in this book are there waiting in the darkness to be seen, to be looked at, and studied. Many of these poems could be considered a modern bestiary, through colorful ribbons of description and surprise this expansive display of the natural world becomes a lush, tangible ground that is speckled masterfully with the accessible and abstract. The second part of the book could be considered the historical atlas and fairytale wing of the Museum of Coming and Going. Place emerges at the forefront of this section and whimsical creatures, animals, and ancestors are scattered throughout poignant narrations and the tone remains ever as vibrant as the proceeding section. The reader doesn’t have to look at Stott’s collection as one would look at extravagant displays in a museum. There is an understated tension to these poems, and the tone of the book begins almost in a dream like space and culminates with a sensation of waking to a stark peace.”

Also Raphael Dagold’s Bastard Heart and Natasha Saje’s Vivarium.

Fiction: Pale Harvest (Torrey House Press) by Braden Hepner. “In this debut novel Hepner instructs the reader on the day-to-day drudgery of a small dairy farm in northern Utah. Jack Selvedge, a young man charged with desire to live larger but cursed with no means works and lives on his grandfather’s farm. From this gray setting a stark beauty emerges in small details like the corral sand tinged with dry manure that fans up from a bucking bull’s stomped hoof as it tries to throw its rider off his back. Jack, himself, seems to be a young bull, whipped with the restraints of routine: Fence mending, tractor repair, feeding, plowing, milking, milking, milking. The forever scent of cattle infuses his skin, sinks into his soul. He carries this load around the landscape with his buddies, a cadre of small town conformists all stamping their boots against the earth looking for a break in the fence. A beautiful young woman comes to town and sets fire to the tedium. At once bleak and pleasingly beautiful the novel grows true from pain, betrayal, loss, love, and pale salvation.”

A Song for Issy Bradley (Ballantine Books) by Carys Bray. “Claire, a convert to the Mormon Church, and her husband Ian, the bishop of the congregation, are busy with their four children and the lives of all the church members. Each member of the Bradley family tells their story as they come together and grow apart after a terrible tragedy strikes Issy, the youngest daughter. Told in moments both large and small, this tender debut novel explores the good and bad of living your religion 24/7. Lyrical, even hypnotizing with its intense and unvarnished look at family and ward life, Bray creates a heart-wrenching and at times humorous tale of an English family completely animated by an American-born faith with important historical roots in Great Britain. These are compelling characters who not only happen to be of a particular faith and co-culture, but who seem to be constructed from it from whole cloth in a way that those familiar with the Mormon Corridor will find startlingly convincing. While appealing to Utahns, Issy Bradley first found an audience–both LDS and secular–in Europe and arguably marks a turning point in Mormon letters.” Also: Theories of Forgetting (Fiction 2 Collective) by Lance Olsen.

Segullah is doing its annual reviews of the Whitney Awards finalists. Shelah Miner on the Middle Grade finalists. She is positive about all five, and chooses Julie Berry’s The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place as her top pick. Shelah Miner on the Romance Finalists. Her top pick is Melanie Jacobson’s Painting Kisses. Rosalyn on the YA Speculative Novels. She picks Kiersten White’s Illusions of Fate as her favorite. Rosalyn on the Young Adult finalists. Linda on the Mystery/Suspense finalists. Ashley Dickson on the Historical finalists. Emily Milner on the General Fiction finalists. It sounds like The Law of Moses, by Amy Harmon was her favorite.

Shelah also provides her personal choices for all of the categories here. She concludes with her final picks. “Best novel of the year: While Brandon Sanderson’s Words of Radiance will probably win, I would love to see Academy voters have the chutzpah to vote for Amy Harmon’s The Law of Moses. Best novel in youth fiction: Although Death Coming Up the Hill and The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place were both phenomenal books, my heart has to go with my mentor and professor Chris Crowe. His is a knockout of a novel, both in form and narrative– the best of both worlds.”

Brad R. Torgersen’s novelette “Life Flight” was awarded the Analog Magazine AnLab Readers’ Choice Award. It is Torgersen’s third AnLab award. The story can be found in his Racers in the Night collection.

Segullah announced the winners of its annual Writing Contest, which appeared in the print journal. Mormon Artist Podcast interviewed Shelah Miner about the contest.
Creative Nonfiction Winner: “Imperfect Instruments: A Three-Part Harmony” by E.B. Wheeler
Honorable Mention: “Rewritten” by Valerie Owens

Fiction Winner: “Yongrui and the Tree of Life” by Katherine Cowley

Poetry Winner: “Ephemeral Wings” by Markay Brown
Honorable Mention: “Mathematics of a Curve” by Valerie Owens

The nominations for the 2015 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards have been announced. Among the Mormon nominees are Mike Allred for Best Single Issue, for “Madman in Your Face 3D Special”. Mike Allred was also nominated for Best Penciller/Inker, for Silver Surfer (Marvel) and Madman in Your Face 3D Special (Image). Laura Allred was nominated for Best Coloring for Silver Surfer and Madman in Your Face 3D Special. Although he is not a Mormon, Nathan Hale is well known to Mormon readers for illustrating Rapunzel’s Revenge and Calamity Jack by Shannon Hale. He was nominated for Best Reality-Based Work, for Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales: Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood (Abrams).

Bree Despain‘s The Shadow Prince and Jennifer A. Nielsen‘s The Shadow Throne are among the 24 finalists for the YALSA’s 2015 Teen’s Top Ten.

The Sunstone Fiction contest deadline in May 30.

News and Blog posts

John S. Tanner has been named the next president of BYU-Hawaii. Tanner was a professor of English at BYU, and where he was department chair in 1998-2003, and Academic Vice President of the Univesity in 2004-2011. He has recently served as a mission preident in Brazil and in the General Sunday School Presidency.  Tanner is best known for his scholarly writing on John Milton. He has written several articles on links between great Western literature and Mormon beliefs, scripture, and hymns. He has presented three papers at AML conferences in the past.

Tyler Chadwick has recorded readings and commentaries on the poems submitted for the 2014 “A Mother Here” contest. He says the project is “an attempt (alongside and in conversation with the contest artworks) to ‘express the nearness of our Heavenly Mother’ and to witness her presence in the cosmos (as coeval with Father) and in the intimate details of our lives.”

Michael Austin (By Common Consent) uses three Mormon historical novels from the 1930s to discuss how people use history and other such stories to legitimate their own opinions. Jeremiah Stokes, “The Soul’s Fire,” 1936, was anti-communist and taught American and Mormon exceptionalism. Porto-hippie George Dixon Snell, “Root, Hog, and Die,” 1936, saw Joseph Smith as a charlatan, but liked the socialism he saw in the United Order. Vardis Fisher, “Children of God,” 1939, was a committed libertarian, who “hated, more or less equally, religion, religion, nationalism, hippies, and Marx.”

Michael Austin also writes about the how from 1906 to at least 1945 the General Authorities would make an annual reading list as part of the standard youth curriculum. The books included popular histories and novels of the era, including some written by Latter-day Saints.

Author interview podcasts:

The Cultural Hall: Michaelbrent Collins (Ridealong), Jeremy Maughan (Zion’s Call).

The Good Word: Stacy Lynn Carroll (The Princess Sisters), Stephen Valentine (The Lazarus Game), Chris Crowe (Death Coming Up The Hill), Brock Booher (Healing Stone).

Noah Van Sciver was named by The Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) as its 2015-16 fellow. Noah is an accomplished cartoonist whose work has appeared in Mad magazine, The Best American Comics, The Believer, Wired, Vice and The Stranger, as well as countless graphic anthologies. Van Sciver has four graphic novels: The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln, Youth Is Wasted, Saint Cole and Fante Bukowski: Struggling Writer.

Theric introduces us to the work of illustrator Adam Koford. He illustrates for The Friend magazine, John Hodgman and Comedy Central, etc. Theric focuses on a new series. “In the last few months he’s taken on lolcats anew with a classic four-panel called The Lowell Cats. To the casual observer, this strip might seem as soulless as the modern newspaper comics it’s commenting upon, but Koford is playing with the form, subverting the lame jokes newspapers fell safely into decades ago and arriving somewhere fresh and funny within those constraints—or sometimes in tension with those constraints.” Check them out, those cute cats are quite evil.

Ardis E. Parshall continues to republish stories from pre-1970 Mormon periodicals. A few samples, “The Tin-Can Doll” by Kathleen M. Bennett, from the  Relief Society Magazine, February 1947 and the six-part series “Heart’s Bounty“, by Deone R. Sutherland, from Relief Society Magazine, 1956.

Life, the Universe, and Everything 34: The Marion K. “Doc” Smith Symposium on Science Fiction and Fantasy, is looking for 45-minute papers for the 2016 conference. See itue.net for more information about the symposium. Papers must be submitted no later than October 15, 2015.

Michaelbrent Collings on how to be a successful self-publishing author.

Eric James Stone on the Hugo nominations and the Sad Puppy controversy.

Drama

BYU will present a stage production of Princess Academy, May 29–30, June 4–6, 10–13. It is a world premiere, based on the book by Shannon Hale, adapted for stage by Lisa Hall Hagen (UVU faculty), and directed by Megan Sanborn Jones (BYU faculty).

The Echo Theatre in Provo will hold its Local Writer’s Showcase, featuring three new plays from Utah playwrights, June 11-27. The plays will be Mark Wiesenberg’s”Lawn Ornaments” Jeffery Lee Blake’s “The Night of the Monster,” and Dennis Agle Jr.’s “Incompleat Works”.

Film

Freetown has grossed $369,264 at the box office after five weeks. Currently the film is in only nine theaters. That box office is fairly good for an independent movie, although it is less then half of what The Saratov Approach made in its first five weeks. It is the #82 highest earning film so far this year.

Brigham Young University’s animation students brought home their 17th Student Emmy in 12 years this past month at the College Television Awards. BYU’s animated video is a comedic short titled “Ram’s Horn,” produced by Garrett Hoyos and directed by Jenna Hamzawi. The award winning short tells the story of a cocky mountaineer who runs into unexpected rivals on his journey to the peak of a daunting mountain. On January 27, the creators of the film held a pre-show for a campus audience, including that day’s forum speaker Ed Catmull, president of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios. Catmull praised the students’ work saying it was an “exceptional film.” (Kylie Ravsten, LDS.net).

The Cokeville Miracle will open in theaters June 5. Here is a preview/review by WVS, in By Common Consent. “The Cokeville Miracle is an independent film and its production values reflect that fact—but set design shows attention to detail and the 1986 setting of the film (there are no cell phones people, and the cars are vintage). I felt the script was stiff at times and characters under deep psychological strain seem to have lines whose grittiness rates as family home evening material–certainly a consequence of Christensen’s intended audience–though I think the film may still be too intense for some children. Nathan Stevens plays Young’s deteriorating mental state with skill, but the script sometimes gives him less help than it might. The standout performance in the film comes from Kymberly Mellen who does Doris Young justice, giving us a characterization of a woman who is herself held hostage, not by guns and bombs, but the spell of a man over against her own insecurities. Mellen’s craft shows us her fear, admiration, compassion, and reflected madness as her doom unfolds. Christensen’s effort to make a nondenominational film of faith succeeds to the degree that it relies on the simple stories of the hostages of Cokeville. But few of these characters seem three-dimensional. We identify with the protagonist (Hartley) on some level–we don’t see visions or hear voices from beyond–like him, we only see their effects. However, it’s difficult to feel much more connection to Hartley–we don’t know where he comes from, what makes him what he is, what makes him real. But for Christensen’s purpose this is a minor issue–this is an action movie in point of fact. The film is meant to demonstrate that God works in the world and it does this through a tragic story where innocents saw themselves as saved by Angelic Intervention. For Latter-day Saints, if you enjoyed Christensen’s previous efforts with Mormon films, I think you will enjoy this one. It will be interesting to see how the film fares at the box office given the intention to appeal to a broader viewership.” (See the comments for Kevin Burtt and WVS’s discussion of how the film deals with the theological issues that surround miracles.)

Variety’s 10 Documakers To Watch includes the team of Brad Barber and Scott Christopherson “When Brad Barber accepted the SXSW jury award alongside co-director Scott Christopherson for their documentary “Peace Officer,” he paid tribute to the late, great Albert Maysles: “He said, ‘You should love your documentary subjects,’ and that’s something we try to keep in mind.” Indeed, few subjects elicit the audience’s love more effortlessly than William “Dub” Lawrence, a former sheriff whose tragic, ironic story forms the backbone of “Peace Officer.” “We didn’t set out to make a film about the militarization of police,” Christopherson says. “We just knew Dub was really interesting and could carry a film.” Before they began working together, Christopherson, 33, and Barber, 37, had numerous short films under their respective belts but had never directed a feature, solo or in tandem. The two turned out to be ideally matched: As students and professors of documentary filmmaking, they were both strongly influenced by the sort of compassionate, fair-minded investigation practiced by the likes of Ross McElwee and Alan Berliner. “A big influence was Ross’ film ‘Bright Leaves,’ which talks about the tobacco industry,” says Barber. “But it does it with so much humanity and sympathy for people that another film might be interested in throwing under the bus.” While the film is unapologetically critical of what it sees, its tone is also generous and measured, aimed at putting viewers in the shoes of cops and ordinary citizens alike. “A documentary is a vehicle for empathy,” Christopherson says. “I don’t think we came into it with some big agenda. We saw it as a way to allow people to connect emotionally.””

Scott Christopherson has accepted a full-time faculty position in BYU’s Theatre & Media Arts Department, Non-fiction Film and Digital Media. As an undergraduate Scott worked for Ross McElwee of Harvard University on his film In Paraguay. Ross helped guide Scott’s first film titled “Only the Pizza Man Knows,” which was broadcast internationally for over a year on the satellite cable network BYUtv. After his undergraduate work, Scott worked as the Documentary Arts Director/Instructor for Spy Hop Productions and the Sundance Institute’s youth documentary workshops. His students’ films went on to win multiple awards locally and internationally and were nominated as the top short film in Utah two consecutive years. While living in San Francisco for graduate school, Scott shot, directed, and edited over 20 short films for Project Runway’s season six website. Scott received his MFA in documentary cinema from San Francisco State University, and he also earned an MA degree in Anthropology from UW-Madison. He was an Assistant Professor of documentary film at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. Earlier this year, Scott and his co-director, co-producer and co-cinematographer Brad Barber, were recognized at the SXSW Film Festival for their full-length documentary, Peace Officer.

New Works and their reviews

Writers of the Future Volume 31. L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future. Galaxy Press, May 4. Dave Wolverton, editor. Includes stories by Scott R. Parkin and Amy H. Hughes. Also pieces by Orson Scott Card and David Farland.

Heather B. Moore, Kaylee Baldwin, Annette Lyon, Jennifer Moore, Shannon Guymon, Sarah M. Eden. A Timeless Romance: California Dreamin’ Collection. Mirror Press, April 2. Timeless Romance #11. Contemporary romance novellas, all set in California.

Amber Argyle. Summer Queen. Starling, April 2. YA Fantasy. Fairy Queens #2. A powerful priestess/princess protests her people from attack.

Michele Ashman Bell. Extreme Measures. Covenant, May 1. Suspense. Following the trauma of her estranged husband’s untimely death, Emma Lowell is happy with the life she has rebuilt for herself. She’s engaged to a wonderful man and anticipates a fresh start, free from her troubled past. Only one persistent obstacle remains: Margaret Lowell, her former mother-in-law . . . Emma could never have suspected the horror that awaits in the snow-bound cabin, for beneath Margaret Lowell’s elderly façade lies a sinister and terrifying nature—and a plot born of insanity. Alarmed by the dark plan that unfolds, Emma struggles to escape the isolated cabin in a chilling game of cat and mouse.

Mindy, LDSWBR. 4 stars. “An extremely fast-paced and one crazy ride (and I mean that literally). The whole time I was anxiously turning pages to see what else Margaret would do to poor Emma. What I really loved was Emma’s determination to survive and fight . . . I suspected something early on as to what Margaret’s intentions were with Emma, and what really was going on was even more disturbing than what I thought of. (I’m glad what happened wasn’t what I thought.) Although, there was a lot nail-biting suspense, there were some holes that I thought didn’t quite get resolved, or were too convenient. I did think the ending was a perfect way to bring resolution for Emma and her fiance Landon.”

Michaelbrent Collings. The Ridealong. Self, May 5. Suspense. A high school girl accompanyies her policeman father on a ridealong, when a psychotic killer targets them for a wicked game.

Steve Diamond. Residue. Angelic Knight Press, April 19. YA horror/supernatural. A town is rocked by the mysterious disappearance of a scientist and terrorized by a monster on the loose. Two teens have been bread with superhatural powers. Debut novel.

Fantasy Book Review: 8.5/10. ” There are a lot of stereotypical YA horror scenes in this book like prom night, highschool drama and raging teenager hormones. Fortunately the author is smart enough to address all of these with a fresh and humorous perspective that shows not only a sense of self-awareness but also manages to inject an intense amount of frights. I found that it re-invented the overused genre and it has reignited my passion for the YA horror genre.”

Colin B. Douglas. Six poems by Joseph Smith : a dimension of meaning in Doctrine and Covenants. Temple Hill Books, March 5. Poetry.  Douglas has selected and formatted six sections of the Doctrine and Covenants as poetry (93, 76, 88, 1, 133, and 121-22). He says, “These selections from the Doctrine and Covenants are impressive poems, and to be fully understood they must be read as such. That is, they mean presentationally as well as discursively, by ‘how they say’ as well as by ‘what they say.’ Though their didactic purposes cannot be ignored, I do not propose a mere ‘appreciation’ of them as ‘literature’ in addition to those extraliterary values. The so-called ‘literary’ aspects of these works are essential aspects of the thought; they are among the means by which the works ‘mean’; and to ignore them is to ignore a dimension of meaning, for Joseph Smith was a poet-prophet–a poet whose ‘matter’ was his revelatory experiences, and a prophet who articulated–constituted–his experiences through the process of poetic creation. In him, the functions of poet and prophet are inseparable.” After each poem, Douglas goes on to provide analysis, including observations on meaning, structure, voice, and presentation.

Dennis Clark compares the revelation /poems to those of Walt Whitman.

James Goldberg. Let Me Drown With Moses. Self, April. Poetry. “These forty-nine poems in are not for those who think of religion as another name for self-help. They are for those who still believe in a God who wrestles. For those who think faith should challenge as much as it comforts. For those who would follow a prophet chest-deep into the Red Sea, even before the waters part.
Drawing on imagery from scripture and Mormon history, Let Me Drown With Moses gives voice to the spiritual longing of a people and does its own small part to keep religion a living language in the 21st century.”

Katherine Cowley. ” Another great work from James Goldberg, It features LDS-themed poems, though many of the poems could just as well be targeted to a general religious audience. And while I’ve been a Mormon all my life, many of the poems feature historical figures that I was unfamiliar with. However, the poems can be enjoyed by themselves, crucial historical details are juxtaposed next to some of the poems, and the author helpfully provides commentary on each of the poems at the back of the book.

David Kingston: ” After reading the Five Books of Jesus and trying to share it with everyone I know . . . I just finished it and just as expected, it is a beautiful read. I can’t wait to go through it again after reading the author’s notes at the end so that I have some better context but I would encourage you to read it first without seeing the notes so that your mind can explore on its own. I admit I was somewhat surprised by some of the topics tackled in this collection of poems but the frankness and willingness to explore such things is welcomed and refreshing. I love that Goldberg seems to love the gospel of Jesus Christ but is not complacent with everything that our Mormon culture has become.”

L. K. Hill. The Botanist. Jolly Fish, April 28. Suspense thriller. “In the heat of the desert, Detective Cody Oliver makes an alarming and inadvertent discovery—a strange garden, adorned with various exotic flowers, is a showy cover for the scores of bodies buried below. Soon, the small town of Mt. Dessicate plunges into chaos as journalists, reporters, and cameramen from across the nation clamor to get a piece of the action. Along with the media, a mysterious woman appears who may be the only person who has come face to face with the killer, known as the Botanist.”

JB Rounder: 5 stars. ” I don’t even know where to begin with this review. I was hesitant about Cody but instantly liked him in the story. I loved Alex. She has her own past she is working on but she is such a strong woman. The mystery was gruesome and chilling but so good. I had no clue who the killer was and loved how the book ended. It was so easy to get sucked into the book. I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next and had to forcibly put it down or I was going to read through the night.”

Nathan Huffaker. Stranded. Bonneville/Cedar Fort, April 14. LDS suspense. Terrorism and a civil war threatens a pair of missionaries in Kazakhstan.

Pendragon Inman. Crystal Gate. Trifecta Books, April 23. YA fantasy. Shinehah Saga #2. Republication, originally published in 2014.

Jenni James. His Pride, My Prejudice. Trifecta Books, April 27. Contemporary romance. Austen in Love #1.

Theric Jepson. “The Naked Woman”. Short story. In Pulp Literature Spring 2015: Issue 6.

Matthew J. Kirby. The Artic Code. Balzer + Bray. April 28. Middle grade science fiction. Dark Gravity Sequence #1. “It is the near future, and the earth has entered a new ice age. Eleanor Perry lives in Tucson, one of the most popular destinations for refugees of the Freeze. She is the daughter of a climatologist who is trying to find new ways to preserve human life on the planet. Dr. Perry believes that a series of oil deposits she has found in the Arctic may hold the key to our survival. That’s when she disappears—but not before sending Eleanor a series of cryptic messages that point to a significant and mysterious discovery. Now it’s up to Eleanor to go find her.”

PW: “As always, Kirby delivers a fast-paced, intense story, albeit one that goes off the rails a little as it shifts from a subzero struggle for survival to something much stranger, larger, and more unpredictable. However, readers should still find it easy to root for headstrong, resourceful Eleanor as she barrels ahead, heedless of consequences, trying to save her mother.”

Kirkus: “A confused jumble of fantasy and science-fictional elements make a notably unsteady foundation for Kirby’s newest series.”

SLJ: “This is an exciting, page-turning tale. Middle grade readers will be compelled by Eleanor’s daredevil adventure to find her mom and thrilled as she unearths some startling secrets. While the scientific descriptions may be confusing at times, intrepid readers will be rewarded with an action-packed, intriguing story.” Deseret News feature.

Valynne E. Maetani. Ink and Ashes. Lee & Low Books/Tu Books, June 1. YA Mystery. Japanese-American girl discovers her long-lost dad was a member of the yakuza. Debut novel.

Kirkus (Starred review): ” Claire’s parents are keeping secrets that could kill her. Sixteen-year-old Claire Takata is a spirited, inquisitive amateur locksmith and sleuth. Claire and her brothers have always believed their father died of a heart attack 10 years ago and that their mother met their stepdad after he died. But when Claire finds an old letter in her father’s journal and pictures locked away in her stepdad’s desk that reveal otherwise, she is determined to find out the truth. Why have her mom and stepdad lied to her? Why does her mom never want to talk about her father? And what really happened to him? Through letters Claire has written to him over the decade since his death, Claire’s father has served as her confidant, an outlet for her grief, frustrations, and longings. The author also makes smart use of these letters, interspersing them between chapters to deliver important back story. Claire’s grief and sense of loss are compounded when she eventually discovers that her father had been a member of the yakuza, transnational Japanese organized crime syndicates—and then her sleuthing attracts the attention of someone tied to her father’s past…. The romantic tension between Claire and her best friend, Forrest, plays out authentically in a subplot, and the novel’s twists and turns will keep readers riveted and guessing even after they finish the book. This fantastic debut packs a highly suspenseful blend of action, intrigue, and teen romance.”

SLJ: ” Mystery lovers won’t be able to put down Maetani’s smartly written debut . . .  This thoroughly engaging tale in the tradition of Nancy Drew or Veronica Mars ends on a satisfying note, but readers will hope for a sequel because it’s just that good.”

Elizabeth D. Michaels (Anita Stansfield). The Tainted Crown. White Star Press, May 4. Horstberg Saga #4. Historical romance.

Elizabeth D. Michaels (Anita Stansfield). Through Castle Windows. White Star Press, May 4. Horstberg Saga #5. Historical romance.

William Morris. Dark Watch and other Mormon-American stories. Self, May 16. Short story collection. ” William Morris explores how Latter-day Saints navigate the challenges of living in the modern U.S. and participating in the modern Church. Spanning from the early 1980s to the present and into the next century, these 16 stories portray moments that are uniquely, thoroughly and sometimes bittersweetly Mormon-American.” Six of the stories take place in the future. Morris talks about the book here.

James Goldberg, Mormon Midrashim. ” In the stories, for the most part, the mundane and even monotonous rhythms of everyday Mormon life take center stage while the calls of discipleship pull at the characters quietly but insistently, from somewhere that always feels just out of reach but still worth reaching toward . . . There’s not a huge demand for Mormon-themed short stories, or for serious religious fiction period, in today’s market. Conversations about religion mostly happen informally among families and friends, in Church, or on blogs–not in the intricately crafted world of literature. But I think these stories do some really interesting things that my informal conversations and my periodic scans through the blogosphere don’t. They talk relatively little about the current issues in our conversation cycle or the questions we plow our way through in Sunday School from week to week. They’re a rare and valuable opportunity, instead, for me to step back and think about what my religion is–not as the Church per se or as a set of things I happen to do at this stage in my people’s history, but as a set of pulls that act upon me. As that distant force that still seems to move our day to day motions gradually up the sand.”

Kelly Nelson. Love’s Deception. Walnut Springs Press, April 1. LDS romance. A Mormon war widow and cowgirl falls for a non-Mormon businessman who is going back to the family farm.

Preston Norton. Marrow. Future House Publishing, April 1. YA superheroes. “Marrow is a fourteen-year-old prodigy at FIST (Fantom Institute for Superheroes-in-Training). With a perfect score on his finals, the ability to smash through walls, and leaps that can launch him over a city block, the Sidekick Internship Program is bound to place him with a top-notch superhero mentor for the summer. But when a series of disastrous events lands Marrow on academic probation, he is forced to team up with Flex–a drunk, hippie, bum with the power of elasticity.”

Kelly Oram. Scion. Bluefields, April 11. YA Paranormal. Supernaturals #3.

Jolene Betty Perry. Mismatched in Love: Almost Cinderella. Next Door Books, April 29. LDS Contemporary Romance. Novella? (125 pages). “With a scholarship to BYU and a membership to a church that suits her better than she imagined, Avery’s life is definitely turning around. With tattooed arms and worn out boots, she doesn’t exactly blend into the conservative school.” But she makes a friend. that leads to romance.

Tiffany: ” One of my favorite things about this author is that she doesn’t shy away from writing real LDS characters. Characters who have a past and who struggle with real issues. And oh man… the feels of this book, guys. Aaron is dreamy. I dare you not to fall in love with him. Avery is one tough girl trying to do the right thing despite her past. The dialogue in this book flowed, the storyline was spot on.”

Tristi Pinkston. Taking the Reins. BigWorldNetwork.com, April 8. Cozy mystery. Estelle Watkins #4.

Janette Rallison. My Fairly Dangerous Godmother. Self, April 6. YA Fantasy. My Fairy Godmother #3.

J. Scott Savage. Fire Keep. Self, May 11. Middle grade fantasy. Farworld #4. The final book in the series.

Chantele Sedgwick. Love Lucas. Sky Pony Press, May 5. YA Contemporary Romance. Girl suffers from depression, loses her brother to cancer. Goes to California, finds love.

Mindy, LDSWBR: 4 stars. “A sweet story about Oakley, trying to move on with her life after a tragedy and life changing events . . . The story flows nicely, and I enjoyed Oakley’s journey of growth . . . My favorite thing about the book were the letters from Lucas. They were sweet, funny, and a perfect way for Oakley to heal. Be brave and try new things, what a perfect motto for us all. A clean book with great characters and enjoyable story. I will read anything from this author.”

Liesl Shurtliff.  Jack: The True Story of Jack & the Beanstalk. Knopf Books for Young Readers. April 14. MG Fantasy. A boy and his little sister search for a giant.

Kirkus: “Shurtliff skillfully weaves Jack’s tale together with other classics about giants and elves as well as her own previous book, Rump (2013). It turns out that the kingdom Jack enters belongs to King Barf, and the reason for the giants’ raids is famine. Greedy King Barf is using magic to create gold, and the magic is pulling all the power out of growing things. If the story meanders a bit and the moral about treasuring what we grow feels tacked on, there are still enough boisterous adventures about a wee boy (and girl) overcoming big obstacles and defeating greed to keep youngsters hooked. Fans of retold fairy tales will be well-satisfied.”

Tim Sutton. Me and Thad. Mormon Artists Group, March 20. Memoir. “On April 29, 1976, Thad Aaron Sutton was born. To the doctors’ dismay, he was born with half of his brain outside of his underdeveloped skull. He was the seventh son in a vibrant and active Mormon, military family, but he was not expected to live through the night. The doctors, in fact, discouraged the new parents from even seeing him. Thad survived, nevertheless. Me and Thad is a joyful, dual, coming-of-age memoir, written by his brother, Tim, who was 9 years old when Thad was born. It is about family, tireless parents, and the strength of community. It describes the beauty and challenges of caring for a special needs child, and how the presence of Thad in Tim’s life helped him on his own journey toward self-discovery and acceptance. Me and Thad is drawn from the author’s memory, letters and journal entries from his family, photographs, and other remembrances. It is a courageous book, asking questions about how we respond to the people around us, and how we embrace (or fail to embrace) those who are different. As the author, who is gay, wrestles with his own inner conflicts, he asks himself, what is normal, where do I fit in, and what does acceptance really mean?”

Kasie West. The Fill-in Boyfriend. HarperTeen, May 5. YA romance. A self-centered girl is dumped, fears her friends’ reactions, and so finds a stranger to pretend to be her boyfriend at prom. She is drawn into his interesting family.

VOYA: “This is fluffy and romancey chick lit, but it is still deep enough to take Gia and the reader on a path to self discovery. Some of the situations could be more dire, but teenagers will certainly relate to the social struggles Gia encounters. Additionally, the characters are likable and with substantial chemistry. Romance readers will devour this. The Fill-In Boyfriend is sure to be a popular choice in all libraries and certain to circulate well.”

SLJ: “The cotton candy-colored cover and title belie the fact that this is a genuinely clever and enjoyable book. Recommend this to fans of authors Sarah Dessen, Elizabeth Eulberg, and Stephanie Perkins as well as lovers of films like Clueless, Ten Things I Hate About You, and Easy A. VERDICT If sometimes too overt in the “shallow girl finds depth” theme, this sweet romantic tale is still hard not to like.”

Reviews of older books

Traci Hunter Abramson. Drop Zone (Shelah Books It) 3 stars. ” I haven’t been the hugest fan of Abramson’s Saint Squad books in the past, primarily because they are all so similar– one of the members of the squad finds a woman and they fall in love over the course of a harrowing mission. While I can buy one whirlwind romance, Abramson has now written eight, and at this rate, the members of the Saint Squad and their wives are more likely to belong in a PTSD therapy group than a group of Navy SEALs. That said, I think her writing is getting better, and obviously audiences want this story or she wouldn’t keep writing it. I think she does a nice job with what she sets out to do in Drop Zone, but I prefer her books that aren’t part of the series better.”

Anika Arrington. The Accidental Apprentice (Shelah) 2 stars. “Honestly, I had a really hard time with this book. I read about 50 pages, then got sidetracked by something else, and when I came back to it, I was completely lost. There are a lot of voices in the novel, multiple characters, even minor characters, narrate, all in first person, and I had a hard time keeping the characters straight. Furthermore, although the protagonist is an adult, this felt like a YA novel. Maybe it was something to do with the dialogue or the magical fantasy setting, but it felt more like a confusing Harry Potter with Dumbledore as the main protagonist.”

Phyllis Barber. To the Mountain: One Mormon Woman’s Search for Spirit (David G. Pace, 15 Bytes). “In To the Mountain, her most recent collection of personal essays, Barber recounts a series of spiritual experiences and pilgrimages spanning her 20-year hiatus from Mormonism. Whether these essays find her studying under South American shamans or Tibetan Buddhist monks, worshiping in mega-churches and charismatic Christian congregations, singing with Southern Baptists, or traveling with goddess worshipers in the Yucatan, Barber humbly listens and questions, charitably observes inconsistencies between professed and lived theology as they appear, then meditates upon the whole of each experience to uncover insights and course corrections for her own spiritual walk towards divinity. While the narrative arc of To the Mountain follows Barber back into Mormonism, it does not function in parallel to the prodigal son parable. Barber does share some elements of her “walk away from Mormonism” in a confessional mode, but she views the majority of her experiences on that walk as steps toward divinity, not transgressions against it. Moreover, each time To the Mountain engages Mormonism–including those passages that affirm and explore her current relationship with the faith and culture she was raised in–the relationship is thoughtfully and sensitively negotiated. Though she admits that part of her longs to tell some Latter-day Saints what they want to hear, i.e., that she has returned because “Mormonism is the purest path to the truth and to God’s presence,” she still openly objects to a number of policies, practices, and theological paradigms; the reasons she offers for her return are more nuanced . . . To the Mountain is an invitation to all spirit seekers–Mormon or not–to become more teachable, charitable and curious in the presence of the other; to search for divinity everywhere and in everyone.”

Elizabeth Petty Bentley. A Plentiful Rain (Shelah Books It). 3 stars. ” There is a lot to like about A Plentiful Rain. Although the book is the second book in a series (the first, presumably deals with the fire and the sister), it feels like a stand-alone novel. I also identify with the characters, and really like both Ellis and Hera. I think that there need to be more honest, interesting, flawed characters in Mormon literature. But the narrative arc of this story is primarily just conversion– Hera’s conversion to the gospel and Ellis’s gradual transformation from cynicism to faith. For a novel to move me as a reader, I’d like to see more of a plot than conversion. However, I like where Bentley is going with her characters in this novel.”

Carys Bray. A Song for Issy Bradley (David G. Pace, 15 Bytes). “Issy Bradley is the first novel I’m aware of that despite being so unabashedly, incontrovertibly steeped in the quaint religion of my childhood and my ancestors, has found an audience on both sides of the Atlantic. Clearly the book exists because of the faith, not unlike author Chaim Potok’s My Name is Asher Lev exists because of Orthodox Judaism. Bray’s book is evidence, of course, that “quaint” (to use a descriptor by the godfather of Mormon Letters, Levi Peterson) or not, the faith has nevertheless become a global phenomenon: America’s most successful indigenous religion. That this movement transplanted from New England and the Midwest to Utah is being reflected with such unvarnished urgency outside of the so-called “Mormon Corridor” is not only startling but moving. I submit that this is a book that could not have been written in “Zion” (where Jews are considered “gentiles”) because it takes distance from the “mother ship” to see its contours in all its intractable complexity, including both its horrors as well as its graceful resolutions . . . When Issy dies, each of the remaining family members begin to fray, to question, to act out, and to reach for equilibrium through their own template based on where they are in life. Bray is in remarkable form here, each chapter delineating the inner workings of one character with distinctive psychology and even diction, alternating with the others throughout . . . The author not only displays rhetorical craft, she has a stinging accuracy when it comes to sketching out the contemporary trappings of claustrophobic ward life, and that curious thing that has become nothing less than cultish–the notion that the irreducible unit of eternity is not God, nor the individual soul, but the nuclear family. For a Mormon of any stripe, this is embarrassing, hilarious, horrifying and touching stuff–all at the same time–which is why this is a game-changer for the literature of the Latter-day Saints. It’s more than just an expose (despite its virtues, think Martha Beck’s memoir Leaving the Saints) and it certainly isn’t the laughable novels routinely posited by Deseret Book as if it were a Pez dispenser of saccharine treats. But more telling than that, Issy Bradley is compelling narrative for the outsider who doesn’t know a Mormon from a mushroom.”

Stacy Lynn Carrol. My Name is Bryan (Shalah) 2 stars. “Carroll says that My Name is Bryan is “based on a true story,” but the book includes photos of Bryan (who is Stacy’s father-in-law) and his family. It feels a lot more like a biography in narrative form than something that is “based on” a true story. I remember being in my MFA classes and my professors saying that writers who try to write fiction based on real life have a hard time changing how things really happened, even when it makes a story better. This is a case where I feel like the author is too close to the source. She doesn’t take risks with the story or the narrative and seems to have the audience (family) in her sights at all times. This story is inspirational and the mechanics of her writing are fine, but I think it would have been a better read for me if I knew what it was (a family story) when I went into reading it.”

Michaelbrent Collings. This Darknes Light (Shelah) 3 stars. “ This Darkness Light is faced-paced and interesting. Collings knows how to move the action forward, and includes lots of minor characters and different voices in a way that allows readers to retain a sense of momentum in the novel. You know how a Dan Brown novel is almost impossible to put down, even when the reader recognizes that the story is totally implausible? This Darkness Light has a bit of the same quality. It reminded me quite a lot of Justin Cronin’s The Passage, with many narrators and some characters who seem immune to worldwide apocalypse. The book is quite gory, but also pretty entertaining.”

Larry Correia. Monster Hunter Nemesis (Jessica George) 4 stars. “So, this one was more than usually crazy pants.  Correia finally delves into the history of Franks, the man, the myth, the monster, and explores how he came to be and why he’s doing what he’s doing. I was . . . not expecting Franks’ backstory, shall we say. And I enjoyed it, but Franks being humorless and surrounded by people even more lacking in witty banter, this book didn’t have quite the zing of his other Monster Hunter books for me. It was nice to see the team for a brief time, and good to see how Heather Kerkonen was doing working toward her PUFF exemption, but mostly this was Franks’ show. And it’s not a bad show, and it not only added to the Monster Hunter mythology in general, but answered questions from previous books and dropped hints for future books. So it definitely wasn’t a side story that can be ignored. But a lot of descriptions of body parts being severed and reattached can wear on a girl after a few hundred pages.”

Chris Crowe. Death Coming Up the Hill (Bloggin’ ’bout Books) A. ” By all rights, Death Coming Up the Hill should feel gimmicky.  The entire thing is, after all, written in haiku, with each  poetic syllable representing one of the 16, 592 American soldiers who died in the Vietnam War during 1968, its deadliest year.  The book really should feel gimmicky.  And yet it doesn’t.  The story’s unique format gives it a clean freshness that makes it both impacting and memorable.  Maybe it’s because of my uncle, Joe Whitby (pictured at left), who was killed in Quang Tri Province in 1967, but I really felt each of those syllables.  In addition to the book’s format, I liked its sympathetic characters, its plot surprises, and its setting.  It was fun for me to read about local hot spots like Pete’s Fish and Chips (I was just at the Mesa location a few hours ago!).  Overall, the book’s pretty depressing (especially the last two lines, which were taken from a real Vietnam soldier’s letters home), but its authenticity touched me.  Deeply.  Death Coming Up the Hill is a quick, compelling read, one I highly recommend.”

Peggy Eddleman. The Forbidden Flats (Shelah) 3 stars. ” I usually don’t have many good things to say about the second book in a dystopian action trilogy, but this is an exception to my (highly prejudiced) rule. In this book, the bomb’s breath that threatens White Rock is descending, and Hope, Brock, and Aaren leave their home in Kansas to travel to the Rocky Mountains in an effort to find an antidote to the poison that will soon overtake them. The book has plenty of action and adventure, but my favorite part of the story was Hope’s relationship with her birth family, whom she discovered along the way. I think it’s common for authors to develop characters in their first novels, but I loved seeing Hope’s character change in important ways in The Forbidden Flats.”

Peggy Eddleman. The Forbidden Flats (Rosalyn) 4 stars. “Eddleman does a terrific job of making her middle-grade world come alive in her Sky Jumpers books . . . I was impressed by the fun science in the book. I’m not a chemist (that’s my husband), but Eddleman’s ideas about how a massive “green bomb” might have changed the chemical characteristics of rocks was fascinating–and, of course, Hope and her friends still get to do cool gravity-defying feats involving the Bomb’s breath.”

Anne Dee Ellis. The End or Something Like That (Bloggin ’bout Books) B. “Kids-dealing-with-the-loss-of-a-loved-one books are a dime a dozen.  Thus, it takes a lot to make one stand out.  With her newest, Ann Dee Ellis succeeds in creating a grief novel that’s both memorable and affecting.  I’ve thought a lot about why this one stands out; I think it boils down to three things: writing style, setting, and an overall quirkiness.  Although The End or Something Like That is billed as a YA book, it’s got more of a middle grade tone.  Emmy’s clipped, choppy narration makes her seem younger than her years, while at the same time giving her a more realistically teenage thought process than is usually found in YA novels.  This, coupled with the intensity of her pain, makes her a wholly sympathetic (although not always likable) heroine.  As for setting, there’s just nowhere quite like Las Vegas.  Its boisterous falsity provides the perfect backdrop for this story about what is real and what is truly important.  The unique setting gives it part of its quirkiness, but the rest of it comes from larger-than-life characters and the oddball situations they find themselves in.  Although the novel deals with familiar themes, it’s these three things, coupled with Ellis’ strong prose, that makes this story stand out.  While it didn’t blow my mind, I definitely enjoyed this quick, quirky read.”

Richard Paul Evans. Walking on Water  (Shelah) 2 stars. ” When Evans writes about Alan walking, we know exactly what he ate for every meal of every day, and how well the food sat after he ate it. We know all about the pebbles that worked his way into the shoes, and about every single car that passed him as he walked. Or at least, it feels like we got those details, because the books are incredibly heavy on detail. The book is strongest when it delves into the family history of the Christofferson family, and suddenly the walk to Key West gains some significance. But all in all, this series felt a lot like a grueling walk from one corner of the country to the other. I hope Alan flies home.”

Amy Finnegan. Not In the Script (Shelah Books It) 3 stars. “Not in the Scriptis really sweet, and shows surprising depth in places (the romance between Emma and Jake is complicated by lots of grownup factors– his mother’s health, her mother’s role in her career, her best friend’s feelings, the role of the tabloids). My main complaint is that at 392 pages, this book felt really, really long, especially since there wasn’t much of a driving narrative besides the relationship between Emma and Jake.”

Shannon Hale. Dangerous (Shelah Books It). 3 stars. ” The book is one part Roald Dahl, one part Fantastic Four, and three parts implausible, with a love triangle between Maisie, the boy next door, and a boy who is probably an evil genius. The book feels a little rushed, and a little derivative, and doesn’t have the staying power of Hale’s other works. I can remember the entire plot of The Goose Girl six years after I read it for the first time, but I couldn’t remember much about Dangerous even a week later.”

Amy Harmon. The Law of Moses (Shelah) 4 stars. “ The Law of Moses is definitely the best example of craft among the finalists in the Whitney general fiction category. Both Georgia and Moses are complicated characters who grow and change through the course of the novel. The narrative is heart-wrenching and redemptive, and I think most readers get most of what they want by the end of the story. Harmon also knows how to spin a yarn that keeps readers reading. Some will argue that this book would be a better fit in the speculative category, which may be true. If so, this is the kind of speculative novel I could really get into reading.”

E. James Harrison.The Cross Bearer (Jennie Hansen, Meridian Magazine) 4 stars. ” There’s an old saying that some people take a good story and make it better. It usually refers to those who exaggerate in order to make a story bigger than the real events warrant or to portray themselves as heroes. Admittedly the saying often comes to mind when I read historical or scripturally based novels, but withThe Cross Bearer by E. James Harrison I found myself deeply absorbed and enjoying the story. The author makes no pretense that the story really happened beyond the fact that a man named Simon of Cyrene was compelled by the Roman soldiers to carry the heavy cross timbers to which Jesus was to be nailed . . . The characters in this story are an interesting cross section of humanity . . . Even minor secondary characters are portrayed well both by their dialog and their actions. The plot is handled well and contains action and surprises even though the reader knows the conclusion from the beginning. There are a few points that could have strengthened the story such as the ship’s captain playing a stronger role and seeing more of the relationship between Aaron and the woman he meets in Tyre. The story is brutally realistic in places which may offend some readers who are uncomfortable with violence.”

Maria Hoagland. Still Time (Shelah) 3 stars. “The fact that Hoagland chooses to write about the mundane events in a regular life is the double-edged sword of Still Time. Hoagland tackles the internal dialogue that runs through the minds of SAHMs, and Alyssa seems to represent the mindset of the typical Mormon mom. I could identify with her, but at times I didn’t want her to represent me, if that makes any sense. The book was at its strongest when it slipped into the voice of Alyssa’s mother-in-law. At first these POV shifts confused me, but eventually, they became my favorite part of the novel. I enjoyed seeing her try to hold on to the things she could remember, and the points of connection she might have with Alyssa if she were only well enough to do so.”

Charlie M. Holmberg. The Glass Magician (Rosalyn) 4 stars. ” Easily the best thing about this series is Holmberg’s wonderful world, where magicians bond to a material (paper, glass, metal, etc.) and that bonding limits the use of their magic . . .There are so many things to enjoy here: Holmberg’s solution to Ceony’s increasingly dire predicaments is ingenious, and I do love the bitter-sweet romance between Ceony and Thane. The magic system fascinates me, and Ceony’s paper puppy, Fennel, might possibly be my favorite character after Emery Thane. While I think reading book one makes this book a bit easier to understand (we know where Emery and Ceony are coming from), it also works as a stand alone.”

Margot Hovley Sudden Darkness (Josi Kilpack). 4 stars. “I don’t often like YA and I have some prejudice against “End of Times” fiction, but I loved this book. It took me about 50 pages to feel hooked, but once I did it carried me through. The writing is good, the characters feel real and though the story certainly encompasses faith and conversation and acts of the spirit, it was not preachy or overstated. I loved the way Hovely portrayed families, and church organization and put this book down with a real feeling of possibility, perhaps even probability. There was nothing that felt self-aggrandizing or heavy handed. This story is about journeys, individual and collective, and stuck with me for days after I read it.”

Michael Jensen and David Powers King. Woven (Critical Blast). “When the story starts with three kids coming of age and armed with the knowledge that magic would be thrown into the mix, I likened it to Harry Potter. Abruptly, when Nels is killed, the story takes a swift right turn and the reader is thrown into a unique situation. Dynamics change and this magic world slowly comes to light. It’s quite well written and thoroughly captivating. Overall, Woven is a good book worth the read. Young adults should enjoy the magical journey. The magic in this story is interwoven with the concept of fabrication and sewing. As a person who regularly works with fabric, I understood a lot of the “magical” terms better than most. Teenagers may initially get lost with the terms used, but there’s no reason they shouldn’t pick it up fairly fast. The fast pace should keep them enthralled and the ending should have them wanted for more!

Carla Kelly. Softly Falling (Shelah) 4 stars. “One thing I love about Kelly’s books is that they focus on ordinary characters, and Kelly allows a slow build up to the romance. Softly Falling reminded me a lot of Ivan Doig’s wonderful Dancing at the Rascal Fair (a slow burn of a story that takes place in a similarly wintry Montana). This one is perfect for curling up with on a rainy day, but maybe not during a blizzard.”

Josi S. Kilpack. Wedding Cake (Shelah Books It) 4 stars. ” Sadie Hoffmiller was annoying and meddlesome way back when Kilpack started it all with Lemon Tart, but she’s grown on us, and we were rooting for her and her fiance, the former detective with whom she had all of those run-ins early in the series. Wedding Cake is, in many ways, a satisfying ending ending to a series that spanned more than 2,400 pages and half a decade. Kilpack nods to the key players in past mysteries (it actually reminds me a little bit of what Matthew Weiner is doing as he wraps up Mad Men right now). But the book has to be more than a retrospective of past cases, and Kilpack digs deeper into a story from Sadie’s past when a stalker reappears and tries to ruin Sadie’s big day. I haven’t read every book in the series, but I’ve read enough to be excited for Wedding Cake, and in many ways it was the perfect end to Sadie’s story. The books really grew on me over the years, especially as I grew to have more of an appreciation for the cozy mystery genre, and I loved watching Sadie grow and change as a character over the course of the novels. The book was ultimately more violent than I had expected, and the wedding scene in particular was pretty shocking, but the book as a whole definitely met my expectations, and I wiped away a little tear as I read the last recipe and closed the book.”

Kimberley Griffiths Little. The Time of the Fireflies (Shelah) 4 stars. “This is a well-crafted, engrossing story. It was one of the Whitney books that really captured me this year, and kept me reading for pleasure rather than duty. She does a lovely job capturing the bayou setting of the novel, and of tackling the challenges of writing in multiple time periods. It’s interesting to me that this book was considered middle grade. Larissa is twelve, but could just as easily be fourteen, and the book felt more like a YA Speculative novel (and would have been my clear favorite if in that category). This book, with it’s dark magic and incredibly scary doll, would scare the freaking pants off of either of my middle grade readers. As an adult reader, I loved the story and Larissa, but still had to fight the urge to look deeply into the eyes of the dolls all around my house.”

Kimberley Griffiths Little. Forbidden (Shelah Books It). 4 stars. ” The spunky, brave heroine of YA novels is so widespread these days, it’s a bit of a shock when someone who doesn’t fit that mold appears in the pages of YA fiction. Jayden is modest and shy (it’s 1759 BC, for crying out loud– would readers expect any different?), and finds enlightenment and release only in the all-female dancing circle in which the women in her tribe take part. While she encounters many obstacles that challenge her culture and her perceptions, it’s hard for her to step out of her comfort zone. That doesn’t mean that she doesn’t do it, but don’t expect Katniss Everdeen out of Jayden. I find her character refreshing, and the historical details are richly drawn. I’m interested enough in the story of Forbidden to want to keep reading the series.”

Jessica Martinez. Kiss Kill Vanish (Rosalyn) 4 stars. “Martinez is a master at combining lyrical prose with tense, sometimes dark plots, and Kiss, Kill, Vanish is no exception . . .  Martinez does a wonderful job painting the characters: Lucian’s thinly veiled insecurity, Marcel’s contempt, Valentina’s own struggle to understand herself and the life founded on drug money. And some of her word-paintings for setting are stunning and vivid. Some readers won’t like the allusions to drug use and sex in the main characters, and the plot-line is admittedly dark (and sometimes violent). The ending wasn’t entirely plausible to me, and I spent too much time wishing Valentine would just get over her ex-boyfriend, but there was so much to love about the book (the writing, Marcel–surprisingly enough!, and the vivid settings), that these didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment too much

Jessica Martinez. Kiss Kill Vanish (Shelah Books It). 2 stars. “The plot of Kiss Kill Vanish feels larger than life, and the book certainly has an epic, outsize quality. The main strength of the novel is the snappy pacing– the chapters end in a way that make you want to keep reading. The premise of the novel, that Valentina manages to escape from her father’s clutches, isn’t especially believable considering her lack of life experience, and although she’s not as bratty as her sisters are, she’s pretty bratty. She may have the savvy to hide from a mob, but she doesn’t have the savvy to stay away from scary dudes while doing it. She goes from her 23-year-old hit man to a creepy artist to his even creepier brother and back again. I wanted to see Valentina free from all of the guys when the book ended. I can see that Martinez has some great writing chops (and liked other books I’ve read better) but Kiss Kill Vanish felt too big and implausible to be a winner for me.”

Jordan McCollum. Tomorrow We Spy (Shelah Books It) 2 stars. ” Oh Talia, I had such high hopes for you as a character in I, Spy. I loved your voice and thought it was refreshing that you were a little neurotic. But lady, you’re just as neurotic two books later (or is it five? It depends on whether or not you’ve read all of the prequels). In order for a series of books to satisfy me as a reader, I like to see a character grow and change, and I would especially expect to see growth when Talia marries Danny, but she’s just as insecure and jealous in this book as she was in the first book. It’s cute for one book, but wearing after a bunch of them.”

H. B. Moore. Eve: In the Beginning (Shelah) 3 stars. ” Moore does a really nicejobwith Eve’s mindset and the relationship between Adam and Eve, especially once Lucifer enters their lives and Eve starts to think about making the choice to have more wisdom and knowledge. While I think Eve’s character is pretty fantastic, because the book is from her perspective, we don’t see a lot of Adam’s thought process, and while this is a ‘historical” novel, one of the things I value most about historical fiction is being able to learn about a bygone era or a culture I don’t know much about, this book is pretty remarkable in its absence of culture– instead Adam and Eve are the culture makers. It’s still worth a read as an insight into Eve’s motivations.”

Angela Morrison. An Ocean Atween Us (Shelah) 3 stars. ” There were many admirable things about An Ocean Atween Us. Morrison, who drew on old family journals and stories to create her novel, definitely did her homework. She got the details of coal mines and transatlantic voyages down pat. She also wrote the book in a Scottish brogue, which, frankly, I found annoying after a bit because it definitely slowed my reading down and made it so that I always held the characters at a bit of a distance. I think keeping a few of the tags (dinna or lassie, for example) and ditching the rest would have been a better strategy here. Finally, I got really sick of Will mooning over Lucie in the novel, especially after he married Jenny (there’s a scene of pretty stark cruelty in their relationship toward the end of the novel that made it hard for me to identify with Will any more). I also think that the setup in the final chapters may lead to a swift demise for Jenny early in the next novel.”

Anne Perry. Death on Blackheath (Shelah Books It) 4 stars. “I loved Death on Blackheath. Once I understood that Pitt was never going to concern himself with whether or not the maid was actually dead and was only interested in what was going on that concerned national security, the book became downright fascinating. I was very surprised by the ending (although in retrospect, I guess I shouldn’t have been), and was impressed by the way that Perry created so many complicated characters (both the suspects and the detectives) and wrote about all of them with a deftness that shows why she is one of the preeminent mystery writers of our day.”

Jolene Perry. Stronger than you Know (Bloggin’ ’bout Books) B-. “Stronger Than You Know is a straight-shooting, what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of novel.  Joy’s story is simply that—her story.  It describes her journey to heal from hellish abuse by learning to trust other people as well as herself.  That’s about it.  Her budding romance with Justin adds a little subplot action, but other than that, the novel revolves around Joy’s recovery.  Which is inspiring, as it sends a powerful message (You’re stronger than you know!).  Truth is, though, I got a little tired of the extreme focus on the victim-trying-to-overcome-past-abuse plot line.  Call me heartless, but I wanted more to happen in this story.  I especially would have liked to see Joy acting, (maybe reaching out to help someone else as a way of healing), instead of just reacting all the time.  Despite that—as well as the book’s many copyediting issues that kept pulling me out of the story—I did find Stronger Than You Knowto be a powerful read.  It deals with tough issues, but does so in a sensitive, stirring way.  Like other problem novels, it creates awareness of a disturbing—and all too common—issue, while promoting empathy for its victims.  I wanted more from it, yes, but overall, it’s an honest, hopeful novel with a strong, important message.”

Robbin J. Peterson. Going Home (Jennie Hansen, Meridian) 4 stars. “The story  of John Miller, a young elder sent home early from his mission to Peru when he is emotionally unable to handle his companion’s tragic death. He struggles to move forward with his life, to resume his relationship with his girlfriend, and to make sense of the questions and doubts the experience has brought. Putting the experience behind him by forgetting it ever happened isn’t working. He feels like a failure and is paired with the mission’s star missionary for the trip home and when he reaches home his relationship with his siblings isn’t always the best . . . At times the characters behave like children, their vocabulary is filled with teenage jargon, then they face situations and serious questions that have them acting more like adults. Some readers may be uncomfortable with some of the flippancy of the missionaries in the first part of the book and the squabbles between siblings. The plot bogs down somewhat in the middle of the book, but the pace then picks up and moves more quickly to a satisfying ending. There are a number of quotes from familiar LDS hymns and scriptural references that are well placed and serve to show the growth of John’s testimony and both his maturing and healing process.”

Brandon Sanderson. Words of Radiance (Shelah) 5 stars. ” While fans of The Way of Kings, fans of Sanderson, fans of high fantasy, fans of good writing will probably enjoy Words of Radiance, whenever I read a book with lots and lots of world building and hundreds of names to keep track of, I feel the same kind of panic that I feel when I go to see the symphony. I have an appreciation of the parts, but it doesn’t move me– I recognize that there is great writing, great description, great storytelling going on here, but I feel like I’m looking at it through a thick pane of glass– it’s hard for me to engage, like it’s written in a different language. I can appreciate on an intellectual level that this book is undoubtedly the most skillfully crafted speculative novel this year, and likely the best novel of the Whitneys, but it’s one that I appreciate distantly rather than embrace.”

A. L. Sowards. Deadly Alliance (Shelah) 4 stars. “AlthoughDeadly Allianceis the third (and final?) novel in Sowards’s Espionage series, it feels and functions like a stand-alone novel. Sowards does a nice job getting new readers up to speed with complicated characters and relationships, and with the complexities of alliances during the end of WWII. There was plenty of action, just enough love, and lots of nice, detailed storytelling to keep me reading.”

Ilima Todd. Remake (Shelah Books It). 2 stars. ” On the one hand, I thought the mechanics of the story were pretty good. It was definitely a story that kept me reading and made me think. However, the subtext of the story seems to be that traditional families are superior to other types of families, and that the ability to choose something like gender leads to the downfall of society.”

Laura L. Walker. Pierced By Love (Jennie Hansen, Meridian) 3 stars. “For people in their twenties, their relationships with their parents, none of whom are particularly likable people, are unrealistic and at times inconsistent. Relationships between roommates and other dorm residents feel more natural. The book is a little preachy, but presents an interesting dilemma. This story, too, presents a perspective on the part faith plays in healing and maturing.”

Marsha Ward. Gone for a Soldier (Shelah) 3 stars. ” While many novels about the Civil War focus on male characters and storylines, my favorite thing about Gone for a Soldier is that it’s a story about women and relationships. While at first glance, the story is Mary and Rulon’s love story, it’s reallymore about what happens to Mary while he’s gone– going through childbirth without her husband, developing a relationship with her mother-in-law, championing the girl she hoped would become her sister-in-law, and gaining enough maturity to see her relationship with her mother from a different perspective. Gone for a Soldier is interesting and well done, and I love the point of view it shows.”

Dan Wells. Fragments (Bloggin’ ’bout Books). C+. ” Although I enjoy Dan Wells‘ unsettling adult novels, I haven’t been particularly wowed by his YA offerings.  Partials kept me reading, but not rushing to find out what was going to happen.  I had a similar experience with its sequel, Fragments.  While the novel has flashes of tense, exciting action, not just between the principal characters and their environment, but between the story people themselves, the plot drags.  Quite a lot.  There are a few surprises, sure—I just felt that a good 100 pages could have been chopped from the book without losing anything important.  Character development would have been a good way to use those extra words.  Even after two (long) books, Wells’ cast still feels flat to me.  Overall, then, Fragments was just an okay read for me.  If you enjoyed Partials, you’ll probably like this one just fine.  IfPartials didn’t do it for you, this one likely won’t either.  A lot of readers adore this series; for me, it’s just been so-so. ”

Kasie West. On the Fence (Shelah Books It) 3 stars. “ On the Fence is a cute book. Charlie is a cute character, Braden is a cute character, the boutique where she finally learns how to act around females sells cute clothes. Although the storyline is predictable (no one is really ever in any doubt that Charlie and Braden will get together) and the side story involving the death of Charlie’s mother was something I called in the first chapter, it’s nevertheless an enjoyable way to spend anafternoon. This is a book that I think my teenage daughter would enjoy, not in the gritty, angsty way she loves a David Levithan or a John Green book, but she’d like it nonetheless.”

Kiersten White. Illusions of Fate (Shelah Books It). 3 stars. “I think that Illusions of Fate was probably my favorite of the YA Speculative novels this year, but that had little to do with the story. In fact, I’m not entirely sure that I completely understood where Kiersten White was going with the magical element of the story– yes, there was magic, and people used it to manipulate space, time, and other people. I loved the setting- White did a great job creating a world that was just a notch off a world that today’s readers know well. Jessamin was also a great character, working to figure out her way as a member of the underclass in a new country, while also trying to embrace her role as a muse of one of the most powerful magicians in the country. The book is worth reading for Jessamin’s character and the setting, the jury’s still out for me on the magic.”

Bethany Wiggins. Cured (Shelah Books It). 2 stars. ” I feel like I’m coming into this novel at a disadvantage, having never read Stung, which presumably sets up thedystopian premise of the series . . . I felt pretty lost from the beginning of the novel. In Wiggins’s defense, most of the problem was mine– I was trying to read quickly, and since I didn’t have a great understanding of the world she created and wasn’t willing to take the time to read between the lines to figure it out, I never felt especially compelled by the story. I did feel compelled by Jack’s character, as a former fat girl who lost weight in order to pass as a boy, we get to see her come to terms with both her body and her intelligence as she decides whether or not to give herself over to love. All in all, Cured was not my favorite read, but perhaps the problems had more to do with me than with the author.”

Carol Lynch Williams. Signed, Skye Harper (Bloggin’ ’bout Books) B+. ” The thing I love about YA author Carol Lynch Williams is that she does real so very, very well.  Signed, Skye Harper, her newest, is no exception.  Despite the novel’s quirky humor, the story remains achingly authentic.  Steve, for example, is probably the most realistic teen boy I’ve ever encountered in YA fiction.  Yes, his hormonal behavior makes him less likable, but it also makes him more real.  More important are Winston’s tender, heartbreaking emotions as she reacts to the upending of her ordered world as well as the highs and lows of falling in love for the first time.  Teens, especially, will relate to the roller coaster of feelings as she rides out her anxiety, confusion, sorrow, and fear.  After such a whirlwind trip with a girl like Winston, it will be impossible for anyone not to cheer as such a memorable heroine finally finds a place in her topsy-turvy world.  Heartwarming, but real, Signed, Skye Harper is just an all-around good read.  I loved it.”

Mercedes M. Yardley. Nameless (Shelah) 2 stars. “Luna is a really engaging protagonist. She’s very flawed but has a good heart, which makes her relatable. She’s also funny, tough, and brave in her actions even if she’s scared on the inside. She’s also quick to judge and impulsive. I enjoyed her budding relationship with Reed Taylor (a guy who could see angels, and therefore an interesting foil), but didn’t like the feeling that we were moving from one big action movie scene to the next. If this book were made into a movie, they’d have to have a big budget for demonic fight scenes– Nameless is chock full of them.”

Mercedes M. Yardley. Pretty Little Dead Girls (Shelah) 4 stars. ” This year the Whitney finalists in the speculative category included two novels by Mercedes M. Yardley. Her other novel, Nameless, was published first and therefore also eligible for the Best Novel by a New Author award. As I read both novels (and the rest of the books in the “new author” category), I kept lamenting that Pretty Little Dead Girls wasn’t published first, because it was a thoroughly enjoyable novel . . . The best thing about Pretty Little Dead Girls is the voice. Yardley writes in a third person “Dear Reader” voice reminiscent of Charles Dickens. I also really enjoyed the fact that although the book was in the speculative category and there was a degree of magic involved, the book really didn’t feel like a speculative novel, since the action was based on relationships and characters. Speaking of characters, the serial killer who stalks Bryony in the second half of the novel is more interesting than the husband, whose backing out at the last minute seemed flimsy.”

Bestsellers

April 26, May 3, 10, 17

Dashner’s books all fell off the USA Today list, but remain on top of the NYT Children’s Series list. They are sure to come back when the second movie comes out later this year.

James Dashner. The Maze Runner

USA Today: #90, #90, #110, #112, #157 (75 weeks)

NYT Children’s Series: #2, #1, #1, #1 (134 weeks)

James Dashner. The Scorch Trials

USA Today: #88, #83, #97, #131, x (60 weeks)

James Dashner. The Death Cure

USA Today: #119, #107, #124, x, x (61 weeks)

Shannon and Dean Hale. The Princess in Black

NYT Middle Grade: x, #5, #10, #15 (9 weeks)

Anne Perry. The Angel Court Affair

Dropped off the lists after 1 week.

Brenda Novak. This Heart of Mine

Dropped off the lists after 1 week.

Orson Scott Card. Ender’s Game

PW: SF #7, #8 #7