Books Inc. Kids's blog

CLOCKWORK ANGEL is here at last... this should be the next book on your list!

Check out the book trailer on the Not Your Mother's Book Club blog.

The hotly anticipated final book in the HUNGER GAMES trilogy releases tomorrow. Didn't preorder? No problem! The Books Inc. store near you will have stacks of 'em... 

It's the summer of 1968, and three sisters are sent cross-country from Brooklyn to Oakland to spend a month with their mother. Their mother who left them when the youngest was a brand-new baby, their mother who is fierce and angry and doesn't seem to want to have anything to do with any of them, who dresses like a spy and has a strange new name, who pushes them out of the house and sends them to spend their summer days anywhere but in her hair.

She sends the girls to a community summer camp run by Black Panthers, and lets them eat greasy take-out Chinese food for every meal. Clearly the girls will have to fend for themselves and luckily, oldest-sister Delphine is sensible and wiser than her 11 years. Delphine takes care of Vonetta and Fern when their "mom" Nzila won't, or can't.

This is historical fiction, sure, but it isn't a history lesson... it is LIVING history. The voices of each of the three girls, and their poet mother Nzila, and even the smallest side character, are true and infused with their own rhythm. I felt like I was on the streets of Oakland listening to real people. The girls themselves are smart girls, and strong girls, but they've had a very traditional upbringing and they are walking into a completely unknown world. In 28 days, we see them each grow up, to learn to feel the world a bit more like how their poet mother does, and get radicalized in their own ways.  I think that the reader will take some of that rhythm, poetry and revolutionary spirit away from the book as well.

Fingers crossed that this terrific book set in the Bay Area will get a well-deserved nod come awards season! 

To buy ONE CRAZY SUMMER, click here.

I know it must seem like Not Your Mother's is sort of a "girly" group, what with the pink blog and all, but really, we have a healthy number of fellas who are regulars at our events. Contrary to popular opinion, there ARE dudes who read YA!

Here are a couple of brand-new titles that are both funny and fun to read, and will definitely appeal to anyone who wants a dose of summer escapism.

FAT VAMPIRE by Adam Rex

Doug is a regular guy, but he has a rather unusual problem.  See, he got bitten by a vampire, and now he is one. But he ISN'T hot, sparkly, fashionable or rich. He DOESN'T have a hot car or a bad reputation. He is, in fact, a chubby dork without a gift for seduction or anything else. And it seems he'll be this way... for eternity.  To add to Doug's problems is the fact that he's being chased by a crossbow-wielding TV host, that blood is not just available on tap at 7-11, and that the girl of his dreams might prefer her guys on the mortal side. Sucks for him.

FAT VAMPIRE is a breezy romp that pokes fun at many of the characters and tropes that all readers of YA will recognize. I loved the humor, I loved the main character and his human sidekick, and while I am still not sure I am satisfied by the ending... I am still thinking about it! And that is a good thing.  Rating: Four out of five vampire bites.

For more, check out this lively interview with the author. 

SETH BAUMGARTNER'S LOVE MANIFESTO by Eric Luper

Seth thought getting dumped by his girlfriend in an Applebees was bad enough. But when he sees his dad having a clearly not-business related lunch with some random short-skirt-wearing, not-mom woman, he totally loses his cool. Oh, and his job. He decides to do some detective work to find out where The Other Woman lives, and to document this search and get over his post-breakup heartache by venting his problems on an anonymous podcast that (naturally) does not stay anonymous for long.

There is nothing mind-bending about this book. There is no magic or danger. What there is, though, is lots of heart and a TON of humor. Seth is charming but far from perfect, and his frustrations and joys (and often, complete cluelessness!) really ring true. The guys in this book seem not only like real guys, but like guys you'd have fun hanging out with. Um... provided they didn't start podcasting about you!   Rating: Four and a half out of five MP3s.