E. Lockhart: Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, The
You might think the world doesn't need any more boarding school novels, but if you haven't read this one then you're wrong, wrong, wrong. E. Lockhart has surpassed herself with this fable of a girl coming into her own and challenging the boy's club at her prep school -- while falling in love with its members at the same time. Lockhart never simplifies or skirts gender issues and power dynamics, and lets Frankie be realistic instead of a treatise disguised as a character. The sly omniscient narrator tells the story perfectly, and leaves hope that maybe one girl can change the world. More novels as funny and true and perfect as this one, please.
Kathi Appelt: The Underneath
Appelt's first novel is a beautiful, magical fantasy for younger readers that will instantly become a classic. Seriously. I can imagine this book being in classrooms right alongside Charlotte's Web in a hundred years. The writing is poetic in the good way, and there's a lamia. Children are going to absolutely fall in love with Appelt's equally kind and brutal universe, where love conquers most, and it can take millenia to come to your senses.
Jincy Willett: The Writing Class
With her second novel, Willett matches the perfect pitch and execution of her brilliant short stories. Every writer will want to read this novel--very little wincing is involved, but expect a great deal of laughter. C and I found ourselves reading pieces aloud, after howling provoked the "what's so funny?" question. As with any good writing workshop or class, the characters become more appealing as you get to know them, and ultimately what she has pulled off is a satisfying mystery, and a satisfying exploration of humanity. Amy Gallup is a character to remember.
Karen Joy Fowler: Wit's End
A new novel by Karen Fowler really is something to be excited about, unlike many of the writers for whom such praise gets bandied about. (If you're smirking because you think you know something about her work from the title--not the book--The Jane Austen Book Club, please go sit in the corner and read any of her novels. You're welcome.) This is an unmystery-like mystery, concerned not so much with dead bodies--though there are plenty--as with the mysteries of healing and the heart, politics and people. How is it that a writer gets a lens on the present that's as revealing as the one she employs in historical fiction? Now that's a mystery. Highly recommended.
Steve Erickson: Zeroville
Steve Erickson novels are often like dreams, or revelations, or discovered artifacts, or written just for you. Zeroville's no different, although it is perhaps the most readily graspable example of his work to date. The Rosetta Stone is there; the secret decoder ring is a film projector. The dizzying Hollywood confidential stylings will make your inner film geek happy, but the uncovering of a truly mythic cinematic story--since cinema has existed forever--of sacrifice and redemption is even more memorable. See also: this review.
Ursula Dubosarsky: The Red Shoe (Neal Porter Books)
Set in Sydney during WWII, this wonderful novel travels between the view from inside each of three sisters. Dubosarsky perfectly captures the differences that come from being the younger, older, or middle child. Perfectly conjuring the period, and yet creating a completely accessible story, the narrative contrasts chapters focusing on the family with interstitials from the Sydney newspapers of the time, stories of polio, the H-bomb, and a defecting Russian spy (who happens to be in hiding next door). Nothing here is heavy-handed. Everything is perfectly balanced. It's a beautiful, beautiful novel. See my full take here.
The advance buzz is spot on about the Tiptree bio. It's unbelievably good and I read it in an early draft. I can't wait to get my hands on the final version either!
Posted by: Justine Larbalestier | June 12, 2006 at 12:28
I was uberbummed that they didn't have any ARCs at BEA. I did manage to read the first chapter or so of KDL's though, and very nearly snatched it. Beautifully designed too.
Posted by: Gwenda | June 12, 2006 at 12:32
The NYT article on private libraries makes them sound just to die for...if you have the money. Which is an awfully big "if", since what they call "modest fees" sound un-doable to me and to an awful lot of families I know. ($275 for a family membership? How many families can do that? I sure couldn't justify paying even $50 a year out of our current income.) I finished the article feeling annoyed and, of course, very jealous. :(
But the haunted book auction did of course cheer me up. :)
Posted by: Steph Burgis | June 12, 2006 at 14:02
I know what you mean, Steph. I'm very suspicious of it personally. I love our public library so much; I often feel like it's a private membership library because I rarely have to wait for any books I want to check out, it's usually not very crowded, and I actually think the complete spectrum of people one sees there (like the racetrack, really) is part of its charm. But part of me wonders if the kind of people who belong to private libraries aren't probably also the kind who give money to public libraries. But maybe they're not.
Posted by: Gwenda | June 12, 2006 at 14:08
Gwenda: Thanks for the sand sculptures. They blow my mind.
Posted by: jeff ford | June 12, 2006 at 23:10