The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf |
| Posted: 18 Jan 2013 12:00 AM PST The Shattering Author: Karen Healey Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 320 pages FRAUGHT with grief after her brother's suicide, Keri wants very much to believe what her childhood friend Janna is saying – that it wasn't suicide, it was murder. Janna, too, lost her brother to an apparent suicide years before. And then there was Sione, who had also lost a brother in a similar manner. Could this be the carefully concealed work of a serial killer? Kiwi writer Karen Healey offers not just the expected young adult fic-romance but also suspense as well as Maori rituals and different characters in a New Zealand setting that readers weaned on American and British YA novels will find unusual. Splintered Author: A.G. Howard Publisher: Amulet Books, 384 pages ALYSSA Gardner can hear the whispers of insects and flowers. Like her mother, she inherited the condition from her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Caroll's Alice's Adventures In Wonderland. When her mother's mental health worsens, Alyssa is plunged into the real Wonderland with her friend Jeb. Somehow, Alyssa has to fix all the mistakes Alice left behind and save her family. Meanwhile, she also has to choose who to trust in the unknown, magical world. Will it be her secret crush Jeb or her guide through Wonderland, Morpheus? Crewel Author: Gennifer Albin Publisher: Faber & Faber, 360 pages ADELICE Lewys lives in a world where some special people called Spinsters can manipulate reality to their liking, but are controlled by a corrupt government. When her parents discover that Adelice possesses the ability too, they train her to hide it. Because being a Spinster would mean that she would be dictating the lives of others – what they eat, what they wear and when they die – based on the orders of the Guild. Plunged into a world of deadly politics and a forbidden romance too, Adelice has to find out the dire truth about her powers and preserve her entire society. Poison Princess Author: Kresley Cole Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 368 pages EVANGELINE "Evie" Greene can see the future, but she doesn't know that yet. Not until she realises that her hallucinations are visions of what would be. What might come to pass are apocalyptic events that destroy her hometown and kill those she loves. Desperate to find out the truth about her unique ability, she turns to her classmate, Jack Deveaux, for aid. On their quest, the two meet others who also have special powers and they find out that Evie is part of an ancient prophecy that is being played out. And in this battle between good and evil, Evie is stuck without knowing who is on which side. |
| A Pakistani boy growing up in London Posted: 17 Jan 2013 09:52 PM PST WE all struggle with identity issues as we grow up. For Imran Ahmad, these growing pains were complicated by the fact that he was a Pakistani Muslim growing up in London, torn between his family's ethnic/religious identity and the Western values he was exposed to. These experiences form the basis of his humorous memoirs, The Perfect Gentleman. Despite dealing with complex issues like racism and spirituality, Imran approaches his life story with a sense of humour that makes the book both thought-provoking and entertaining. For instance, how does one emulate James Bond without the vodka and women? Or, how does one fall in love if one is expected to submit to an arranged marriage? And what happens on a "first night" anyway? Meet Imran in person and hear him share his uniquely funny perspective tomorrow at 3pm at the MPH Bookstore, 1Utama, Bandar Utama, and on Tuesday (Jan 22) at 6pm at Kinokuniya Bookstores, Suria KLCC. Look out for our interview with Imran in Star2 on Tuesday. |
| Two graphic novels making waves Posted: 17 Jan 2013 07:21 PM PST Two graphic novels are making waves by being nominated alongside more traditional novels for the Costa book awards. THE complex terrain of the parent-child relationship is something most of us have traversed. The universality of this particular issue may explain why not just one, but two graphic novels, have managed to cross the divide and, for the first time ever, bag nominations for Britain's prestigious Costa book awards this year. Breaking the stereotype that graphic novels are for superhero fans and fantasy geeks, both novels use the visual narrative form to tell stories that are simultaneously personal, relatable and very real. The nominations, in fact, are merely a higher profile acknowledgement of something graphic novel fans have always known: that the art form is simply another way to tell a story. Joff Winterhart's Days Of The Bagnold Summer, which is about the relationship between a dowdy librarian and her heavy metal-loving teenaged son, was nominated in the best novel category alongside heavyweights like Hilary Mantel's Bring Up The Bodies, Stephen May's Life! Death! Prizes! and James Meek's The Heart Broke In (Mantel took home the prize). Meanwhile, Dotter Of Her Father's Eyes by Mary M. and Bryan Talbot – a biography-cum-memoir that intertwines author James Joyce's relationship with his daughter Lucia and Mary's own with her father, a Joycean scholar – was nominated for and eventually won the best biography category. As category winner, Dotter is currently in the running for the Costa book of the year award, which will be announced on Jan 29. Both works are fascinating, albeit in completely different ways. Dotter is an elegant, literary piece of work that is obviously very personal to Mary, and is lovingly illustrated by her husband Bryan (the creator of The Adventures Of Luther Arkwright). In it, Mary recalls her difficult relationship with her father, Joycean academic James S. Atherton, an intense and temperamental man who could just as easily explode in anger at her as charm her with his wit and affection. Desperately longing to please him even as she rebels against him, Mary's experiences will strike a chord with anyone who has had to struggle to match up to a parent's expectations. What makes her story so unique, however, is the parallel narrative of Lucia's story. The apple of James' eye, Lucia was a gifted dancer whose potential was never taken seriously by her father; he was of the assumption that the most important thing a woman needed to learn was how to enter a room like a lady. Meanwhile, her mother was nasty and verbally-abusive. Lucia eventually descended into insanity and spent the last 30 years of her life in an asylum. Bryan's mostly monochromatic artwork is simple yet beautiful and emotive, with hues playing an important role in evoking the mood. Mary's past is depicted in nostalgic sepia tones (with occasional splashes of strong colour), while Lucia's story in 1930s Paris is realised in inky drawings, reminiscent of newsprint; the present, however, is in gorgeous full colour. In contrast, Bagnold's artwork seems extremely spare. The utilitarian black-and-white drawings, presented as comic strips, don't offer much in terms of detail; what they do, though, is foreground the expressions and appearance of the two leads, 15-year-old Daniel and his mother Sue. When a trip to visit his father and new wife in Florida is canceled, Daniel is faced with the prospect of spending six weeks of summer at home with his mum. Winterhart breaks the story down into six parts, highlighting happenings both mundane and poignant in each week. Told with a wry sense of humour, the story of how mother and son struggle to find common ground is both funny and deeply affecting; Winterhart perfectly captures Daniel's teenage angst and Sue's desperate desire to recognise her little boy in the skulking teenager. While Sue's attempts to discuss heavy metal music or tattoos with her son will bring a smile to your face, it is also impossible not to get misty-eyed when Sue takes private pleasure in still being able to make her surly son laugh. The best thing about Bagnold is that it doesn't preach or offer solutions. Instead, the slice-of-life style of storytelling lets the characters and events speak for themselves, and to their credit, while the characters may not be perfect, they are perfectly human, and keeps us rooting for them all the way. > Days Of The Bagnold Summer and Dotter Of Her Father's Eyes are currently available at Kinokuniya, Suria KLCC. |
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