YA Authors You Need to Read: M.T. Anderson

This article first appeared on the examiner on August 5, 2010.

M.T. (Matthew Tobin) Anderson is an award-winning author of books for kids and adults of all ages. After publishing his first book, “Thirsty,” Anderson received his MFA in Creative Writing from Syracuse University. He later went on to teach in the MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College. Anderson’s books have won the National Book Award, the LA Times Book Prize and been honor books for ALA’s Printz Award. In addition to novels he has also published numerous short stories. Even after reading one of those stories, “Barcarole for Paper and Bones” in Gary Paulsen’s “Shelf Life: Stories by the Book” nearly seven years ago, it is still haunting. Anderson’s writing has a way of staying with the reader long after the last page is turned.

One of Anderson’s most thought-provoking novels is “Feed.” In the futuristic Feed world every person has a computer chip in his brain that allows immediate access to the internet. While this might sound cool for a few minutes, the problems with a direct link to the internet are quickly revealed. People are bombarded with ads and pressured into going along with the crowd. Individualism is feared and forbidden. With information so easily downloaded into the brain actual intelligence suffers. “Feed” is an important novel for both teens and adults, especially this generation that is so easily connected to the internet with mobile phones.

Other Books

“Thirsty”
“Burger Wuss”
“The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Part 1: the Pox Party”
“The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Part 11: the Kingdom of the Waves”
“The Game of Sunken Places”
“Whales on Stilts”
“The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen”
“Jasper Dash and the Flame-Pits of Delaware”
“The Suburb Beyond the Stars”

You can find more information about Anderson at his website.

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Only the Good Spy Young--Ally Carter

"Only the Good Spy Young" is the 4th book in the Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter. I reviewed the 3rd book, "Don't Judge a Girl by her Cover" yesterday. This latest entry in the series answers many questions, while still enticing the reader to want more. I don't like to do summaries here--I look at these as reviews not book reports--so I like to focus on the critical analysis and whether or not you should read this book rather than what happened. But I will tell you this, by the end of this book you will know:
Who Joe Solomon is
Who Zach is and what he's hiding
and some other stuff I'm not going to tell you.

The Gallagher Girls books are fun to read. The girls are smart and strong and funny. Carter does a great job of telling a suspenseful, thoughtful story, while keeping it fun and funny. Cammie is a great protagonist--she's still grieving for her father, still longing for more of a relationship with her mother, still scared of people who want to hurt her, but she doesn't lose herself. She still quips and wonders whether Zach is going to kiss her. Carter's writing is easy to read because it's interesting and entertaining. But there's a substance there too. I would feel completely comfortable handing these books to a middle school girl, as well as older readers. Boys will be turned off by the pink cover, but they might be persuaded to change their minds when the movies start coming out. According to Carter's website she plans 6 books in the series. I for one can't wait for the next installment!
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Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover--Ally Carter

When I was a kid I loved Wonder Woman. I still do. That's why even though I blinked, I didn't really hesitate to drop $30 on a Wonder Woman action figure my daughter can actually play with. When I was a young adult (in the true sense of the word--in my 20s) I transferred that adoration to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And then when Buffy was gone I found Veronica Mars. Do you see a pattern?

I like strong girls.

Naturally then, I LOVE the Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter (she *is* a YA Author You Need to Read, you know.) The first one was "I'd Tell You I Love You, But then I'd Have to Kill You", the second was "Cross My Heart & Hope to Spy". I don't why it took me so long to get to the 3rd one in the series, but I'll blame my children.

I thought that finishing up the Gallagher Girls series would be the perfect followup to the Hunger Games series... something fun and light and fluffy. I was wrong. It's still fun, but in "Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover" Carter has taken the series to the next step. It's not a light, fluffy, beach read. It's more real. In the first two books the biggest problem was boys. Sure, the girls were in spy school and had to learn how to, you know, be spies, but it was trying to figure out boys that really gave them headaches. In the latest books, the girls are dealing with real life espionage, kidnapping and danger on top of mixed signals from boys.

In the 3rd book in the series, Cammie and her roommate Macey are in Boston watching Macey's father accept the nomination for Vice President of the United States. They wind up the target of kidnappers and must use their special spy skills to save themselves. They spend the rest of their junior year trying to figure out who the kidnappers were and why they were targeted. What they discover surprises them.

Carter has added depth to the characters as well as beginning a story arc giving the girls an enemy and making their work more meaningful. There's lots of adventure, humor, suspense, and a little bit of romance making this a must read.
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Pretty Dead--Francesca Lia Block

I read this book quite a few months ago. I'm a Francesca Lia Block fan and a vampire book fan and had high hopes for this book. Unfortunately I was disappointed and thought about not reviewing it here at all. I don't know why I've turned into a softie...

Charlotte Emerson is a vampire. She's posing as a high school student and has developed a close friendship with a girl named Emma and her boyfriend. Emma has some baggage of her own and decides to commit suicide. Charlotte is devastated, as is her boyfriend Jared, so naturally they start flirting with one another. Along the way we learn about Charlotte's history and her transformation as a vampire and her connection with a mysterious vampire William. In the one original part of the story, Charlotte begins to turn human again.

I wanted to like this book, but it felt very much like Block (or her publisher/agent/editor/neighbor) said "hey, you should write a vampire book! Everyone else is!" and so, without having a real story, she wrote one. It doesn't feel like a Block book. Not that every book an author writes needs to be the same, but most authors who have written many books start to have an identifiable "feel" to them. A discerning reader doesn't need to see the author page. This book didn't have the Block feel. It felt like it was rushed to get out there while vampires were still popular with the masses (vampires will always be popular with certain readers. "Twilight" was NOT the first vampire book ever written or published.)

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