Please Ignore Vera Dietz, by A.S. King

When we first meet Vera, she's lost her best friend, Charlie - twice. Once, to the tragic drama that is high school, and the sad politics of social status. Then, again, to death.

Vera's story jumps back and forth through time, sometimes including POVs that you would never expect, like her dad's, Charlie's, and even the wise old Pagoda that sits on the hill above the town where she lives.

It is a lonely, sad, but ultimately uplifting tale of one girl's struggle to find herself, and to stand up for truth in the face of grief. This is the last of A.S. King's books I read, and so far, my favorite.

Let me explain what I mean. I do not mean that it is somehow better than the others. If you read the un-reviews I wrote for Everybody Sees the Ants, and The Dust of 100 Dogs, you know I really loved those books, but this one, and Vera's tale, touched me in a way that only great books can. Having experienced loss in my life similar to Vera's, and also really being able to relate to Vera's father's situation, this book moved me deeply. It really was a unique reading experience for me, because normally in YA novels, parents and children are at odds, and Vera and her dad certainly have their disagreements, but being able to relate to, and sympathize with, them both, made for quite a powerful read.

Anyway, I could go on, but here is the blurb:

Michael L. Printz Honor Book 2011, A Junior Library Guild selection for Fall 2010, An Edgar Allen Poe Award nominee, YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults pick, Indie Next List Pick for Teens, Kirkus Reviews Best Books for Teens 2010, Cooperative Children's Book Center's CCBC Choices 2011. . .

Eighteen-year-old Vera's spent her whole life secretly in love with her best friend, Charlie Kahn. And over the years she's kept a lot of his secrets. Even after he betrayed her. Even after he ruined everything.

So when Charlie dies in dark circumstances, Vera knows a lot more than anyone—the kids at school, his family, or even the police. But will she emerge and clear his name? Does she even want to?

An edgy, gripping story, Please Ignore Vera Dietz is an unforgettable novel: smart, funny, dramatic, and always surprising.

So that's it. If you're like me, and you like extremely human characters whose lives are not perfect, you will really enjoy this book. I highly recommend you give it a shot.

The Dust of 100 Dogs, by A.S. King

This book is so awesome! So much fun. There are some hard moments, but mostly it's very smart, very clever, and lots of fun to read.

The trouble is, it's almost impossible to describe, without giving everything away. Here's the blurb:

In the late seventeenth century, famed teenage pirate Emer Morrisey was on the cusp of escaping the pirate life with her one true love and unfathomable riches when she was slain and cursed with "the dust of one hundred dogs," dooming her to one hundred lives as a dog before returning to a human body-with her memories intact.

Now she's a contemporary American teenager and all she needs is a shovel and a ride to Jamaica.

However, that really doesn't do it justice. Reincarnation, piracy, jewels, escape, defiance, canine psychology, true love, devotion, patois, roots, rock, reggae ... I could go on. There are a hundred amazing things that make this book great, but with the interwoven plot lines, and the vast stretch of history that is covered, it's difficult to talk about what happens, or why you should love it.

I suppose I can only say this: sometimes it's a bit tough to keep track of where our character, Emer/Saffron/100 Dogs is at, but never once does she leave you bored, or uninspired. She endures such harsh cruelty, and such apathy, that you can easily imagine her giving up countless times, but she has this determination, this knowledge of self, and the greatness of courage, that she simply cannot give up, and does whatever it takes, throughout the centuries, to achieve her goals. I rooted for our multifaceted protagonist every step of the way, even when she was being slightly, albeit gloriously, evil.

Everybody Sees the Ants, by A.S. King

I just finished this novel the other day, and I'm still basking in the afterglow. I'm a little ticked I got it on my Kindle, because while I love the convenience of just grabbing the e-book in an instant, I would love to own the hardcover. I wouldn't call this cover beautiful, or shiny, and I wouldn't squee over it, but I do think it's compelling, and incredibly apt.

On the surface, this may seem like a simple story about bullying, or dysfunction in the family, but it's really so much more. Lucky Linderman is a character you can fall for in an instant. His situation isn't much different from hundreds of real kids his age. My own teenage years we're just as awkward, and filled with fear, apathy, and confusion. But Lucky's outlook, his intelligence, and his wit, draw you into his story with a power not many books can wield.

His opinions, and his total lack of fear to tell the truth about them (at least to the reader) set this book apart from most other young adult novels, in the sense that it truly feels like it was written by the character, rather than the author.

After getting in trouble for doing a survey about suicide, Lucky tells us:

Three hours after my meeting with the principal, I was sitting in the guidance office. Six days later, I was in the conference room with my parents, surrounded by the school district’s “experts” who watched my every move and scribbled notes about my behavior. In the end they recommended family therapy, suggested medications and further professional testing for disorders like depression, ADHD and Asperger’s syndrome. Professional testing! For asking a dumb question about how you’d off yourself if you were going to off yourself.

It’s as if they’d never known one single teenager in their whole lives.

In that moment, I felt like I was right inside Lucky's mind, and I knew exactly how he felt, for I'd felt that way countless times in my own life.

From there the story gets much stranger, and I won't give the plot away, because it's full of lush surprises, but I will say that when a tale blends metaphor and possible fantasy (or not) with the harsh reality of life, it does everything I love about stories and storytelling.

King also gets points from me for quoting Robert Nesta Marley, and for dedicating the book to everyone who sees the ants, which, if we can admit it, is really all of us.

Aren't we all bleeding, a little?

EDIT: I completely forgot to mention where else you can find A.S. King. She has a blog, and a website, but there is also an amazing interview with her and Paolo Bacigalupi, if you scroll down from the Amazon page for Ants.