Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Seconds is a charming full-colour graphic novel stand-alone by Bryan Lee O'Malley, author of the Scott Pilgrim series.

Katie is a chef who started the restaurant Seconds four years earlier, along with some friends. It's owned by a gay couple who put up all the money and the place has come to be recognized as the best place to eat in town.

Now, Katie dreams of opening her own place. A house spirit and some magic mushrooms might be able to help... if Katie doesn't get too greedy.

Katie to Lis, the house spirit:
"...are you wearing an ironic t-shirt?"

Chef Katie is the star at Seconds.
Click to better see the food imagery.

Katie's new place seems to be a money pit.
Note the realistic background with cartoony figures.

Red is prominent in the art, and it's also the colour of Katie's hair. O'Malley's style has many elements of manga. Cartoony people with big eyes and exaggerated facial expressions are portrayed against highly realistic backgrounds. The food looks yummy! There are house spirits and multiple worlds. Katie is an independent young woman interacting with the spirit world in a way that reminds me of Hayao Miyazaki's animated films.

Seconds is a funny and heartwarming look at the pitfalls of perfectionism. Don't miss it.

Readalikes (and watchalike): RASL (Jeff Smith); Life after Life (Kate Atkinson); and the film Spirited Away (Miyazaki).

When a chef can't sleep...

Batwoman: To Drown the World by JH Williams III, W Haden Blackman, Amy Reeder and Trevor McCarthy

Kate Kane/Batwoman battles ethical conundrums that are straight out of the tragedies of ancient Greece in the second bound volume of the Batwoman series. Will she betray her father or her lesbian lover? Will she kill one person in order to save a host of children? The monsters that Batwoman battles are also straight out of the mythologies of ancient Greece -- and other places and times -- including Medusa, La Llorona, the shapeshifting fox of Japan, and the reptiles in the sewers of modern urban legend.

To Drown the World is Volume 2 in the DC New 52 Batwoman series, collecting issues 6-11. The story is told in jagged pieces, jumping between the present and assorted flashbacks. I found it unpleasantly disorientating the first time through, but everything comes together and subsequent readings went more smoothly. Several artists contributed to this work and I disliked the pale colour scheme on some of the pages, which added to the initial choppy feeling.

There are some terrific sexy moments between Kate and other women. Yes, women plural. But it is abundantly clear that Maggie is Kate's true love. I already know that a marriage proposal comes up in a future issue because of a news story on the AfterEllen website: "Batwoman writers resign, say DC won't allow Kate and Maggie to get married." It'll be interesting to see what comes next for Batwoman.

My reviews of two previous Batwoman episodes can be found here: Batwoman: Hydrology and Batwoman: Elegy.

Sister Mine by Nalo Hopkinson

In Nalo Hopkinson's latest urban fantasy, Sister Mine, Makeda and Abby are twins with mixed heritage: demigod and human. They were born conjoined, but when they were separated, Abby got all the magic. At 24, Makeda decides it's time to put some distance between herself and her sister, so she finds her own place for the first time. She also finds that she just might have some serious mojo of her own.

I listened to the audiobook [Dreamscape: 11.5 hrs] narrated by Robin Miles, who also did Bulawayo's We Need New Names. I have a lot of respect for Miles' versatility, since these are such different stories, even though both are told in first person. Both books employ a lot of dialogue, mostly by Black characters of different backgrounds, expertly interpreted by Miles. She also conveyed Makeda's personality very well -- her jealousy, short temper and general impatience.

Sister Mine is packed with mythological references, shapeshifters and even a flying carpet... in Toronto, Ontario. There's a sexy guy who used to be a guitar... belonging to Jimi Hendrix. Makeda and Abby's mother has been turned into a sea monster. Their father's soul is possibly held in a kudzu vine named Quashee. Their extended family includes celestials like tricksy Uncle Jack... the grim reaper.

The sisters bicker too much for my liking, but they redeem themselves by being there for each other when it counts the most. There's lots of action and it's all great fun.

Readalike: Anansi Boys (Neil Gaiman).

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

"I didn't realize he was a werewolf at first. My nose isn't at its best when surrounded by axle grease and burnt oil -- and it's not like there are a lot of spare werewolves running around."

These are the first two lines in Moon Called, the first book in an engaging urban fantasy series by Patricia Briggs. Mercy Thompson is a mechanic who specializes in Volkswagens. She is also a Walker, which means she has the ability to shapeshift into coyote form. When Mercy was born, her single, teenaged mother didn't know what to do with a baby who was sometimes a pup, so Mercy was shipped off to distant relatives and raised in a pack of werewolves.

Mercy learned her trade from a gremlin, one of her personal friends is a vampire, and her next-door neighbour is the alpha of the Tri-Cities werewolf pack. Is it any wonder that trouble seems to seek her out? Since it's Easter today, I'll share an excerpt related to this time of year.

"I don't like crosses. My distaste has nothing to do with the metaphysical like it does for vampires. I have a whole spiel about how sick it is to carry around the instrument of Christ's torture as a symbol for the Prince of Peace who taught us to love one another. Really though, they just give me the willies."

Mercy is preparing to face the Mistress of the local vampire seethe. Instead of wearing a cross around her neck as a symbol of her Christian faith, Mercy wears a lamb. She is teased by one of the werewolves about this. "I can see it now, Mercy holding a roomful of vampires at bay with her glowing silver sheep."

Kidding aside, Mercy commands respect because she earns it. She's a kickass heroine with a caring heart. Moon Called has a diverse cast of characters and a suspenseful plot, with enough intrigue to move things along at a fast clip.

I listened to an audiobook [Penguin: 9 hrs 14 min] narrated by Lorelei King. It was so good that I was reluctant to unplug myself from my iPod until the story was finished.

Readalikes: The Last Werewolf (Glen Duncan); A Discovery of Witches (Deborah Harkness); Sharp Teeth (Toby Barlow).

Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson

Comparison to other books is the best way I can think of to describe G. Willow Wilson's Alif the Unseen, so I'm going to break from my usual method and list readalikes first. It has a little of each of these: Neuromancer (William Gibson); Habibi (Craig Thompson); Snow Crash (Neal Stephenson); For the Win (Cory Doctorow); The Ring of Solomon (Jonathan Stroud); Who Fears Death (Nnedi Okorafor) and His Dark Materials trilogy (Philip Pullman). But Alif the Unseen is different from all of these, too.

It's urban fantasy set in a totalitarian state in today's Middle East. It's adventure fantasy that draws heavily on Islamic religious beliefs and the mythology of genies -- in and out of bottles. It's steeped in nerdy computer culture and anointed with romance. There's an ancient Persian book at its heart -- The Book of a Thousand Days -- whose arcane knowledge is either the prize or the curse.

The cast of characters is large, but the main ones are: Alif, a talented young computer hacker; Dina, Alif's devout next-door neighbour who has secretly loved him since they were children; a djinn known as Vikram the Vampire, and an American woman scholar who converted to Islam and is always referred to as "the convert."

"Only the Lord of Lord knows all, and He created the world three-parts unseen." Metaphysical discussion, and sometimes even proselytizing, weigh a little too heavily on the narrative. I also felt queasy whenever homosexuality was used to disparage another person ("pig-eating ass-coveter" and such like). Even so, I found Alif the Unseen a fresh and rewarding read.

I thought Wilson's earlier novel, Cairo, was even better. Cairo is a thriller with fantastical elements set in Egypt, created in graphic novel format in collaboration with artist M.K. Perker.

Team Human by Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan

Australian author Justine Larbalestier and Irish author Sarah Rees Brennan team up for a smart vampire romance -- Team Human. They make it clear to Twilight's fans that their narrator, Mel, chooses neither vampires (Team Edward) nor werewolves (Team Jacob). Mel lives in New Whitby, Maine.

"My mom's family came over from China to America because of the railroads, moved across America selling stuff to the gold miners, and settled here. You wind up where you wind up, and no place in the world is perfect. There's always something to cope with: too hot, too cold, no night life. In our city's case, it's way too much night life. With fangs."

The New Whitby vampires co-exist peacefully enough with humans, although they don't mix much. Things get complicated, however, when Mel's best friend becomes enamoured with a vampire who enrolls at their high school. Mel calls him the undead love weasel. She is determined to dissuade Cathy from dating a guy who is more than 200 years old (and dangerous).

Mel's sense of humour is not always appreciated by her friends, but I love this character's voice. Here's another example, which also gives you an idea of the kind of shenanigans going on in the plot:

"I had never seen so many rats before. For a weird moment I started counting them. It was that or faint, which was obviously unacceptable, both because I had too much pride and because the rats would walk on my face."

Suspenseful and fun, Team Human also manages to address serious topics like bigotry and loyalty. Grade 8 and up.

Readalikes: Hold Me Closer, Necromancer (Lish McBride); The Reformed Vampire Support Group (Catherine Jinks); and Life Sucks (Jessica Abel).

Batman: Death by Design by Chip Kidd and Dave Taylor

Chip Kidd and Dave Taylor are the formidable writer/artist duo behind a new Batman graphic novel. The line between good and evil is sometimes murky in Death by Design. Bruce Wayne is on the side of modern progress vs. the preservation of historic architecture. Wayne's love interest, Cyndia Syl, is determined to save the very building Wayne wants to replace with something entirely new. The plot is propelled by a host of interesting characters: a corrupt building trade boss, a famous architect who has gone missing, an upstart vigilante who calls himself Exacto, a sharp young news reporter, and one of Batman's traditional foes, the Joker.

The internationally acclaimed architect who has the won the design competition for Wayne's new project provides comic relief. Kem Roomhaus "claims that he is often frightened of his own genius; while several notable critics have claimed that there's actually nothing to be scared of."

Kidd's narrative box style is pure crime noir: "Elliot Osbourne. Editor-in-chief of The Gazette, for as long as anyone can remember. Two Pulitzers. Seen it all and corrected the spelling. Cut him, he bleeds ink."

Detail: super-
serious hero
beta tests new
bat-gadget.

Taylor's refined artwork strikes just the right match for Kidd's deadpan humour. I found myself studying every image. The texture of pencil across paper. The many shades of the graphite medium, from softest dove to charcoal to velvety black. Pure black and stark white are used sparingly, to maximum effect. Restrained spots of pastel colour are are exactly enough to lift the art to a sublime level. Taylor's attention to details is exquisite; in a newsroom full of people, for example, even those farthest away are sketched with care.

There are a few hey-what-happened-there gaps in the storyline that I'll happily overlook because this book gives me so much pleasure overall. Do I need to add that I highly recommend it?

Kidd playfully gets literal with the idea of a glass ceiling.
A new nightclub opens in Gotham, made entirely of glass,
suspended far above street level. Taylor echoes the concept,
floating six panels across the top of the two-page spread.
Subtle touches of blue and orange make it glow.

Readalikes with outstanding artwork: The Richard Stark's Parker series (Darwyn Cooke), starting with The Hunter, have a similar retro film noir feel; Batwoman: Elegy (Rucka and Williams) and Batwoman: Hydrology (Williams and Blackman) for more superhero adventure in Gotham; and maybe Asterios Polyp (David Mazzucchelli), if it was the architecture angle that really caught your interest. If it is Dave Taylor's pencil work in particular that wowed, you will also want to look at Brian Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruck.

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

The opening scene in The Rook by Australian author Daniel O'Malley has a badly-bruised woman waking up in a London park surrounded by dead bodies, all wearing latex gloves. She has total amnesia and must rely on letters left by her former self to reconstruct her identity. Quickly, because she obviously has enemies.

Myfanwy (rhymes with "Tiffany") Thomas is a Rook, a high-ranking officer in a top secret organization tasked with maintaining British security. Someone in the organization is a traitor. Everyone has special powers, including Myfanwy. She's kind of a mash-up of James Bond, Thursday Next and Christine Lucas (from Before I Go to Sleep). Myfanwy Thomas is intelligent, resourceful and appealing. She's also dangerous.

I listened to the audiobook performed by Susan Duerden [Dreamscape: 18 hours]. Duerden does a fine job of sorting out the dialogue of the many characters. Expect lots of action, a good dose of humour, and mutants with X-men-like powers. Throw in a bit of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, too. The Rook is inventive, suspenseful and highly entertaining.

Batwoman: Hydrology by JH Williams III and WH Blackman

Kate Kane is many things: "estranged daughter, grieving sister, proud lesbian, brave soldier, determined hero. She is Batwoman." In the first volume of the DC Comics New 52 series, Hydrology, Batwoman is battling on several fronts.

On the emotional side:

• Her father wants to reconcile their differences and Kate isn't ready for that. (It's important to read Batwoman: Elegy first to understand the backstory in Hydrology.)
• Her cousin Bette -- aka Flamebird -- is trying to convince her that she will be a good sidekick.
• Her romantic involvement is with a member of the police force, which increases the danger should her vigilante identity be revealed.

On the crime-fighting side:

• Two different organizations are attempting to learn Batwoman's civilian identity.
• Children are disappearing from Gotham City.

The artwork is mostly by J.H. Williams III and features his striking layouts. One of the many effective pages shows La Llorona, the weeping woman, morphing through four grisly incarnations and facing a twinned Batwoman plus reflection. Layers of mythology. In other places, a series of graphite-type drawings are juxtaposed within full-colour action pages. I wasn't happy with this effect when it was used to contrast a sex scene between Kate and Maggie happening at the same time as a violent encounter between Flamebird and some baddies. It made me feel queasy, actually.

I loved the La Llarona element, however. Who knew dripping water could hold such menace? Readers with a fear of water might find this story especially scary.

Williams III is also the author, along with co-writer W. Haden Blackman. The story isn't quite as substantial as that in Greg Rucka's Elegy, but Hydrology certainly held my interest. I look forward to future issues.

Black Blade Blues by J.A. Pitts

A lesbian blacksmith in Seattle, a black sword whose provenance goes all the way back to Norse mythology, dragons who shapeshift into modern investment bankers -- Black Blade Blues by J.A. Pitts has the ingredients that appeal to me. But that's not enough when the writing style is not to my taste. I was intrigued enough to get halfway through, then I skimmed, and then read the last few chapters.

Sarah Beauhall, the young blacksmith, is consumed with self-loathing. She has fallen in love with a woman for the first time and the sex is great but internalized homophobia is really messing up her relationship with Katie, a teacher. Among Katie's lesbian friends, Sarah "felt like a fish out of water. When the nagging voices in my head started up -- you know, those old teachers or cranky relatives that live in your skull and tell you how much you suck, or what an abomination you are -- those voices rose loud and clear when I thought about the public aspect of it all."

Sarah finds Katie "stunning in her teacher outfit -- black mid-length skirt and white short-sleeved top. Hell, she was stunning in nothing at all, but that's beside the point." Another day: "Katie had gone off to catch her bus decked out in her cute schoolteacher accoutrement." I found Sarah's schoolmarm fetish supremely annoying in the way it demeaned her lover's profession. Pitts' whole approach to lesbianism screamed straight male author, so I checked, and his first name is John. (Some men do write convincing lesbian characters, but not in this case.)

Continuity errors and inconsistencies abound, but it was the writing style that was the deal-breaker for me: "'Cut!' Carl called. Carl was the director." (Duh, who else would call "Cut!" on a movie set?) And this: "I woke at the butt crack of dawn."

If none of the above dissuades you, you'll be glad to know that there are sequels: Honeyed Words and Forged in Fire.

Rather than readalikes, I'll suggest alternatives.

Fantasy with a blade-wielding lesbian: Huntress (Malinda Lo)
Urban fantasy starring a lesbian: Santa Olivia (Jacqueline Carey)
Urban fantasy with a strong female lead (a car mechanic) and also shapeshifting: the Mercy Thompson books (Patricia Briggs)
Human who was once a dragon: Tea with the Black Dragon (R.A. MacAvoy)
Norse mythology brought into contemporary times: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (Douglas Adams)
and a graphic novel send-up of the found-an-ancient-powerful-artifact-and-now-the-baddies-are-after-it plotline: The Helm (Jim Hardison and others).

Grayling Cross by Gayleen Froese

Grayling Cross is Edmonton author Gayleen Froese's second paranormal detective novel to feature Collie and Anna, a larger-than-life duo who exchange entertaining dialogue while dead and missing bodies pile up around them. Colette Kostyna is a lesbian with a public relations / detective agency in Edmonton. Her employee and housemate is Anna Gareau, a retrocognitive clairsentient. In other words, Anna can see past events by handling objects.

Sure, there are folks doing magic right and left, but the Edmonton setting remains vivid as the pair of detectives crisscross the city in their search for both a missing teenage psychic and a murderer who is able to teleport. Collie "harboured a secret affection for [West Edmonton Mall], as she did for all things that were innocent of shame. The Mall was tacky in a way that Circus of the Stars could only envy, and Anna supposed there was something impressive about that."

The bantering relationship between Collie and Anna is another strong point. Their interactions are amusing to watch. When Collie wrote something down, "Anna didn't look over her shoulder, having learned that Collie didn't appreciate it. Sometimes she phrased her failure to appreciate it in the form of an elbow to the gut." Later, Anna "was about to remind Collie to take some paper for the liability statement [to be written en route], but that would have meant assuming that Collie had no paper in her purse. A ridiculous assumption. Collie probably had a sawmill in her purse."

Grayling Cross stands on its own, thankfully, since I haven't read the first book, Touch. I did gather enough from the text to learn that Touch is set in Victoria, B.C. where Collie and Anna met. I'm certainly up for more of their wacky adventures!

Readalike: Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead (Sara Gran) for another mystery with a focus on character and setting... even though it has just a touch of the paranormal.

The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan

When Jake Marlowe learns that he is the last werewolf on Earth, he is ready to give up and die. Unfortunately for his suicidal ambitions, there are two groups fighting to keep Jake alive.

In writing The Last Werewolf as Jake's personal journal, Glen Duncan gets right inside what it's like change from human to monster every full moon, "doing the lunar shuffle." Werewolves are randy creatures so there's plenty of sex. Jake's cock does a lot of twitching in response to a "sly" or "clever" cunt.

"It had been ten days since I'd fucked Madeline. Ten days takes my kind to the edge. On the Curse you're desperate for sex with a She (if you're straight, that is; there are, naturally, gay werewolves -- one resists 'queerwolves'), while off the Curse your regular libido's amped up by the frustration of not having had sex with a She."

While werewolves are all but extinct, vampires are plentiful. They are not the sparkly type. They also don't go in for revenge. "Not on any kind of principle but because nine out of ten times they just can't be bothered. All motivation derives from the primary fact of mortality. Take mortality away and motivation loses its ... motivation. Thus vampires spend a lot of time lounging around and staring out of the window and finding they can't be arsed." Just to be clear, however, the vampires in Jake's world are very dangerous.

Duncan's witty prose kept me engaged despite occasional scenes of graphic violence. After it snowed, for example, "the undisturbed fall was deep (and crisp, and even)." On the Cornish coast: "The beaches are shingle and stone and even a full day of sun leaves them literally and figuratively cold. The onyxy water would be mildly amused by you drowning in it."

My favourite line: "Reader, I ate him."

Readalikes: The Eyre Affair (and the rest of the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde), Sharp Teeth (Toby Barlow); Bite Me (Christopher Moore); and American Gods (Neil Gaiman).

The Death-Ray by Daniel Clowes

If you were a lonely misfit teenager who suddenly discovered you could zap people right out of existence, would you use your power wisely? That is Andy's dilemma in the graphic novel The Death-Ray by Daniel Clowes. Andy's only friend during his teen years is Louie, a hotheaded misanthrope. Would things have turned out differently without Louie's bad influence?

Clowes (Ghost World; Wilson; Mr. Wonderful) writes about people that seem boring at first glance - average joes living nondescript lives - and then right away you get inside their heads and even the grumpy, bitter and jaded become sympathetic. Andy in The Death-Ray is just that sort of lonely middle-aged guy when we meet him in 2004. He has a chip on his shoulder about his two ex-wives: "Neither one of them was worth a damn. Just a couple of whores out to drain a man of his money and vigor. Too bad for them, I don't have much of either. Tough shit, ladies." Based on his boring present life, who would guess about Andy's exciting youthful misadventures?

The comics panels are in cheerful primary colours: bright yellow vomit; bright red blood. The Death-Ray is over-the-top and tongue in cheek. It's thought-provoking, tragic and absolutely brilliant.

Batwoman: Elegy by Greg Rucka and JH Williams III

Kate Kane's lesbianism is out in the open in the graphic novel Batwoman: Elegy. It is the reason she was thrown out of the army right after graduating from West Point. The thing that complicates Kate's love life is her secret identity as the Batwoman.

In an earlier graphic novel written by Greg Rucka, Gotham Central: Half a Life, readers were introduced to Renee Montoya, a detective in Gotham's police force. Renee was outed and framed for murder in that story. Renee appears briefly in Batwoman: Elegy as an ex-lover for whom Kate pines.

A new leader of the Religion of Crime has come to Gotham City and her name is Alice. She speaks only in dialogue from Lewis Carroll's works. Artist JH Williams III seems to have been inspired by Tim Burton and his Alice looks like a saucy Victorian punk goth version of Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter. Williams' dynamic page layouts also include neat visual tricks that foreshadow an important plot element.

Kate and Alice are well-matched as adversaries. While there are evil minions with superpowers around them, these two women are athletic humans with lots of nifty military gadgets. Thrilling, dark and fun. There's also a great introduction by Rachel Maddow, praising the Batwoman's moral spine.

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

"Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well." The first two lines of the book pretty much set the tone for this paranormal romance. The first part of the book is set in contemporary Prague, where 17-year-old Karou is studying art. Later, the action moves into the world of seraphs and chimaera.

"Karou was, simply, lovely. Creamy and leggy, with long azure hair and the eyes of a silent-movie star, she moved like a poem and smiled like a sphinx." This kind of description rings all kinds of warning bells in my head, but I liked Karou anyway. She is feisty and smart and self-sufficient. She is ignorant of her family origins and was raised by monsters. Karou is such a great character and I was curious enough by the mystery of her background to keep reading though all the romance-y stuff. ("___ and ___ were like two matches struck against each other to flare starlight.")

Romantic intrigue -- a handsome prince with his eye on one beautiful sister whose heart belongs to another while her ugly step-sister is secretly in love with the prince -- is really not my thing. Neither is fussing about clothes, hair and cosmetics while getting ready for a ball. Iron abs and wild, timpani hearts don't interest me. I usually sort of skip past those parts when I'm reading, but since they are central to the plot of Daughter of Smoke & Bone, I couldn't ignore them. Sigh. I much preferred Taylor's first book, Blackbringer.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Inspired by quirky vintage photographs, author Ransom Riggs has dreamed up a story about an unusual orphanage located off the coast of Wales. One of the orphans grew up to be Abe, Jacob's Jewish grandfather. At 15, Jacob had long given up believing in his grandfather's outlandish tales about growing up among orphaned children with peculiar talents... until Jacob saw his first monster. His adventures began then.

The book is sprinkled with over 40 reproductions of old photos. If you're in the mood for something completely different, check this out. It kept me amused and intrigued, although the gimmick wore a bit thin by the (cliffhanger) end. Grade 7 - adult.

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

"This is the story of a boy who used to be a wolf and a girl who was becoming one." The first sentence of the prologue pretty much sums up the second book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series. I enjoyed the first book, Shiver, but am less enthusiastic about Linger.

I know that part of my antipathy is because of the audiobook narrators [Scholastic; 10 hours, 40 minutes]. Usually I like it when alternating character voices are interpreted by different performers, but not this time. Three of the four - Dan Bittner, Pierce Cravens and Jenna Lamia - spoke so slowly that it drove me nuts! They sounded like dimwits. Only Emma Galvin, as Isabelle, sounded like a normal person.

Isabelle is attracted to a new werewolf, Cole, whose personality is as prickly as hers. That worked very well. The lovey-dovey relationship between Grace and Sam proceeds as it was laid out in Shiver, but Grace's parents have made an odd about-face. In the first book, they were negligently oblivious. In Linger, they do everything possible to keep Grace and Sam apart.

The change in Grace's parents seemed so out of character that I pondered this after finishing the book. In the end, I concede that they may have been shocked by what they saw as a breach of trust by their daughter and that's why they over-reacted. They continued to be bad parents. At the core of the story is the theme of breaking free from expectations and fulfilling your own destiny. Bad parents provide a better foil for this action.

A nice aspect of the audiobook is the inclusion of original music composed and performed by the author. You can hear it while watching the lovely trailer Stiefvater created using paper cutouts and stop motion filming.

Linger ends in a cliffhanger, but even without that, I am curious enough about the final outcome to plan to read the final book in the series, Forever.

Evil? by Timothy Carter

In his northern Ontario hometown, Stuart Bradley finds that being gay only raises a few eyebrows, but being caught masturbating - committing the sin of Onan - results in "spiller" graffiti on his high school locker. He gets thrown out of his home and the situation escalates. Angry mobs fill the streets carrying torches, ready to drive Stuart and the other "spillers" out of town. It turns out that fallen angels are the source of all the hatred in this satirical novel for teens. Grade 8 - 12.

Kindred by Tammar Stein

Miriam is so frightened by a visit from the angel Raphael in her college dorm during spring break that she wets herself. Meanwhile, her twin brother Moses has been chatting with Satan. As you can imagine from this set-up, the siblings end up working at cross-purposes. Their parents are both professors of theology - their father is a rabbi and their mother is a former Catholic nun. Miriam, however, isn't prepared to talk to either parent about angelic visitations. She won't even talk to them about her painful bowel problems.

I found Miriam's struggles with the symptoms, embarrassments and eventual diagnosis of Crohn's disease the most interesting aspect of the book. Miriam manages to resolve her crisis of faith, and this is how she sums up her feelings: "God watches over us and shows us the way, while the devil trips us and hopes that we fall. We can keep each other company. We can lend a helping hand. But we have to do the walking ourselves."

It's not really my cup of tea. I'd recommend this to teens who are questioning their faith and who also enjoy some paranormal aspects in a realistic, contemporary setting. Grade 8-12

Mr. Mendoza's Paintbrush by Luis Alberto Urrea and Christopher Cardinale

Mr. Mendoza is an elderly graffiti artist in the Mexican town of El Rosario. Unlike the old women who merely mutter their displeasure at immoral behaviours, Mr. Mendoza takes action, paintbrush in hand. His wry wit might pop up anywhere. On the sign into town, for example, "No intelligent life for 100 kilometers." The tale centers on an incident where two teenage boys get their comeuppance when they were caught spying on some young women bathing in the river.

The story was originally published in Urrea's Six Kinds of Sky collection. The imagined town, Rosario, is almost a character in itself. It is the same setting as that in Urrea's latest novel, Into the Beautiful North.

On top of a great story with an element of magic realism, this book has breathtaking art by Christopher Cardinale. It looks like woodcut printing; lots of black with rich greens, blues and ochre shades. Cardinale is known for his murals and his social activism. His art is absolutely perfect for the timeless feel of this story.