A Brief History of Montmaray by Michelle Cooper

Set in 1936 and written in the style of a journal, it was immediately obvious why this book has drawn comparisons to Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle: the voice of the 16-year-old narrator, Sophie. She lives in a castle - a fortified house, excuse me - on a small island in the Bay of Biscay, off the coast of France. Montmaray is an island nation with only a handful of people left on it besides Sophie and her uncle, the mad King John of Montmaray. They have fallen on financial hard times and things are about to get even more difficult with the arrival of some Nazi Germans. Highly recommended for Grade 7 through to adult.

Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life by Brian Brett

"Born with a rare genetic malfunction that made me middle-sexed, Kallmann's syndrome, I was a troubled and difficult left-handed child, regularly thrashed by my teachers who wanted to make me right-handed, though there was a lot more help I could have used. One teacher used to give me the strap because I'd look out the window and weep at the beauty of the world -- bad form for a twelve-year-old 'boy' -- and he tried to beat the beauty and the weeping out of me. 'Be a man!' he said, as the leather strap hit my girlie-boy's outstretched hand."

That misguided teacher did not succeed in whipping the beauty out of Canadian poet Brian Brett, nor his rebellious attitude. "I question all authority and I rise on a summer morning to the haunting song of a thrush, live with the birds of the day, and sleep to the random vocalizations of the night."

Trauma Farm is Brett's warm, witty and graceful memoir of his past 18 years, which have been spent living on a small mixed farm on Salt Spring Island with his wife. He recounts one anecdote after another: joyful births, tragic deaths and many amusing incidents in between.

"The most I have learned is that living in these moments, close to the land, is good, and behaving with as much common decency as I can muster is also good." A book that satisfies my soul.

Crash into Me by Albert Borris

Four suicidal teens meet online. Jin-Ae is a lesbian who is not out to her Korean family. Owen doesn't believe anyone would really care if he dies, but he'd still like to make his death look like an accident so that no one would feel guilty. Frank doesn't think he can live up to anyone's expectations, especially his father's. Audrey, a compulsive liar, had her heart broken when her last boyfriend dumped her and so she jumped off a roof. They form a pact to commit suicide together, and head off on a road trip across the USA, stopping along the way to visit the graves of famous suicides. Final destination: Death Valley in California.

The Crossroads by Chris Grabenstein

A ghost that lives in an oak tree near Zack's new house is trying to kill him, but Zack has ghostly friends on his side. Scary... but also really funny. It's a winning combination. Grade 4-8.

The Incident Report by Martha Baillie

Miriam Gordon, a 35-year-old library assistant at the Allan Gardens branch of Toronto Public Library, records interactions with patrons in brief incident reports. If you're in the mood for something different - amusing and perplexing and charming - give this a go. I loved it.

The Everafter by Amy Huntley

The spirit of 17-year-old Madison meets up with the spirit of her boyfriend, Gabe, in the afterlife. The first thing she realizes is that she misses him: "I know this sounds superficial, but I miss the way he looks. I mean, he was hot and now he's just mist. I know... I know... this is the kind of thing that keeps me attached to life and makes me a decidely unenlightened spirit."

This excerpt, together with the cover blurb from Gabrielle Zevin describing The Everafter as "a love story that transcends death," should be enough for readers to decide whether this book is for them or not. Sweet to the nth degree. A readalike that comes to mind is Heaven Looks a Lot Like a Mall by Wendy Mass.

Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett

There's not much I can say about Terry Pratchett because his fabulousness is already well-known. If you haven't read any of his Discworld novels yet (and why haven't you?), then go ahead and start with this one. Expect wacky wizards, a benevolent tyrant and a city where humans, dwarfs, trolls and vampires have learned to co-exist, but football matches are apt to end in death. It is a story about having the courage to be true to oneself and the wisdom to view change in a positive light. Pratchett's use of language is such a delight that I will use the rest of this post to quote from the book:

"[The love letter] read as though someone had turned on the poetry tap and then absent-mindedly gone on holiday."

"Glenda was taken aback and affronted at the same time, which was a bit of a squeeze."

"Don't drink that - that's cider vinegar!" "I'm only drinking the cider bit."

"Juliet's version of cleanliness was next to godliness, which was to say it was erratic, past all understanding and was seldom seen."