Bildungsroman

A Map of the Known World (April 2009) is Lisa Ann Sandell's third novel (it was also the first book I have discovered that was edited by Aimee Friedman a neat-o YA author in her own right whom I met very, very, very briefly at a reading). She has two other critically acclaimed novels under her belt. According to her website, those previous books were written in verse. I feel like saying that now because I want to address the tone of the book, before saying anything else about it. At times the writing felt erratic--sometimes profoundly authentic, at other times very much like a writer writing as a teen. That might be due in part to Sandell's experience with free verse. It might also be because I was reading and uncorrected advanced proof. I don't know, but I wanted to point it out all the same. Now you know.  read more »

Meet Maybelline Mary Katherine Mary Ann Chestnut ("Maybe" for short). Maybe was named for her mother Chessy's favorite brand of mascara and two of Chessy's favorite Miss Americas. Living above her mother's charm school, perhaps it's not surprise that a lot of what Maybe does in Absolutely Maybe (2009) by Lisa Yee is part of a backlash against her mother.

Chessamay Chestnut Abajian Wing Marshall Wing Sinclair Alvarez (and soon to be Himmler) is a serial marryer. Somehow she winds up married to every man she dates--everyone except Maybe's father who remains a mystery.

Most of the time, Maybe can deal with all of that. Sure, her mother's charm school students taunt her and constantly make fun of her baggy clothes and funky hair colors, but they don't matter. Neither do Chessy's not-always-so-gentle criticisms. Maybe is above all of that. At least until Chessy chooses her sketchy fiance over Maybe, which is the last straw and convinces Maybe that she has to leave her hometown. And her mother. For good.  read more »