Review: The Traitor in the Tunnel by Y. S. Lee

The Agency, Book 3

Book 1: A Spy in the House review
Book 2: The Body at the Tower review

Tags: YA, historical fiction, mystery, Victorian England

Summary

Mary Quinn’s latest assignment for the Agency has her placed as a servant in Buckingham Palace. But a dull assignment to unearth a thief in the palace turns into something a lot bigger—and more personal—when the death of an aristocrat is linked to a Chinese sailor who may or may not be Mary’s long-absent father. In addition to trying to unravel what happened to her past, Mary reluctantly joins forces again with James Easton, arrogant, infuriating, but oh-so-irresistible engineer, to examine a plot to overthrow the queen.

Review

Whenever a new Agency novel by Y. S. Lee comes out, I always try to resist the temptation to devour it immediately, knowing that I will have to wait a while until the next book. I succeeded in resisting for all of approximately two weeks after I was approved for it on NetGalley. While, in my opinion, THE TRAITOR IN THE TUNNEL didn’t quite live up to how much I loved the first two Agency books, it is still a satisfying return to Lee’s Victorian London.

My biggest frustration with TRAITOR was that I felt that many things were “uneven.” The story takes place among the most well-noted London landmarks and features well-known historical characters, but I still didn’t get a really thorough sense of the setting and minor characters. Some of the actions of seasoned characters felt rather abrupt and left me scratching my head and wondering, did he/she really do that? I also didn’t feel as much urgency or investment in TRAITOR, and felt like no sooner had I grasped what was going on in the plot than it was over.

But perhaps it’s just a result of it being a long time since I was in Mary’s world, or the fact that I was reading this on a Kindle, which, truth be told, sometimes takes away from my engagement in a story. I am very glad to see Mary again, who is resourceful, yet also contains relatable insecurities, particularly involving her familial past and her future, both of which get explored in appreciable side plots in TRAITOR. As always, I am more than happy to see James again—even though some of his behavior did feel a bit incongruous with the James I knew from the previous two books.

So THE TRAITOR IN THE TUNNEL might not be my favorite of the Agency books, but this series is still arguably the best mystery series set in Victorian England available. Best yet, there is one more Agency book in the works—and you’ll agree with me that it is a wonderful thing to be able to read about Mary, James, and the others for as long as possible once you start this series!

Cover discussion: I love that this model is featured so prominently on all of the covers. And yay for matching covers!

Candlewick / Feb. 28, 2012 / Hardcover / 384pp. / $16.99

Galley received from NetGalley and publisher. Thank you!

Review: Eye of the Storm by Kate Messner

Tags: middle grade, dystopian, global warming

Summary

Jaden is the daughter of Stephen Meggs, the renowned scientist who has created a StormSafe community that guarantees protection from the monster storms and tornadoes that are ravaging the entire earth due to climate change. Jaden should feel lucky for the chance to live with her father in the StormSafe community for a summer and attend Eye on Tomorrow, a prestigious science camp for young people. However, unexpected discoveries in the process of working on storm dissipation models with her new friends Alex and Risha make Jaden suspicious of what her father is really working on for his research. The truth is shocking and horrifying, but is there anything that Jaden and her friends can do to stop innocent people from being hurt by the storms?

Review

Kate Messner is a queen when it comes to middle-grade contemporary literature, but her take on MG dystopian does not disappoint. EYE OF THE STORM is a relevant story that contains the meticulous research and believable characters that are trademarks of Messner’s writing.

It’s hard to read EYE OF THE STORM today and not think of the frightening tornadoes that have recently hit the US. It makes the premise all the more believable, the book all the more a great read for kids. Messner blends meteorological science seamlessly into a fast-paced plot, and the book’s message—that if we don’t start doing something about today’s global warming, then the future will be grim indeed—is quite clear. It’s the best way to give kids an important lesson: cool science tossed into an exciting story, the moral easily extrapolated from the all-too-possible setting.

Some things that did frustrate me a little with EYE OF THE STORM were how polarized the adults were, and how dramatic the plot and narration got at times. EYE OF THE STORM felt very much like an “adults did bad things, and now it’s up to us kids to fix the problem” tale, which to me felt like the too conveniently easy way to drive the story’s message home to readers. The last half or third of the book felt like an endless event of friends screaming life-or-death orders/suggestions to one another, storms tearing up things, and glass shattering. Think a scene from the movie Twister, only played out over the course of 100 or so pages. The marathon demands on my heart were rather exhausting and perhaps, I think, not that necessary.

Nevertheless, EYE OF THE STORM is sure to delight its intended audience of middle-grade and juvenile readers. This is one I’d definitely put in schools, libraries, and gift boxes. Relevant, well-written, and exciting, Kate Messner’s latest book deserves to be read.

Cover discussion: I love how unique it is! I love how it keeps the same style as Kate Messner's other MG novels but has a more intense spin to it.

Walker Childrens / Feb. 28, 2012 / Hardcover / 304pp. / $16.99

e-galley received from publisher and NetGalley. Thank you!

Review: Boy21 by Matthew Quick

Tags: YA, contemporary, friendship, mobs, basketball

Summary

In the city of Bellmont, where mobs covertly rule the streets and it’s not safe to ask questions, Finley tries to lead a quiet existence of basketball, basketball, and more basketball along with his girlfriend, Erin, whose brother is part of the Irish mob. But the arrival of Russ shakes up Finley’s life—for Russ, who is a nationally ranked high school basketball player, has been through some pretty recent trauma, and now insists on being called Boy21. Finley doesn’t know how he, of all people, can help Boy21, but when terrible things befall him, Finley finds solace in this true friend.

Review

Set in an unsettlingly realistic world of poverty, violence, and racism, BOY21 gifts readers with the subtle magic that contemporary literature can possess.

The setting of Bellmont may be one that some readers are not familiar with, a poverty-ridden city ruled by the invisible hands of mobs. BOY21 is not a “mob story,” but the presence of mobs in Bellmont does play a role in explaining characters’ behaviors. Neither is BOY21 a story about race: instead, race is a conscious presence in the story, but does not dictate its plotline. This kind of refreshingly realistic and relatable take on issues such as race and poverty will, I hope, be emulated in YA to come.

But I haven’t yet begun to talk about the best thing about BOY21, which is…its characters! Finley is an easy protagonist to like, despite—or perhaps because of—his reticence. We like him partly because of his harmlessness—which is what other characters think of him as well—but also because we can see the potential in him to overcome his own tragedy and find his voice. Boy21 is believable in his mannerisms and you come to feel both sympathy and regard for this extraordinary yet humble young man.

The ending feels a little bit like wish fulfillment to me, but it proved to be only a small dent in what was otherwise a satisfying reading experience. BOY21 may not be fast-paced in the way of action stories, but it’s hard to put down in its own right.

Cover discussion: Eccentric and fascinating... just like Boy21 (the character and the book *smiles*).

Little, Brown / March 5, 2012 / Hardcover / 256pp. / $17.99

e-galley received from publisher and NetGalley.

Some Wanderlove of My Own

I didn't realize how difficult it would be to get back into daily routine--which includes blogging--after almost a month of traveling and vacation! Sorry I've been so absent lately. On the other hand, I've had some brilliant experiences and discovered new places that I love and would like to revisit in the future.

At the end of February I went on a company retreat to Malaysia. We stayed mostly in Kuala Lumpur, which was a lovely city, not just because of the weather, which was consistently sunny and warm (a far cry from cold Shanghai), but because the people were friendly and the food was delicious.

The weather was like this:

--and I visited a Kinokuniya Bookstore, which is basically book heaven for book lovers, because it's huge and has pretty much any book you can think of on its shelves somewhere. AND because it fully integrated YA literature into literature at large, and there were lots of placards around the store recommending YA lit as "your next great read."

RESPECK!

The Petronas Towers were so, so, breathtakingly beautiful:

They reminded of plants, taking root on our earth and unfurling towards the impeccable sky. I didn't get to see much of Malaysia as I was only there for a few days, but I will definitely return.

A few days after Malaysia, I left for vacation to Taiwan. My family is from Taiwan, but this was the first time I had a sizable say in where I wanted to go, what I wanted to do. Being there simply reinforced to me the fact that Taiwan is an incredible, lush, friendly, wonderful place that I could seriously consider calling home.

My favorite place on the trip was probably the Pingxi district, a short train ride outside Taipei, which is like a slice of the 1800s in the middle of the 21st century.

In the town of Shifen, the train track slips in between old houses, and during the times when the train is not passing by, people will stand on the tracks to release "sky-lanterns" that they can buy and paint their wishes on.

These are scenes that seem to come right out of stories and dreams.

Incredible, isn't it?

There's more, so much more:

Storm clouds moving in to the city of Hualien.

Riding bikes along abandoned railroad tracks in the East Rift Valley past rice paddies.

Attending the weekly Saturday night local music performance in Dulan.

Looking off from the paragliding launch site on the high terrace overlooking the pastoral town of Luye.

And, as always, braving the crowds at night markets to enjoy the ubiquitous good Taiwanese street food.

It was a wonderful trip and it was really hard to return back to "normal" life. Needless to say, I will be going back to Taiwan as soon as I can. This tiny island is truly incredible in what it has to offer in terms of scenery, culture, food, and people. I'll stop short of being a salesperson for Taiwan vacations but seriously, you should try to go if you have the chance!

These two places in the past month have really awakened the wanderlust in me. Hopefully I'll get to explore more places in the future while I'm still hanging around Asia. South Korea, Thailand, Philippines, New Zealand, and Australia, I'm looking at you!