9 YA novel debuts to look out for, 2011.
Edited on January 23rd to add a book, The Lost Voices, and to give my thoughts on the first book, Across the Universe.
I've compiled a list of debut YA novels I am really looking forward to in the coming year, and I am including it here for your perusal. These are all books from brand new authors and I'm choosing them based on cover and synopsis. The less stupid they sound and the prettier they look, the better. Yes, I'm superficial. Sue me.
These are organized in release date order. I've included publisher blurbs above my comments so you can get an idea of what the books will be about, in addition to rating each by my level of anticipation out of 10. Enjoy!
Across the Universe
by Beth Revis
Published January 11th 2011
A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.
Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.
Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone--one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship--tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.
Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.
Aimee's comments: Yes, yes, it's yet another YA dystopia science fiction. What can I say, I am looking forward to it. I've been hearing a lot of buzz about this book, similar to the buzz that was going on for Matched (Ally Condie) when it came out. There's a kick-ass first chapter posted by Penguin over at Amazon, found here (right click-save if it doesn't work in-browser for you!). It's really a fantastic, gripping introductory chapter, so I'm really looking forward to this work. 10/10 anticipation.
The results: Turned out pretty good. Definitely readable, gripping plot, all that. Cheesy romance though. 8/10.
The False Princess
by Eilis O'Neal
Published January 25th 2011
Princess and heir to the throne of Thorvaldor, Nalia's led a privileged life at court. But everything changes when it's revealed, just after her sixteenth birthday, that she is a false princess, a stand-in for the real Nalia, who has been hidden away for her protection. Cast out with little more than the clothes on her back, the girl now called Sinda must leave behind the city of Vivaskari, her best friend, Keirnan, and the only life she's ever known.
Sinda is sent to live with her only surviving relative, an aunt who is a dyer in a distant village. She is a cold, scornful woman with little patience for her newfound niece, and Sinda proves inept at even the simplest tasks. But when Sinda discovers that magic runs through her veins - long-suppressed, dangerous magic that she must learn to control - she realizes that she can never learn to be a simple village girl.
Returning to Vivaskari for answers, Sinda finds her purpose as a wizard scribe, rediscovers the boy who saw her all along, and uncovers a secret that could change the course of Thorvaldor's history, forever.
Aimee's comments: OK, look. I'm a sucker for this type of fairytale-ish story with you know, a misunderstood heroine and a self-discovery journey. This seems like a reverse version of the Goose Girl (Shannon Hale), and if it even comes close to that comparison, it'll be a good one. 8/10 anticipation.
Haven
by Kristi Cook
Published February 22nd 2011
One month into her junior year, sixteen-year-old Violet McKenna transfers to the Winterhaven School in New York’s Hudson Valley, inexplicably drawn to the boarding school with high hopes. Leaving Atlanta behind, she’s looking forward to a fresh start--a new school, and new classmates who will not know her deepest, darkest secret, the one she’s tried to hide all her life: strange, foreboding visions of the future.
But Winterhaven has secrets of its own, secrets that run far deeper than Violet’s. Everyone there--every student, every teacher--has psychic abilities, 'gifts and talents,' they like to call them. Once the initial shock of discovery wears off, Violet realizes that the school is a safe haven for people like her. Soon, Violet has a new circle of friends, a new life, and maybe even a boyfriend--Aidan Gray, perhaps the smartest, hottest guy at Winterhaven.
Only there’s more to Aidan than meets the eye--much, much more. And once she learns the horrible truth, there’s no turning back from her destiny. Their destiny. Together, Violet and Aidan must face a common enemy--if only they can do so without destroying each other first.
Aimee's comments: A female Harry Potter? I don't know. I'm just making random comments. I really like the word "haven," and the concept of this sounds interesting enough. The line about the "hottest guy" being someone named Aidan Gray (puh-leaze *eyeroll*) is gag-worthy, but at least it seems like it'll be an interesting read. 6/10 Anticipation.
Wither (Chemical Garden #1)
by Lauren DeStefano
Published March 22nd 2011
What if you knew exactly when you would die?
Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb-males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.
When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape-to find her twin brother and go home.
But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.
Aimee's comments: OK, look. Despite the craptastically designed and edited cover, this actually sounds like a fantastic premise. It's a common scientific idea that biology determines social patterns.. so what happens when human lifespan is dropped to 25 years old? It's an idea that was expertly explored in Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro), albeit rather heavy-handedly done. I look forward to reading a lighter, YA take on this. 8/10 Anticipation.
Entwined
by Heather Dixon
Published March 29th 2011
Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her . . . beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing . . . it's taken away. All of it.
The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation. Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest.
But there is a cost.
The Keeper likes to keep things.
Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late.
Aimee's comments: Yessss. I am actually fantastically excited for this. The story of the twelve dancing princesses was my favorite fairytale as a child, and I'm always more than willing to read fairytale retellings. I've read a million Cinderella retellings and I'm not yet sick of them. Bring it on! 10/10 anticipation.
Divergent
by Veronica Roth
Published May 3rd 2011
One choice
One choice decides your friends, defines your beliefs, and determines your loyalties . . . forever.
Or, one choice can transform you.
In Veronica Roth's debut novel, Divergent, a perfect society unfolds into a dystopian world of electrifying decisions, stunning consequences, heartbreaking betrayals, and unexpected romance.
Aimee's comments: OK, so the publisher's description is not that descriptive, but it's dystopian fiction and it focuses on personal choice (a favorite motif of mine in literature), it's got intrigue, it's got betrayal.... and it has a cool cover. Sold. 8/10 anticipation.
Lost Voices
by Sarah Porter
Published July 4th, 2011
What happens to the girls nobody sees-the ones who are ignored, mistreated, hidden away? The girls nobody hears when they cry for help?
Fourteen-year-old Luce is one of those lost girls. After her father vanishes in a storm at sea, she is stuck in a grim, gray Alaskan fishing village with her alcoholic uncle. When her uncle crosses an unspeakable line, Luce reaches the depths of despair. Abandoned on the cliffs near her home, she expects to die when she tumbles to the icy, churning waves below. Instead, she undergoes an astonishing transformation and becomes a mermaid.
A tribe of mermaids finds Luce and welcomes her in-all of them, like her, lost girls who surrendered their humanity in the darkest moments of their lives. The mermaids are beautiful, free, and ageless, and Luce is thrilled with her new life until she discovers the catch: they feel an uncontrollable desire to drown seafarers, using their enchanted voices to lure ships into the rocks.
Luce’s own talent at singing captures the attention of the tribe’s queen, the fierce and elegant Catarina, and Luce soon finds herself pressured to join in committing mass murder. Luce’s struggle to retain her inner humanity puts her at odds with her friends; even worse, Catarina seems to regard Luce as a potential rival. But the appearance of a devious new mermaid brings a real threat to Catarina’s leadership and endangers the very existence of the tribe. Can Luce find the courage to challenge the newcomer, even at the risk of becoming rejected and alone once again?
Lost Voices is a captivating and wildly original tale about finding a voice, the healing power of friendship, and the strength it takes to forgive.
Aimee's comments: This sounds either awesome or terrible. Fantastic concept though. 8/10 anticipation.
Luminous
by Dawn Metcalf
Published July 7th 2011
When sixteen-year-old Consuela discovers she can remove her skin, revealing a lustrous mother-of-pearl skeleton, she slips into a parallel world known as the Flow, a place inhabited by archetypal teens with extraordinary abilities.
Crafting skins out of anything - air, water, feathers, fire - she is compelled to save ordinary people from dying before their time.
Yet now someone is murdering them, one by one, and Consuela finds herself the focus of an intricate plot to end the Flow forever when all she really wants is to get back home, alive.
Aimee's comments: Look. It's got a pretty cover. It focuses on interesting image issues. And there's a murder mystery thrown in, as well as Special Magical Powers. I'm going to give this at least a try even though the description is pretty mediocre. 6/10 anticipation.
Starstruck
by Cyn Balog
Published July 12th 2011
When Gwendolyn “Dough” Reilly’s boyfriend and best friend Wish moves away in seventh grade, the only consolation she can find is in her family bakery’s donuts. Now, it’s sophomore year, and Wish is coming back.
But in only three years, they’ve both changed-drastically. She’s seriously overweight, and suddenly Wish is the most popular guy in school, and girls everywhere want him.
Dough has doubts that appearances don’t matter and that Wish can love her as she is, so she launches into a plan designed to keep them together. That is, until she discovers that Wish’s gorgeous looks and charm might not be all they appear to be.
Aimee's comments: I'm not really interested in what some consider "issue books" (ie. books dealing with rape, body weight, etc etc), and nor am I interested in paranormal romance (which this book has also been categorized under by many), but I confess that the combination of the two makes this an interesting one and it's definitely on my radar. 7/10 anticipation.
Wildefire
by Karsten Knight
Published July 26th 2011
Ashline Wilde never received an instruction manual on how to be a 16-year-old Polynesian volcano goddess. If she had, it might have contained helpful warnings such as:
• Dreaming about your (thankfully) mortal boyfriend may cause your bed to spontaneously combust
• Oven mitts should be worn at all times during heavy make-out sessions
Instead, Ash has to learn these life lessons the hard way as her dormant powers erupt at the most awkward times. In the wake of a hometown tragedy, Ash transfers to Blackwood Academy, a boarding school nestled in California’s redwoods, where a group of fellow gods-on-earth have mysteriously convened. As if sophomore year couldn’t get any worse, her storm goddess older sister, the wild and unpredictable Eve, resurfaces to haunt Ashline. With a war between the gods looming over Blackwood, Ash must master the fire smoldering within her before she clashes with her sister one final time, which leads us to life-lesson #3:
• When warm and cold fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to be a storm.
Aimee's comments: Take note, publishers. This is how you write a publisher's blurb. If the book is anything like the blurb, it promises to be a hilarious, refreshing read. I'm definitely looking forward to it very much. This blurb is so fantastic I don't feel like there's anything else to be said about the book! 9/10 anticipation!
I've compiled a list of debut YA novels I am really looking forward to in the coming year, and I am including it here for your perusal. These are all books from brand new authors and I'm choosing them based on cover and synopsis. The less stupid they sound and the prettier they look, the better. Yes, I'm superficial. Sue me.
These are organized in release date order. I've included publisher blurbs above my comments so you can get an idea of what the books will be about, in addition to rating each by my level of anticipation out of 10. Enjoy!
Across the Universe
by Beth Revis
Published January 11th 2011
A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.
Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.
Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone--one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship--tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.
Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.
Aimee's comments: Yes, yes, it's yet another YA dystopia science fiction. What can I say, I am looking forward to it. I've been hearing a lot of buzz about this book, similar to the buzz that was going on for Matched (Ally Condie) when it came out. There's a kick-ass first chapter posted by Penguin over at Amazon, found here (right click-save if it doesn't work in-browser for you!). It's really a fantastic, gripping introductory chapter, so I'm really looking forward to this work. 10/10 anticipation.
The results: Turned out pretty good. Definitely readable, gripping plot, all that. Cheesy romance though. 8/10.
The False Princess
by Eilis O'Neal
Published January 25th 2011
Princess and heir to the throne of Thorvaldor, Nalia's led a privileged life at court. But everything changes when it's revealed, just after her sixteenth birthday, that she is a false princess, a stand-in for the real Nalia, who has been hidden away for her protection. Cast out with little more than the clothes on her back, the girl now called Sinda must leave behind the city of Vivaskari, her best friend, Keirnan, and the only life she's ever known.
Sinda is sent to live with her only surviving relative, an aunt who is a dyer in a distant village. She is a cold, scornful woman with little patience for her newfound niece, and Sinda proves inept at even the simplest tasks. But when Sinda discovers that magic runs through her veins - long-suppressed, dangerous magic that she must learn to control - she realizes that she can never learn to be a simple village girl.
Returning to Vivaskari for answers, Sinda finds her purpose as a wizard scribe, rediscovers the boy who saw her all along, and uncovers a secret that could change the course of Thorvaldor's history, forever.
Aimee's comments: OK, look. I'm a sucker for this type of fairytale-ish story with you know, a misunderstood heroine and a self-discovery journey. This seems like a reverse version of the Goose Girl (Shannon Hale), and if it even comes close to that comparison, it'll be a good one. 8/10 anticipation.
Haven
by Kristi Cook
Published February 22nd 2011
One month into her junior year, sixteen-year-old Violet McKenna transfers to the Winterhaven School in New York’s Hudson Valley, inexplicably drawn to the boarding school with high hopes. Leaving Atlanta behind, she’s looking forward to a fresh start--a new school, and new classmates who will not know her deepest, darkest secret, the one she’s tried to hide all her life: strange, foreboding visions of the future.
But Winterhaven has secrets of its own, secrets that run far deeper than Violet’s. Everyone there--every student, every teacher--has psychic abilities, 'gifts and talents,' they like to call them. Once the initial shock of discovery wears off, Violet realizes that the school is a safe haven for people like her. Soon, Violet has a new circle of friends, a new life, and maybe even a boyfriend--Aidan Gray, perhaps the smartest, hottest guy at Winterhaven.
Only there’s more to Aidan than meets the eye--much, much more. And once she learns the horrible truth, there’s no turning back from her destiny. Their destiny. Together, Violet and Aidan must face a common enemy--if only they can do so without destroying each other first.
Aimee's comments: A female Harry Potter? I don't know. I'm just making random comments. I really like the word "haven," and the concept of this sounds interesting enough. The line about the "hottest guy" being someone named Aidan Gray (puh-leaze *eyeroll*) is gag-worthy, but at least it seems like it'll be an interesting read. 6/10 Anticipation.
Wither (Chemical Garden #1)
by Lauren DeStefano
Published March 22nd 2011
What if you knew exactly when you would die?
Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb-males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.
When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape-to find her twin brother and go home.
But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.
Aimee's comments: OK, look. Despite the craptastically designed and edited cover, this actually sounds like a fantastic premise. It's a common scientific idea that biology determines social patterns.. so what happens when human lifespan is dropped to 25 years old? It's an idea that was expertly explored in Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro), albeit rather heavy-handedly done. I look forward to reading a lighter, YA take on this. 8/10 Anticipation.
Entwined
by Heather Dixon
Published March 29th 2011
Azalea is trapped. Just when she should feel that everything is before her . . . beautiful gowns, dashing suitors, balls filled with dancing . . . it's taken away. All of it.
The Keeper understands. He's trapped, too, held for centuries within the walls of the palace. And so he extends an invitation. Every night, Azalea and her eleven sisters may step through the enchanted passage in their room to dance in his silver forest.
But there is a cost.
The Keeper likes to keep things.
Azalea may not realize how tangled she is in his web until it is too late.
Aimee's comments: Yessss. I am actually fantastically excited for this. The story of the twelve dancing princesses was my favorite fairytale as a child, and I'm always more than willing to read fairytale retellings. I've read a million Cinderella retellings and I'm not yet sick of them. Bring it on! 10/10 anticipation.
Divergent
by Veronica Roth
Published May 3rd 2011
One choice
One choice decides your friends, defines your beliefs, and determines your loyalties . . . forever.
Or, one choice can transform you.
In Veronica Roth's debut novel, Divergent, a perfect society unfolds into a dystopian world of electrifying decisions, stunning consequences, heartbreaking betrayals, and unexpected romance.
Aimee's comments: OK, so the publisher's description is not that descriptive, but it's dystopian fiction and it focuses on personal choice (a favorite motif of mine in literature), it's got intrigue, it's got betrayal.... and it has a cool cover. Sold. 8/10 anticipation.
Lost Voices
by Sarah Porter
Published July 4th, 2011
What happens to the girls nobody sees-the ones who are ignored, mistreated, hidden away? The girls nobody hears when they cry for help?
Fourteen-year-old Luce is one of those lost girls. After her father vanishes in a storm at sea, she is stuck in a grim, gray Alaskan fishing village with her alcoholic uncle. When her uncle crosses an unspeakable line, Luce reaches the depths of despair. Abandoned on the cliffs near her home, she expects to die when she tumbles to the icy, churning waves below. Instead, she undergoes an astonishing transformation and becomes a mermaid.
A tribe of mermaids finds Luce and welcomes her in-all of them, like her, lost girls who surrendered their humanity in the darkest moments of their lives. The mermaids are beautiful, free, and ageless, and Luce is thrilled with her new life until she discovers the catch: they feel an uncontrollable desire to drown seafarers, using their enchanted voices to lure ships into the rocks.
Luce’s own talent at singing captures the attention of the tribe’s queen, the fierce and elegant Catarina, and Luce soon finds herself pressured to join in committing mass murder. Luce’s struggle to retain her inner humanity puts her at odds with her friends; even worse, Catarina seems to regard Luce as a potential rival. But the appearance of a devious new mermaid brings a real threat to Catarina’s leadership and endangers the very existence of the tribe. Can Luce find the courage to challenge the newcomer, even at the risk of becoming rejected and alone once again?
Lost Voices is a captivating and wildly original tale about finding a voice, the healing power of friendship, and the strength it takes to forgive.
Aimee's comments: This sounds either awesome or terrible. Fantastic concept though. 8/10 anticipation.
Luminous
by Dawn Metcalf
Published July 7th 2011
When sixteen-year-old Consuela discovers she can remove her skin, revealing a lustrous mother-of-pearl skeleton, she slips into a parallel world known as the Flow, a place inhabited by archetypal teens with extraordinary abilities.
Crafting skins out of anything - air, water, feathers, fire - she is compelled to save ordinary people from dying before their time.
Yet now someone is murdering them, one by one, and Consuela finds herself the focus of an intricate plot to end the Flow forever when all she really wants is to get back home, alive.
Aimee's comments: Look. It's got a pretty cover. It focuses on interesting image issues. And there's a murder mystery thrown in, as well as Special Magical Powers. I'm going to give this at least a try even though the description is pretty mediocre. 6/10 anticipation.
Starstruck
by Cyn Balog
Published July 12th 2011
When Gwendolyn “Dough” Reilly’s boyfriend and best friend Wish moves away in seventh grade, the only consolation she can find is in her family bakery’s donuts. Now, it’s sophomore year, and Wish is coming back.
But in only three years, they’ve both changed-drastically. She’s seriously overweight, and suddenly Wish is the most popular guy in school, and girls everywhere want him.
Dough has doubts that appearances don’t matter and that Wish can love her as she is, so she launches into a plan designed to keep them together. That is, until she discovers that Wish’s gorgeous looks and charm might not be all they appear to be.
Aimee's comments: I'm not really interested in what some consider "issue books" (ie. books dealing with rape, body weight, etc etc), and nor am I interested in paranormal romance (which this book has also been categorized under by many), but I confess that the combination of the two makes this an interesting one and it's definitely on my radar. 7/10 anticipation.
Wildefire
by Karsten Knight
Published July 26th 2011
Ashline Wilde never received an instruction manual on how to be a 16-year-old Polynesian volcano goddess. If she had, it might have contained helpful warnings such as:
• Dreaming about your (thankfully) mortal boyfriend may cause your bed to spontaneously combust
• Oven mitts should be worn at all times during heavy make-out sessions
Instead, Ash has to learn these life lessons the hard way as her dormant powers erupt at the most awkward times. In the wake of a hometown tragedy, Ash transfers to Blackwood Academy, a boarding school nestled in California’s redwoods, where a group of fellow gods-on-earth have mysteriously convened. As if sophomore year couldn’t get any worse, her storm goddess older sister, the wild and unpredictable Eve, resurfaces to haunt Ashline. With a war between the gods looming over Blackwood, Ash must master the fire smoldering within her before she clashes with her sister one final time, which leads us to life-lesson #3:
• When warm and cold fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to be a storm.
Aimee's comments: Take note, publishers. This is how you write a publisher's blurb. If the book is anything like the blurb, it promises to be a hilarious, refreshing read. I'm definitely looking forward to it very much. This blurb is so fantastic I don't feel like there's anything else to be said about the book! 9/10 anticipation!