Yep, you heard right. yaReads is looking for more reviewers. At this point, we’re looking for one reviewer based in Australia and one reviewer based in the United States. Applicants must love YA fiction, have a way with words, and have the time to contribute at least one review per week.

If you’re interested, drop us a line at yareaders@gmail.com for more information about the position.

Audrey Beth Stein is the author of the memoir Map, a 2010 Lambda Literary Award Finalist for Bisexual Nonfiction. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College and is a two-time national prizewinner in the David Dornstein Memorial Short Story Contest. She teaches memoir and novel development at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education.  Direct links to order Map can be found at http://map.audreybethstein.com.

Audrey chose to review one of  her favorite novels The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd, also a Lambda Literary Award Finalist.  Enjoy!

The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd

Dade Hamilton has no problem telling his ceiling fan or his soap dish that he’s gay.  He fools around secretly with Pablo, the “Sexican” jock, wishing Pablo’s girlfriend Judy was out of the picture, until the day Dade blurts out “I love you” and Pablo smacks him in the face.  Senior year is ending, Dade’s dad has just confessed to an affair (but not ended it), Dade’s mom is popping pills to pretend everything’s okay, and an autistic nine-year-old’s disappearance dominates the local news.  In three months Dade will be off to college, but that’s a whole summer away, and Pablo Pablo Pablo isn’t just fading into the night.

Enter Alex Kincaid.  Alex isn’t exactly Mr. Wholesome American Boy–at age twenty, he’s got a job at Taco Taco and moonlights as the drug connection for Dade’s classmates–but he’s hot and intriguing and compared to Pablo he’s a breath of fresh air.  Dade doesn’t know if Alex is gay, but a short exchange at a party prompts Dade to ask a classmate who this guy is and how to find him again: “I was acting on some instinct that I didn’t know I had.  I’d never gone out of my way for a guy before.  Even my and Pablo’s first encounters were totally initiated by him.  I never went out of my way to follow crushes around high school.  I never approached anyone with the hopes of getting a phone number or even a name.  I was afraid of giving myself away.  I didn’t want anyone to know.  Sometimes even I didn’t want to know.”

Alex is gay, and he’s also sincere, kind, and not afraid to show up with a bouquet of carnations for dinner with Dade’s parents after Dade comes out to them.  The burgeoning relationship between Dade and Alex is one of the sweetest parts of the book, all the more so for its realness.  In a world where so many adolescents fumbling through their own emerging sexuality (straight and queer) learn through unhealthy relationships and encounters, like the ones portrayed aptly and painfully between Dade and Pablo, it is wonderful and refreshing to read realistic portrayals of people treating each other with vulnerable kindness.

Of course the story doesn’t end this simply, not with an ex-not-boyfriend around or parents leaving Dade alone for two whole weeks, but I won’t give away the twists and turns, or why I found myself crying at the last chapter.  Nick Burd has an easy and perceptive style that makes for an enjoyable reading experience.  His three main characters feel like they must exist and make the choices that they do.  Dade’s empathy for Pablo’s confusion–which doesn’t erase his anger or hurt at Pablo’s actions–is a nice touch, and occasional reported sightings of the autistic girl underline the theme of disappearance and reappearance that threads throughout the book.  The Vast Fields of Ordinary well-deservedly won a Stonewall Book Award and was named a Lambda Literary Award Finalist, and I highly recommend it for both young adult readers and adults who enjoy YA literature.

Carlos Fuentes doesn’t want any part of the life his older brother, Alex, has laid out for him in Boulder, Colorado. He wants to keep living on the edge, and carve his own path—just like Alex did. Unfortunately, his ties to a Mexican gang aren’t easy to break, and he soon finds himself being set up by a drug lord.

When Alex arranges for Carlos to live with his former professor and his family to keep him from being sent to jail, Carlos feels completely out of place. He’s even more thrown by his strong feelings for the professor’s daughter, Kiara, who is nothing like the girls he’s usually drawn to. But Carlos and Kiara soon discover that in matters of the heart, the rules of attraction overpower the social differences that conspire to keep them apart.

As the danger grows for Carlos, he’s shocked to discover that it’s this seemingly All-American family who can save him. But is he willing to endanger their safety for a chance at the kind of life he’s never even dreamed possible?

Carlos Fuentes is a lot like his older brother, Alex, used to be. He’s got the hot Mexican look working for him, the gang affiliations, and a whole lot of bad boy ‘tude to go with it. On first glance, Carlos looks a whole lot like you’re average trouble maker, and he does absolutely nothing to dispel such ideas, either. But then Carlos’ mother ships him off to America to live with his brother, hoping and praying that such a change will give Carlos a better chance in life, and everything Carlos knew to be true about himself comes crashing on down.

Alex is different now. He’s cleaned himself up and managed to pull right away from any gang affiliations that he was previously linked to. He’s dating Brittany and going to college. All in all, Alex is making a good, honest life for himself. As irrational as it sounds, Carlos feels betrayed by Alex and his attempts to step away from his familial roots. What Carlos can’t seem to understand, though, is that Alex made those changes for his family.

Not surprisingly, Carlos instantly gets mixed up with the wrong kids at school and lands himself in trouble with the law. Through circumstances that are beyond his control, Carlos winds up unable to live with Alex and – begrudgingly – ends up rooming with a teacher. It’s here, in this house, that Carlos develops an infatuation with his fellow classmate, and daughter of the professor, Kiara.

Kiara is everything Carlos isn’t. She’s plain, modest, and a good, wholesome teenager. She holds responsibility and academic achievement in his esteem, and abides by the natural order of right and wrong. Although she’s not a typical ‘leader’, Kiara knows who she is and is confident in her sense of self and character.

And she completely wipes Carlos off his feet. He knows its crazy. He could have any girl he wanted. Why her? His attraction to a plain, goody two shoes makes no sense to him at all and he does everything in his power to fight it. But if we’ve learned anything from Alex and Brittnay’s tale in Perfect Chemistry, we know that Fuentes boys can only deny the sound of their thumping hearts for so long.

Lucky for Carlos, Kiara is also seriously taken with Carlos. Although she’s completely surprised by her feelings for him, she processes the whole thing in a mature way. She accepts their differences and opens herself to the possibility that something could develop between them.

In true Fuentes fashion, though, Carlos lands himself in a whole lot of hot water. His gang affiliations catch up with him and Carlos is forced into a situation that he can’t say no to. His life, and the lives of those he loves, depends on his participation in a high risk, illegal activity.

You’ll never believe who swoops in and saves the day…

Although Rules of Attraction follows a similar formula to Perfect Chemistry, Carlos has enough personal differences to Alex to make this story unique enough. The relationship that develops between Carlos and Kiara is different to the relationship readers are exposed to in Perfect Chemistry.

Like everything Elkeles does, Rules of Attraction is an easily digested novel, and I read the whole thing in just a handful of hours. This novel has all the good stuff – romance, action, suspense, humor and good, colorful writing. As is everything she produces, this instalment from Elkeles was a joy to read. I can’t wait to see what she does next.

Rating::

Teaser Quote: “As long as you’re talking to Brittany,” I say as I bite off the end of an egg roll, “why don’t you ask for your huevos back.”

Dimitri gave Rose the ultimate choice. But she chose wrong…

After a long and heartbreaking journey to Dimitri’s birthplace in Siberia, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir’s-and to her best friend, Lissa. It is nearly graduation, and the girls can’t wait for their real lives beyond the Academy’s iron gates to begin. But Rose’s heart still aches for Dimitri, and she knows he’s out there, somewhere.

She failed to kill him when she had the chance. And now her worst fears are about to come true. Dimitri has tasted her blood, and now he is hunting her. And this time he won’t rest until Rose joins him… forever.

That blurb would have you believe that Rose’s whole existence is still completely centered on Dimitri, but that’s the funny thing about blurbs – sometimes, they can be a little misleading. When Sprit Bound kicks off, readers find Rose romantically engaged with Adrian. She tells everyone she’s accepted the fact that Dimitri – her instructor and one time lover – is eternally an evil, blood-sucking Strigoi, and she’s now trying to move on with her life. With Adrian, it seems.

It’s pretty clear that Adrian is completely head over heals for Rose, but are those feelings reciprocated? Rose likes Adrian, sure, but does she have it in her to love him? Is it even possible to love again, after Dimitri? I’ve never really been a an of Adrian, but my heart goes out to the kid. The inequality in their relationship is more than a little obvious.

Adrian is no fool, he sees the holes, and he hates every moment of it. So when he finds out that Rose and her friends are embarking on a dangerous mission that might restore Dimitri to his former dhampir self, Adrian is anything but impressed.

Rose isn’t even sure it can be done, but she has to at least try. The mission is dangerous as all hell, and involves dealing with a certain criminal that she’d prefer never to see again in her life, but that doesn’t stop Rose. Even when she realizes that its going to put her friends and loved ones in danger, Rose refuses to stop.

But Rose, it seems, hasn’t really thought this through. What if she does get Dimitri back from eternal damnation, what then? She’s involved with another boy now and her life isn’t the same as it was four months ago.

But worse, what if she can’t get him back? Would she really risk her friends and everything they’ve worked for, all for nothing? Is Rose really that selfish?

If you want the answers, you’re just going to have to read it for yourself.

Although a little slow on the uptake, Spirit Bound does not disappoint. The Rose Hathaway that Vampire Academy fans have come to know and love is spread across the pages for all to see. Her dedication and loyalty to those she loves drives the story forward, while her feisty, take-no-crap attitude provides for an entertaining read. Full of drama, romance, adventure and action, Spirit Bound has it all. Something tells me the fans are going to lose it over this one.

Rating:

Teaser Quote: And then, being Rose Hathaway, I said something I really shouldn’t have to the boy. “You should go punch him and find out.”

Recently we brought you the review of Elizabeth Eulberg’s debut novel The Lonely Hearts Club and the story of Penny Lane’s determination to swear of dating guys for her high school life. We are now very excited to bring you an interview with Penny’s Creator herself – Elizabeth. So sit back and enjoy. Just a warning, there are a few spoilers throughout.

How much Beatles music did you listen to while writing The Lonely Hearts Club?

EE: I only listened to the Beatles while writing The Lonely Hearts Club. They are such a huge part of the story and if I needed to evoke a certain feeling, I’d put on a specific song (like “Yesterday” if I needed to feel sad).

What influenced the decision of writing about a novel based on a ‘no dating’ club? Was it an idea that had been with you a while or a result of a recent personal experience?EE: I’ve certainly sworn off guys more than once!  However, the idea for the book came when I was out with a friend one night.  She’s one of those friends who only calls when her boyfriend isn’t around (we all know the type!).  We were out and she was ignoring me to talk to some guys.  I started throwing a pity party for myself and realized, “this is silly, you have so many amazing single girl friends, you should go out every Saturday with them – like a single girls’ club?”  I had the basic idea for the book and the title by the end of the evening.

From the beginning, Penny Lane thought she was alone in her thoughts about swearing off boys, but then discovered that many of her classmates felt the same way, yet weren’t strong enough to say so for themselves. It highlights many of the issues with peer pressure and teen dating. Was this an influence from the start of the novel or developed during the writing process?

EE: From the beginning of the writing process, I knew I wanted anybody to read this book to realize that it is okay to be single and not date. But over the course of rewriting the book, the strength of the Club and how much certain members got out of the Club really grew.

*SPOILER WARNING*

EE: Everybody makes mistakes and nobody is perfect. I feel it is important to grow from every situation. A lot of Penny’s problems through the book were learning how to trust herself and others again after being badly burned by a guy. She was more than happy to open herself to the members of the Club, but shut herself from trusting guys. She really grew the most as a person over the story, and a lot of that was learning from the mistakes she made.

If you wanted readers to take one thing from Penny Lane’s story, what would it be?

EE: Besides being entertained, I want readers to realize that they should never compromise themselves to be with someone and always put yourself and your friends before a guy.

Worse/most embarrassing relationship as a teenager and what you learnt from it?

EE: I didn’t have many bad relationships as a teenager (but I made up for it later in life!). I did go a little boy crazy at the beginning of high school. I had glasses, braces (the metal kind!) and a really bad haircut growing up. Then the summer before freshman year, I got contacts, my braces taken off and a better hair style. I got a lot of attention from guys at the start of school (I NEVER got any looks before). I was sort of overwhelmed by the interest and just started dating different guys. I was more excited about the attention than the guy. Dating at fourteen can be pretty silly (movie then pizza EVERY Friday night). I sort of burned out on dating early. I was more interested in my friends. I didn’t really date my last couple years of school.

The destination that you would choose to go on a romantic getaway to?

EE: Paris seems like such a cliché, so the Greek Islands – gorgeous!

Any quirky writing rituals or habits?

EE: I have to listen to music while writing and I need to know what I’m going to write before I sit down. So during the week I’ll figure out certain plot points and then when I sit down on the weekends, I know what I need to write.

What is currently in your To-Be-Read pile?

EE: A LOT! At the top of the pile is Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan, Somthing, Maybe by Elizabeth Scott, Waiting for You by Susane Colasanti – and that’s just what is on my nightstand. I’ve got an entire bookshelf of books I want to read!

Authors that influenced you growing up?

EE: Louisa May Alcott (I’m named after Beth in Little Women), Maud Hart Lovelace (the Betsy-Tacy books were the first series I ever became addicted to). E.L. Konigsburg (was obsessed with From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler) and Cynthia Voigt (my mum introduced me to her after I ran out of Sweet Valley High books to read).

Check out www.elizabetheulberg.com for more information on Elizabeth and upcoming works!