One nice thing about last week’s mood: I got a lot of reading done. Three mini-reviews, commence.

I probably don’t need to tell you what Megan Whalen Turner’s The Thief is about because it was published in 1996. In 1996 I was too busy reading Phyllis Reynolds Naylor and Caroline B. Cooney to read fantasy. Lucky for me, The Thief was still enjoyable 10+ years later, and even luckier, it’s one of those fantasies that barely qualifies. You’re not quite sure it is a fantasy. In fact, you’re not quite sure of when or where the story is even taking place – you’re uncovering the landscape and the social structure and the culture as you read. But that is a lot of fancy-talking for a book that is, fundamentally, an exciting little adventure story starring one of the most endearing protagonists I’ve met in a long time – Gen, a feisty, braggy thief-boy who has landed himself in the King’s jail who ends up on an indentured, cross-kingdom adventure to steal something mythological.

And, hey, hey! One more summer reading book – done! That brings my total to three. Yeah, baby.

I generally like Books for Adults that feature teenage characters, even teen protagonists. However, I have seriously mixed feelings about Books for Adults that are about Teenagers and Teenage Culture. Ever see the movie Thirteen? Books for adults that expose the secret lives of teenagers always seem super sensational, inherently exaggerated. Megan Abbott’s Dare Me is full of naughty Varsity cheerleaders, content to lord over their peers, teachers, and half the world on the virtue of being young and sexy. Their parents are invisible, they cheer while hungover and in between binge & purge sessions, they run rampant and unchecked… until a new coach rolls into town and upsets the social order between Super-Popular Beth and her right-hand-man, protag Addy. The girls battle subtly, psychologically, while a murder mystery reveals itself, and Coach alternates between teaching the girls to become true, athletic, throwing and jumping and flying cheerleaders… and inviting the girls over for wine. Is this attempted reality, or shock value?

And while I will avoid spoilers, let me just say this: in stories about intense, problematic female friendships, there is a certain plotline that shows up again and again and again, and I spent the entire book thinking about Beth and Addy and saying to myself “Man, every other book would explain this by XYZ, but I’m glad that Dare Me doesn’t seem to be going in that direction.” Then, on the last 3 pages, it did. Dammit.

I wanted to read The Future of Us when it was published because A) Carolyn Mackler is on my perpetual Authors-To-Read list and B What a concept! Two teens discover Facebook ten years before it exists and see their future lives – as a child of the 90s,  I was sucked in. However, the book fell off my radar (as books are wont to do when you are in grad school) and if it hadn’t been a book club pick, I likely never would have read it…. and maybe it would have been better that way. This book annoyed the crap out of me. First of all, according to Mackler and Asher, the 90’s was a time and place when life looked identical to the way it does now, except every few minutes you put on a Green Day album, put on scrunchie, or noted how strange this new concept called “Caller ID” seemed to be. Basically, it read like heavy-handed faux historical fiction full of those nostalgic in-jokes we children of the 90’s love, but are probably irrelevant/annoying to all others. This book also suffers from horrible pacing (50-60 pages of the two protags trying to prove to themselves that this Facebook thing is real… the disbelief is timely for teens who can barely comprehend the Internet, of course, but THE READER KNOWS IT IS REAL BECAUSE IT IS A STORY AND WE HAVE TO BELIEVE SO PLEASE CATCH UP THIS IS BORING). Also, Emma is so, so unlikeable, but not even in an interesting way. Book club members had a point – maybe teenage girls are boring, wishy-washy, and yes, unlikeable… maybe I have outgrown the truly authentic teen protagonist? Or maybe Emma was just annoying and her character development kind of crappy.

This might be my last foray with fiction, so from here on out, look forward to nonfiction reviews aplenty. Let me tell you a little bit about tuberculosis….