Belle Epoque, by Elizabeth Ross

I read Belle Epoque, by Elizabeth Ross, as part of YALSA's "2014 Hub Reading Challenge" - it was the first book I read for the challenge and I loved it!

I was intrigued by the premise behind the novel from the start. In 1800s Paris, rich society people hire "foils" - ugly girls - to work as their friends/escorts, in an attempt to make themselves look more beautiful and desirable my comparison. I just thought that was such a funny concept and had to read the book!

The novel follows Maude Pichon, who runs away to Paris in hopes of making something of herself. However, she discovers that life is harder for a girl like her than she would have imagined, and she's ashamed to take a job at the Durandeau Agency, a "repoussior" agency - the agency that employs and hires out ugly girls. Maude experiences instant success at the agency, and becomes the exclusive employee of the Count and Countess Dubern. Their daughter is debuting into Paris society, and they want ugly Maude by her side to ensure that she secures the most desirable of bachelors. Maude becomes caught up in the extravagant lifestyle and even begins to develop a friendship with her employer. However, she can't help but feel like she's living a lie. Despite all the warnings from her mentor at the agency, she gets carried away and winds up hurting herself and those she's close to.

I found some parts of the plot highly predictable and almost a little stock, but overall the idea behind the novel was so interesting and unique to me that I was able to overlook those parts. I'd recommend this novel to girls, especially those interested in Paris or making a new life for themselves.

Stay Where You Are and Then Leave, by John Boyne

I just read John Boyne's newest historical fiction novel on Netgalley. I didn't find it quite as captivating as his earlier The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, but I still really enjoyed the novel and Boyne's lyrical writing style.

Stay Where You Are and Then Leave is about a boy named Alfie and his family's experiences as his father, Georgie, enlists in the army to fight in World War I. Alfie and his mother, Margie, are left alone in London to fend for themselves, and their entire world changes quickly after Georgie leaves. Margie finds herself having to get a job, Alfie notices that attendance at school is no longer enforced, and neighbors begin to disappear. Alfie looks forward to the regular letters from his father, until they stop coming. Alfie is convinced that his father has died, but his mother insists he's on a "secret mission". Alfie soon learns the truth, and the novel takes a turn into examining post-traumatic stress disorder, before it was given that name.


I thought it was really interesting to examine PTSD through the lens of World War I, because you hear about it so often right now with soldiers returning from the Middle East. I was also amazed, again, at Boyne's ability to capture the voice of a child, and thought the narrative was very age-appropriate.

Publication Date: March 25, 2014

Seeing Red, by Kathryn Erskine

I thoroughly enjoyed Erskine's new book, Seeing Red, but I'm not sure how my students will respond to it. After reading  another one of her books, Mockingbird, I recommended it to several of my students whom I thought would enjoy it. Several of them abandoned it without finishing, and the few that did finish said it was just 'okay'. Hopefully there will be a better reaction to Seeing Red!

Red Porter, the novel's namesake, is a boy growing up in the South during the time following desegregation. Lots of things have recently changed in Red's life when the novel opens - his father had passed away and his best friend, Thomas (an African American), for some reason no longer wants to be friends. On top of that, his mother is trying to sell the home/store that's been in their family for years; she can't support it without her husband's help. Desperate to maintain his home and salvage its sale, Red gets caught up with a no-good group of boys who call themselves the Brotherhood. They're essentially mini-white supremacists and intend to wreak havoc on the town. It doesn't take Red long to realize he doesn't want to be a part of their shenanigans, but can he get out in time?

During his journey, Red encounters lots of other problems as well: an aging family friend, Miss Georgia, a new teacher whose methods are questioned by the principal, and a friend, Rosie, whose life is ravaged by abuse.

I think that one of Erskine's biggest strengths is the way she's able to develop her characters. In Mockingbird, she wrote about a character with Asperger's and made me feel like I was reading something written by someone with the condition. Similarly in this novel, the narration sounded exactly as it would coming from a pre-teen boy in the South during that time period.

Touched by Fire, by Irene N. Watts

Some people think of fires as beautifully mesmerizing - campfires, bonfires, fires roaring in the fireplace on cold days. But for Miriam's family in Touched by Fire, fire represents a lifetime of struggle and hardship.

Miriam's family is originally from Russia, but flees to Germany during the pogroms in the early 1900s. During this time, Jewish towns and communities are being torched and demolished. Since Miriam's family is Jewish, they know that they've got to get away before they're destroyed by fire or something even worse. However, when they arrive in Germany, they know that things are not perfect even there, so Miriam's father, Sam, secures passage to America - to New York.

Before long, he's able to send three more tickets to America: one for Miriam, her mother, and her brother Yuri - they'll leave her grandparents and little sister behind for a while. But, only Miriam winds up going. She quickly lands a job in the Triangle Shirt Waist Company. During her time there, one of the most famous fires of New York - the Triangle Fire - occurs, and she loses several friends to the flames.

Miriam's mother and sister finally make it to America, but her brother Yuri never does. In the epilogue, years later, Miriam's nephew (Yuri's son) is living with a Nazi step-father, watching SS officers and Hitler Youth burn books around him, saying they'll burn the Jews next. Can he be saved?

I really liked the way the fire was woven throughout the novel - I think it helped really connect things and tie the story together. I also liked that this novel was relatively short, because I think a lot of times, my students get bogged down with historical novels that are good, but too long.

Also Try: Is it Night or Day?, by Fern Schumer Chapman; Flesh and Blood So Cheap, by Al Marrin

Code Name Verity, by Elizabeth Wein

"It's like being in love, discovering your best friend."

At it's heart, that's what Code Name Verity is about: the bonds of friendship and the courage to do anything for your friends. 

The novel is set in England and France during World War II, and the two main characters - Julie and Maddie (who go by various different names, real and code throughout the novel) - are members of the WAAF, or Women's Auxiliary Air Force. They work mainly as wireless operators, until they are shot down over German-occupied France. Maddie is able to get away, but Julie, who goes by Queenie for much of her narrative, is captured and interrogated by the Nazis. 

Julie is told that she can redeem herself and buy time preventing her death by disclosing secrets about the British war effort. That is how much of the novel manifests itself - through her written confession to the SS officers while imprisoned. I found much of this part of the novel confusing, and sometimes had to re-read to get things straight. A little more than half of the way through the novel, though, the narrative switches to Maddie's point of view, and the reader realizes just how tricky Julie really was. 

The ending was a little abrupt and upsetting, but the bond between the two friends is really what compelled me to keep reading this novel. One of my favorite parts of the novel was when Julie and Maddie shared the ten things they're most afraid of in the world. As events unfolded and new things came to light, they both revised their "Top Ten" list, and I found this very interesting. One of my favorite lines in the story is when Maddie is revising her list, while imprisoned, writing her confession. She says:

"9)Not being able to finish my story.

10) Also of finishing it. 

I am no longer afraid of getting old. Indeed I can't believe I ever said anything so stupid. So childish. So offensive and arrogant. 

But mainly, so very. very stupid. I desperately want to grow old," (114). 

I think that this is the type of expertly crafted, heartbreaking novel that will grab readers until they finish it. 

Also Try: Flygirl, by Sherri L. Smith; Between Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys; Rose Under Fire, by Elizabeth Wein