Book Log: Oh. My. Gods.

Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs

Phoebe could not be less thrilled when her mom returns from a trip to Greece with a brand new fiancé, and announces that they’re moving to the tiny Greek island Serfopoula, just in time for Phoebe’s senior year. All Phoebe wanted to do was finish out high school with her two best friends and win a track scholarship. Now, she has to travel halfway around the world to attend a superexclusive academy where she doesn’t know anyone except for her bitchy stepsister—oh, and where all the students are descendants of the Greek gods and have godly powers.

Phoebe is determined to survive her senior year without getting zapped by her stepsister, keep up her average and win her track scholarship. But life is anything but simple on Serfopoula. From the killer academics to the cute guy she can’t seem to figure out, Phoebe is going to need to stay quick and alert if she wants to come out on top.

Oh. My. Gods. is a quick, breezy read, and before I say anything else I want to call it out for something that it does right—the internet. Lots of teen novels try to have its characters talk in IM or email, and it almost always comes off as kind of lame, and not quite right. In this book, Childs nails the IM culture—including one supremely awkward moment when Phoebe mixes up IM windows and sends the wrong message to the wrong person. Usually internet use in these books makes me grit my teeth—in this book it felt natural.

I wanted the book to explore the Greek gods side of things a little bit further—did we ever even find out who Nicole was descended from? I wanted to know more—does the god you’re descended from ALWAYS affect your personality? Are you necessarily doomed to be bitchy if you’re descended from Hera? And what about kids who are descended from two different gods? Do they get to choose which social circle to belong to? I felt like there was so many interesting places this book could have gone, and it fell short. Which is not exactly a fair critique, but there you go.

That said, taken as a breezy, entertaining teen read, it works wonderfully.

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I'm reading Dream Girl by Lauren Mechlin right now, and loving it. I'll keep you guys posted. I'm waffling about my next book. I was thinking of reading Once Upon A Time in the North by Philip Pullman, because it's so short, but then I was thinking maybe Damosel by Stephanie Spinner. But after hearing fellow Cybils panelist Laini Taylor rave about The Gypsy Crown, now I'm waffling in that direction.

Hmmmmm. So many books. Never enough time!

Book Log: Dream Girl

Dream Girl by Lauren Mechling

Claire Voyant has always had visions. Pointless, annoying visions--and when she follows up on them, she usually ends up trying awkwardly to explain herself. But when her fabulous grandmother Kiki gives her a cameo broach on a chain for her birthday, suddenly the visions get a lot clearer, a lot sharper, and a lot more black and white. Oh, and more accurate, too. Suddenly, Claire is having visions that may actually be useful--and as she starts following up on her hunches, she realizes that her visions may mean the difference between life and death for some of the people she cares about the most.

This book is sooooooo good. Claire is my new favorite fictional teenager. She's up there with Veronica Mars and characters in Maureen Johnson novels.

Let me tell you why this book is awesome. Mostly it boils down to character and voice, like everything that's ever awesome about a book, but I want to be specific, because I want you to read this review and run out and buy yourself a copy of this book and then read it right away so you can love it too.

First of all, Claire. Claire is hilarious. She's sarcastic and funny, but she's not unreasonably or irritatingly smart or wisecracky. She's utterly and completely believable and real. I feel like we could be friends, Claire and I. She's crabby and loves her little brother, and her parents are sometimes annoying, and she's a good friend. And that brings me to the next thing I like about this book: friendship. Claire's friendship with Becca is so honest and natural and real. They work as friends. They're not just friends because the author wants them to be friends as a plot device--the friendship grows and develops and works, and it's a pleasure to read.

The rest of the supporting characters are great too, from Claire's fabulous grandmother Kiki who lives in the Waldorf Astoria, to her little brother Henry who likes to take long walks, to her French professor father and her wishes-she-was-French mother, to her neighbors, to her school friends, talented Ian and Silent Eleanor. They sound madcap and crazy, but they're not. They're just colorful and interesting, the way real people are, and they interact with each other naturally, comfortably. All of the supporting characters, no matter how minor, feel real and realized and interesting.

Even if nothing happened in this book at all, it would be fun to read about them hanging out with each other.

Oh, and let's talk about the plot. Claire is a fantastic crack detective! She's not as all-knowing and all-seeing as, say, Nancy Drew or Veronica Mars, but she's smart and determined, and willing to stick her nose into things, especially when a friend is at risk. It's fun to read about a girl detective who's realistic (aside from the whole vision thing.) She puts the pieces together, and you can see the thought process.

And another thing. Her name is Claire Voyant, and she has visions. Claire Voyant. Get it? Get it? Of course you do. But here's the thing--instead of being lame, the author calls it out right at the beginning--Claire acknowledges that her name is lame, and quotes the fact that her grandmother doesn't think that a child with the last name Voyant should have ever been named Claire, but them are the breaks. And then it's not mentioned again for the rest of the book. Which somehow makes this cheesy name totally cool.

Rock on, Lauren Mechling. I am impressed. Impressed and entertained and totally recommending this (pretty clean) book to all the teenagers I know.