Readathon Book Review: Dangerous Neighbors by Beth Kephart

Philadelphia 1876: Katherine's hollowness after the loss of her twin Anna drives her to contemplate suicide.  Katherine had always been the more responsible twin, self-charged with looking out for careless, carefree Anna.  So when Anna dies in an accident, Katherine feels it was her fault - and she just can't live with her guilt.

As per usual, Kephart writes with clarity, beauty and keen observation.  I felt the weight of Katherine's grief - the tragic fragility of life and how all can be lost in an instant.  Katherine cannot cope with the fact that the world bustles on, despite Anna's departure.  Her parents refuse to talk about it, she has no other friends to turn to. But the Centennial fair, and the chance encounters it provides, brings hope back into Katherine's life.

This is a quiet story - no shocking revelations or sordid twists. It's power lies in its intense emotional honesty and its finely crafted prose.

Find out more about the book at the author's blog.

Book Review and Giveaway: Drought by Pam Bachorz

Ruby has lived over 200 years with her congregation, forced to gather water everyday for a sadistic overseer.  Ruby dreams of escape but she holds a secret - only her blood is what is keeping her people going.  Without her, they would all wither away.

Let's get a few things straight from the get-go: on the surface, DROUGHT is a slow building narrative (maybe too slow for some) and it leaves a lot of unanswered questions which will be frustrating for many.  However, when you dig a little deeper, you'll find much to mull on in regards to faith, duty, and the importance of love.

The main conflict here is Ruby's self-actualization vs the needs of the community as it becomes clear that the two are mutually exclusive. Ruby has been emotionally stunted by the drain of her duty to her mother and the congregation.  When a kindly guard enters the picture, he offers her a glimpse of another world - one in which she would be able to "find herself" and the idea is appealing (as is getting frisky with the guard), especially as Ruby begins to have a crisis of faith.  Her mother has been preaching that Otto will save them from their backbreaking work for over 200 years, but Ruby's patience is running out.

Belief in the saving power of Otto obviously has some religious parallels which you see in the congregations communion (they drink of "his" blood once a week) and their willingness to turn the other cheek and endure beatings in the name of their savior.  You come to find out just how twisted the whole arrangement is via the character of Ruby's mother.  She is at once a pieta figure (takes the punishments due others upon herself) and a iron-willed megalomaniac who would see her family and friends suffer needlessly for centuries just so she's not alone.

I wouldn't have minded a bit more excitement and explanation, but since there is so much to sink your teeth into here, I think it's a novel well worth reading and give it 3 zombie chickens.

I also have 1 copy to give away today to one lucky reader anywhere in the world!  Just fill out this google form by Feb 28th, 2011 at 11:59 pm CST for your chance to win.


Read interview with Pam Bachorz
See index of all dystopian reviews on Presenting Lenore

Author Interview: Pam Bachorz discusses Drought

Today we welcome Pam Bachorz to the blog.  Pam's debut novel CANDOR was released last year (read my review) and she's back with the just released DROUGHT.  I'll be reviewing DROUGHT later today, so for now, I am going to give you the official summary of the novel:

Ruby dreams of escaping the Congregation. Escape from slaver Darwin West and his cruel Overseers. Escape from the backbreaking work of gathering Water. Escape from living as if it is still 1812, the year they were all enslaved. 

When Ruby meets Ford--an irresistible, kind, forbidden new Overseer--she longs to run away with him to the modern world, where she could live a normal teenage live. Escape with Ford would be so simple.

But if Ruby leaves, her community is condemned to certain death. She, alone, possess the secret ingredient that makes the Water so special--her blood--and it's the one thing that the Congregation cannot live without.

Drought is the haunting story of one community’s thirst for life, and the dangerous struggle of the only girl who can grant it.

Let's get started!




DROUGHT's main character Ruby is 200 years old, yet she has matured physically so slowly that she still looks like a teen. Would you say her way of life has kept her from maturing emotionally past the age of a teen or would that also be due to her unique physiology?

Well, maturity definitely depends, in part, on physical development. So Ruby’s emotional growth has simply been as slow as her physical growth. However, her mother still treats her like a child –the entire Congregation does—and that is a big part of her still feeling “teen” too.


Both DROUGHT and CANDOR concern dystopian societies that are limited in nature. Is there something about this limited scope that appeals to you more than a widespread dystopian society?

Limiting a story to a single place helps to add to its claustrophobia and the pressing need to escape. But it’s funny you ask; the project I am working on now is a much wider world. But I do like starting with a smaller place and exploring it thoroughly. Perhaps that will change as I write more books.



Which dystopian works influenced and informed your writing?
I think everything I read influences what I write, whether it’s dystopian works, realistic fiction, or historical fiction! Probably one of the biggest influences on my writing was the science fiction of the 1980s, aimed at teens, like the novels of Lois Duncan and Mildred Ames. I have never forgotten how excited I was to find these books: something different, with slightly changed worlds, that still had “real” characters.


Ooh! I loved Lois Duncan too! Which upcoming dystopian works are you looking forward to?
I haven’t gotten to pick ACROSS THE UNIVERSE yet and I’m psyched to read it. I am also looking forward to the conclusion of the MAZE RUNNER trilogy. I’ll also be checking out BUMPED and ALL THESE THINGS I’VE DONE.


Great picks! Ok...Mash-up time! What character from another book would you like to see navigate the world of DROUGHT and why? And what book would you love to drop Ruby into to see how she would handle it?

I’d like to see Piper McCloud from THE GIRL WHO COULD FLY stop by. The whole flying thing could be a real handy talent in Ruby’s world… maybe they could team up and soar around Earth to find Otto. Plus I think Piper’s plain country self would get along very well with Ruby.

I’d like to give Ruby a weekend in the world of THE PRINCESS DIARIES. Poor girl deserves a break and I’m sure Mia would show her a good time!

Thank you so much for dropping by Dystopian February Pam!  

Visit Pam's website.  There you can read the first two chapters of DROUGHT, listen to a playlist and more!

Author Interview: Anastasia Hopcus discusses Shadow Hills

I reviewed SHADOW HILLS a couple of months ago here on the blog (read my review), and really enjoyed it, so I was happy to be asked to be part of the official SHADOW HILLS blog tour.  And I am pleased to welcome Anastasia to Presenting Lenore today.

SHADOW HILLS is set in a boarding school. If you could be a teen again and go to any boarding school in the world, where would you go and why?
While I was researching SHADOW HILLS, many of the boarding schools sounded so intriguing that I really found myself wishing that I could go back to boarding school. Though several of them were very appealing, I think the one that I would choose to go to would be Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts. It's on the edge of the Berkshires in western Massachusetts, which is a beautiful area. I've been to their campus, and it's very attractive, and their curriculum is really awesome.

Which of your supporting characters in SHADOW HILLS needs their own novella?
I'd really like to write something about Brody and Adriana. I just love them as a couple, and I can't show anything that happens between just the two of them because the novel is written in the first person from Phe's point of view. And the other thing that I would love to do as a novella is a historical where I could get more into the origins of Shadow Hills.

I love them too! Cool idea. Both you and I love Nina Malkin’s novel SWOON. Who would win in a fist fight between Sin and Zach?
Oh, wow---I'm not sure. Zach is probably bigger and stronger, but I think Sin has more of that competitive, kind of mean streak, which would give him an advantage. Still, when Zach gets really angry, especially when he's protecting Phe, he has some truly awesome power. So in that situation, I think Zach might very well win.

Let’s say Zeus called you up and told you that you could change the ending to any Greek myth. Which one would you change?
I would change the myth about Orpheus, who goes into the Underworld to get back his love Eurydice, who died on the day they were married. He plays such beautiful music that he is let into the Underworld and charms everyone there, even Pluto, the King of the Underworld. So Pluto lets Orpheus lead out his wife, playing his music, but he can't look back or he loses her. Just as he's emerging into the sun, Orpheus forgets and looks back to make sure she's okay, and so she's unable to come out, and he isn't let back in. I think that's so sad! So I would definitely change that ending and let Orpheus and Eurydice both get out of the Underworld safely.

Which 2011 debut author books are you most looking forward to reading?
There are a lot of interesting books coming out in 2011, but I think Clarity by Kim Harrington is the one I'm most looking forward to. It sounds like an interesting mystery as well as a paranormal.

Thank you Anastasia!

Check out Anastasia's website to find out more about her book and to find the complete blog tour schedule.

Book Review: Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus

After discovering her sister Athena was plagued by similar nightmares before her death, Persephone “Phe” Archer decides to attend the boarding school in Shadow Hills, Massachusetts Athena applied to. Once she gets there, Phe finds herself investigating the town’s haunting past and how she might fit into it.

Despite a tentative beginning (I might have groaned a bit when the novel started with a dream), I was hooked by the end of chapter 1 with an electrifying meet-cute in a graveyard between Phe and her “dream” guy Zach. Their palpable chemistry is a main attraction in this fresh, thrilling take on the paranormal romance genre.

Phe is inquisitive and spunky, and though she tells us she’s broken inside, I didn’t really get that vibe from her. If anything, she felt too put together and self-possessed to be a 15 year old mourning her sister’s death. Zach is your typical brooding hottie hiding a paranormal secret, but he’s surprisingly gentlemanly and non-possessive. These two seem destined to be together…too bad Zach’s sister Corinne is dead-set on keeping them away from each other “for their own protection”.

And just why they'd be better off apart despite their undeniable, magnetic attraction is part of the mystery. The more secrets about the townspeople, their strange genetic make-up, and her own seemingly mythological part in the whole affair Phe uncovers, the more the more danger she puts herself in. Though we get enough answers and teases in this installment to get a good sense of what might be going on, I have a feeling we haven’t seen the end of Shadow Hills. And that’s fine by me – because I want more!

SHADOW HILLS will be released in hardcover on July 13. Find out more about it and read chapter 1 at the author’s website.

Book Review: Back Home by Julia Keller

Rachel’s father, a member of the National Guard, has been injured in Iraq. The family must prepare for the big changes living with an amputee with traumatic brain injury will bring.

Rachel is 13, but her father’s condition makes her wise beyond her years, and her achingly honest voice is what made this novel for me. She’s upset about the changes to her life – how friends no longer know what to say so they drift away, how the strong dad she used to know is a shadow of his former self, and how her mother now has a hard edge to her – and she expresses her frustration. But she’s also supportive and understanding in a way most 13 year olds really aren’t.

Here’s a passage from right after Rachel’s mother tells her that her father is coming home:

“I didn’t blame her for not knowing what to say. I felt sorry for her. Kids, I think, have a lot more reason to feel sorry for adults than adults have to feel sorry for kids. I know that sounds backwards. I know that’s not how most people would see it. But here’s the thing: kids know what they know. And that’s it. Adults know all the things they don’t know, all the questions and doubts and puzzles and darkness. Kids are all sealed up with the little bit they know. Adults, though, are leaking out all over the place, with everything they don’t understand but think they should.” (p 23 ARC, may vary from final published version).

I also really liked the family dynamic as seen from Rachel’s point of view, and how she realizes that her dad, even though he’s still her dad, doesn’t really fit in her family anymore. Rachel even muses that in many ways, her life would be easier if her father had died – that people would be better able to deal with that and wouldn’t feel like they needed so much distance. It’s heartbreaking.

This would make a great read for children of injured veterans, and really for their classmates too. Unfortunately, I can’t really see tweens gravitating towards such a serious premise – it seems too much like what you’d find on the dreaded required reading list. That’s why I think Ginny Rorby, author of Penguin’s upcoming THE OUTSIDE OF A HORSE (May 13, 2010), may be more successful with what is a similar topic (teen dealing with an amputee Iraq vet father) because she’s packaged it with the irresistible hook of caring for horses.

BACK HOME is available now in hardcover. Find out more about it on the author’s website.

Book Review: The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

Grace Divine is both disturbed and fascinated when her former neighbor - and one time foster brother - Daniel moves back to town. Her brother Jude makes her promise to stay away from him, but this is one promise Grace is finding hard to keep…

When I heard this story was loosely based on the prodigal son parable from the Bible, it piqued my interest since you don’t see many religious themes in mainstream YA. Debut Author Despain has built her intriguing plot around a seemingly normal family – Pastor dad, mom, Grace, Jude, younger sister and baby brother. They are endlessly charitable and morally upstanding without being holier than thou or preachy in the least bit (how refreshing!). And yet…they reject Daniel. Why?

I found Grace very relatable, both as a character and with how she goes about trying to figure out the dark mystery that surrounds Daniel. And yes folks, this one too veers into paranormal territory, but in a way that was so well set-up and integrated that it felt natural and even plausible. And it also veers into romance territory, but given Grace and Daniel’s shared history, this also progressed believably and satisfactorily. It all leads up to a breathtaking climax and a resolution that feels finished, but still leaves you praying for a sequel.

THE DARK DIVINE is available in hardcover now – and with such a gorgeous cover. Find out more about it at the author’s website.

Book Review: Candor by Pam Bachorz

Oscar Banks spends his days trying to convince his Stepford town of Candor that he's as "perfect" as everyone else there is. But he's not - because he knows the secret behind the perfection and takes steps against losing his own free will. But when wild Nia moves to town, his falling for her jeopardizes all he's worked so hard to protect.

Candor is definitely a case of the cure being worse than the disease. Parents bring their problem children to the town and consent to brainwashing to straighten them out. But they not only sign away their children's individuality, but their own as well. Sure, the town's subliminal messages can help you quit smoking, but they also place all power in the hands of one man: the founder of the town, who also happens to be Oscar's father. Oscar's father isn't an evil man per se, but his methods are certainly fascist and it is chilling to read about just how far he's willing to go to keep his vision of a perfect world.

Because everyone is so well-behaved, this is more of a quiet dystopia, but that doesn't mean it is boring. Oscar's struggle for control is a fascinating one, and the new feelings and past memories Nia brings to the surface provide most of the narrative tension. Supporting characters such as Mandi, a former Queen Bee meanie, and Sherman, a social wreck, illustrate both the good and the bad of Candor's MO. And that ending...whoa. I am still trying to wrap my head around that one.

CANDOR is available in hardcover now. Find out more about it at the author's website.