Just One Day + Just One Year by Gayle Forman

This week is shaping up to be pretty neat over here. Mike and I have early screening tickets for About Time and Gayle Forman is going to be doing an event in Denver this Thursday. The nifty thing about the Gayle Forman event is that I'll be part of it! So if you're in the Denver area on Thursday (that's October 24) and are interested, the event is at 7:00 at the the Colfax Ave Tattered Cover. The topic is: Just One Day to Just One Year: A Conversation About Love, Travel and Transformation.

Today I'm doing two quick reviews of Just One Day and Just One Year - I should note that while I've seen folks raving about Gayle's work all over the place, these were my intro to her list. I absolutely adored Willem and Allyson's stories, though, and now have If I Stay in my TBR as well (thanks to the lovely Jill at Penguin).

Allyson expected her trip around Europe to be more exciting - it was to be an adventure, but instead the Teen Tours trip turned out to be a bit dull: shuttling off from one tourist site to another wasn't her idea of seeing the world. On the final night of the tour, the group is in Stratford Upon Avon with tickets to see Hamlet. But Allyson and her friend Melanie opt to attend an outdoor performance of Twelfth Night instead. The next morning, Allyson runs into the play's Sebastian on the train to London and he invites to her travel to Paris with him for the day. His name is Willem and while Allyson would normally never go off with a boy she doesn't know, this day is different. On this day, Allyson will finally have her adventure. But in the wake of that one day, Allyson finds it almost impossible to go back to her old self. 

For Willem, that one day had an equally powerful effect. Willem's a bit of a ladies' man and a wanderer but even though he doesn't tell Allyson about his past, there's a very real reason for his behavior. In the year following the time he spent with Allyson he'll not only have to finally face his own demons but he'll wonder about the girl he called Lulu. 

Oh, both of these books are so wonderful! Allyson and Willem are both so easy to love and I have to admit that it took every ounce of willpower on my part not to skip straight to the end of Just One Year to find out what happens to them.

The really cool thing about these books is that Willem's tale in Just One Year mirrors Allyson's in Just One Day. Willem's story begins the morning after their day in Paris. Allyson - and therefore the reader - never knew what happened to Willem that morning. And while Allyson is essentially (but not exactly) pining over Willem in the year to come, I don't think it's giving too much away to say that Willem is doing the same for his mysterious Lulu.

Not only has Forman created two beautifully realized main characters, she's built up a cast of excellent supporting characters as well. Everyone from Allyson's friends Dee and Melanie, to her parents and her grandmother, Willem's friends Broodje and Prateek, and even Willem's fellow actors (and others I won't mention out of fear of spoilers). And one can't fail to mention the various settings - it's clear that Forman has a real passion for travel. The various locales that both Allyson and Willem travel through in the course of their stories are rich in detail and completely come to life through Forman's writing.

Rating (on both): 5/5

The Different Girl by Gordon Dahlquist

Veronika's life is simple. Every day is the same - she and her sisters are woken up by Irene, they take a walk, they discuss what they learned with Robbert, they take a nap, they help fix dinner, and they go to bed. Sometimes they walk together, sometimes they walk in separate places. But every day is essentially and simply the same... until May arrives. Other than Robbert and Irene, May is the first person Veronika and the others have ever seen. And though Veronika, Caroline, Eleanor, and Isobel are all alike - with the exception of the color of their hair - May is different. They long to know more about this new girl and where she comes from, but May's life is complicated and, as they soon learn, dangerous. For Robbert and Irene, May's arrival also means facing the one thing they've always feared - the possibility they'll be discovered by other outsiders.

Gordon Dahlquist has long been on my favorites list thanks to his exceptional debut, The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters. The Different Girl is Dahlquist's first teen release and while I'm a definite fan girl - and therefore not the most objective reader in this case - I found it to be equally as fabulous as Glass Books. I also thought it was kind of perfect for both adult and teen audiences. I think others will be just as impressed.

The story is unique in that much of it is left unsaid. Veronika is perfect as a narrator but she is unaware of a lot of the details about the world she lives in - and so those details are only touched upon through things she observes and hears. We do glean from the narrative the fact that this is a world that has certain prejudices against technology. The girls are kept secret and the urgency with which Robbert and Irene guard them is supported through their actions. Veronika is also unique amongst the other girls, testing boundaries the others never really consider until May arrives.

The story walks a fine line with just enough missing information to intrigue readers rather than frustrate them. I'm sure there will be others who feel differently, but for me it was the perfect balance. To be fair, Dahlquist is kind of a master at weird stories in my opinion, so I did expect something a bit outside of the box in this latest. I wasn't let down. The Different Girl is most definitely going down as one of my favorite reads this year!

Rating: 5/5

The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson

Happy book birthday, Maureen Johnson! Today marks the release of The Madness Underneath, the second in Johnson's Shades of London series.

Rory Deveaux is recovering in Bristol after barely surviving an attack by the Ripper. She's ready to return to her school and her friends in London, but it takes some prompting to convince her family. It does help that her therapist has announced it the best road to recovery for Rory - returning to the scene of the incident, that is. Turns out this return has been manipulated by the Shades. See, the Ripper destroyed their last terminus and the division is in danger of being shut down unless they can come up with something quick. After all, what good is a ghost busting cop if he can't bust ghosts? Fortunately for them, Rory has somehow managed to become a terminus herself. With just a touch, she can banish a ghost to wherever it is they go. And her return couldn't have come soon enough. Something weird is happening in London once again and Rory might be the only one who can stop it. 

I think it's safe to say that The Madness Underneath has been at the top of a lot of Must Have lists for 2013, mine included! I adored The Name of the Star. Rory is smart and sarcastic and the combination of mystery/thriller elements and paranormal is one that I always love - when done well. And Johnson definitely does it well. Plus, Johnson's writing style is light without becoming overly frothy. Snarktastically snarky, to be honest: just the right blend of smart ass humor and social observation (extra wonderful in a boarding school setting and via a Louisiana girl, too!).

Strangely, while The Madness Underneath delivered on all counts, the end felt a little flat. It's clear there's more to the story but this felt very much more To Be Continued... than the end of The Name of the Star. Ah, well. I guess it'll be another year before we find out what happens to ... and with the whole ... and if Rory will be able to ... I don't want to ruin it for you!