Young Adult

YOUNG ADULT BOOKS

At age 14, author Melissa Burmester makes her writing debut with her first novel, ‘Ginger High.’ Part supernatural and part mystery, ‘Ginger High’ tells the story of two realities colliding that result in a spine-tingling adventure to solve a string of murders taking place at a supernatural school.

‘Ginger High’ spans the period of 1901 to 2007. Ginger High is a magical school in New York where students learn to utilize their supernatural powers. The story opens in 1901 where a series of murders takes place at the school with the victims found dead with a bite mark on their necks. The plot then advances to modern day where a young girl by the name of, Daisy Fisher, attends Ginger High after her school burns down. Daisy and her friends along, with supernatural beings Amanta, Matthias, and Taeru, who have traveled through a portal from the supernatural world of Animist, work together to find a murderer. Animist is an alternate world where supernatural beings with special powers reside. In the story, the portal to earth becomes closed due to a War taking place on Animist. The plot advances to include the supernatural powers of vampires and magical powers of those who can teleport, heal others, and create fire.

As juvenile fiction, ‘Ginger High’ taps into the popular supernatural genre. The central plot is about uncovering a murderer, but engaging subplots and themes are interwoven to make the story a page-turning adventure. Much of the character development centers on Matthias, Daisy, and Amanta. Such development includes Daisy coming to terms with her supernatural powers as well as evolving to a strong and independent young girl. As a feisty and head-strong young girl, Daisy is a character young readers will identify with and root for. As well, readers will follow Amanta as he struggles to survive and comes to terms with a family secret he has kept from his brother.

There was a bit more dialogue than description. Setting descriptions could have been a bit more detailed. There could have also been a little more ‘show’ and a little less ‘tell.’ As well, I would have like to have learned a bit more about the war taking place on Animist. At age 14, Melissa Burmester clearly has a gift for story telling. The hidden secrets that are unraveled make the story an enjoyable read.

‘Ginger High’ is highly recommended to readers who enjoy action packed adventure wrapped in exciting supernatural suspense.

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In Courage to Stand: Stories of Young Strength and Triumph in Adversity, author Elisa Brinton presents three young adult historical fiction stories. Each tale takes place during the mid 1800’s in what is now America. In the story, The High Cost of Unity: The Scourge that is War, Brinton takes readers back to the Civil War Era where a fifteen year old girl fakes her own disappearance so that she can disguise herself as a eighteen year old boy in order to enlist in the Union army. In Traitor to My Blood, readers are taken back to early Native American History where a young girl from the Crow nation is captured by the Cheyenne and rescued by a Sioux warrior. In Answer the Call, Brinton goes back to 1844 where Mormons in America are seeking sanctuary from religious persecution. A young girl and her family make a treacherous voyage from England to America to make a new life while following the Mormon faith.

Although fiction, all three stories become immersed in the historical period. In most cases, historical figures and settings are interwoven within the fictional tale to present an introspective series of themes. One significant theme that emerges is the strength and courage of young women in eras where discrimination and oppression were predominant. The protagonists of each story embody a deep inner strength and independence in situations where hopelessness is overwhelming. Each story touches on other significant issues such as the romantic ideal of war and conflict often overshadows the atrocities and inhumanities that accompany it. Although the stories detail overwhelming adversity, themes of love, faith, and hope, overpower the suffering and provide each woman with a new strength and understanding of humanity.

As historical fiction, the settings are vividly described in great detail. As the author points out in the forward to the story, Traitor to my Blood, there was less research available so there may be some inconsistencies in regards to Native American customs. For instance, the issue of “scalping” was mentioned. Although historians note cases of scalping in early Native American history, it was not as predominant as many now often depict when writing about early Native Americans.

As historical fiction, Courage to Stand is a compelling and well written series of stories. The many plots and themes will inspire reflection regarding current conflicts taking place around the world. For the most part, it is a well researched book that will be enjoyed by readers who appreciate historical fiction rooted in young heroines confronting and overcoming enormous adversity.

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In the novel, The Ghost on the Brooklyn Bridge, two heroines, Debby and Sue, dress up as men and embark on a Halloween night adventure they will never forget. It is a life-changing journey; not only for themselves, but also for those they meet and fight to save. As rational mathematicians with a deep spiritual faith, they face a world of hopeless lost souls longing to end their lives. Both women feel “the strongest human bonds are formed in the selfless service of others.”

With a comical theme throughout the book, we experience the manic eccentricities of Robert on a collision course with death, and a young misguided Princeton mathematician at the crossroads of life and death. Debby and Sue’s struggle to save the two lost souls from self-destruction takes them into the dark lair of the Suicide Club. In the club, run by remnants of the drug filled sixties, Debby and Sue meet a group who provide a path of self-destruction for misguided and jaded individuals lost in a sea of depression.

A primary theme throughout the book is losing one’s path in life and turning to mind-altering drugs for clarity and answers. There are various references to sixties rock stars who have died from a drug overdose. In the club, there is an emphasis on glorifying the deaths of rock stars while encouraging a nihilistic view of life.

The Suicide Club, operated like a Cult, reveals the sadistic pleasure of manipulating one’s emotional pain with mind-altering drugs. An intense brainwashing practice takes place. The novel shows the dark side of glorifying people who die from drug overdoses. There is a tendency to highlight a “liberal media” responsible for glorifying rock stars who have died from a drug overdose. Perhaps, one might consider whether there is a liberal media glorification of rock stars who have died of a drug overdose, but how individuals facing difficult circumstances in their lives, choose drugs as an escape, which triggers a glorification of nihilistic and self-destructive thoughts and behavior. In some instances, the media does highlight rock stars that have died of from a substance overdose, but one might contemplate whether there is an agenda in the media to put them on a pedestal for young people to emulate. For example, the film about the lead singer of the Doors shows the self-destructive behavior of the lead singer as he immersed himself in a world of drug addiction that led to his death.

There is a clear anti drug message in the book, but not in the form of a lecture, which is refreshing. Young people would gain much valuable insight reading this book. Although the concepts and ideas put forth in the sixties were positive, they were lost in an abyss of mind-altering self-destructive use of drugs. The story rejects drug use and promotes a path of clarity through self-reliance, imagination, creativity, and a strong will to seek answers without mind-altering substances. It is a definite must read for young people and recommended for all readers.

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