Tales from Outer Suburbia, by Shaun Tan

A family hosts a peculiar exchange student who chooses to sleep in the pantry, asks unusual questions, and departs mysteriously one day... leaving behind a most spectacular thank you gift.

An elderly man entertains his grandchildren with the story of his wedding day. But if you're expecting a tale of dancing, cake, and fancy parties, think again. Back in those days, weddings were much more complicated affairs.

A family, down on their luck and weary of their dreary existence, discovers a secret passage within their own home... A secret passage that leads to a kind of perfect paradise. Maybe there's one in your home?

Welcome to Outer Suburbia, where a blind reindeer visits once a year to take peoples' most valued possessions, where endangered sea creatures appear (quite suddenly) on the front lawn, where mandatory government-issued missiles become a thing of beauty, where turtles need to be rescued and there exists a magic formula for growing a beloved pet out of every day random discarded objects. 

Shaun Tan's (The Arrival) bizarre and beautiful book, Tales from Outer Suburbia is packed with such stories. Some are several pages long, while others are no more than a couple sentences. Still others are mostly told through bright illustrations. Each is fantastical in a way that it will transport you the way a great story should. It's a memorable book, and I'm very happy I finally picked it up.

This one is memorable, guys! Don't pass up the chance to read it! --AJB

We Were Liars

Each summer, Cady Sinclair's family lives on an idyllic private island. The Grandparents: Harris and Tipper. The Aunts: Carrie, Bess, and Penny. The Children: Johnny, Will, Mirrin, Liberty, Taft, Bonnie, and Cadence. Cady. And there's Gatwick. Gat. The boy Cady loves. On the surface, everything seems beautiful. Perfect.

But there is a hidden underbelly to this life. This story. The dark and ugly part outsiders don't see, because to show weakness and imperfection is SO not the Sinclair style. The aunts quarrel constantly over the large inheritance, and the cruel and senile grandfather fuels these arguments for his own sick amusement. Cady and Gat's budding relationship is forbidden because Gat is an outsider. A foreigner. And, even though no one will come out and say as much, the wrong color. But Cady doesn't care. She sees through the adults' shallowness and pettiness. She, Gat, Mirrin, and Johnny. The Liars, as they call themselves. Then, their 15th summer on the island, the four devise the perfect plan to punish the adults and make them see the error of their ways. Make them see just how shallow and petty they really are. It's foolproof.

Only something goes very wrong.

Cady is found on the beach, half-clothed and with mysterious injuries no memory of what happened. 

She is taken away, hospitalized. For two years, she is not allowed to return to the island or even speak of it. No one will tell her what happened that night or why she can't remember anything. Her emails, letters, calls to Johnny, Mirrin, and even Gat are ignored. She can't imagine why the people who matter most to her have abandoned her when she needs them most, and she's desperately hurt by it.

Then the summer before she turns 18, Cady is permitted to return to the island. The grandfather (grandmother is now dead), the aunts, the Liars, and the younger cousins are all there...and everyone is carrying on as if nothing happened years earlier. It's obvious something is very and profoundly wrong, but one will tell Cady anything.

She must get on with her life, they say.

She must remember on her own, they say.

And then she DOES remember. And nothing can ever be the same again. 

We Were Liars is an amazing story with the most shocking, unpredictable twist I've encountered in a long time. Read it! --AJB

Teen Reviewer: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Kate Marsh also enjoyed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, by Laini Taylor. She didn't like this high fantasy romance as much as some of the other books she reviewed, but she found it entertaining enough to finish.

"Daughter of Smoke and Bone was really good. This was the first book in the trilogy, so most of it was world building. But once that was established, it was a really beautiful story. I enjoyed the main character, Karou. She was relatable in many ways even though her situations weren't. I fully think that Laini Taylor's writing is what really drove me to finish this book. The clear pictures she paints with her words are wonderful!"--Kate Marsh

The Smoke and Bone Trilogy involves an epic battle between good and evil, but neither the bad guys or the good guys are who you'd traditionally expect them to be. And many of the characters fall into that grey area. And of course there's the love story that is, really, central to the plot. Don't miss book two, Days of Blood and Starlight, or book three, Dreams of Gods and Monsters. All three books are published and available for checkout.