Sunday, April 03, 2016

2016 book 61

Mariko Tamaki's Saving Montgomery Sole
Tamaki is the co-author of two graphic novels I really like, Skim and This One Summer, so I was excited to read a YA novel from her. And for sure, while it deals with some of the usual themes of YA lit--outcast/non-conformist teens dealing with high school jerks--it never felt formulaic. Protagonist Montgomery, daughter of a lesbian couple, runs the school Mystery Club--which investigates ESP and the like--but things get complicated when an ultra-conservative preacher comes to town, and his son enrolls at their school. And then, of course, there is a maybe-magical amulet obtained from the internet. I will say that this book suffers from one of my pet peeves--if the main character had an honest conversation, there would be no plot, but of course it is realistic for teens to be secretive and dumb. I really liked all the characters here, I just wished there was more to the story--it was entertaining and funny, but somewhat insubstantial. B/B+.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on April 19th.

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