A Corner of White, by Jaclyn Moriarty: Oh, Cello there, you manic pixie dreambook!

A Corner of White
Jaclyn Moriarty
New York: Arthur A. Levine, 2013.
ISBN: 978-0-54539736-0
ARC copy via NetGalley

Realism and magical realism entwine to make beautiful music together in this enchanting first book in a planned trilogy by Jaclyn Moriarty.  In two cities populated by two quirky, endearing, supporting casts, two hugely likeable teenage protagonists grapple with missing people, life and familial changes, challenges, and adapting to them.   Serial runaway Madeleine has finally made it permanent by bringing her mother along.  She is struggling to adapt to her new life, and begins to worry about her mother’s health as she attempts to complete a home-school history assignment to channel Isaac Newton.  Town golden-boy Elliot, however, is eager to find his missing father, who disappeared in the same storm that killed his uncle.  He reluctantly agrees to delay his trip to help his mother prepare to rent his fathers shop to the strange newcomers to town.  Things begin to come together when each teen finds a mysterious letter, tucked away in an unlikely place, and begin the most unusual pen pal exchange ever to occur between the Land of Cello, and the world.  Playful, yet deeply thoughtful and well written, this is a unique and delightful novel.  Parts epistolary, narrative, fantasy, realism, it abandons genre and reader expectations and is wholly, whimsically, realistically, magically fantastic.  It is strongly recommended for both teens (grade 8 and up, but younger readers who can hang with complex plots with like this too) and adults.  

If you couldn’t tell, I maybe kind of really enjoyed this book.  I suspected I would; I have found Jaclyn Moriarty’s books to consistently be majorly delightful, and was pumped to have at A Corner of White.  You guys – she did not let me down.  In fact, I was so engrossed that I didn’t realize until about 60 pages that I had no idea how two such seemingly disparate stories would, or could even come together – and then was like I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE when she did, in a way that was very true to her previous books.  I won’t say any more to spoil it though!  I will say that there HAS to be something in the Australian water – yet again I’ve fallen for the charm from down under!

I took copious post-it notes, while reading this on a bus to and from Newark, NJ, to hang out with ¾ of the super fabulous Brown family (hi guys!).  Being that my copy came from NetGalley, this was a slightly weird process, whereby I stuck them all to the back of my Nook, and now can’t read them, because who writes legibly on a bus?  I’m also pretty sure a bunch of them fell out…because I swore there were more than four.  But I digress.

The Year of Secret Assignments, by Jacklyn Moriarty: Adventures in Pen Pal-ing around town (Down Under)

The Year of Secret Assignments
by Jaclyn Moriarty
New York: Scholastic, 2005.
ISBN: 0-439-49882-1

      Ashbury school 10th graders Emily, Cass, and Lydia are dismayed to learn that their English class will be required to participate in a Pen Pal project with Brookfield, a school they believe is populated by delinquents. Thus begins this delightful epistolary tale of their unusually funny, imaginative, and supportive friendship over the school year. Emily, an amusingly consistent misuser of words that sound the same but have incredibly different meanings, is assigned to Charlie. Puckish Lydia, who wants nothing but to be a writer, is assigned to soccer-obsessed Seb. Athletic Cassie is recovering from the loss of her father, and becomes fascinated by her pen pal, Matthew Dunlop, who tells her to get lost in some strong language in his reply. Friendships, then romance blossoms, as do challenges, or the titular secret assignments that seem orchestrated to disrupt the school day. But one of the boys is not who he says he is, the rivalry between the schools escalates, and the girls and their new friends seek their revenge on the imposter before the pen pal project is eliminated for good! This fast paced book is recommended for grades 7-10. Book talk hook: read Emily and Charlie's first letters to each other and follow with a very brief summary, ending on a "what will happen now?"

Dear Australia,
Since this is an epistolary letter, I think this is a great time to take advantage of the style and send my thoughts about this book/your awesome YA scene to you via fauxmail. As in, I'm typing them right here. Firstly, seriously, this book is such. a. delight. Maybe I was reading a lot of Debbie Downer type books leading up to reading this (okay, it was King Downer the Incredible: The Road), but man did I enjoy reading this! It is definitely fast-paced, but I couldn't put it down! Jaclyn Moriarity is tres funny. She captures the loyalty, compassion, creativity, and yes, the righteousness and silliness of teenage girls aptly. I loved Emily's sound-alike misspeaks (There is totally a literary term for this. Literary nerds, chime in now or forever hold your peas.), possibly because I have a strong feeling it would be something I may have done... I love how the slow build of the relationships across mail/email allows for a sweet smolder; it totally made me yearn for the bygone days of AIM flirtations and totally tame high school games of less Truth and more Dare. Plus, who doesn't love a good pen pal story?
But back to you, Australia. Seriously. What is up with some super duper awesome YA coming from your vast shores? Melina Marchetta, Jacyln Moriarty, Justine Larbalestier, Marcus Zusak, etc. You keep me entertained, titillated, and occasionally in awe. Okay...so I haven't actually read any Marcus Zusak yet. BUT I WILL! And you and I both know I'll love it, Australia. So keep up the good work, Australia(n authors).
Truly, Madly, Deeply,
PaperblogPrincess