Review: Ghost Girl by Ally Malinenko

Ghost Girl
By Ally Malinenko
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Format: eARC
Source: Sparkpoint Studio

To Sum It Up: In the small town of Knobb’s Ferry, not far from the famous Sleepy Hollow, Zee Puckett stands out, and not in a good way. All Zee wants is to tell her spooky stories and hang out with her best friend Elijah, but her shock of white hair makes her an easy target for teasing at school. It also doesn’t help that it’s just Zee and her older sister, Abby, having lost their mother when Zee was born and their father now gone in search of work elsewhere. As long as Zee has her stories and her friendship with Elijah, though, she can weather anything until a storm rolls through Knobb’s Ferry and seems to bring something very sinister with it. Zee soon learns that while she may love spinning scary tales, it’s a completely different thing to actually find herself living in one.

Review: With Halloween not that far away, now is the perfect time to start getting into the ghostly groove with a chilling read like Ghost Girl that also manages to warm your heart. Zee Puckett is a sixth grader in the small town of Knobb’s Ferry, which the book mentions is near the fabled Sleepy Hollow. Ally Malinenko does a great job of establishing a setting where everybody knows everybody and their business, the type of place where a girl like Zee, with her white hair, unusual name (Zee is short for Zera), and love for telling scary stories, attracts unwanted attention from other kids. It’s a good thing Zee has her best friend Elijah, the only person in Knobb’s Ferry who really gets her. Their friendship is one of the book’s standout parts.

The paranormal aspect starts creeping in when a fierce storm rocks the town and little by little begins affecting its residents. Zee and Elijah quickly realize that something is very amiss and that they are central to whatever is going on. While the identity of the villain isn’t all that hard to figure out, there’s still a good amount of mystery surrounding what exactly is happening in Knobb’s Ferry. Malinenko builds just the right amount of suspense, punctuated by some wonderfully frightening moments.

Ghost Girl also focuses on some very human elements, such as standing up for yourself and not assuming that you know everything that another person may be going through based solely on outward appearances. Perhaps the most important point that the book addresses is that no one can take something away from you that is not given freely. Although these may sound like heavier themes for a middle grade read, Malinenko incorporates them in a manner that’s subtle yet powerful.

With an ominous atmosphere, deep character development, and ample thrills, Ghost Girl more than lives up to the expectations of its eerie title. I definitely hope to see more adventures featuring Zee and her friends.

All in All: A perfect read for the fast approaching spooky season that will appeal to readers of all ages!

Review: This Is Sarah by Ally Malinenko

This Is Sarah
By Ally Malinenko
Publisher: BookFish Books
Format: eBook
Source: Author

To Sum It Up: Colin Leventhal has been fighting to hold his life together since the night his girlfriend, Sarah Evans, vanished. Everyone keeps telling him that he needs to accept that Sarah is gone and he has to move on with his life, but Colin clings to a thread of hope that she’s still alive. Meanwhile, right next door to Colin, Sarah’s younger sister, Claire, is also dealing with the loss of Sarah, mostly on her own because her parents have retreated into their own grief.

Review: Sometimes you read the blurb for a book and you just know that it’s going to be a really, really good read. My instincts were 100% on the mark with This Is Sarah. It’s the type of novel your eyes and mind want to devour in a single sitting, which is totally feasible. Don’t let the book’s compact size, however, fool you into thinking that it’s short on emotional punch because by the time I finished reading it, my heart had been thoroughly hammered. And then some.

Sarah Evans is the character who lends her name to the book’s title, and the impact of her disappearance on her boyfriend, Colin Leventhal, and younger sister, Claire, drives the novel. Both Colin and Claire narrate the story, and it’s through their eyes that you learn who Sarah was, the Sarah they loved and the Sarah who’s left a chasm in their hearts and lives that’s seemingly impossible to fill. Believe me when I say your own heart will break over and over again for the searing loss that Colin and Claire feel and what they experience in the aftermath of Sarah going missing. Claire practically becomes invisible to her parents, who are facing their own difficulties coping with the tragedy that has struck their family and so are not in an ideal position to offer comfort to their remaining child.

As for Colin, his chapters are utterly, utterly, utterly gut-wrenching. That is not an exaggeration. His life has fractured into a billion pieces. Sarah was his world, and the absolutely desperate hope that he has that she’s alive is his only oxygen. His pain is so brutal and raw that it’s not far into the novel before you, too, hope Sarah is okay, if only to see Colin stop hurting so much. This is a young man with his whole life ahead of him who should be looking forward to going to college instead of calling his missing girlfriend’s phone multiple times a day to hear her voicemail greeting. Almost everyone around Colin—his parents, his friends—thinks he’s headed for a breakdown, if he’s not there already. As you read, you understand where their alarm comes from, yet you also see where the things he does make sense to him in his state of mind. Colin is a meticulously crafted character, as are all of the characters, and so real that it’s very easy to forget he exists in the pages of a book.

This is one of the most realistic contemporary YA novels I’ve read, and that’s because of the writing. The prose in this book—it’s beautiful, bordering on poetic. Not a single word is extraneous. As somber as the tone of the book is, it never feels overwrought or cloying. Every line of dialogue sounds like it would be spoken by an actual person. In keeping with its realism, This Is Sarah doesn’t offer any easy answers, and that’s just another reason why I loved it, even as it broke the vital organ that’s responsible for that particular emotion.

All in All: Just perfect. That is all.

This Is Sarah Blog Tour: Excerpt

Today I'm thrilled to be a part of the blog tour for Ally Malinenko's upcoming contemporary novel, This Is Sarah! Read on below for an excerpt from the book, and be sure to add it to your TBR list!

This Is Sarah
By Ally Malinenko
Publisher: BookFish Books
Goodreads

Synopsis: When Colin Leventhal leaned out his bedroom window on the night of May 12th and said goodbye to his girlfriend, he never expected it would be forever. But when Sarah Evans goes missing that night, Colin's world unravels as he transforms from the boyfriend next door to the main police suspect. Then one year later, at her memorial service, Colin makes a phone call that could change everything. Is it possible that Sarah is still alive? And if so, how far will he go to bring her back?

As Colin struggles with this possibility, across the street, Sarah’s little sister, Claire learns how to navigate the strange new landscape of life without her sister. While her parents fall apart, Claire remains determined to keep going, even if it kills her.

THIS IS SARAH serves as a meditation on loss, love, and what it means to say goodbye.

** Excerpt **

I get up early to run, because it’s easier in the morning. There's no one up yet at five am, and the streets belong to me. I don’t even bring music anymore. I only want to hear the steady thwack of my sneakers on the pavement, the rustle of leaves in the breeze and the huff of air coming out of my lungs. It sets up a rhythm that allows my brain to shut off for a while so my mind stays empty.

Not thinking feels good. It’s one of the few things that still feels good.

I crest the hill at the top of Cedarhurst and pick up speed going down. My lungs feel clean and clear, and I think about sprinting the last five or six blocks back to my driveway. My energy seems a little low, but I figured I can probably push it.

The sound of my feet hitting the pavement intensifies and I pump my arms hard, small tears forming in my eyes from the wind. I clear my mind. I am no longer Colin. I’m just muscle, tissue and bone; a complex and delicate machine pushing its way against gravity and inertia, covering distance on this rock floating in the darkness of an ever-expanding space.

When Claire pulls her bike alongside me I nearly jump out of my skin. Where the hell did she come from? She pedals hard, riding off the seat, her blonde hair whipping back. She passes me and looks back and smiles. As the distance between us grows, I’m overcome with loss, and a sort of panic, like I need to catch up to her. I’m not sure what it is, but I watch her move away from me, her blonde hair streaming, her legs working the pedals and every muscle in my body screams to catch her.

Suddenly Claire is everything in the world, everything beautiful, alive, peaceful, and good, and it’s all getting away from me.

The farther she gets from me, the closer she gets to the monsters and all I want in the world is for Claire to always be safe.

Jesus Christ, I just want to be able to save one of them.

She looks back at me once and smiles before pumping the pedals again. In that moment, that small bright moment, her hair and her smile reflecting the early morning sun, she looks just like Sarah. Just like Claire looked that day in the hallway.

Suddenly I feel so hollow and empty, carved out like the husk of some dead cicada. I watch her get away from me and feel more lost than ever before. She rounds the bend and disappears from my line of sight, something inside of me snaps and I stumble forward. My feet now clumsy, my balance thrown off, until I stop, bent, heaving, coughing, spitting foam, my heart wild inside me. In my head, an image forms of Sarah when I made her laugh so hard she nearly choked on her sandwich at the diner.

That was Sarah.

Sarah and me, in a moment we won’t have again. A moment that was once real but now feels like it belonged to another life. Neither of us foresaw it ending this way.

The year before or the week before or the day before. We never saw it coming.

If I knew when she stood on that driveway, staring up at me, with me hanging out of the window looking down at her, if I knew, I would have told her everything.

About Ally Malinenko

Ally Malinenko is the author of the poetry collection The Wanting Bone (Six Gallery Press) and the children's fantasy Lizzy Speare and the Cursed Tomb (Antenna Books). She lives in Brooklyn with her husband.

Website | Twitter | BookFish Books

Cover Reveal: This Is Sarah by Ally Malinenko

This Is Sarah
By Ally Malinenko
Publisher: BookFish Books

Cover design by Anita B. Carroll at Race-Point.com

Synopsis: When Colin Leventhal leaned out his bedroom window on the night of May 12th and said goodbye to his girlfriend, he never expected it would be forever. But when Sarah Evans goes missing that night, Colin's world unravels as he is transformed from the boyfriend next door to the main police suspect. Then one year later, at her memorial service, Colin makes a phone call that could change everything. Is it possible that Sarah is still alive? And if so, what is Colin willing to do to bring her back?

And as Colin struggles with this possibility, across the street, Sarah’s little sister Claire learns how to navigate the strange new landscape that is life without her sister. Even as her parents fall apart, Claire is determined to keep on going. Even if it kills her.

This Is Sarah is a meditation on loss, love, and what it means to say goodbye.

Ally Malinenko is here today sharing the AWESOME cover for her YA novel, This Is Sarah, and giving us a glimpse into her morning. Welcome, Ally!

Thanks! So, here's what my mornings look like.

The alarm goes off at 5 am. No wait, that’s not right. It’s before 5 am. My husband nudges me and I murmur five more minutes, please, just five more minutes burying my head under the blanket. Then June, the tabby cat, starts crying. And not your usual meows – these are ear splitting, I’m-dying-give-me-food-now-you-puny-humans sort of cries. Really intense End of the World Ragnarok sort of stuff.

We stumble up and out of bed. Coffee on. Teapot on. Cat fed. Pee. Computer on. Radio on to classical station. Teapot whistles – oh teapot why must you be so loud!

Then I sit in my closet (literally) and write. Sometimes I write poems or stories, provided I managed to think of an idea since yesterday morning. Most times I go back to the current novel. I read through yesterday’s writing. June comes in. She climbs into the empty comic book box on the floor and curls up to sleep. Good. This lasts seventeen seconds. Then she’s trying to climb into my lap. I give in, reading through yesterday’s writing. She stands on my lap and meows at me. I bend my arms around her to rewrite stuff and wonder how one person can switch tenses that quickly. I catch typos. I fix them.

I write. I put June down. I think about my main character – how angry he is right now facing this pain alone. I put words in his mouth. I read them out loud. I cringe. I delete them. The cat jumps up on my lap again. I finish my tea and make more. I write some new dialogue. I look at the clock. The morning is going too fast. I have to get ready for work soon. I write some more. I check my email again. I put June down. She cries. I delete three paragraphs of what I just wrote. I yawn. I get more tea.

I write. I reread it. I cringe less. I write more. I reread it. I skip ahead and jot down notes for a future scene. June cries and jumps back in my lap. My husband comes by, reminds me of what time it is. I squeeze out another page but don’t have time to reread it. I save my work, shut off the radio and get ready for work. I hope tomorrow morning will be just as good. June meows. She hopes so too.

About the Author:

Ally Malinenko is the author of the poetry collection, The Wanting Bone (Six Gallery Press), and the children’s novel Lizzy Speare and the Cursed Tomb (Antenna Books). This Is Sarah is her first YA book. Ally lives in Brooklyn with her husband and a very ridiculous tabby cat. She blogs at allymalinenko.com and you can follow her on Twitter at @allymalinenko.

Author Interview with Ally Malinenko

Today we're thrilled to welcome Ally Malinenko, author of the enchanting middle-grade adventure Lizzy Speare and the Cursed Tomb, to the blog. You can check out our reviews of the book here.

Welcome to Rally the Readers, Ally! We thank you for chatting with us today.

Hi! Thanks for having me!

How did you first become interested in William Shakespeare and his works?

I’ve always been a big fan of Shakespeare, ever since I was younger, but it wasn’t until recently that I learned that there is a name for that. They call people like me Bardolators. Isn’t that hilarious? I love it.

I think the first time I read Hamlet was in middle school. I remember thinking that once you got you used to the language it all sort of came together. And it was sad and beautiful and also funny (though it’s possible I was probably the only seventh grader in my class who thought so). Not long after that I saw a movie version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and from then on, I was hooked.

If you could travel back in time and have a conversation with Shakespeare, what would you talk about?

I would love to say that we would talk about politics and how corrupt Elizabethan England was or that we’d talk about the theater and his players or what his writing schedule is like but just recently I had the great fortune to meet Mr. Peter S. Beagle, the author of The Last Unicorn, one of my favorite books and movies from when I was a kid. I was all set to tell him about what an influence it was and how much it meant to me when I was growing up and how now that I had my first novel published I wanted to thank him for being such an influence but as soon as I opened my mouth, I started crying, full on, blubbering. I completely reverted to a 10 year old girl, clutching her copy of The Last Unicorn, looking at her hero-author and sobbing her eyes out. So chances are good, I’d be catatonic if I met Shakespeare!

How important was it to you to include Shakespeare’s contemporary, Christopher Marlowe, in your story?

Very. While Shakespeare’s work has stood the test of time better than any of his contemporaries, during his day and age, it was Marlowe who was considered the brightest star in the sky. His tragic and unfortunate death opened the door for Shakespeare to become the person that he was. Without Marlowe, it’s possible that Shakespeare would never have been THE Shakespeare we know today. Plus they had so much in common. They were born in the same year, both from middle class workers (Shakespeare’s father was a glove maker and Marlowe’s was a shoemaker). There is also a large contingent of “scholars” of which I am not a member, who believe they were the same person. Or that Shakespeare wasn’t real and Kit wrote half his plays. There are all sorts of strange conspiracies.

From the beginning I knew that if Shakespeare was going to be a part of this story then so would Marlowe. Though I do feel bad about making his descendant the bad guy! Sorry Kit! I still love your work.

Did you need to do lots of research for all of the mythical figures that make an appearance in the book?

I’ve always been interested in Greek mythology but when I decided to create the Muses and the Mythkind, I knew that I needed to brush up. I started this book right before I got into graduate school and while I was working and going to school full-time, I put the brakes on actively writing and instead started reading everything I could get my hands on regarding mythology and Shakespeare. I checked a bunch of books out of the library (Yay! Support your libraries!) and started making charts of characters I wanted to use and then how I would change them or combine them with other characters to create something new. Actually, doing the research for Lizzy was one of my favorite things about writing it.

Who is your favorite character in the novel?

Probably Jonathan. He knows more than he’s letting on. He’s playing this one pretty close to the chest. Jonathan has Lizzy’s best interests at heart, but he also knows she has a dangerous destiny to fulfill. And he isn’t going to be the one to stop her.

Lizzy’s nemesis, Dmitri Marlowe, seems like a pretty high-strung guy. How did he end up with a hipster like Cole for a roommate?

Dmitri moved to Brooklyn to be a writer but having failed terribly at it he was forced to get a roommate to split the bills. Lots of hipsters answered the advertisement because they all wanted to live in the trendiest part of Brooklyn but Cole was the only one who bothered to return Dmitri’s call when offered the place. And Cole was 10th on the list. What can I say? It must have been the eye-patch and the plans for world domination. Turned all the other applicants off.

What adventures are in store for Lizzy in the next book?

I’m actually working on the next book right now which is tentatively called Lizzy Speare and the Hall of Hecate. Hecate is the Greek Goddess of Magic and her hall contains every magical object in this history of myth or legend. Looking for the Vorpal Blade that killed the Jabberwocky? It’s there. So is King Arthur’s sword. Once the Hall of Hecate is robbed and all that magic is released, Jonathan realizes that Marlowe’s plans don’t end at destroying Lizzy. They begin there. And all of Mythkind are in trouble.

We’ll see the return of some old friends and we’ll get to meet a few new ones. And few other Muses. Jonathan isn’t the only show in town, you know. And we’ll get to go to Hagsmoor Copse, the land of the satyrs and find out more about Cleo and the war with the harpies.

And now for the obligatory random questions:

Favorite Shakespearean work?

Only one??? Either Hamlet or A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I refuse to pick just one.

Favorite color?

Blue or purple or black or brown. Apparently I have trouble picking just one of anything.

Favorite authors besides Shakespeare?

C.S. Lewis, Madeline L’Engle, Peter S. Beagle, Salinger, Kerouac, Sexton (do poets count?), Rowling, Pullman, and about a million more.

Biggest pet peeve?

Mean people.

Best thing about Brooklyn?

Pizza.

Thanks again for taking the time to answer our questions, Ally!

Thanks so much for having me! This was lots of fun!

About Ally Malinenko

Ally Malinenko lives in Brooklyn where she wakes at an ungodly hour to write. She's had poetry and stories published online and in print, including her first collection of poems, entitled The Wanting Bone (Six Gallery Press). Her second book of poems, Crashing to Earth, is forthcoming from Tainted Coffee Press.

Her children's novel Lizzy Speare and the Cursed Tomb, the first part in a series, was recently published by Antenna Books.

To learn more you can follow her on Twitter - https://twitter.com/AllyMalinenko or visit her blog: http://allymalinenko.com/.

Review: Lizzy Speare and the Cursed Tomb by Ally Malinenko

Lizzy Speare and the Cursed Tomb
By Ally Malinenko
Publisher: Antenna Books

* A copy was provided by the author for review.

To Sum It Up: Lizzy Speare loves writing and William Shakespeare. At twelve years old, she’s a natural at reading the Bard’s works, and there’s a very good reason for that. Lizzy is Shakespeare’s last living descendant and the target of some evil schemes hatched by the devious Dmitri Marlowe, who just happens to be the last living descendant of Shakespeare’s contemporary, Christopher Marlowe. Life is about to become like a scene straight out of a book for Lizzy when she and her best friend, Sammy, suddenly find themselves in Manhattan in the castle of Jonathan Muse, who has watched over generations of Shakespeares. Now he is tasked with keeping Lizzy safe as he, Lizzy, and Sammy frantically search for Lizzy’s kidnapped father.

Lee's Review: I love reading anything to do with Shakespeare, so I was immediately intrigued by this book’s synopsis. I love mythology, too, and was thrilled to discover that Lizzy Speare and the Cursed Tomb also incorporates a lot of mythical figures into this exciting tale of a girl with an extraordinary lineage. What I wouldn’t give to one day find out that I was descended from William Shakespeare! You’re one very lucky young lady, Miss Speare.

Lizzy is a plucky little heroine who is easy to identify with. If I had read this as kid, she absolutely would have been my fictional best friend because of her love of reading and writing. Lizzy has a lot on her plate, what with the bombshell news of her famous ancestor and her missing dad and all. It’s not easy to absorb all of this at once, but Lizzy toughs it out and becomes increasingly self-assured over the course of the novel. She is also incredibly brave; there’s nothing that she won’t do to get her father back, even negotiating with an untrustworthy snake like Dmitri Marlowe. I just loved Lizzy’s friendship with Sammy; those two make an awesome team and epitomize what it means to be best friends.

Loving Shakespeare as much as I do, I was in heaven with all of the references to him and his writings. The chapter titles all cleverly quote his works; I had a lot of fun trying to match each title with its source. Even better, the Bard actually makes an appearance in the novel, as does another famous author from the Elizabethan period, Christopher Marlowe. I really liked how Marlowe was incorporated into the story; I’ve never read Doctor Faustus, but I kind of want to now.

The world of Lizzy Speare and the Cursed Tomb features some familiar characters from mythology, like satyrs, nymphs, and the Fates. Jonathan really is a Muse, as in the kind that inspires writers and artists. This book had a whimsical feel that meshed well with its mostly urban, New York City setting. If a castle with doors that allow you to travel to other time periods is going to exist anywhere in the world, of course it’s going to be in Manhattan. As a former New Yorker, I’m always happy to see the place that I’ll always think of as home turn up in a book. I fully admit to nearly hyperventilating when Lizzy and Sammy had to venture into the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn because it’s right next to the neighborhood that I grew up in. The descriptions of Williamsburg and Coney Island, another Brooklyn locale that I have very fond memories of, were spot-on; they were just as I remember them.

My only real quibble is that I wish there had been a few more details about Lizzy’s family history. There’s a lot more to Dmitri Marlowe’s motives than meets the eye, but we only get snippets of the big picture. I’m especially curious about what Lizzy’s father, Rupert, did in the past that was so terrible. Ah, but that’s what sequels are for, and I can’t wait to read the next installment of Lizzy’s story.

All in All: This book is a wonderful, imaginative blend of adventure, mythology, and even a bit of historical fiction. It’s a great introduction to William Shakespeare (and Christopher Marlowe) for younger readers, and it’s sure to charm adult fans of Shakespeare as well.

Melissa's Review: I am a great fan of Shakespeare, my favorite works being Macbeth and Hamlet. So, I was super excited to read Lizzy Speare and the Cursed Tomb because of all the Shakespeare allusions. However, there was so much more to it than Shakespeare; there were tons of mythical creatures and cool magic. It was a perfect blend of new and old inspiration. I was pleasantly surprised at how balanced everything was; there are so many layers to the story, but they work together perfectly. It’s easy for things to get kind of overwhelming when you have so many ideas working together, but it didn't happen at all in this novel. Everything was introduced in a way that just worked; nothing was farfetched.

You can just tell how much time and thought were put into the story line, and the characters don't disappoint either. My personal favorite was Jonathan. He seems to have his stuff together, and he is always there for Lizzy. In a way, he is kind of the unsung hero. I also really liked Lizzy; she started off lacking confidence, but as the story progressed, Lizzy became the person she was meant to be. Oh, and Sammy is the best best friend ever; I really admire his loyalty to Lizzy.

I had like a super spaz when I found out Jonathan's castle was in Manhattan! And when Lizzy and Sammy went to Brooklyn, I could barely contain my squeals of excitement. It was so cool to read about places I knew; it really helped me connect more with the book.

All in All: This book has everything going for it. It has a great plot, awesome characters, a kick-arse setting, and a perfect mix of new and old ideas. I can't wait to read what happens to Lizzy next!

Check out the blog tomorrow for our interview with author
Ally Malinenko!