The Only Thing to Fear by Caroline Tung Richmond

Imagine a world where America has been carved up by the Nazis and the Japanese because they won World War II with the help of Hitler's genetically altered super soldiers.  Sixteen-year-old Zara lives in that world, where the Germans are the master race controlling everything and if you're not German then you are nothing. 

Zara is not German.  She dreams of a world she has only been told about, where freedom and equality belong to all.  She longs to join the Alliance, a rebel group dedicated to the destruction of the Fuhrer and his empire.  The key to their success may just belong to Zara.

Richmond present an alternate world that is exceptionally believeable.  The historian in me wanted more analysis, more details of the "how" and the "why", but The Only Thing to Fear is a novel and an excellent one.  

Thought provoking in its setting and plot, I anxiously enjoyed the pace and suspense that Richmond created. The conclusion was satisfying even as she set up a follow up story.  The characters felt a bit one dimensional, but the potential for greater complexity exists, and I definately was invested in their story.

For history freaks, like me, this is a tantalizing read that left me wondering where it might lead.

The Crimes and Punishments of Miss Payne by Barry Jonsberg

Calma and Kiffo are convinced that Miss Payne is evil incarnate.  You see, their English class has successfully driven off two teachers: one to early retirement and one, most likely, to an institution for the mentally unstable.  But, Miss Payne is in control from the moment she takes Kiffo down in front of the class.  Kiffo is convinced that Miss Payne is involved with something illegal, and while he and Calma are stalking her, they discover her exchanging some white powder with a suspicious looking man in the wee hours of the morning.  Now, Miss Payne must be stopped.

Admittedly, I do not like books where the narrator longs to be a writer.  I also do not like books that make heroes out of victims just because they have a tough life.  In spite of that, I did like this book, in fact, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  The characters were quirky, yet believable.  I laughed out loud at many of the predicaments Calma and Kiffo put themselves in, and Calma's analysis of various situations were hilarious.  Most importantly, I loved the ending.  It startled me.  It was unexpected, yet true to the novel's tone and voice.

The Crimes and Punishments of Miss Payne is a mix of the mystery and teen issues genres.  There is some strong language and the audience is definitely older teens and adults.  Also, it's set in Australia, and while I didn't struggle with the slang or unusual vocabulary, others might.  Overall, I enjoyed this spunky, crazy story that in the end touches at the true meaning of friendship.

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

Fleeing her mother who won't agree to send Gemma to London, sixteen-year-old Gemma becomes lost in Bombay.  Trapped in an alley, terrified, she is suddenly struck by a vision of her mother facing Death.  Her mother chooses to die by her own hand instead of being murdered by the being who seeks her.  Shocked and isolated, Gemma finally receives her original wish two months later when she is sent to London.  She will attend The Spencer School, a private boarding school where girls are trained to be silent, obedient wives to the Victorian men of the time. Gemma's visions continue and in spite of warnings from a young Indian man, Katrik, to stop them; Gemma learns to control the visions and with her new friends, enters the "Realms" where she finds her mother waiting to direct her instruction in magic. But, the evil that once sought her mother now pursues Gemma in both worlds.

Definitely a boarding school drama, A Great and Terrible Beauty, reaches far beyond the stereotypical story.  Characters such as proud and powerful Felicity, beautiful and empty-headed Pippa and scholarship ugly Ann all mature beyond the flat types they could be as they face critical choices brought on not only by their foray into the world of magic, but also by the manipulative and restrictive Victorian world.  Beyond the beautifully developed characters is a powerful plot that engages the reader, indeed compelling them, as if by magic, to put everything else aside and be drawn into Gemma's world.

A Gothic fantasy with splashes of romance and drama, Bray's first novel in the trilogy is beautifully written.  The story moves rapidly, but the novel draws on deeper themes such as self-determination and the traumatic consequences of choice, destiny and responsibility.  The most fascinating novel I've read for some time.