Review: The Taming of Lilah May (Lilah May #1) by Vanessa Curtis

Publisher - Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Publication Date - 12th May 2011
Paperback - 182 pages
Genre - YA contemporary (realistic)
Source - Borrowed from library
Rating - 4.5 out of 5: I really liked it (+ a bit more amazing)
Reviewed by - Amy

Book Info -
I'm Lilah May and I'm ANGRY.
So angry that I'm about to be excluded from school, my parents can't control me, and only one person in the world understands me. And that's my best friend, Bindi.

I haven't always been this way. It all started with my brother Jay. And what no one realises is that it's all my fault.

(By the author of Zelah Green, Queen of Clean, which has been shortlisted for the Waterstones Prize, The Nasen/TES Prize 2009 and winner of the Manchester Children's Book Awards 2010.)

My Thoughts-
I'm not sure if this has been even nominated for awards. I'm sorry for that non-sureness but I cannot lie; it should win some. Just like Zelah Green did. I reviewed them too and pretty much really liked them too. But this- this book is different. Still contemporary but more surprising.
Firstly, do you know one of the things I love about Lilah May? (Come on! Be physic.) You're not going to believe it but... the made-up words. I love it, I'm sometimes known for "inventing words" but I didn't think of the epic word, "Shockerola!" Lilah did. The thing about Lilah is, she does that to deal with her anger. I don't know how it works but as soon as that word, or maybe her personal favourite 'Groo', is uttered... Well, she seems better for it. So, I support her in what you may think is mad. I love these words, less so the latter.
How many books do you know dealing with anger management? It's not exactly a topic for children. It's not meant to be. Neither are some of the other themes and things brought up in 'The Taming Of Lilah May'.
The mixture of the cover, page length and whatnot may bring a younger audience in that is intended for. But I think 11+ are the best bet.
The length deceives for another reason. You may wonder how much can be packed into it and why the sequel needs to be a separate book at this length. But actually, many longer books don't pack a punch like this one. Drugs are mentioned. There's a hint of multiculturalism (Bindi's family want her to have an arranged marriage and this was discussed a little bit but it was a sub-plot.) If you don't mind hearing about another sub-plot, I'm not wanting to wreck part of the book but well... it's not an integral part, I'm including the below for a reason (you are welcome to skip this paragraph in italics if this is your preference!):
Small spoiler: One of the characters actually gets a teen girl pregnant and surprisingly, with all that goes on, Lilah copes quite well. I get a feeling she's more annoyed about the boy's part in it compared to the girl's. But even if this is not the case, the book handles it in a mature way (and boy, isn't it fab it's handled at all?). The consequences are shown but you don't have to read the other explicit stuff which is best left out, as I'm a teen reading books for teens y'know :P
This was totally unexpected but this part just amped up the rating. Although that is common it's really not dealt with as much as other issues- like mental illness (I know that's unique but not as unique from what I know).
All the relationships were dealt with in a sensitive and amazing way! I felt a connection to Lilah which proves it's not just characters I relate with more (sorry to mention Zelah again!) that Vanessa portrays well, it's all of them. This isn't a fluke. I truly believe you will love all Curtis' books...

Summary-
Having said the above, especially this one. This is a gem, dealing with topics you probably haven't read about (or rarely, if you have). I enjoyed it thoroughly although felt the mystery didn't suit the book as well, for as long as it carried out. It does hook the reader as we wait to know background information about Jay, Lilah's brother, who disappeared. Yet I hated not knowing until probably halfway through! I'm sorry to say this wasn't the best, I absolutely don't think Jay deserved it all (though of course he's her brother) and was more moved for Lilah and her parents in the main storyline. I just wished I'd known what had Lilah in such twists earlier. Now I do know, I have a good idea of what to expect in the sequel and may read that too. There is sure to be a lot of 'punch' in that too so if you've read that/decide to read that in future please let me know!

Talking about the sequel, as always...

Other books in the series:

1. The Taming of Lilah May (LM #1)

2. Lilah May's Manic Days (LM #2)

Review: One More Little Problem by Vanessa Curtis (Zelah Green #2)

Publisher - Egmont Books Ltd
Publication Date - 5th July 2010
Paperback - 240 pages
Genre - YA Contemporary

Source - Library

Rating - 4 out of 5: I really liked it

Reviewed by - Amy

Book Info -Warm, winning and real, Zelah Green is back!

My name is Zelah Green and I'm a Cleanaholic. It's the summer hols and I'm on major Flirt Alert. I've joined mysortaspace.com and ever since I've been getting emails from loads of boys.

Boys are Dirt Alert AND Germ Alert. Don't even talk to me about kissing...

The rest of my life's a bit rubbish too.

My Thoughts (contains spoilers for Book 1) - So...? Not being resilient characters, are we?

Well, perhaps that is a good thing (we don’t want people to have the resilience to be difficult- especially Zelah). No, not just Zelah- I mentioned (last review) the (ex)stepmother, a character in Book 1. I kept thinking she’d pop up & I was generally thinking she’d be developed. Why? She just sounded interesting; recently I’ve been reading some books with very developed adults & whole families. And now she’s the missing piece of the jigsaw. she really is missing so maybe it’d be best if I had read the second book first (*cough* mystery read-book-2-in-a-series-as-a-standalone library book borrower *cough*) & knew nothing of her...

I’d have missed lots though & I wouldn’t want to miss any of Zelah even if the books aren’t flawless (in my opinions). So, let’s delve into Zelah Land- as I said I would:

Teen Green (sounds more normal Ze?) thinks she isn’t a difficult child but perhaps this is because at Forest Hill she was the easiest a lot of the time- she really did go through a lot though & in the end Zelah probably reckons that’s the reason Mr Green came back. He can turn his back on a difficult daughter but not so much a perfect(ish) one? As you can tell he’s flawed, like Zelah.

Boom. Character Arc score.

But does that mean there’s room for the flawed Caro (I actually forgot until afterwards that I wanted more Lib- that makes up for the “where’s stepmother?” as Caro is just... --->)

GOSH, it’s a misunderstanding! We know Zelah wanted wanted a Forest Hill person to come into her life but she’d have preferred a certain quieter one (just a heads up, there are no quiet people whose name begins with ‘L’, or ‘C’ for that matter, in this book). We know who! It’s summer, why wouldn’t it be a Summer romance (hello blurb & first few pages... not cover, duh!)? She may forget a high quantity of her to-do’s... Yes, well- that’s what I expected! I’m not going to say what got added/taken away from her to-do’s but let’s just say it involved watching lots of (laugh out laugh) debates between Caro & those who dare cross her path. There was a serious depth underneath that- I may have laughed & wondered if anybody else could argue like that- they can’t- but I did feel empathy.

Relationships were built, broken (that’s the only insta thing by the way, don’t let the blurb make you think of the moment when eyes meet & hearts bonds eternally...) and other elements of OCD were examined in one chapter. It wasn’t preachy but I liked how we came to see how the rituals developed, and are fluctuating. We also get to see other things those with OCD may do & how they feel about it. It was short but I was reminded about why I picked up, and really enjoyed, this series.

Summary (no spoilers, if you just want a general opinion...) - If that isn’t enough for you I’ll say this: it was slightly different from the first book- it wrapped up even better & that is why it has the same rating, others parts didn’t seem quite as excelling. I must admit I expected it to either be better than Book 1 or really not. It wasn’t either of them; I was satisfied & laughed (well... tried not to laugh) a lot more! The characters definitely shone (FYI: My Mum wants a third book with Liv in*) & I am glad I read this in conclusion.

*she actually told me to type that :L

Other books in the series:
1. Zelah Green, Queen of Clean
2. One More Little Problem

Review: Zelah Green, Queen of Clean by Vanessa Curtis (Zelah Green #1)

This is the first review by new Once Upon a Series blogger, Amy. So please give her a nice warm welcome. You can also check out Amy's blog which is dedicated to UK YA here.

Publisher - Egmont Books Ltd
Publication Date - 5th July 2010
Paperback - 256 pages
Genre - YA Contemporary

Source - Library

Rating - 4 out of 5: I really liked it

Reviewed by - Amy

Book Info - My name is Zelah Green and I'm a Cleanaholic.

I spend most of my life on Germ-Alert (Germ-Alert is for when people forget to wash their hands and then try to touch me.) It's a miracle I ever get to school. But then my stepmother packed me off to live with a bunch of weirdos at Forest Hill where everyone has their 'little problems' too...

There's Alice, who lives on a yoghurt a day; Caro, who's all attitude and heavy metal music... Lib- I don't even want to think about her problem... And then there's Sol... Sol, with his deep brown eyes and olive skin. Sol, who won't speak, but has the cutest smile. Sol, who... Uh oh, FLIRT ALERT!...

Maybe, just maybe, something good could happen here...

My Thoughts - Zelah Green was a really interesting look at life for a variety of “issues”. I’m only saying issues not characters cos although the characters were different this isn’t as rare as them all pretty much having issues.

Like OCD. Welcome Zelah and her rituals which are just beyond belief. Some things I really believed; I squirmed, cringed, giggled ‘aww’ed, ‘Gah’ed and was like,

I empathised slightly too much. In OCD the important letter is the ‘O’. Obsessive. Sometimes, I kid you not, I feel like my life is unbalanced (cos of my slight ‘O-’cd-, well probably not just that but for me it’s not the biggest thing, anyway... this isn’t about me). OCD, and unbalance which is all too likely to occur, for Zelah means disaster! Yes, it’s the BIG thing in her life.

But can skipping dozens of jumps change your life? You’ll see if ritual cutting down can change her life or if it’s Forest Hill. In the end the stepmother didn’t properly seem real. Disappointing as she was a main character (even more than Sol, aka. the love interest). Yup, guys- this is a hardly a romance. Chances are you’ll love the characters even though and curse the stupid person who took Book 2 out of the library I want to have the next one now. There wasn’t a major cliff-hanger (if there was you’d have seen depressed tweets). However once again I have a book leaving me wanting more information. Like NOW.

Tell me more about Lib, Curtis. Pleeease.

Summary - The thing that made this book comical and serious effectively was the fact you could believe both and it was pretty much: that’s LIFE. I really enjoyed it & I may’ve mentioned that it wasn’t a romance- not all books are, not all I enjoy & not all on this blog. I may have been expecting it to be but, it was lovely as it was with awesome characters & an equally epic place. I love Forest Hill & I just wish I knew it existed (not for me, but just for general awesomeness). It seems so real so maybe there are places like that. I hope they are as wonderful as this book was- it really didn’t disappoint.

Other books in the series:
1. Zelah Green, Queen of Clean
2. One More Little Problem