17 & Gone by Nova Ren Suma

It was on a snowy lane that Lauren first saw the poster about Abby Sinclair’s disappearance tacked to a pine tree. Soon after, she saw the ghost like appearance of Abby in the back seat of her van as she was on the day she disappeared. She was wearing a camp t-shirt, red shorts with white striping, had leaves in her hair and bruises on her knees. Although she lived in New Jersey, she was a counselor in training at a camp Pinecliff, New York. Abby was 17.

The next vision to appear was Fiona Burke. Fiona, nine years older than Lauren, used to babysit for her. She ran away, leaving Lauren in the Burke house by herself, locked in a closet. Fiona was never heard from again, but Lauren sees her and Fiona speaks to her. Fiona was 17 when she disappeared.

There’s Natalie, Shyann, Isabeth and Madison. All 17.

There are so many 17 year olds who disappear, either by running away or by being abducted and they are starting to make themselves visible to Lauren. But she’s not sure what she’s supposed to do about it. Then the dreams start.

I ended my 2013 reading with 17 & Gone, Nova Ren Suma’s latest (and I think best) YA novel, after Imaginary Girls and Dani Noir. It is absorbing. There is tension as Lauren interacts with these visions. There is concern for these poor girls. There is a surreal atmosphere to Lauren’s life, both real and imagined. There is a twist which I didn’t see coming. This will definitely make by 2013 Top 10 List.

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Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

Imaginary Girls is Nova Ren Suma’s (Dani Noir) second novel. I’m finding it hard to explain what it’s about, so I’ll give you the beginning and maybe a few comments from the book flap. Fourteen year old Chloe idolizes her nineteen year old sister Ruby, as well she should. Ruby practically raised her. Ruby would do anything to protect her and is also proud of her. Swimming with friends one night down at the reservoir created to provide water for New York City, Ruby brags that Chloe can swim the  width of the reservoir and come back with a souvenir from Olive, the town that was drowned in order to create the reservoir. Halfway across, Chloe tires and as she loses strength, a rowboat magically appears. She grabs on and as she feels around the boat, she realizes there’s a body in it…a classmate, London.

That’s as much as I’m going to tell you.

On the back of the book jacket, Nancy Werlin calls is “A surreal little nightmare in book form.” Aimee Bender calls it “eerie and gripping…” The book flap says “…a masterfully distorted vision of family…” If this doesn’t have you totally confused…

Suffice it to say, Suma does a masterful job. I like the way she writes. It’s descriptive and literary. You can visualize the characters, the setting, the action. You constantly wonder what’s going to happen next. Yes, it is surreal. It is eerie. But I had to keep on reading.

For an out of the ordinary book, it’s Imaginary Girls.

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Dani Noir by Nova Ren Suma

Kat Rosenfield, author of Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone (a great book, by the way) spoke to a group of YA librarians the other day (https://2headstogether.wordpress.com/2012/07/16/2-short-ones-from-two-heads-together/). Amelia Anne was her debut novel and although it’s been up for some awards, such as the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Mystery, I’d still consider Ms. Rosenfield an ‘under the radar’ author. So, I asked her for some other under the radar authors and she recommended Nova Ren Suma, describing her as ‘literary’. Ms. Suma has written four books one of which is housed in our children’s area and the rest in Young Adult.

I started with her debut novel Dani Noir, the children’s book and will read them in order of publication. Although I probably wouldn’t classify it as ‘literary’, it was certainly well written and totally enjoyable. Danielle (Dani) Callanzano’s life is in turmoil. Her parents are recently divorced (after her father cheated on her mother). Her father is remarrying. Her mother is constantly crying and Dani can’t forgive her father.  She’s spending her summer at the Little Arts Theater in upstate Shanosha, NY watching Noir movies and envisioning her life as movie scenes, with Rita Hayworth as the femme fatale. Dani definitely has trust issues…if her father lied to her, who else is lying to her.

When Dani sees a girl with polka dot leggings leaving the theater projection booth (manned by Jackson, who is Dani’s friend Elissa’s boyfriend) Dani goes into noir mystery mode, trying to find out what the story is. Along the way, she learns a few things about herself, about friends, life and love.

Now, if you’ve learned anything about me from reading this blog it’s that I’m totally into pulp mysteries. (I found a few more anthologies to add to my collection. Some people, Susan, might call me obsessed.) And guess what…some of those pulp era mysteries (The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, Laura, The Postman Always Rings Twice) have been made into some of the best movies. So, not only did I read a fun book, but I came away with a list of 17 Noir movies I need to watch. (I’m starting out with Gilda (with Rita Hayworth) and The Postman Always Rings Twice (with Lana Turner). If these stars don’t qualify as femme fatales, I don’t know who would.)

I am totally looking forward to reading Ms. Suma’s second book, Imaginary Girls.

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