When I Am Through With You by Stephanie Kuehn (review)

24 • The Bulletin and unflappable confidence refreshes the standard plotline. Beatrice is a girl of action , so there’s little angst here, just planned (sometimes not entirely well) missions to get her partner in crime back. Johannes’ art gives Beatrice a unique look, with a football-shaped head, gangly limbs, and a Princess Leia hairdo, and the restricted palette of the illustrations punches up the black linework with some snazzy pinks and oranges. A swift pace, brief chapters, and subtle repetition make this a solid choice for newly independent readers, while Ramona fans and other nonconformists will find good company with Beatrice. KQG Khorana, Aditi The Library of Fates. Razorbill, 2017 [328p] Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-59514-858-2 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-101-99903-5 $10.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 8-12 When the conqueror Sikander the Great sets his sights on the idyllic kingdom of Shalingar, sixteen-year-old Princess Amrita’s world is shattered; her father was murdered in front of her, her kingdom overthrown, and her best friend and lover Arjun held hostage and forced to govern as Sikander’s satrap. Amrita flees with Thala, a young seer Sikander had held as a slave, who tells Amrita she can get her father and her kingdom back if they can find the mysterious Library of All Things, where each person’s life is recorded in a magical book. Find her father’s book,Thala claims, and Amrita can alter the past—as Thala seeks to alter her own, undoing her life of slavery. Narrated in Amrita’s clear, introspective voice, this is a story as much about choices as it is about fate; though she has a destiny, nothing about her story feels inevitable, giving urgency to her quest as she comes face to face with the deities she had never really believed in and seeks answers to questions about her parents’ shared history with Sikander and the mystery of her own identity. Amrita’s love for her home comes through in gorgeously evocative descriptions of Shalingar’s landscape, from the jasmine-scented air, mango groves, and fountains of the palace to the crowded streets of the capital city and even the maze of dark tunnels she and Thala must navigate to make their escape. The personal, political, and cosmic stakes of their journey come together in a final twist that’s as gripping as it is unexpected, facing Amrita with a choice unusual in a genre that typically emphasizes Western individualism and self-realization—and which will leave readers both breathless and thoughtful at its poignant conclusion. SS Kuehn, Stephanie When I Am Through With You. Dutton, 2017 [304p] Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-101-99473-3 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-101-99474-0 $10.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 10-12 Ben Gibson was only six when he made the executive decision to shoot dead his mother’s holier-than-thou abuser, only for his mom to then attempt to murder him by driving their family car off a ledge. Ten years later, Ben finds comfort in his relationship with Rose, although he knows it’s only a matter of time before she leaves him, with graduation on the horizon. Then what was supposed to be a simple school-sponsored four-day hike in the mountains turns into a largely alcohol-induced power struggle and eventual bloodbath, and there’s not much comfort anywhere—especially not in the jail cell from where Ben’s narrating. This is a sophisticated horror story that makes familiar tropes of sexy encounters and September 2017 • 25 isolated outdoor adventures into a powerful and poetic tale of survival, hope and despair. Anticipation builds with each chapter’s intentional cliffhanger sentence, and the suspense will keep readers on shivery tenterhooks. MK Lauren, Christina Autoboyography. Simon, 2017 [416p] Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-4814-8168-7 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-4814-8170-0 $10.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 9-12 After living in their predominantly Mormon town in Utah for three years, Tanner Scott’s parents, who are beyond accepting of Tanner’s bisexuality...