Saturday, December 02, 2017

Six top YA books featuring furry (or scaly) companions

At the BN Teen blog Samantha Randolph tagged six incredible animal friends in YA fiction. One entry on the list:
Vicarious, by Paula Stokes

As surprising as it may be, I’ve rarely read contemporary or mystery YA that has pets in it, at least any that are mentioned more than once or twice. This is fairly strange as so many households have pets, but then again, many contemporary YA stories focus on school life, rather than home life. Paula Stokes’s mystery/thriller duology, beginning with Vicarious, has the lovely cat, Miso. While Miso isn’t a main character, Winter Kim, a young woman who does stunts and other dangerous activities for Vicarious Sensory Experiences, loves Miso dearly and makes it clear that Miso is part of her every day life. When Winter’s sister, Rose, vanishes, Winter has to do some serious sleuthing, and she makes sure Miso is taken care of while she’s away. This might be the only story I’ve read that mentions getting a pet-sitter, which I love. Those small details are part of what makes contemporary stories so true to life.
Read about another entry on the list.

The Page 69 Test: Vicarious.

The Page 69 Test: Ferocious.

--Marshal Zeringue