Note from Anastasia: When I asked the new Ypulse Youth Advisory Board what kinds of features they wanted to write for Ypulse, "book reviews" kept coming up. Given all the discussion about the decline of teen reading [long form books], this was encouraging to hear. Yes, the YAB is made up of young people who mostly self identify as being writers, but not all teen writers are avid readers. I know there are lots of book review sites out there as well as teen book review sites (our friends at Teen Scene magazine just sent a link to their reviews), but that's ok, the more youth voices and opinions about books written for them the better I say.

If you are a publicist and would like to send our Youth Advisory Board books to review, please email me. To give our board feedback on reviews, leave a comment or write to them directly via email: youthadvisoryboard at ypulse.com.

Our first review is from YAB member Michael Hayball.

'Cycler': A Book For All Ages…And Genders

In young adult fiction, there are tons of books about boy or girl-meets-boy or girl stories, so it's notable when a boy/girl-meets-boy/girl story shows up. That's exactly the premise of the book Cycler by Lauren McLaughlin.

There's our hero/ine, Jill McTeague. She's an average girl who happens to leave school for four days out of the month for "blood transfusions." Unbeknownst to her friends, she goes home to have her period, which turns her into Jack, a skinny teenage boy. For four days she turns into a raging male, and she can't stop it. McLaughlin nails the voice of a teenage boy locked in Jill's bedroom, with only naughty magazines and girls to fantasize about. You see, Jack is smitten with Jill's best friend, and his emotions some times leak over into Jill's subconscious. This, combined with her/his parents increasing intolerance of Jack's stay in their daughter's body, and that Jill's boyfriend is bisexual makes for pretty enticing drama.

Cycler is an excellent book for all ages, genders and any combination thereof. It is equal parts sci-fi, teen drama and love story. The only complaint I have is that McLaughlin gives too much page time to Jill, when Jack is just as interesting a character. There is a good cliffhanger ending, and I suspect that his character will be fleshed out in the next book. This aside, it is a great debut book by an up-and-coming author.

About Michael Hayball
Michael lives a simple life in Allen Park, Mi. When he is not attending Henry Ford Community College for his Associates, he can be seen chatting and socializing around campus and the local coffeeshop. He enjoys a good iced caramel cappuccino, or a regular coca-cola. Michael loves what he calls "The Blog Music," and he was and still is raised on a steady diet of electronic music and old-school hip hop. Michael hopes to work for Spin magazine one day, and screams like a little girl every time a new issue comes to the local coffee shop.

Categorized under: Books, YAB Review, Youth Advisory Board

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