One Old, One New: The Francesca Zappia Edition

One Old, One New features two books - one old, one new, which are connected in some way. Today, I am sharing two books by Francesca Zappia

Now Entering Addamsville
Francesca Zappia
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Zora Novak has been framed.

When someone burns down the home of the school janitor and he dies in the blaze, everyone in Addamsville, Indiana, points a finger at Zora. Never mind that Zora has been on the straight and narrow since her father was thrown in jail. With everyone looking for evidence against her, her only choice is to uncover the identity of the real killer. There’s one big problem—Zora has no leads. No one does. Addamsville has a history of tragedy, and thirty years ago a similar string of fires left several townspeople dead. The arsonist was never caught.

Now, Zora must team up with her cousin Artemis—an annoying self-proclaimed Addamsville historian—to clear her name. But with a popular ghost-hunting television show riling up the townspeople, almost no support from her family and friends, and rumors spinning out of control, things aren’t looking good. Zora will have to read between the lines of Addamsville’s ghost stories before she becomes one herself.

Once upon a time, there were firestarters, demons, who were responsible for generations of deaths in Addamsville. Her mother hunted them and was passing on the family trade to Zora. That was until her mother disappeared. But, now the demons were back, and it was up to Zora and her cousin, Artemis, to rid their town of this scourge. Would Zora survive another showdown with the firestarters?

This book was nothing that I was expecting, and everything I never knew I wanted. It was creepy, a bit dark, and really fun. I have been seeing people dropping Buffy references, but all I kept feeling, as I read this book, were Supernatural vibes. I mean, Zora was a tough cookie, who drove a muscle car and had a demon for a friend. Sounds like she would fit right in with Sam and Dean.

So, Zora was a hunter, and the hunt for the firestarter was definitely a big part of this story, however there were also a lot of other things going on in Zora's life. You see, this was not her first tussle with the demons, and the last meeting left her missing two fingers and with an unearned reputation as an arsonist. The whole town had sort of turned against her, but Zora couldn't turn her back on Addamsville, and that's why she was willing to take up the hunt again. To protect her family and her town.

The story was fast-paced fun, which had me hooked from the very beginning, but what really made this story shine were the characters. I think you can already guess that Zora was fantastic, and though she considered herself a loner, when push came to shove, there were several people ready to stand by her side. Her ice cream crew, her cousin, her sister, and her sister's boyfriend were steadfast supporters of Zora, and I loved them all.

I had a great time as Zora and the gang met up with ghosts and searched for the demons, but I also appreciated the more emotional issues Zappia incorporated. You see, Zora's battle with demons were both literal and figurative. Zora was dealing with isolation, poverty, a father in prison, and a missing/dead mother. Her sister was forced to act as her parent, while her father was incarcerated, and they had to deal with the scorn of the whole town in the fallout of their father's Ponzi scheme. You would think that was enough to sour Zora on Addamsville, but she didn't let any of that get in the way of fulfilling her duty as a hunter.

This was a dark and humorous look at life in a small town, which I hope gets a sequel, because Grim's final line begged for this story to be continued.

**ARC received in exchange for an honest review.

Made You Up
Francesca Zappia
Age/Genre: Young Adult,
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

Reality, it turns out, is often not what you perceive it to be—sometimes, there really is someone out to get you. Made You Up tells the story of Alex, a high school senior unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion. This is a compelling and provoking literary debut that will appeal to fans of Wes Anderson, Silver Linings Playbook and Liar.

Alex fights a daily battle to figure out the difference between reality and delusion. Armed with a take-no-prisoners attitude, her camera, a Magic 8-Ball, and her only ally (her little sister), Alex wages a war against her schizophrenia, determined to stay sane long enough to get into college. She’s pretty optimistic about her chances until classes begin, and she runs into Miles. Didn't she imagine him? Before she knows it, Alex is making friends, going to parties, falling in love, and experiencing all the usual rites of passage for teenagers. But Alex is used to being crazy. She’s not prepared for normal.

Funny, provoking, and ultimately moving, this debut novel featuring the quintessential unreliable narrator will have readers turning the pages and trying to figure out what is real and what is made up.

Could you imagine wondering if what you were seeing or perceiving was real? That was a challenge Alex faced on a daily basis. Add to that, the desire for all the things average teens want - college, friends, an after school job, and you can see that Alex didn't have it easy. Made You Up was an interesting and thought provoking look at one young schizophrenics life, which I really enjoyed.

I have a relative, who is schizophrenic, and it can be a very difficult disorder to manage. I thought Zappia did a nice job conveying that challenge in this story. There was medication to keep her symptoms at bay, therapy to help her cope with those the medication could not curb, and the disequilibrium of constantly having to wonder if something was real or a delusion/hallucination. These were all things that Alex had to work around on a daily basis, and I appreciated that she dealt with all these things, while still trying to reach her goals of college.

I loved Alex, and I was so elated, when she found her tribe. Zappia assembled an interesting group of characters to support her in her new school. This merry band of misfits proved their friendship many times during this story, and I was so glad Alex's punishment brought them into her orbit. I was even more happy, that it reunited her with Miles.

Miles was a really complicated character, who I couldn't help but love. He had many things in his life, that were working against him, but he persevered in achieving his goals. Two things he was determined to do was "rescue" his mother and escape his father, and he was willing to go to great lengths to make this happen. His fortitude was overlooked by many, but not Alex. It was something they both had in common, even if they didn't recognize it in themselves.

But, what they really had in common with each other was a love for history. Miles loved to play a sort of twenty questions game, where he would challenge someone to make him guess a mystery person's identity via yes or no questions. I think it was love at first game for Alex, when she played with Miles. The surprise and admiration he elicited from her was precious, and I saw he valued her intelligence as well. This admiration turned to friendship, and once trust between them was established, it took a romantic turn, which I really was happy about.

Alex took the unreliable narrator role to a new level for me. There were many times I wasn't sure what was real and what was delusion, but there were a few reveals that left me reeling. One of them actually made me cry. I swear, it broke my heart, and it brought out the idea of what responsibilities the loved ones of a schizophrenic have to them.

I won't lie about the ending either. I would love a little follow up there, because I honestly was questioning what was reality and what was fantasy. So, kudos to Zappia, for planting so much doubt in my mind.

Overall: I was extremely happy I had the chance to meet Alex, and I thought that Zappia did a wonderful job helping me understand her and bringing me into her world via a story, that was difficult at times, but also funny, joyful, and smile inducing.

Do you have a favorite paranormal book/show/movie?
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