Author: Heavy Feather

  • “Dog-eared”: William Henderson Reviews Crewel, a young adult novel by Gennifer Albin

    “Dog-eared”: William Henderson Reviews Crewel, a young adult novel by Gennifer Albin

    Without Katniss Everdeen and the 13 Districts, and all of the other books in which a young woman, despite all odds, triumphs in a world almost-but-not-quite like ours, Adelice Lewys and the world of Arras in Gennifer Albin’s young-adult novel, Crewel, would not exist. The story, even though derivative, gets points for its unique take…

  • Review: William Henderson on Earth, Air, Fire, Water: The Elementals, a novel by Francesca Lia Block

    Review: William Henderson on Earth, Air, Fire, Water: The Elementals, a novel by Francesca Lia Block

    Billed as an “adult novel,” The Elementals, by Francesca Lia Block (The Weetzie Bat books, Guarding the Moon) catapults us into the world of Ariel, a girl on the cusp of womanhood, struggling to make sense of her first year of college, her mother’s bout with cancer, and the disappearance of a friend. She’s bullied,…

  • “Dog-eared”: William Henderson Reviews The End of Your Life Book Club, a novel by Will Schwalbe

    “Dog-eared”: William Henderson Reviews The End of Your Life Book Club, a novel by Will Schwalbe

    You know from the beginning of Will Schwalbe’s The End of Your Life Book Club that his mother, Mary Anne, is dead. Pancreatic cancer. And you know from the beginning that books have played a major part of Will’s life (he’s the former senior vice president and editor-in-chief of Hyperion Books). And you know from…

  • I Am Trying to Break Your Sex Laws 2.3

    “When it comes to dating why do men lead with penis and pay less heed to what’s actually going on?” – Missa, Orlando, FL H.M.S Pinafore The divorce demagnetized my moral compass, names as colonial British sea power. I look in the mirror for where the cannonball of her teeth landed. Got a sex and/or…

  • “Dog-eared”: William Henderson Reviews The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde

    “Dog-eared”: William Henderson Reviews The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde

    I’ve enjoyed Jasper Fforde since his first novel, The Eyre Affair, introduced us to Thursday Next and her adventures in book world, and then my appreciation for Fforde deepened as he took a break from Thursday and began a series of books based on nursery rhymes and the detective who investigates nursery crimes. Now, Fforde returns…

  • “Dog-eared”: William Henderson on Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

    “Dog-eared”: William Henderson on Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

    To: YouFrom: Heavy Feather ReviewRe: Where’d You Go, Bernadette You know from the beginning that Bernadette Fox is missing, and that her daughter, Bee, is doing what she can to find her mother, including reading e-mails to, from, and about Bernadette; reviewing memorandums sent home from her school, the Galer Street School; reviewing presentation transcripts;…

  • I Am Trying to Break Your Sex Laws 2.2

    “You live in Florida, right? As I’m sure you know, oral sex is illegal in the Sunshine State. What is the maximum penalty for oral sex there, and what is a likely sentence for a first offender?” – Joshua Kleinberg, Akron, Ohio In The Getaway Car Carl stretched his foreskin taut, stared at the face…

  • “Dog-eared: What Matters Most, How You Feel When You’re Together”: William Henderson on David Leviathan’s Every Day

    “Dog-eared: What Matters Most, How You Feel When You’re Together”: William Henderson on David Leviathan’s Every Day

    The main character in Every Day, the new young-adult novel by David Levithan (one-half of the team behind bestsellers like Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist; Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares; Will Grayson, Will Grayson) is both—and neither—boy and girl, and short one reference to gender on the back cover (which may be fixed by now, since…

  • I Am Trying to Break Your Sex Laws 2.1

    “Which fast food produces the best dirty sanchez?” – Mike Buffalo, San Francisco, California I’m Lovin’ It Max always looked for labias shaped like New Jersey sinking into the Atlantic. He always kept a bottle of Sprite chilled at bedside, practicing how to explain it wasn’t there to rinse her out of his mouth, but enhance…