YA Reading Thoughts and A Book: Sirenz by Charlotte Bennardo and Natalie Zaman

Sirenz by Charlotte Bennardo and Natalie Zaman (ebook link) was released this past June and caught my eye with its title, of course, after all my recent work with mermaids, sirens, etc. I could probably post about a different YA fantasy novel with mythology, folklore and fairy tale elements every day of the month. Well, the fairy tale ones get fast tracked onto this blog, but the other ones not so much unless they spark my interest. Should that change? I don't want this blog to be just about books--although they are my favorite thing--my primary purpose is to show how fairy tales and folklore appear in the world around us. But it seems that the books are most readers' favorite entries, so perhaps I will broaden the parameters. And, after all, Young People Are Reading More Than You. And I am all about that, too, so I enjoy being part of the push.

I'm not one to miss my earlier youth and I enjoy the age I have achieved, thank you very much, but sometimes I am wistful over the literature I missed reading as a teenager by being born earlier. I mean what I missed reading as a teen because it wasn't published yet. I can't complain because that meant some of the greats weren't overshadowed and they fed my soul during those years--I wouldn't give up reading Madeleine L'Engle or Robin McKinley over and over during those years again for anything. I also discovered the classics and devoured them more than I see the current avid teen readers doing these days because they have so many choices to distract them.

Oh well, enough rumblings. Back to the book. Sirenz is surely not soul-stirring but it sounds like fun that provokes a little thinking, too. The mythology usage sound intriguing so I thought I would share it here.

Book description from the publisher:

Bickering frenemies Meg and Shar are doing some serious damage at a midnight sample sale when the fashionistas find themselves arguing over a pair of shoes-with fatal consequences. One innocent bystander later, the girls are suddenly at the mercy of Hades, Lord of the Underworld himself. To make them atone for what they've done, Hades forces the teens to become special-assignment Sirens, luring to the Underworld an individual whose unholy contract is up.

Finding that delicate balance between their fashion addiction and their new part-time job in the eternal hellfire biz turns out to be harder than Meg and Shar expected, especially when an entire pantheon of Greek deities decides to get involved. Then there's the matter of the fine print in their own contracts...

Yes, there is the fashion hook to get the book started--I am rather weary of the high fashion schtick that chick lit's boom left us--but it seems to move away from that and use mythology in a quirky way, so more fun and perhaps inspiration to learn more about some various Greek gods.