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Barnes and Noble top teen books 2009

Wow, this one came a bit out of the blue but Barnes and Noble (huge book chain in the US for my British buddies) selected Devil's Kiss as one of their twenty best teen books for 2009. Which is nice. The others were (and I'm sure you've read them all, haven't you?):

Catching Fire, Shiver, Along for the Ride, The Maze Runner, Hush Hush,  City of Glass, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, If I Stay, The Demon King, Leviathan, Going Bovine, Wintergirls, Jessica's Guide to dating on the Dark Side, The Summer I turned Pretty, North of Beautiful, Bloodhound, The Ask and the Answer, King of Screw Ups, Claudette Colvin:Twice Toward Justice.

Hooray to all!

American Library Association, Best Book for Young Adult Nominations

I'm very honoured that Devil's Kiss made it on the list, it implies the book has some literary merit, which is something all authors strive towards (and you thought it was just about swordfights, shame on you!). So, this is for my old English teacher, Ms. Masters. Ful list is on the link.

Publisher's Weekly, 7th September 2009 (starred review)

Devil's Kiss Sarwat Chadda, Disney-Hyperion, $17.99 (336p) ISBN 978-1-4231-1999-9

Chadda's fast-paced debut introduces 15-year-old Billi SanGreal, who is drafted into the modern remnants of the once-great Knights Templar by her fanatical, emotionally distant father, leader of the order (“How was school?” he asks while she's still “covered in slimy gore” after an exorcism). Though skilled in weaponry and educated in obscure religious history, Billi is a poor fit for the Templars: the lone girl in an otherwise all-male organization, of Muslim extraction but surrounded by Christians and lacking the unblinking ruthlessness required by the eternal war between the Knights and the forces of darkness. Nonetheless, she finds herself standing between the Angel of Death, Michael, who has become blinded by imagined glories of enforced salvation, and the multitude of innocents Michael would happily slaughter in the name of God. Scenes of spiritual warfare are gripping (and often gruesome), as is the undercurrent of supernatural romance. Chadda offers an original take on familiar creatures like vampires, the undead and fallen angels, but it's Billi's personality and tumult of emotions that will keep readers hooked. A promising beginning to both this series and Chadda's career. Ages 13–up. (Sept.)

Kirkus Review, 15th August 2009

Forget the jacket blurb's come-on to paranormal-romance fans, this is an old-fashioned high-octane horror tale, dripping with ghastly portents, eldritch violence and an embittered heroine facing down the looming Apocalypse. Billi SanGreal has been training since childhood to fight alongside the remnants of the Knights Templar, the mysterious medieval order founded to oppose the dark powers. Now dwindled to a handful of battle-scarred men, none is more grim and cold than their master, her father. Billi takes comfort in her friendship with the young psychic Kay, but when he carelessly invokes a long-dormant evil, she must confront a force more powerful, more monstrous, more tempting than anything she could imagine. The glorious splendor of the Templar mythos is deftly contrasted with the squalid dreariness of their present, illuminating the refuge they find in the cleaner, simpler problems of ghouls and werewolves and the fleeting beauty of innocence they so brutally defend. But Billi, in her anger-from simmering to white-hot-and her pain-physical, emotional and spiritual-dominates the story with gritty, fierce humanity. Love, loss, betrayal and sacrifice, leavened only with the bittersweet grace of doing what must be done. Deus vult! (Horror. 12 & up)

Saturday 18th July, Guardian newspaper

Mythic, funny, violent and fast-moving, this thrilling adventure draws on the facts and mythology of the Knights Templar and their crusading missions. Slipping easily from today's London to gothic fantasy, Chadda weaves in heroine Billi SanGreal's Muslim background, too, as she takes up the challenges of her destiny.

Books for Keeps, Issue 177, July 2009, NEW TALENT

Not being a fan of The Da Vinci Code I doubted whether I would enjoy a novel whose heroine, Billi SangGreal, is the first female member of the Knights Templar. Within a few pages, however, Chadda had swept me into the hidden and claustrophobic world of his Templars whose vigilance and martial skills preserve the world from the Unholy. Nocturnal sorties from their London base at the Temple Church to sort out werewolves and vampires are run of the mill – tension mounts as a more formidable and ancient enemy reappears to challenge them and steal the Cursed Mirror, once owned by King Solomon himself.

Billi undergoes an intensive training in the use of various weapons as well as in History, Arabic, Latin, Ancient Greek and Occult Lore. She is also obliged to attend an ordinary school during the day where the cuts and bruises received during her secret martial arts training excite speculation that she may be a battered child. Her classmates have boyfriends but Billi’s remote father (the Master of the Templar Knights) frowns on any extra-curricular activity. As Billi’s resentment at this grows, she unwittingly befriends a young man who turns out to be a mortal enemy.

It is hard not to enjoy a novel that weaves stories from the Christian, Islamic and Jewish religious traditions into a thrilling plot with such skill and enthusiasm. Chadda also breaks new ground with the effortless multi-culturalism of his very London characters – from Billi herself (her real name is Belkis from her Pakistani mother) to her West African godfather Percy, also a Templar knight. This is a confident first novel written with a lot of wellie and it will be hugely enjoyed.

Carousel Review, June 2009

This is a highly entertaining, action-packed fantasy. Fifteen-year-old Billi SanGreal just wants a normal life, but her fearsome father is Master of the Knights Templar and Billi is his latest recruit. At school she is considered a freak, whose father was accused of the murder of her mother. Unable to explain her mother was killed by the Angel of Death, Billi becomes a loner. At home she spends her time in a harsh regime with the other Knights Templar, led by her uncompromising father. Billi is fed up with the looks she gets at school because of her cuts and bruises, and the detentions for not doing her homework when she's been out waging war against the unholy. She wants out, but when her mother's murderer returns with a plan to slaughter every firstborn, including her, she faces some difficult choices. A thrilling page turner.

Friday 12th June, Independent Newspaper

This is from the Diary by Arifa Akbar in the Arts section of the national paper. Okay, it's not about the book per se, but still counts!

All sized up

The British children's author Sarwat Chadda was visiting America when he had a brush with Homeland Security. He got his own back in a blog that read: "A Woman with a Gun asks: Have you travelled to any of the following countries? Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Pakistan, Sudan? Me: Er... yes? Woman looks at me like she's sizing me up for a jumpsuit. I try and explain I look awful in orange. Woman: Do you have any relatives in the US? Me: Er... yes? Woman: Now this relative wouldn't be the one who recently had dinner with the President of Iran? Me: Er... yes? Woman concludes I'm probably a large in jumpsuits...."

May 2009 -- FLIPSIDE

This book is a thrilling ride through the myths and legends of the Knights Templar which brings in Bible lore and goth horror ... A truly gripping fantasy. 5 STARS.

20 February 2009 -- Fiona Noble, The Bookseller

Excellent debut thriller, pitched at the Stephenie Meyer “goth-lit” audience. There’s plenty to appeal to Twilight fans, and enough bloody action scenes to satisfy male readers too.

25 March 2008 -- The Bookseller: Puffin Snaps Up Chadda Duo

Puffin has secured the rights to Sarwat Chadda's The Devil's Kiss and a sequel in "a very nice" deal. More