The Mitochondrial Curiosities of Marcels 1-19 delights Hey! Teenager of the Year

This was such an interesting, funny book; eccentric, artsy Dree makes for a fabulous narrator, and the troubles she gets into, the family — philanthropic and gifted younger sister Paige, deceased father Leonard who loved treasure hunts, Grandma working at a psychiatric hospital — and even the settings, made for an engaging, brilliantly different story.

Only a couple of small things bothered me: It felt like a fairly short novel, but it packs a really interesting plotline, and I think it finished too quickly — sometimes the story rushed along a little quickly and I lost track. The OMGs felt a little bit forced; I think the author would have had the true voice of a teenage girl down pat even without making her say OMG all the time.

Apart from those two small things, I loved how unique this novel was — a father dying is a common enough premise in a teen novel, but with such a fabulous protagonist and intriguing storyline — with hidden secrets, two fires and a slightly odd family — it was totally unlike any other YA novel I've read.

I love the cover — I think it's the first time I've seen a sock puppet on the cover of a teen book. This is the publisher, Coach House's, first YA novel, and I really thing the author has done a brilliant job.

I loved the inclusion of craft projects in the book (some of which you can find on Dree's blog), accompanied by cute illustrations like these: [visit original post for image].

There were so many lines I wanted to write down and save for later, so many funny things. I adored Dree's creatures made of baby socks Marcels 1-19 — and her honest, chatty, sometimes rambling voice made the book.

Overall, I thought this was a lovely novel, that'll really appeal to people with a quirky sense of humour, even if you aren't a fan of crafts.