What is the Librarian Reading?

The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America by Timothy Egan

2011-10-12T11:49:00.000-05:00

Main character: Teddy Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot, and the first forest rangers of the Bitterroot Mountains
Location: Montana and other western states
Time period: 1910
Genre: Nonfiction, History

I am a disaster junkie. I know it's a morbid fascination, but I really like reading about disasters, natural and otherwise. The very best disaster books not only examine the disaster itself and how individuals rose (or not) to the occasion, but put the disaster in context and showed how things were changed as a result.

Teddy Roosevelt was an energetic and forceful president. He was also a progressive Republican whose policies made a lot of enemies--especially the wealthy robber barons of the time. One of his lasting legacies was the conservation movement, which included the foundation of our national parks and the creation of national forests to be preserved for the people and not the logging interests. He also created the U.S. Forest Service to maintain and protect those forests.

Roosevelt's successor, Taft, was, in comparison, slow, sluggish, and slothful. He tried to avoid confrontation at all costs, which allowed those opposed to the forest service to gut the program. Their budget cuts made a forest ranger one of the worst paying jobs possible and stretched staff so thin that one ranger had to cover thousands of acres.

Then came the summer of 1910, a unusually hot and dry summer. Lightning storms ignited dozens of small fires. Then a strong wind, known as a Palouser, rose up, causing the fires to grow and merge into what became known as the Big Burn, the largest forest fire ever known. At its height, the fire affected three states and the smoke could be seen from Chicago.

Before the Big Burn, the forest service was on the brink of wasting away, struck by political attacks and budget cuts from government officials who did not see it as a necessary service. After the fire, public sentiment was stirred by the stories of heroic rangers who fought the fire despite terrible losses and that sentiment was enough to save the forest service. Unfortunately, the experience of the Big Burn also led to the forest service's policy of strict fire suppression which has led to accumulation of fuel over the years and thus bigger and fiercer forest fires in recent years.

The copy I read was an ebook version checked out from my library's OverDrive collection.

The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent

2010-06-10T16:35:00.000-05:00

Main Character: 9-year-old Sarah Carrier
Location: Andover, Massachusetts
Time period: Colonial period, the time of the Salem Witch trials
Genre: Historical fiction

Humans love to see patterns, even when there really isn't one. I'm seeing a pattern right now. This book, like Half Broke Horses, has a genealogy connection--the author is writing about her great-great-however many great-grandmother, Martha Carrier, who was convicted of witchcraft and hanged in 1692. Other than the fact that both of these historical novels are written by descendants of the main character, and are excellent reads, they have nothing in common, but I still find it a bit notable that I have wound up reading them back to back.

The Heretic's Daughter was the selection for our library's monthly book club, and so many staff members were reading it and enjoying it that I had to read it myself. The story is told in the form of a remembrance by Sarah Carrier Chapman, elderly and infirm, revealing her deepest secrets to a favored granddaughter. When Sarah was nine years old, her family moved from the community of Billerica to live with Sarah's grandmother in Andover. Unbeknownst to the family, they brought smallpox with them and soon illness had overtaken them and their new community. Sarah's father is a large man with his own secret past; he doesn't talk about it much, but then he doesn't talk much at all. Sarah's mother, Martha, is a forthright woman who does not endear herself to the neighbors. When the atmosphere of fear--fear of disease and fear of Indian raids--builds to the witch hunting hysteria, it is no surprise that old grudges lead to accusations of witchcraft against Martha. When Martha refuses to confess, her children are also arrested and imprisoned in barbaric conditions.

Using Sarah as the narrator is an interesting choice. Being in first person makes the narrative more immediate than the omniscient third person, but more than that, using the voice of an elderly woman looking back to a defining event from her childhood allows the author to leave gaps in the explanation of what happened in Salem and the surrounding areas. I was going to say "gloss over" but that's not really what I mean. Many books have searched for explanations and the psychological motivations--that's not the motivation of this book. This book seeks to bring to life one particular victim, whose strong beliefs would not allow her to lie even at the cost of her own life, and the effect that her life and death had on her family and the effect that all the deaths had on the community at large.

There are hints about Sarah's father's former life, and the author is reportedly working on a book about him. I look forward to reading it.

Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls

2010-06-02T09:23:00.003-05:00

Main character: Lily Casey Smith
Location: American Southwest (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona)
Time period: 1st half of the 20th century
Genre: Fiction, Family story

When I recently changed jobs from Children's/YA librarian to cataloger, I did think that a potential danger was losing touch with all the great books that I was buying for the library. Little did I know that the greater danger was seeing all the books as they left the cataloging department to go out on the shelves. I now have a list of books I want to read, and it is growing daily.

One of the first books that a fellow cataloger recommended to me was Half Broke Horses. The author based this book on her grandmother's life and it was a doozy of a life. It starts with 10-year-old Lily checking on the cows with her little brother and sister when a flash flood comes barrelling toward them. They make it to a cottonwood tree just in time, and then spend the night in the tree, returning home in the morning when the waters recede.

Lily was born with the new century, in 1900, and spent her early life in west Texas. Her father trained carriage horses, and Lily became quite a good trainer herself. Her early education was at home, but eventually she was sent off to a boarding school which she loved--until her father spent her tuition money on a pair of purebred dogs that he planned to breed and sell. Bitterly disappointed, she left school but could not settle in back at home. By this time, World War I had taken most young men away from their factory jobs and women were moving into the manufacturing workforce. This left a shortage of teachers, especially in the small, remote areas. So Lily became a teacher--and a good one, despite being only 17 and with not even an 8th grade education.

As I read this book, I was reminded of my own grandmothers--women from the same generation as Lily, who lived through the Depression and two World Wars. Though they were from different parts of the country, they had a similar toughness and self-reliance. I am now going to have to seek out Jeanette Walls' first book, The Glass Castle, which tells the story of the author's mother, Lily's daughter.

Gym Candy by Carl Deuker

2010-04-04T17:21:00.000-05:00

Main character: High school football player Mick Johnson
Location: Washington state
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, Sports, Football, Steroids

I knew this would be a good book before I even read it. Why? Well, the fact that it was on the 2009-2010 Lone Star Reading List was a big hint, but the thing that clinched it was that this book was never on the shelf when I went looking for it.

The book is about a young man who falls into using steroids. The thing I really liked about the story is that you see that he is really a good guy. He's not some wicked drug fiend, not a vain muscle-bound freak. He's a kid that loves football and desperately wants to be the best that he can be. Part of this comes from wanting to please his father who was a football player himself when he was younger--until a knee injury knocked him permanently out of the game. But don't think that the dad is one to push Mick so hard that he turns to drugs; indeed, the dad is as anxious for Mick's approval and Mick is for dad's approval.

Instead, it really is a slow slide, and it almost seems logical for Mick to go from lifting weights to using protein powder to taking injections to increase his strength and endurance. Even when his trainer gives him a complicated schedule of cocktails, his explanation makes sense. Well of course you want this to build muscle but you don't want the 'roid rage so you take this and then you add this to prevent depression.

A great book and a sobering look at how easy it can be to become an addict.

Bonechiller by Graham McNamee

2010-04-03T11:25:00.003-05:00

Main character: Teenager Danny and his friends, Ash, Howie and Pike
Location: The Big Empty part of northern Canada
Time period: contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, Horror

I really enjoyed this scary story which eschewed the common monsters--vampires, zombies, werewolves--in favor of a lesser-known creature from Native American folklore--the wendigo. And, like the best horror films, the monster is mostly an unseen menace terrorizing a small group of teenagers in the dead of winter in an almost deserted town in far northern Canada. The main character, Danny, is a newcomer to the town, which is a popular summer vacation spot but in winter is no one's idea of fun. His friends are military brats whose fathers are stationed at the nearby base. Ash is a champion boxer and a Native American--it's her father that tells Danny the legend of the wendigo--and just on the cusp of becoming Danny's girlfriend. Howie and Pike are brothers but as different as can be. Big brother Pike is a borderline delinquent who is fond of demolition and military ordnance, but is also fiercely protective of little brother Howie, the brains of the group.

The suspense builds slowly at first--was Danny followed by a pack of dogs, a monster, or just his overactive imagination? And are he and Howie really under the monster's influence, or just sick with a rare, incurable disease? And what about the teens who have disappeared, a few at a time, every so often, through the years? Were they discontented runaways sick of life in a small town, or were they the monster's previous victims?

Bonechiller is on the 2010 TAYSHAS High School Reading list.

Scarecrow by Matthew Reilly

2009-12-12T10:28:00.005-06:00

Main character: Shane "Scarecrow" Schofield, marine extraordinaire
Location: all over the world
Time Period: Contemporary
Genre: Fiction, Action/Adventure, Geo-Political Conspiracy Military Thriller
Series: Shane Schofield #3

One of my library patrons recommended this series to me, and was so enthusiastic that she even went to the shelf and fetched it for me. How could I refuse? It is an exciting and fast-paced novel, but this type of book is not really my cup of tea. I will admit that I am at a bit of a disadvantage jumping in to the middle of the series, so I am not very invested in the characters. Because of this, I did not feel the emotion of some of the major losses along the way.

What did strike me was what this book--and others like it--has in common with three other types of entertainment: action-adventure movies, superhero comic books, and shojo manga. I did read a very amusing blog post (which, alas, I did not bookmark and now cannot find again) that talked about the rules of shojo violence. Some of them--the hero has an unlimited supply of blood and therefore cannot bleed to death, vital organs seem to magically shift position to avoid the path of weapons, and the hero cannot defeat the enemy until he has been brought to the brink of defeat--could easily apply here. Shane is beaten, shot, tortured, and nearly exploded, but he manages to shrug off all injury and keep going because to stop would mean death.

Shane discovers that he, along with 11 others, is the prey in an international bounty hunt. What follows is a series of set pieces where he and his allies are attacked by elite squads of bounty hunters and from whom they escape barely by the skin of their teeth, usually at the very last minute. In the infrequent and too short moments of respite between attacks, they have to figure out why the hunt was called, what is the significance of the deadline, who is behind it, and why Shane is included on the list. There is a lot of excitement here, but as with movies which feature a lot of explosions, stunt scenes, and CGI destruction, after a while it just becomes tiring.

I will admit to being moved by the scene where Shane and one of the few surviving members of his team, a tough woman warrior codenamed "Mother", express their grief through a fistfight, and I will also admit that though they won't be at the top of my to-do list, I might just be tempted to seek out the earlier books.

Mysteries Good Enough to Eat

2009-11-19T17:11:00.014-06:00

I've mentioned before that my library offers downloadable audiobooks and I have become quite enamored of them. I finished the Max Allan Collins disaster series (the ones that were available, at least) and have moved on to the Joanne Fluke Hannah Swensen mysteries.

Hannah Swensen is a 30-something small business owner (she owns a cookie/coffee shop) in the small town of Lake Eden, Minnesota. Her mother Dolores is urging her to marry before it's too late, and keeps setting her up on dates. One of these is Norman Rhodes, the town's dentist, who is a very nice man and one of the few who really gets Hannah's sense of humor.

On the other hand, the new sherrif's deputy, Mike Kingston, gets Hannah's heart racing. If Norman is a warm, comfortable log fire on a winter's night, Mike is a wildfire racing through the woods. Mike's kisses make Hannah melt, but sometimes he can make Hannah's temper really flare.

Norman and Mike are friendly rivals for Hannah' attentions--they can be comfortable with each other, even to the point of excluding Hannah from a guys' conversation during a 4th of July picnic. This is good, because in a town this small, it would be hard for them to avoid each other.

Hannah's family also includes her sister Andrea (a "real estate professional"), Andrea's husband Bill (elected sheriff a few books in), their daughters Tracy and Bethany, plus people close enough to be family such as Lisa, Hannah's partner at the Cookie Jarp. Beyond that is a host of wonderful characters that make Lake Eden come alive and sound like a wonderful place to visit.

This is one of those mystery series where the mysteries themselves are not the most important thing; what keep me reading is the characters and their relationships (no, not just romantic relationships.) In such a small town, everyone knows everyone else; Joanne Fluke should be complimented on how she handles the murders, the victims, and the perpetrators. Many times, the victim is someone that has been encountered (or at least mentioned) in a previous book; the very first victim is someone that Hannah knew well, and her main reason for solving the crime is her need seek justice--not vengeance.

I have mentioned before that I am on Team Jacob in the Twilight series, and Team Simon in the Mortal Instruments series. Here, I am on Team Norman. He is not as good-looking or as exciting as Mike, but I believe he is a better in the long run. After all, Hannah's cat, Moishe, loves Norman where he merely likes Mike. I just don't like the way Mike treats Hannah; he's always objecting to her helping out with the investigation and urges her to "leave it to the professionals" without acknowledging that she and her team (including Norman) are many times able to learn things that the police can't.

One of the great things about listening to books is that you can multi-task. I find myself listening while walking, while cooking, and while doing laundry--times when I would otherwise have to put a book down. I have even taken to listening before bedtime--the danger is that I tend to fall asleep before turning off the MP3 player. Fortunately, it has a rechargeable battery.

The main disadvantage of listening to this series instead of reading the printed version is that there are wonderful recipes scattered throughout. It would be a lot easier to copy them from a page than to have to listen, pause, scribble, listen, pause, scribble. Yummy!

Sequels and Shakespeare

2009-11-04T19:51:00.007-06:00

The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness
Main character: Todd and Viola
Location: New Prentisstown on New Earth
Time period: Sometime in the future
Genre: YA Fiction, Science Fiction, Dystopian Fiction
Series: Chaos Walking #2

When I read The Knife of Never Letting Go this spring, I was reduced to babbling incoherency. What an incredible, brain-exploding book that was. It laid out the rules of the world and then turned them over again and again, keeping you (and Todd) off-balance.

This book doesn't have the mind-blowing aspects of the first one, but there are parts that are heart-rending. Todd is captured by Mayor Prestiss--actually newly self-styled President Prentiss, but Todd still thinks of him as the Mayor. Viola is taken to a house of healing and falls under the sway of Mistress Coyle. It is so tempting to see Mistress Coyle as a good guy; as the one saying goes "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" and Mayor Prentiss is definitely Todd's enemy. But the other saying is "war makes monsters of me" and it makes monsters of women, too.

In the midst of all the chaos and carnage, Todd is the one bright spot. He has a core of goodness, of innocence, that remains despite what is done to him and what he is forced to do. The Mayor recognizes this and knows that it makes Todd a natural leader; he even puts Todd and Davy together, hoping that their characters will influence each other. Who would expect that I would actually feel some sympathy for Davy, and even see in him a faint echo of Manchee? Todd is only broken when he believes that Viola has abandoned him.

I would recommend this series highly for more mature readers--the depictions of terrorist activities, torture, and the genocide of the Spackles are not pleasant to read, but neither are they gratuitous. I cannot wait for the third book and the conclusion of this trilogy.

The Siege of Macindaw by John Flanagan
Main character: Will, Horace, and Alyss
Location: The Castle Macindaw, near the Scotti border
Time period: Medieval-like period
Genre: YA Fiction, Fantasy
Series: The Ranger's Apprentice #6

Book #5, The Sorcerer of the North, ended on an almost literal cliffhanger. Okay, so Will was hanging off of a castle wall, not a cliff, and he did get down before the last page, but it was awfully close. Now Alyss is a prisoner in a tower room and Will is hiding out with Malcolm and his refugees in the woods outside the castle. But hope comes in the form of Horace, as well as a band of shipwrecked Skandians.

This series has gotten to the point, for me at least, where the adventures are not as important as the central characters an their relationships with each other. I especially enjoy that Will and Horace are such close friends--Horace was a bit of a bully in the first book and they could have so easily have fallen into a cliched antagonism. Instead, they have a true respect for each other and for each other's talents. Horace is a straight-forward warrior, Will is a devious Ranger. When they work together, combining their styles, they are unbeatable. I especially loved (spoiler alert!) when Will was agonizing over his feelings for Alyss, and Horace's advice is to stop thinking and just tell her!

I've just seen that the next book will come out next year. I wonder if it will follow the established pattern of taking two books to complete the adventure.

Sent by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Main character: Jonah, Katherine, Chip and Alex
Location: London
Time period: Fifteenth century
Genre: YA Fiction, Time Travel, Historical Fiction
Series: The Missing #2

In the first volume, Found, Jonah, chip and Alex, along with a group of other adopted children, learned that they had been snatched from various points in history and now to heal the rifts in time that resulted, they must be restored. When Chip and Alex are sent back, Jonah and Katherine jump along with them back to 1400s England. It turns out that Chip and Alex are the two Princes in the Tower, the sons of King Edward IV who, according to Shakespeare, were murdered by their usurping uncle, Richard III.

Shakespeare's Richard III is the wickedest villain in English Literature, but historians have debated whether the historical Richard really was guilty of all the murders laid at his feet. It is true that the "Princes in the Tower" were never seen after Richard's coronation--at least not in recorded history. But there are accounts that Richard was an able administrator, a loving husband, and a doting father--a good man and a good king.

Haddix plays with the gaps in history and comes up with a plot that does not villify Richard--though it doesn't exonerate him completely. Jonah and Katherine are able to allow history to play out the way it should without sacrificing Chip and Alex. Because of this, JD admits that they have an ability which the other time agents are lacking. It looks like they will be crucial in helping the other children restore time.

In a set-up for the next volume, JD tells them that they will next be helping Andrea Crowell, the "quiet girl with braids" as Jonah calls her. They will also be taking a dog with them; his name is "Dare." Are we going to find out what happened to the lost colony of Roanoke?

Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston
Main character: 17-year old Kelley, an aspiring actress
Location: Manhattan
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, Fantasy, Faerie Tale

Sent has a slight Shakespeare connection, but Wondrous Strange dives right in to one of his most popular romantic comedies, A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Kelley has been cast as an understudy in a production of Midsummer in a small, shabby, off-Broadway theater. She is happy to do a lot of work backstage, little dreaming that the lead actress will literally break a leg and that Kelley will be required to step into the role of Titania, Queen of the Faeries.

What Kelley does not know--what most mortals do not know--is that there is a lot of truth in the Shakespeare play. The worlds of mortals and of faerie used to intermingle until Auberon closed the gates and forbid any travel between the worlds. But he left a gap, a gate in Central Park where faeries can slip through around Halloween. To guard the gap, he created the Janus Guard, made up of changeling children--children who had been born mortal but had been stolen by faeries before the worlds were sealed.

Sonny is the newest of the Janus Guards and is patrolling in Central Park when he hears Kelley rehearing her lines. He recognizes the spell she is advertantly casting and knows that she is not all that she appears to be. He falls in love with her and tries to watch over her; she decides he is a stalker.

I don't think that it is necessary to be familiar with A Midsummer Night's Dream in order to enjoy this book, but it does help. I especially liked the fact that Puck is now an actor and goes by the name "Bob." The kelpie that takes up residence in her bathtub is quite fun, too.

Halloween Zombie-fest

2009-10-31T15:11:00.004-05:00

I really enjoy zombie books. My mantra is "Zombies are the new vampires." But I'm noticing something a little odd. A lot of my kids (that is, the kids who regularly come to my library and talk to me about books), who had little or no trouble with vampire variations (sparkling in the sunlight? Fine! caused by parasites? No problem!), are zombie fundamentalists! They are adamantly opposed to zombies being anything but mindless, rotting undead in search of brains to eat. Fortunately, others are more open-minded, and these books are for them.

Kiss of Life by Daniel Waters
Main Character: Traditionally biotic Phoebe, and her different biotic (zombie) friends
Location: Connecticut
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, Zombies
Series: Generation Dead #2

I really enjoyed Generation Dead, the first book in the series, which established a world in which teens who had died suddenly have the ability to come back to life. That book ended with the shocking murder of Adam, who jumped in front of a bullet meant for Paige, and his equally shocking ressurrection. This book starts up shortly afterwards. Adam is slowly adjusting to his new state of existence; his stepfather is suddenly very caring while his little brother is not coping well.

While the first book was very focused on Oakvale, the high school, and a small group of friends, Kiss of Life spreads out both thematically and geographically. Paige's attention is on school and on Adam. Her tenuous relationship with Tommy is broken--when choosing between two boys, how can you not choose the one who died for you?--and she spends most of her time and energy on healing Adam. Tommy decides to leave, travelling the country to fight for zombie rights, keeping in touch through his website. Collette and Melissa take Paige to New York to check out the big zombie nightclub, and Collette falls in love with one of the band members. Some of the boys from the Haunted House decide to fight for zombie rights in a more "in-your-face" way, which shows some humor and creativity, and Karen begins hanging out with them more. But the anti-zombie movement is growing and Pete, the boy who killed Adam, is rapidly rising in their ranks. Oh, and the Hunter Foundation? I don't trust them anymore.

Things are leading to a big confrontation, so I assume there will be a third book, and I am waiting with varying degrees of patience for Mr. Waters to write it.

Zombie Queen of Newbury High by Amanda Ashby
Main Character: Mia, a bookworm in love with a football player (who has finally noticed her!)
Location: not specified
Time period: Contemporary prom season
Genre: YA Fiction, Zombies

This is a light a frothy approach to zombies. Mia is your typical studious wallflower who has managed to catch the eye of Rob ("super hot football god") and he has actually asked her to prom (!) which goes against the plans of cheerleader queen Samantha. Knowing that she will never beat Samantha at the popularity game, Mia decides to purchase a love potion. But something goes wrong and instead of making Rob fall madly in love with her, she unleashes a zombie virus which is rapidly infecting the whole school! She thought it was strange that people started bringing her food--turns out that they're just trying to fatten her up for the upcoming feast! Eeeek!

With enough pop culture references to rival a Meg Cabot novel, Zombie Queen is a fast and fun read.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Main Character: Elizabeth Bennett
Location: An alternative England cursed by a zombie plague
Time period: 1800s
Genre: Fiction, Literary and zombie mash-up

Okay, this one is not specifically a YA novel, and I'm not sure that it could be enjoyed by someone who hasn't already read Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The concept is almost irresistable--it is the actual, full text of the original novel but with added scenes of zombie mayhem. A sequel (of sorts) called Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters is coming soon.

I have to admit that I did not enjoy this quite as much as I wanted to. (High expectations are rarely a good thing.) There were parts that were very successful. I loved the small, subtle details, such as when Elizabeth is at Netherfield caring for an ill Jane. In the evening, while others converse or play cards, Lizzie sits by the fire sharpening her sword. Mr. Bennett took his daughters to China to learn martial arts, which just gives Lady Catherine de Bourgh, convinced of the superiority of the Japanese arts, one more reason to look down on Lizzie. The ball where Mr. Darcy first encounters (and insults) Lizzie is interrupted when zombies crash though the windows and begin eating the guests. (At least my traditionalist kids can't possibly object to the way zombies are depicted here.)

But there were a few things that disappointed me in this book, mainly in the character of Lizzie. We know that she is strong-willed and intelligent, but she is not cruel; she is finally convinced that Wickham is not worthy of her consideration when she learns of his treatment of a stableboy. So it really disturbed me when, having been manuvered into a martial arts demonstration against Lady de Bourgh's ninjas, she kills them without turning a hair.

Still, a fun way of looking at a classic novel, and one that sent me to re-read the original afterwards.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

2009-10-23T14:19:00.001-05:00

Main character: 17-year-old Katniss
Location: District 12, the Capitol, and the games arena
Time period: some unknown future
Genre: YA Fiction, Dystopian future
Series: The Hunger Games #2

I've seen some reviews of Catching Fire that were disappointed, seeing this book as a letdown after The Hunger Games, as just putting pieces into place for the exciting conclusion that will come in the next book. I disagree. I loved this book just as much as I loved the first one, and I wait anxiously for the next.

Katniss has survived the Hunger Games, and now should be living a life of relative ease in the victor's village near Haymitch and Peeta. For once in their lives, she, her mother and Prim have enough food to eat and she will not need to work down in the mines. Of course, she will need to mentor future tributes in the upcoming games but she herself will be free from the reapings for the rest of her life. Or at least that's the way it's supposed to be.

But Katniss's act of defiance has sparked rebellion in the districts, and President Snow himself comes District 12 to threaten Katniss in person--keep up the pretence of the romance with Peeta or everyone you love will be destroyed.

Katniss is now 17 years old, but she still operates on instinct, on the need to not only survive but to make sure that those she cares about also survive. She is not one for long-term strategies, or to recognize the effects that he actions have on anyone beyond her immediate circle. She is no Joan of Arc, determined to lead an army, but something about her has captured the imagination of the world and the more the Capitol tries to control her (even with her reluctant co-operation) the less control they have. ("The more you tighten your grip, Lord Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers." Sorry. Slight geek-out there.)

In many ways, Peeta is the opposite of Katniss. As the son of the baker, he never had to worry as much about keeping his family from starving as Katniss did so he's not as stuck in survival mode. Outwardly calmer and more introspective than Katniss, he still shows himself capable of deep, passionate feelings. He's more clued in to the bigger picture and somehow knows just the right thing to say, whether to comfort Katniss, garner audience support, or subtly twist the knife in the Capitol's side.

The prep team from the first book makes a repeat appearance, though their part is not as big as it was in the first book. Still, Cinna manages to style costumes for Katniss that make it clear where his allegiances lie whatever the cost.

Don't want to say more than that, except to repeat that this was a wonderful book that stands up well to the first book, sets up the showdown of the next book, and is a very enjoyable read on its own.

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

2009-09-18T09:43:00.003-05:00

Main character: teens Clary, Jace, and Simon
Location: the otherworldly home of the Shadowhunters
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, Fantasy, Supernatural
Series: The Mortal Instruments #3

I have really enjoyed this series and the vivid world it depicts. We leave New York City behind to go to the City of Glass, the ancestral homeworld of the Shadowhunters and witness the final battle between Clary and her father, Valentine.

There are some things that struck me as I was reading this, and I am walking a fine line between vagueness and spoilers here so read at your own risk. All through the series, one of Clary's main motivations has been to find a cure for her mother, lying in a coma in a hospital. When she finally appears, I expected Clary to fly to her arms and have a touching reunion. Instead, Clary flies into a rage that took me (and her) totally by surprise. It took a few beats, but then I realized that though it has taken three years for all the books to come out, the story itself takes place over a very short time. (This might be a case where people who start the series now and read the books one after another will have a better feel for the time span than those of us who waited a year between each book.) Clary is still overwhelmed by everything she has learned, including the discovery that her mother has lied to her all her life and even has gone so far as to drug her to supress her powers. (I had actually forgotten that detail from the first book.)

One of the aspects that disturbed me from the beginning is the potentially incestuous relationship between Clary and Jace. When they meet in the first book, there is an immediate and powerful attraction between them but they then discover that they are brother and sister. Clary does not seem to be bothered by this, but Jace strives mightily to deny his feelings for her even though it makes him seem moody, distant, and (let's face it) a bit of a jerk. The situation is resolved, and that resolution felt to me a bit contrived, a bit too simple. But related to that resolution is the wonderful irony that Valentine, in trying to create an uber-Shadowhunter, actually created his own defeat.

And then there's Simon. Dear, wonderful Simon who stole my heart. I am finding that in these series with a romantic triangle, I always fall for the boy who gets left behind. In the Twilight series, I am firmly on Team Jacob; here I am on Team Simon. Now, I am not rooting for them to win the girl--Clary belongs with Jace just as Bella belongs with Edward--but Jacob and Simon are the ones I prefer.

The Hindenburg Murders by Max Allan Collins

2009-09-08T15:43:00.001-05:00

The Hindenburg Murder by Max Allan Collins

Main character: Mystery writer Leslie Charteris
Location: In flight from Frankfurt, Germany to Lakehurst, New Jersey
Time period: 1937
Genre: Fiction, Historical Mystery
Series: The Disaster Series #2

Some time ago, our library added downloadable eAudiobooks from NetLibrary to our collection. At that time, I had dial-up service and knew that attempts to download such good-sized files would be exercises in frustration. But now I have graduated to high-speed internet and have a little Sony Walkman MP3 player, so I have plunged into audiobooks with a vengeance. One of the first books I've listened to is The Hindenburg Murder by Max Allan Collins, part of his Disaster series which places famous writers at the scene of famous disasters--in this case, Leslie Charteris, author of The Saint series, on the final voyage of the doomed dirigible Hindenburg.

Leslie Charteris actually flew on the maiden voyage of the Hindenburg, but Collins takes some literary license and puts him on this flight as well. Because he is traveling solo and space is limited, Charteris is assigned a cabin-mate, a personable young man who is (Charteris discovers) an SS officer seeking evidence of anti-Nazi sentiment among the passengers--and finding plenty of it. On the second morning of the flight, Charteris finds that his roommate has disappeared--and a small piece of an orange silk tie caught in a window indicates that he was tossed off the ship in mid-flight.

I enjoyed the story, which spends more time on the ambiance and characters than it does on investigating the murder. Collins has researched his subject well, and that research is obvious throughout. Who knew that the Hindenburg had a smoking room that could only be entered through an airlock in the bar? And of course there is always the knowledge in the back of the mind that disaster is looming and many of the characters we encounter will not survive the voyage.

Since I listened, rather than read, this book, I must mention the reader, Jeff Woodman. He has a very pleasant voice and did an excellent job with the many accents in the story--British, German, Texan, New York Jewish. I found it interesting that when his German characters were speaking in German, they spoke without an accent--which makes sense when you think about it.

I enjoyed this recording so much that I have downloaded the two others available--The Titanic Murders and The Pearl Harbor Murders. I am happy to note that Jeff Woodman narrates those as well. There are three other books in the series--set during the London Blitz, the Orson Welles War of the Worlds broadcast, and the final voyage of the Lusitania.

The Door of No Return by Sarah Mussi

2009-08-27T16:19:00.000-05:00

Main character: 16-year-old Zac Baxter
Location: England and Ghana
Time period: Contemporary, with references to events in the 1700's
Genre: YA Fiction, Suspense, Slavery

The Door of No Return is a exciting, suspenseful story that deal with that approaches the familiar topic of African Slavery from a totally different angle--at least it's a different angle for those of us living in the United States. Instead of focusing on slavery in the American South before the Civil War, it looks at the complicity of the British government in the slave trade.

Zac has grown up hearing his grandfather telling stories about how he is the last descendant of an African king who was tricked out of a golden treasure intended to ransom his youngest son who had been captured by slave traders. Though the ransom was paid, the boy was never returned to his father but was instead sent to a plantation in Jamaica. Zac's grandfather was adamant that his family, and all families descended from slaves, deserved compensation from the British government and claimed to have documents that verified his story. Zac didn't really believe in his grandfather's stories--at least not until the night that they were mugged and his grandfather was murdered. Then Zac's house is robbed. And Zac is attacked on the street. Then Zac is removed from the foster house he was sent to when his foster father begins to ask too many questions.

There are a number of things that I like about this book. Zac is a very appealing kid, even in his most angry and sullen moments. After reading a number of suspense books in which the main character is betrayed by someone he trusts too much, I was glad to see that Zac developed a healthy dose of paranoia. Of course, he still winds up trusting the wrong person, but I give him points for the many people he is wary of. I really liked that his foster parents were genuinely concerned about him, even after he was taken from their care and they no longer had an official duty toward him. He makes some friends along the way, patricularly Ashley, Mina, and Badu--young people like himself whose own life experiences and family stories give him the clues he needs to solve the mystery and fulfill his destiny.

Antsy Does Time by Neal Shusterman

2009-08-25T16:18:00.000-05:00

Main character: 8th-grader Antsy
Location: Brooklyn
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction

This is a sequel, of sorts, to Shusterman's "The Schwa Was Here." And as in that book, the secondary character is named for a Diacritical mark--in this case Gunnar Umlaut (A+220). (What's in store for his next Antsy book? Francois Cedille? Jose Tilde?) But I digress. This is yet another Shusterman book that uses humor to mask a very serious subject.

Antsy is paired up with Gunnar to do a project based on John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. When Antsy goes over to Gunnar's house, he discovers that Gunnar is carving his own headstone--he has an extremely rare, incurable disease and only has about six months to live. Stunned, Antsy offers Gunnar a month of his own life. He even writes up a contract to formalize his gift. The next day at school, word begins to creep around and before he knows it, Antsy is speaheading a movement to extend Gunnar's life a day or a month at a time.

In the meantime, Antsy is also dealing with his workaholic father, a rapidly growing crush on Gunnar's sister, and the fact that their attempt to turn Gunnar's back yard into a recreation of the Dust Bowl has worked a little too well and is killing all the neighboring lawns as well. There is also the very strained feeling in the Umlaut household whenever Mr. Umlaut is at home.

Antsy is a great character. He is impulsive but good hearted. Even when things come tumbling down on top of him, you can't help but root for him.

Antsy Does Time is on the 2009-2010 Lone Star Reading List.

Diamond Willow by Helen Frost

2009-08-23T16:09:00.002-05:00

Main Character: 12-year-old Willow
Location: Alaska
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, Books in Verse

This was a really lovely book about a young girl struggling to grow up, and making mistakes along the way.

Willow lives in a remote part of Alaska and spends most of her time with her dad's sled dog team. She desperately wants her parents to see that she is grown up and responsible enough to drive a small sled with one dog by herself for an overnight trip to her grandparents' home. She is finally allowed to do so, and arrives safely there. In high spirits on her return trip, she allows the dogs to run fast and doesn't see the fallen tree until it is too late. Her beloved Roxy runs into one of the branches and seriously injures her eye. Willow takes care of her as best she can, but is wracked by guilt and the fear that her parents will have Roxy put to sleep.

The story is told in different voices. When Willow is speaking, the text is written in verse that takes a diamond shape. In the center of the diamond are certain words in bold print--a hidden message revealing Willow's deepest thoughts. Other sections are narrated by the various animals who witness the events, and who are actually the spirits of Willow's Athapascan ancestors watching over her.

This is a slender book that doesn't take long to read, but it touched me deeply and at times brought me to tears.

Diamond Willow is on the 2009-2010 Lone Star Reading list.

The Liar Cover Controversy

2009-07-25T14:12:00.018-05:00

I don't know how many of you have been reading about the controversy over the cover of Justine Larbalestier's new book Liar. In case you've missed it, let me briefly catch you up. Justine is an Australian author who has written a number of highly regarded books. I have come late to the Justine party--the only one of her books that I've read is How to Ditch Your Fairy--so I didn't realize until this controversy erupted that she makes a point of writing about nonwhite characters. Her new book, which will come out at the end of September, is called Liar and the main character is a black teen who is proud of her short nappy hair. She is also a compulsive liar who is trying to break that habit.

The Australian cover for the book uses the letters L, I, A, R in different configurations. The American cover uses a black-and-white photograph of a white girl with long hair which crosses over the bottom of her face, covering her mouth. The controversy erupted over the disconnect between the cover image and the actual character described in the book. This more than putting a blonde on a cover when the text specifically describes a brunette (seriously--don't you sometimes wonder if the publisher/designer/artist has even read the book?) Many bloggers have seen this as an egregious example of whitewashing books that feature characters of color. In a very thoughtful blog post, Justine discusses the controversy and gives some insight into the designing of books. She does not like the American cover and fought against it, but authors have little say in such matters. One thing in that post that really struck me was that the attitude that pictures of black people on book covers do not sell--which just seems to confirm the whitewashing accusation.

Now as librarian, I very rarely buy books based on their covers. I make my selections based on reviews (both from professional journals and blogs) and patron requests. Most of the time, I do not even see what a book looks like until it has been purchased, cataloged, and put on my shelves. But this discussion has got me wondering about the covers of the books in my J and my YA section. How many do I have with people of color on the cover? How many with white people? How many with no human figures at all? Well, I don't have time right now to go back to the shelves, pull every book off, and analyze its cover, but I did just get eight new books in from the cataloging department--so let's look at those:

12 Brown Boys by Omar Tyree. Graphic illustration using silhouettes, but they are recognizably black. A photo of the author is included on the back cover. From the back cover: 12 Brown Boys by Omar Tyree is a collection of short stories that focuses on the lives of Black pre-teen boys. Readers will connect with Tyree's engaging characters including: Red Head Mike who hates his nickname, but hates his red hair even more. Chestnut, who is sent to live with relatives down south to keep him out of trouble in his Brooklyn neighborhood. William the Santa Monica super kid whose status as a scholar and entrepreneur has even his best friends hating him. Wayne, who resents his role as the oldest child until a tragedy strikes the family. Tyree has assembled a wide range of characters that reflect the diversity of experiences of Black boys - characters that are funny, serious, edgy, street-wise, studious, and all unforgettable.

Absolutely Maybe by Lisa Yee. Photograph of white girl with pink hair lying on a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Summary: When living with her mother, an alcoholic ex-beauty queen, becomes unbearable, almost seventeen-year-old Maybelline "Maybe" Chestnut runs away to California, where she finds work on a taco truck and tries to track down her birth father.

Best Friends by Jacqueline Wilson. Cartoon-like illustrations of the two white girls who are the main characters, though the human figures are just a small part of the cover. Summary: Rambunctious and irrepressible Gemma has been best friends with Alice ever since they were born on the same day, so when Alice moves miles away to Scotland, Gemma is distraught over the idea that Alice might find a new best friend.

The Calder Game by Blue Balliett. Illustrations of the three main characters--two boys and a girl--all 3 white Though the illustrations take up most of the cover, the two lower pictures are rather small. Summary: When seventh-grader Calder Pillay disappears from a remote English village--along with an Alexander Calder sculpture to which he has felt strangely drawn--his friends Petra and Tommy fly from Chicago to help his father find him.

The Door of No Return by Sarah Mussi. Photograph of young (and very nice looking) black man. Summary: Sixteen-year-old Zac never believed his grandfather's tales about their enslaved ancestors being descended from an African king, but when his grandfather is murdered and the villains come after Zac, he sets out for Ghana to find King Baktu's long-lost treasure before the murderers do.

Dragon Flight by Jessica Day George. Large purple dragon with a young boy and girl, both white The image of the dragon dominates, with the humans rather small. Summary: Young seamstress Creel finds herself strategizing with the dragon king Shardas once again when a renegade dragon in a distant country launches a war against their country, bringing an entire army of dragons into the mix.

Max by James Patterson. The title takes up most of the space on this cover. At the top is a small photo-realistic illustration of a girl mostly silhouetted by shadows but hair and arms indicate she is white. Summary: When millions of fish start dying off the coast of Hawaii and something is destroying hundreds of ships, the government enlists the Flock--a band of genetically modified children who can fly--to help get to the bottom of the disaster before it is too late.

Starclimber by Kenneth Oppel. Silhouetted figures of a boy and girl, both white. (This cover strongly reminds me of Patrick Ness's great novel The Knife of Never Letting Go.) Summary: As members of the first crew of astralnauts, Matt Cruse and Kate De Vries journey into outer space on the Starclimber and face a series of catastrophes that threaten the survival of all on board.

So how can we sort these covers? Let's see--we have 2 photographs and 6 illustrations. We have 3 that feature a single character while 5 feature multiple characters. Half of them use character illustrations so small that they are barely noticeable; only two use a human image that dominates the cover. Three covers use silhouettes. Two covers feature black characters while 6 are white. Which ones will wind up being the most popular? That is a question that I won't be able to answer until my next inventory/circulation survey.

It's an interesting issue to ponder. How much does the cover picture really influence whether or not you pick up a book? I'm more likely to pick up a book because I like the author or the book is part of a series I enjoy. A cover illustration might catch my eye, but a clever title will do that too, even on a plain or dull background. It's the the text on the jacket flap (for a hardback) or the back cover (for a paperback) will determine whether I decide to read it or put it back on the shelf.

And here's another thought--do you select books differently when you're in a bookstore than you do in a library? Are you more likely to give a library book a try when you know that you don't have to pay for it? Are covers more important when selling a book than they are in checking out a book?

What do you think?

Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande

2009-07-08T11:23:00.003-05:00

Main character: High school freshman Mena Reece
Location: Not defined
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction

Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature is the first YA novel I've read that deals with the debate between evolution and intelligent design or, as some might frame it, science vs. religion. It is a pleasant enough read, though ultimately disappointing.

Mena Reece is not looking forward to her first day of high school. She has done something which has turned her entire conservative Christian church community against her. Her minister has denounced her from the pulpit, and even her parents are barely speaking to her because their insurance business is so closely tied to the church and they are worried that she will cost them customers. Since she is being shunned by her former friends, she begins to interact with other classmates that she never would have otherwise, including brainy Casey, her science lab partner. Casey introduces her to science fiction and fantasy, which is not as evil as she has been told.

When her science teacher, Ms. Shepherd, begins to teach a unit on evolution, Mena's church organizes a protest and demands that she also teach intelligent design. Ms. Shepherd steadfastly refuses to do so. The classroom becomes a battleground of strong wills, with Ms. Sherherd continuing to teach the unit and the protesting students turning their backs the moment the word evolution is mentioned. Then the unit is over and the class moves on to another subject.

Let me say that I am fully on the evolution side of this debate. But I have to say that this book came off as one-sided. I liked the portrayal of the teacher and her calm but firm way of dealing with the protesters. Mena and Casey are also appealing characters. I like their growing friendship and how Mena's world opens up because of him and his family. But the Christian students are portrayed as horrid, close-minded puppets who just parrot the hateful rantings of their preacher. The only one that that is not a vindictive "mean girl" is the minister's daughter who is so meek and mild that she is totally ineffectual. In the end, Mena and her parents join another church--one which (shock!) the science teacher Ms. Shepherd attends--which is much more accepting of different opinions. (And just where were these people during the rest of the book?)

In the end, I don't think that this book is going to persuade anyone to change their minds.

Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature is on the 2009-2010 Lone Star Reading List.

Listen! by Stephanie S. Tolan

2009-06-13T15:25:00.003-05:00

Main character: 12-year-old Charley (that's short for Charlene)
Location: rural North Carolina
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: J Fiction, Dog stories

This is a loving and gentle book about a broken girl and a lost dog, and how they save each other over a summer.

Charley is recovering from a car accident in which she broke her leg. More than that, she is still recovering from her mother's death a few years ago. Charley has a tendency to avoid her pain--when her best friend Amy announced she was going away to a tennis camp for the summer, Charley deleted all of the pictures of the two of them off of her computer. When her mother, a famous nature photographer, was killed in a plane crash in Brazil, Charley took down all of her mother's photographs that were hanging in her room. Since then, she has avoided her mother's office and her mother's favorite places in the woods around the lake where they live.

So now Charley is facing a lonely summer with little to do beyond taking long walks to strengthen her leg. As she walks around the lake, she notices a feral dog who seems to appear and disappear like a ghost. Talking to some of her neighbors, she learns that the dog has been around for almost a year and has survived a cold winter on its own. Charley takes it into her head that she needs to help this dog--to try to tame it and give it food and shelter. She shows a great deal of patience in this exercise, for the dog is very skittish and shy of people. Slowly she gets the dog, whom she names Coyote, to trust her and to eat the food she puts out, but she doubts that she'll ever get the dog to accept a collar and leash and submit to a trip to the vet--two conditions her father places on her project.

As she heals Coyote's skittishness and fear of people, he begins to heal her. Walking in the woods exercises and strengthens her leg, and visiting some of the quiet places she has avoided since her mother's death finally allows her to face her loss and grieve. Have a box of kleenex handy--this scene brought tears to my eyes.

The Great Wide Sea by M.H. Herlong

2009-05-30T13:41:00.002-05:00

Main character: 16-year-old Ben, and his younger brothers Dylan and Gerry
Location: the Caribbean
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, Survival, Grief

You know how some books have a short one or two sentence summary? You usually see in on the back of the title page, and in library catalogs. The summary for this book says: "Still mourning the death of their mother, three brothers go with their father on an extended sailing trip off the Florida Keys and have a harrowing adventure at sea." While that is factually correct, it does nothing to prepare you for this book. Much better is the paragraph on the second page of the prologue:

"I don't tell about the morning when we woke up and Dad was gone. I don't talk about the storm. Or when we wrecked on the coral reef. I don't talk about--I never will talk about--when I left Gerry alone, standing there on the empty beach of that desert island with Dylan dying at his feet."

With THAT as in introduction, you start off the book with a deep sense of foreboding, alert for the coming disasters.

After their mom dies in a car accident, Dad goes off the deep end. Without telling the boys, he puts the house up for sale and purchases a sailboat which they will pick up down in the Florida Keys and then sail around the Caribbean for a year. He gives a book to Ben on small engine repair because Ben will be the engineer and a book on navigating by the stars to Dylan since he will be the navigator. They have a very short time to pack what they want to keep, but only what will fit in a duffel bag. Ben is especially upset when his dad packs up everything that belonged to his mom; it's as if his dad had already forgotten her and wants to wipe every trace of her away. On board he becomes a tyrant, never discussing things with the boys, only telling them that this is the way things will be done. Every day, Ben's anger grows until he is barely able to speak to his dad.

Harrowing is a good word for what happens to the three boys. After their father disappears, Ben is forced to make decisions that have life or death consequences not only for him, but for his brothers as well.

The Great Wide Sea is on the 2009-2010 Texas Lone Star Book List.

Streams of Babel by Carol Plum-Ucci

2009-04-30T16:52:00.005-05:00

Main characters: An ensemble cast, including American teens Cora, Scott, Owen and Rain, Pakistani Shahzad, and Korean immigrant Tyler Ping
Location: mostly New Jersey but also a small village in Pakistan
Time period: Spring 2002
Genre: YA Fiction, Suspense, Thriller, Espionage

I started this book in a "now" mind-set and as such it seemed especially timely given the current swine flu concerns. It took me a little while to pay attention to the date headings on each chapter and realize that it is set in 2002, just a few months after the Towers fell. It is a 2008 release, and I wonder if the author started it in 2002 but it has taken this long to be released or if it was a conscious decision to set it in the recent past, when concerns about terrorism were still fresh and raw.

In a suburban town in New Jersey called Trinity Hills, two women living on the same street die of brain aneurysms within a 24 hour period. Their teen-aged children along with another neighbor display symptoms that seem like the flu and yet are not the flu. Halfway across the world, a teenage computer genius working in his uncle's internet cafe eavesdrops on terrorists in chat rooms and reports to US Intelligence what he learns--that someone has mutated a virus into something undetectable and incurable, and it has been released into the water supply in such a way as to affect only a five-block section of a place code-named Colony One.

The story is told from multiple POVs, through the voices of the six teenagers caught up in events far beyond them. This is a very effective way to tell the story, since no one character has the whole story--something that Shahzad finds increasingly frustrating and causes him to take serious risks. I really liked this narration technique in the first half of the book as you get to know the four neighbors through their own eyes and as others see them. Cora is ashamed of her morphine-addicted mother who abandoned her as a child and only came home a few years ago. Believing herself unloved, she has kept to herself, rigid against any hurt. The others, especially the boys, see her as beautiful but aloof, somehow above them all. Owen thinks of himself as selfish and moody; his mother and brother see him as selfless, giving, and possibly destined for a religious life. Scott, as a paramedic, sees their growing illness and tries to isolate them from the healthy which allows them, the ill, to come together and form the bonds of friendship.

Are teenaged computer geniuses in danger of becoming a cliche? I'm thinking of some recent books I've read--Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, Icecore by Matt Whyman, Rash by Peter Hautman--and they all feature computer geniuses/hackers. This book has two--Shahzad and Tyler. They worked well in this story, and I loved the line (repeated a few times) "Computers have blurred the line between child and adult, because in the land of computers, children are the men, and the men are the children." Who hasn't felt that way sometimes?

Revolution is Not a Dinner Party by Ying Chang Compestine

2009-03-28T09:41:00.000-05:00

Main Character: Ling, who ages from 9 years old to 13 years old

Unfinished books

2009-03-20T15:25:00.006-05:00

I once read, in a list of dos and don'ts for bloggers, that one should never post a blog entry apologizing for not having posted lately. So this isn't an apology--just wanting to check-in, touch base, and explain why I haven't posted lately. Long story short--I haven't read any books. Well, I haven't finished any books.

Things suddenly got very busy at work in February. We started two new programs--a science club and a Texas Bluebonnet Award book discussion club with accompanying blog--lost a couple of employees, got a booth at the annual Taste and Trade event, and worked on a grant application. With all that going on, I have found myself unable to focus on reading and now have a stack of unfinished books on my bedstand.

So what have I been trying to read but haven't finished? Here are a few examples:

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne. I had been hearing a lot about the book even before the movie came out, but the trailers for the movie are what spurred me to check it out. I thought I would enjoy it, but I found it rather off-putting. The narrator's misunderstanding and mispelling of words ("Out-with" for Auschwitz) made him seem much younger than he was. The word that kept coming to my mind was "twee." I just could not keep reading it and don't think I'll pick it up again.

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott. This is a good book. This is a very well-written book. This is a heart-wrenching book. This book takes more thought than I can give it right now. If you're not familiar with it, it's told from the point of view of a girl who was abducted several years earlier and has lived with her abusive captor ever since. Now that she is getting too old for him, he wants her to find him his next victim. An episode of Flashpoint on CBS had a similar plotline at about the same time I started reading this but the episode paled in comparison to the book. I fully intend to finish this book, but I need to wait until I have the time and the focus to give it the attention it deserves.

Walkaway by Alden Carter. Andy is fed up with his alcoholic father and his dysfunctional family. He had a psychotic break last year and spent some time in the hospital. This year he just wants to walk away from it all. I was enjoying it, especially since it is set in Wisconsin, where my parents were from, but I put it down somewhere and can't remember where. This is not saying anything about the book's merits--merely showing how scattered my thoughts are.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. I had barely started this book when a patron requested it. When it came back it, I tried again, but another patron requested it. It has come back again, and again I have checked it out. I am so looking forward to reading it this weekend (as long as I don't have to give it up to another patron before then.)

Fortunately, things are calming down now. The grant deadline was met, Taste and Trade was a big success, and the science club has turned out to be one of the more popular programs that I've done. The Bluebonnet Book Club is struggling a bit, but I'm hoping it will start to pick up during the summer. I need to finish these books (well, not the striped pajamas, but the other ones) and then there are so many new books coming in. I need to catch up with the Diversity Rocks! challenge, and my own self-imposed non-fiction challenge. I need a vacation to get this all done!

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

2009-02-07T15:46:00.001-06:00

Main character: almost 13-year-old Todd Hewitt
Location: another planet known as New World
Time period: hard to say
Genre: YA Fiction, Science Fiction
Series: Chaos Walking #1

OH. MY. GOD! Seriously, oh my god. Omigod omigod omigod omigod omigod.

I'm having a hard time organizing any coherent thought about this book right now, because I think my brain has exploded. Oh. My. God.

(Takes a deep breath. okay.) Here are the facts as Todd Hewitt knows them and tells them to us. He is the youngest person in Prentisstown. When he is 13 years old he will become a man--that's just one month a way. (BTW, there are 13 months to a year on this world.) Prentisstown is a dying colony on New World. It is dying because there are no women and therefore no chance of repopulating. The colonists left Old World (which was overcrowded and decaying) in search of a simpler, better, purer life. They thought they found the perfect place when they landed on New World twenty years ago. But the native population, the Spackles, began a war. They unleashed a virus which killed all the women. The virus also caused all the men to begin broadcasting their thoughts constantly without any way to silence or filter them. This is called Noise and it is ever-present. But just because everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts doesn't mean that they are all truthful and above-board. Men can still lie in their thoughts, or create louder Noise to hide inconvenient thoughts. Oh, and the Noise includes all the thoughts of all the animals too--though their thoughts are not usually very interesting.

Then one day Todd is sent out to the swamp to pick apples with his dog, Manchee. And while he is there, he comes across silence. It's like a hole in the Noise, and it is overwhelming. Then he comes across a girl where no girl--no females--have been for almost as long as he's been alive. For his own safety and the safety of this girl, whom he insticntively wants to protect, he must leave his home and everything he knows behind. And he discovers along the way that everything he knows is untrue.

With every step, with every discovery that what he knows is wrong, Todd's world shatters a bit more. This was an incredible book and I cannot wait for the second part to come out. (According to the author's blog, it should come out in September 2009.)

Hint of a spoiler coming: Many years ago, I got to hear Jim Trelease, author of The Read-Aloud Handbook, tell a story of reading Where the Red Fern Grows to his teenaged son. He made the comment that if you find a book that has a picture of a boy and his dog on the front cover, you will be crying by the end. (Where the Red Fern Grows has two dogs on the cover.) I just want to point out that the cover of The Knife of Never Letting Go has Todd, Viola, and the dog Manchee on the cover, and you will be crying by the end.

Two Miserable Presidents by Steve Sheinkin

2009-02-06T14:16:00.004-06:00

Main characters: Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis
Location: United States
Time period: the American Civil War
Genre: J Non-Fiction, History

How has February already started? Where did January go? It just slipped by and I did not get a non-fiction book done--and after I had challenged myself and everything! (At least I started this book in January--does that count?)

In a forward to this book, the author explains that he once wrote textbooks and he knows why they are so boring--they leave all the good stuff out! As far as quotes go, they avoid any "that are at all funny, amazing, surprising, disgusting, confusing, stupid, mean, or anything else interesting." So in this book, he puts in all the stuff that textbooks leave out.

The two miserable presidents of the title are, of course, Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, but the book includes many more people than just those two. It is a very readable overview of the Civil War, told in short segments which focus as much on the people on the home front as it does on the soldiers and battles.

There are so many books on the Civil War and--with the Lincoln bicentennial coming up--on Abraham Lincoln that you'd almost imagine that there's nothing new to say. Yet there were incidents in this book that I had not come across before. My favorite was the story John Burns, a seventy-one-year-old War of 1812 veteran who lived in Gettysburg and, when the battle started, went out with his old gun and joined up with the Seventh Wisconsin. Wounded three times, he survived the battle and met with Abraham Lincoln when he came to deliver the Gettysburg Address.

Something Rotten: A Horatio Wilkes Mystery by Alan Gratz

2009-01-30T15:44:00.000-06:00

Main character: Horatio Wilkes
Location: Denmark, Tennessee
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, Mystery, Shakespeare

I had heard of this book earlier this summer and have been looking forward to reading it. It's a modern-day retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet set as a murder mystery and I must say I found it more appealing in its concept than in its execution.

Horatio Wilkes spends his summer at the home of Hamilton Prince, a school friend who has been deeply shaken by the unexpected death of his father and his mother's quick remarriage to his uncle. Hamilton's family owns the Elsinore Paper mill which is the mainstay of Denmark's economy, but which is also polluting the town's river. Hamilton takes Horatio on a tour of the plant, where a couple of the security guards show Hamilton a video they discovered--Hamilton's father, looking older and frailer than he had when Horatio last saw him, revealing that he has been poisoned and there is no cure. Hamilton is convinced that his uncle is his father's murderer and asks Horatio to help him prove it. Well, I'm sure you can figure out where the plot goes from here.

There are some nice touches in here--the best of which is the environmental subplot. Olivia, a beautiful young woman who used to date Hamilton until he dumped her, is campaigning to force the paper plant to clean up the water. At one point, she even drinks the filthy water while filming a news story--the toxic sludge causes her to collapse and she is dramatically rushed to the hospital. Not only does this act as a nice counterpart to Ophelia's drowning, but it gives a hint as to what poison was used to kill Hamilton's father.

But the novel also strains to make the parallels, including a hostile takeover of Elsinore by Ford N. Branff (Fortinbras), and the idiot pair of Roscoe and Gilbert who add little to the story. Then there is the community theater, putting on the Tom Stoppard play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead--you can just see the author waggling his eyebrows at you over that one.

There is a sequel, Something Wicked, in which Horatio solves a mystery with strong parallels to Macbeth, which I will read, but not with the excited anticipation that I had for this book.

Black-Eyed Suzie by Susan Shaw

2009-01-29T22:36:00.001-06:00

Main character: 12-year-old Suzie
Location: undefined
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, Abuse, Mental Illness

Suzie has stopped talking. She has drawn herself into a box that no one else can see, but which is getting ever smaller. When she begins crying, to the point that nothing can stop her, her uncle finally insists that she get professional help.

At St. Dorothy's, a mental hospital, Suzie is treated with kindness and patience by the staff. One patient, Joshua, actually becomes her friend, but another, Karen, is always angry, terrorizing Suzie by yelling at her, tearing her picture, and breaking a mirror Suzie's sister gave her.

Slowly, we learn what happened to Suzie to make her withdraw into her "box" and when she finally leaves St. Dorothy's, it's to a much better situation. What Shaw does that is so amazing in this book is to make us feel sympathy even for the least sympathetic characters. When Suzie witnesses Karen sobbing in the common room, we realize that Karen's anger is not an indication that she is a horrible person, but that she herself has some deep problems. My heart went out to Joshua, in denial about his father's death, to Suzie's sister Deanna who finally has the courage to tell the truth, and to Suzie herself, finally coming out of her box.

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

2009-01-28T22:37:00.003-06:00

Main character: 16-year-old Clary who's been raised human but recently discovered she is a Shadowhunter
Location: New York City
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, Fantasy, Supernatural with vampires, werewolves and other demons
Series: The Mortal Instruments #2

In the previous book, Clary discovered that she was a Shadowhunter; that her father is the evil Valentine; and that Jace, the intriguing guy she has a definite attraction to, is really her brother. All together now--eeewwwwwww!

Things just continue to pile up on Clary and her friends. Valentine managed to get the cup last time--now he is after a sword which will allow him to call upon demons. The trick is that he needs to wash the sword in the blood of four downworlder children--a warlock, a werewolf, a vampire, and a faerie. That small fact doesn't bother him, but the attacks cause the werewolves and the vampires to accuse each other and come to the brink of war.

Jace has his own problems--the Inquisitor of the Shadowhunters has come to examine him. She doesn't believe that he never knew he was really Valentine's son and believes that he is even now spying on them for Valentine. It becomes obvious that her suspicions of Jace are motivated by a purely personal reason--her own son died because of Valentine and she is perfectly willing to use Jace as bait to trap Valentine.

And Simon--poor Simon!--is turned into a vampire, something he has dreaded since he was bitten in the first book.

Once again, Clare has created a densely plotted and populated novel with many twists and turns, but keeps it rooted in this family of characters that we come to care for. Personally, I'm not that interested in Valentine and his quest for world domination, but I do care about Clary and Jace, Simon and Maia and Luke, Alec and Isabelle and Magnus. I loved the visit to the faerie world and learning how they cannot lie but they've lived so long that they can deceive while telling the truth.

I don't know what the third Mortal Instrument will be, but I am psyched because Clary's mom--stuck in a coma in the hospital for much of the last two stories--is finally going to have to wake up.

Double Identity by Margaret Peterson Haddix

2009-01-22T18:38:00.000-06:00

Main Character: Twelve-year-old Bethany
Location: One of those I-states--Indiana? Illinois?--in the center of the country
Time period: Contemporary (or slightly in the future)
Genre: J Fiction, Science Fiction, Cloning

When Bethany is almost thirteen, her mother begins crying and cannot stop. Bethany's father packs them into the car and drives until they reach a house in a small town in the middle of the night. There he drops Bethany into the care of her Aunt Mylie, a woman she has never met--or even heard of--until this moment. Then both he and her mother disappear into the night, leaving Bethany alone, confused, and afraid. What is wrong with her mother? Who is the strange man in the dark car who seems to be watching her? And why do so many people in this town seem to recognize her and call her Elizabeth?

As I read this book, it struck me that identity is a recurring theme for Haddix. In her Hidden Children series, third children are denied their identities by law and have to choose between being officially non-existant and hiding in an underground world, or assuming someone else's identity. In her new series, The Missing, 36 children are taken from their own times and given new identities in the future. Here, Bethany learns that she is a clone and begins to question her identity as a human being. Is she her own person, or is she just a photocopy of Elizabeth?

Like Robin Wasserman's Skinned, Meg Cabot's Airhead, and Peter Dickinson's Eva, (and The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson, which I am in the process of reading) we see parents who are not ready to release a child who has died and who grab at any available straws to bring her back to life. (Has anyone read a book where it is a son who is brought back?) But in trying to recreate a life that's been lost, they wind up making things harder for everyone and in some cases are unable to accept the substitute.

The Wizard Heir by Cinda Williams Chima

2009-01-21T21:33:00.001-06:00

Main Character: Seph
Location: Toronto, Maine, and the Sanctuary town of Trinity
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, Fantasy
Series: sequel to The Warrior Heir

Once again, I am reading a sequel to a book I read long enough ago that the details of the earlier book have faded. However, Chima has done a very clever thing in her storytelling that doesn't leave me feeling lost and confused. (I doubt that she planned it specifically for memory-impaired people like me--but it worked out very nicely.) She shifted focus to a brand-new character who has no knowledge of the events of the first book.

Seph McCauley is a young wizard, but he doesn't know that he is--he just knows that strange things happen around him. After his uncontrolled powers accidentally cause a fire which kills a friend of his, he is sent to a strict boarding school in a secluded part of Maine. There he is told that he is a gifted wizard and that there are others like him at the school who can help him learn to control and use his powers. He just needs to pledge his allegiance to the headmaster, something that Seph is not willing to do. After his refusal, Seph is subjected to systematic bullying and abuse until finally his guardian swoops in to rescue him and take him to Trinity, the sanctuary town that Jack Swift set up in The Warrior Heir.

I really like Seph (short for Joseph) who has a strong moral core despite not having had a lot of parental guidance. As he learns more about the world of the Weirs, it gives us a chance to remember the events of the first book without having a lot of awkward exposition. (Okay, there was one "do you remember what happened last summer?" conversation, but it was handled well and had a natural flow to it.) For those that really liked Jack and Ellen in the first book, don't worry--they are absent from the first part of this book, but they make up for it once they do show up. The more I read in this book, the more details I was able to remember from the first. ("Oh, THAT's who that girl in the nightclub was!" "That's right, that was the doctor who replaced Jack's heartstone.") I just appreciated the way that was done.

There was a climactic battle, but the forces of good have merely won a temporary respite, not a total victory. For that, we will have to wait for the third book, The Dragon Heir.

Getting Even by ReShonda Tate Billingsley

2009-01-16T17:12:00.003-06:00

Main Characters: Camille, Alexis, Jasmine, and Angel
Location: Houston, Texas
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, Girl Power
Series: The Good Girlz #4

I first heard of the Good Girlz series when I read an entry on The Brown Bookshelf blog about African American Christian Fiction for teens. I ordered the series and got this volume first. (One of the rules of ordering series fiction for a library--the books rarely come in at the same time, and never in order.) Once it hit the shelf, it immediately got checked out and has hardly stayed on the shelf since.

Camille has (as usual) fallen in love. Her new boyfriend, Vic, sounds like a paragon. Alexis has met a new guy, too--Anthony. Could these guys be too good to be true?

One interesting thing that the author does is tell the story in alternating chapters from the point of view of Jasmine and Angel. Jasmine is usually with Camille, and witnesses the fight when Vic's jealous and violent ex-girlfriend confronts Camille. Angel becomes Alexis's sounding board. Neither Jasmine nor Angel have current boyfriends--Jasmine's last relationship ended when her guy went off to college and they discovered they couldn't make a long-distance relationship work. Angel is too busy watching her baby to worry about dating. So they are involved, but have a bit of distance.

There is a nice twist about halfway through the book, and I think it's a shame that the twist is revealed in the summary on the back of the book. (And I am trying very hard NOT to reveal the twist, which is why I'm sounding a bit vague here.) Jasmine learns a secret and knows she needs to tell Camille and Alexis but is afraid of hurting them. Instead, she waits too long and they find out another way--and then consider Jasmine a traitor for not telling them.

The main focus of the book, though, is not the boyfriends--it's the friendship shared by these four girls who come from varied backgrounds and were brought together through a church group. Don't think that the church connection makes them a bunch of goody-goodies, though. They struggle, they fall, and they learn.

This is the 4th book in the series. There are references to events that happened in the previous books, but it can stand alone--you don't need to have read the earlier books to follow the story. However, I like these girls enough to go and seek out the earlier books (which we just received in the library yesterday) so that I can spend more time with Camille, Jasmine, Angel and Alexis (and find out why they don't care much for Tameka.)

I have decided to accept the Diversity Rocks! challenge issued by Ali. For the year 2009, I will read (at least) one book a month written by an author of color. This is my first entry for this year. For more information about the challenge and links to others participating, check out the Diversity Rocks! page.

And I am giving myself a personal challenge--I will also try to read at least one non-fiction book a month. Let's see how I do with both challenges.

Where I Live by Eileen Spinelli

2009-01-11T22:52:00.000-06:00

Main character: Diana, a budding poet and astronomer
Location: A six-hour drive from Pittsburgh
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: J Fiction, Verse

This is such a sweet and charming little book--little in size, but not in heart. Diana is a young girl who loves her yellow house, her best friend Rose, the wren nesting in the wreath on the front door, and the night sky. She writes a poem about the sun and it wins a school contest. She wakes up happy in the morning. Her life is good.

But then her dad loses his job and her parents decide to move to Grandpa Joe's house near Pittsburgh. Diana is heartbroken. She has to say mad-sad goodbyes to her yellow house, her teacher Mrs. Clifford, and Rose, and she knows she will never laugh again.

Since Diana writes poetry, this book is written in a series of poems. In spare language, the author reveals Diana's happy highs to her mad-sad lows. The illustrations are black and white pencil drawings, but I can feel the glowing warmth of the yellow house and the deep softness of Rose's purple floppy hat (or "purpy flopple" as they call it.)

Where I Live is on the 2009-2010 Texas Bluebonnet Award List.

The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray

2009-01-10T22:51:00.003-06:00

Main Character: 16-year-old Gemma Doyle
Location: London
Time Period: Victorian Era
Genre: YA Fiction, Fantasy, Supernatural

Finally! I am finished with this series. I still found Gemma to be one of the most exasperating characters I have ever encountered, and there were times that I put this book down in favor of others. I was really hoping for a breakthrough--something that would let me like Gemma before the book was over (rather like I was hoping for a major redemptive moment for Snipe in the Harry Potter books.) I did get one, and that made the ending much more worthwhile for me. Things are heading for disaster when Gemma says "I can't live in fear any longer. I've cursed this power. I've both enjoyed it and misused it. And I've hidden it away. Now I must try to wield it correctly, to marry it to a purpose and hope that that is enough." That is what did it for me--Gemma finally (finally!) understood that she had to stop fighting her power and avoiding her destiny.

Now I don't want to give you the impression that there was a sudden switch--there was a a good deal of laying the groundwork for this declaration, including a very nice scene with her brother, Tom, after she rescued him from the Rakshana. This wound up being Tom's redemptive moment as he was able to drop his superior and supercilious facade and talk with Gemma person to person instead of older brother.

I do have to give Gemma props for one thing. In a number of other books, such as Cory Doctorow's Little Brother or Silenced by James DeVita, I have been bothered by how easily the protagonist trusts new people. Sometimes it has turned out well, but sometimes it leads to inevitable betrayal. Gemma does not have this problem. On the contrary, Gemma doesn't trust anyone (well, except for the Gorgon, who continually tells Gemma that she is untrustworthy.) Now, one could say that Gemma learned not to trust when the one teacher she felt close to turned out to be Circe in disguise, but she was showing this tendency early on. The problem with this is that Gemma doubts her own judgement about people--it's takes merely a passing comment from one person to turn her against someone else--and that greatly contributes to her sense of isolation.

I can't say that I enjoyed this series--if it wasn't for the recommendation of some of my patrons, I would probably have given up on it after the first book. Still, I can see why appeals to other readers.

Surprises According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney

2009-01-09T21:53:00.001-06:00

Main Character: Humphrey, a golden hamster
Location: undefined
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: J Fiction, School

Humphrey the hamster returns in his fourth book of adventures as the classroom pet of room 26. We're coming to the end of the school year and there is plenty going on. I-Heard-That-Kirk brings in a hamster ball so Humphrey can roam around the classroom. (Nobody knows about the lock-that-doesn't-lock and how Humphrey does plenty of roaming on his own when no one is watching.) On his weekend stay at Wait-for-the-Bell-Garth's house, Humphrey goes on an unexpected roll down the hill in his ball and comes face to face with a curious cat. When Aldo the janitor comes to clean the classroom speaking in a language Humphrey doesn't understand and then is replaced by a stranger, Humphrey becomes convinced that Aldo has been kidnapped by aliens. Most worrying, Mrs. Brisbane hasn't decided whether or not she wants to come back to teach next year.

There is a lot of charm in this series of books which looks at classroom activities through the eyes of a classroom pet. I like his use of repetition for emphasis--things aren't just fun, they're FUN-FUN-FUN! I also like his definitions which close each chapter. A suprise is "something totally unexpected and unplanned for...[it] can be both good and bad, like a shiny balloon (a good thing) that suddenly pops and scares you (a bad thing)." Humphrey cares deeply about the children in his classroom and wants to help them with their problems. He also has the opportunity to watch the teacher and get to know her in a way that the students don't.

Surprises for Humphrey is on the 2009-2010 Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee List.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

2009-01-05T22:22:00.000-06:00

Main Character: 17-year-old Marcus, aka w1n5t0n, aka M1k3y
Location: San Francisco
Time period: 2011
Genre: Fiction, Dystopian Society, Fight the Power

I was hearing a lot about this book when it first came out--I think I first read about it on Scott Westerfeld's blog back in April--so I've been looking forward to getting hold of it.

Marcus is a smart kid--too smart for his school. The more they try to limit him--like using preprogrammed SchoolBook laptops which track every keystroke users make--the more he finds workarounds. This drives the assistant principal crazy, especially since he knows Marcus is doing something but just can't prove it. (Shades of Ferris Bueller!) One day, Marcus ditches school to meet with his friends Darryl, Van and Jolu; they are playing a game which gives clues online that lead you to a real-world place. They just get to the spot the clues have led them to when there is a rumbling that isn't an earthquake. They don't know it yet, but terrorists have just blown up the Bay Bridge. People panic and run for shelter, but in the crush Darryl is stabbed. Marcus tries to flag down one of the many police or fire vehicles passing to get help, but instead they are stopped by some military-looking personnel who put bags over their heads, tie them up and bundle them into the back of a truck. Marcus and his friends were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, but that was enough to attract the attention of the Department of Homeland Security. They are detained in a Guantanamo-type facility where they are questioned and tortured for several days until they are released (except for Darryl) with the threat not to tell anyone what they have been through.

Now I am going to say something really odd: I found this book utterly delightful. Despite the seriousness of the subject matter, I had a grin on my face through much of it. Marcus, as I said before, is smart and watching his mind work was a joy. He starts talking about the math behind computer encryption and, yes, some of it goes above my head, but how wonderful that the author trusts the reader to follow it. There is a playfulness in some of Marcus's actions that reminded me of Jean Merrill's The Pushcart War. He is an anarchist, but he doesn't use bombs to make his point. Big Brother may be watching you, but Little Brother is watching back and has YouTube on his side.

I like the fact that some adults supported Marcus; his mom, his social studies teacher, and the reporter are all willing to listen to him. I was a little disappointed in his dad's reaction at first, but he came around. I will say that for someone so (rightfully) paranoid, Marcus seemed a little too quick to place his trust in strangers. There was one character in particular that I was quite concerned about though, thankfully, my fears proved to be unfounded.

There was one little thing that my mind started gnawing on late at night: it is mentioned, almost in passing, that the casualty figures from the Bay Bridge bombing are over 4,000. Plot-wise, I know it had to be that high to make this the worst attack on our native soil, but I started wondering if that could be a realistic number. How long is the Bay Bridge? What is the capacity? It's during a school day, not rush hour, so it wouldn't be bumper to bumper, and what percentage of cars would have more than just the driver? (You know, just about anything can be thought of as a math problem--oh no, I've been Math Cursed!) In the clear light of day, I realized that there may not have been 4,000 killed on the bridge, but that the rest were the number of detainees held secretly by the DHS. After all, Marcus's father thought he was dead. Darryl's father thought he was dead. How many of the people reported missing and killed that day were actually being held by their own government? OK, that is a chilling thought.

Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix

2008-12-31T21:27:00.005-06:00

Main Characters: (Almost) Thirteen-year-olds Jonah and Chip, and Jonah's younger sister Katherine
Location: Undefined
Time Period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, Science Fiction, Time Travel
Series: The Missing #1

A plane mysteriously appears at an airport terminal. It was not scheduled, it was not on radar, it did not land. It just appeared. When airport personnel boarded it, they found no crew. But in each of the thirty-six seats on the plane was a crying baby.

Thirteen years later, Jonah receives a letter. There is no return address, no signature, just a single sentence: "You are one of the missing."

Seriously, do you need more than that to want to read this book?

This is the first book in a new series by the author of the Shadow Children series (better known--in my library, at least--as the Among the... series) and as such has to lay a lot of groundwork for the rest of the series. But Haddix keeps the story moving along to the climactic reveal--which is so much more complex than I was expecting. As with the Shadow Children series, there is the potential to follow many different characters through various adventures and some who were minor characters in this book could become major characters later. According to her website, there will be seven books in this series, just as in the Shadow Children, and the second one, Sent, will come out in August 2009. I can hardly wait.

Found is on the 2009-2010 Texas Lone Star Reading List.

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall

2008-12-30T19:41:00.000-06:00

Main characters: Rosalind, Jane, Skye, and Batty Penderwick
Location: Massachusetts
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: J Fiction, Family
Sequel to: The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy

The delightful Penderwick family is back. The story starts with a flashback to the hospital where the mother is dying of cancer. She writes a letter to her husband, asking him to start dating, and gives it to Claire to pass on in about 3 or 4 years. Jump forward 3 or 4 years, and the family is anticipating a visit from their beloved Aunt Claire. But Claire chooses this visit to pass on the letter.

The girls are dismayed at the thought of their father dating and possibly even re-marrying. After all, they've watched Rosalind's friend Anna go through too many stepmothers to count, and they all remember the disgusting Dexter, stepfather of their friend Jeffrey from the first book. Their father is no less dismayed at the thought of dating, though he agrees to go out with at least four women before he calls it quits. The girls know they have to come up with a plan that allows them to maintain the Penderwick family honor without risking a horrible stepmother.

But that's not all they have to contend with. There are soccer rivalries, first crushes, switching homework, and Batty's mysterious Bug Man (who may or may not be in her imagination.) There's also the nice new neighbor and her darling baby boy to balance out all whatever unpleasantness arises.

There is a warm, comforting quality to these books that is reminiscent of older, much beloved titles such as the Melendy family books, the Ramona books, or the Moffat family books. Whatever crises the family goes through, the reader knows that all will turn out well and that the strong love these sisters and their father have will not waver. I hope that Jeanne Birdsall plans to write more stories about them.

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street is on the 2009-2010 Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee list.

47 by Walter Mosley

2008-12-25T21:20:00.001-06:00

Main Character: 47, a young slave boy
Location: Early 19th-century Georgia
Time period: Before the Civil War
Genre: YA Fiction, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction

Since I am a librarian, my young patrons believe that I have read and know intimately every book on my shelf. I cannot begin to tell you how far that is from the truth. I read reviews, I select books for purchase based on those reviews, patron requests, and what I feel will be necessary to fill my patrons current and future needs. When new books come in, I pull some to read, but there are so many more than I can possibly read (even if librarians do just sit around reading books all day long as so many patrons think.) Sometimes I need a nudge to pick up an overlooked book.

That's what happened here. I was reading one of many book-related blogs that I subscribe to when I ran across an entry on this book, Walter Mosley's 47. (Sadly, I cannot remember which blog it was. If I find it again, I'll add a link down below.) The description of a science-fiction novel which centered on slaves in the deep south was too intriguing to resist, and lo and behold, there it was on my shelf.

47 is a young slave boy who has never been given a name. Because his mother had been a favorite of the plantation owner's wife, he has been allowed to grow up near the house, protected and coddled by Mama Flore. But when the owner deems him big enough to work out in the fields, he is sent down to the slave quarters and given the number 47--in fact it is branded into his shoulder. One day he encounters a new man who calls himself Tall John. Tall John appears to be an escaped slave from a neighboring plantation, but he tells 47 that he is really a creature from another planet who has come to find 47, knowing that 47 will one day be the salvation of his planet.

Fortunately, the science fiction aspect does not detract from the slavery story, but it does allow Tall John to teach 47 that he is a slave as much because he believes it as because Mr. Tobias says it's so. Once 47 learns the lesson to think of himself as a man instead of a slave he is able to recognize the first steps to freedom.

One balancing act that books about slavery for young readers have to master is how graphically to describe the conditions the people lived under. (Books about the Holocaust have the same hurdle.) How much can you describe? If you don't go deep enough, you run the risk of the reader thinking "well, that's not so bad," but if you get too graphic then you are no longer appropriate for your audience. Though Mosley does not shy away from some physical torture, like the branding of 47's shoulder, he shows more the psychological enslavement. What could be more dehumanizing than not even getting a name? Not only are the slaves known by their numbers, but the numbers are interchangeable--Tall John is given the number 12 because the previous number 12 has just died. Names give you an identity; 84 is a bitter and angry slave until Tall John names her Tweenie. Watching her transform under John's attention shows 47 that she is a person. (Maddeningly, 47 never gets a name of his own--Tall John says that he has one, but we never learn what it is.)

This is not a feel-good book or a science-fiction adventure romp. You have to be in the right mind-set to appreciate it. It is a thought-provoking (oh, that overused term!) piece of literature. And for those who are in the right mind-set to have some thought provoked, it is a rewarding read.

Silks by Dick Francis and Felix Francis

2008-12-24T21:35:00.000-06:00

Main character: Lawyer Geoffrey Mason
Location: London, mostly
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: Adult Fiction, Mystery, Horse racing

Though Dick Francis novels are not in the the subset of mysteries known as "British cozies," they are still very comforting. You know that the hero will be at heart a thoroughly decent fellow who will somehow become the target of villainous thugs but will ultimately prevail. Oh, and there will be horses on the racetrack.

Geoffrey Mason is a defense lawyer in London's Old Bailey but his heart belongs to steeple chasing; he is an amateur rider on his own horse though he knows that he's getting a bit long in the tooth for it. Through his riding, he is on nodding acquaintance with professional jockeys Scot Barlow and Steve Mitchell. When Scot is murdered and Steve is the prime suspect, Geoffrey is the one Steve turns to for help. Soon after, Geoffrey becomes the target of harassing phone calls, mysterious notes, and threatening photos.

Dick Francis is now writing with his son, Felix, who gets co-author credit, but the story is vintage Francis. I noticed a few places where he repeated himself, but those were easily forgiven. The storyline moves forward at a steady pace, the descriptions of the horse races are vibrant and heart pounding, and it all comes to a very satisfactory conclusion. What more can you ask for?

The Tomb of the Golden Bird by Elizabeth Peters

2008-12-13T10:45:00.000-06:00

Main characters: Amelia Peabody, and her ever expanding family
Location: Thebes, Egypt
Time period: 1920s
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Archaeology

Oh, I do love the Amelia Peabody mysteries! In the volume, we finally witness the opening of King Tut's tomb--something that we have been anticipating ever since Howard Carter showed up as a character in the series. Of course, we've also known that Emerson cannot be directly involved in the exploration of the tomb; he is forced to watch from the sidelines because he has (yet again) offended the powers that be.

But of course there's plenty to keep the Emerson clan busy. Besides their own excavations, there are mysterious happenings going on. Ramses's daughter, Charla, is lured away by a strange man in the marketplace, though she is soon found unharmed. Even their ancient and loyal butler, Gargery, has an adventure when he is kidnapped--though also released unharmed. Ramses and Emerson walk into an obvious trap to try to get to the bottom of it; their captors repeatedly ask "where is he?" which begs the question--which he? It could only be Sethos, still in the spy business even though it threatens to destroy his marriage.

I have to admit that I no longer read this series for the mysteries. My greatest joy is just revisiting this lively group of characters. It's like attending a family reunion each time a new book comes out; you catch up on what's been going on since the last time we met, marvel at how the children are growing, and enjoy lots of energetic conversation about history ancient and modern.

Field of Blood by Eric Wilson

2008-12-10T22:42:00.000-06:00

Main character: Gina Lazarescu
Location: Various places, mostly Romania and the southern United States
Time period: Late 1990's
Genre: Christian fiction, supernatural, vampires
Series: Jerusalem's Undead Trilogy #1

I received this book as part of a program being run by Thomas Nelson publishers. Bloggers who register with them can get a free book as long as they agree to blog about it. I thought it would be a good challenge for me to write up a book that I might not otherwise pick up to read, and this is the first one I chose. Let me say that I have not read a lot of Christian fiction--when I look for an adult book, I generally head for the mystery section--so the thought of a Christian vampire book was too intriguing to pass up.

An archaeological dig in Jerusalem disturbs an anicent burial place, allowing a group of demons to inhabit and regenerate the bodies inside. These demons are called Collectors; at one point they refer to the time that the Nazarene (they never refer to Christ by name) expelled them from a man and sent them into pigs which were then drowned, apparently referring to the incident related in Mark 5:09-13. Since then they have been trapped in an incorporeal existence and are rather out of touch with the rest of their kind. (Other demons have survived and since moved to Romania, giving rise to the legend of the vampire.) Demons are able to inhabit and possess any living being--human, animal, or insect--but these particular demons, led by Lord Ariston, are the first to be able to revive the dead.

Meanwhile, a young girl named Gina has been raised by her mother in a very remote part of Romania. Gina's mother, Nikki, is ruled by superstitions and Gina is longing to escape her tight reins and to be seen as an independent young woman, not as a little girl. Then one day a man arrives, a man her mother obviously knows, tells them they are in danger and takes them away. They escape to America, change their names and start their new lives. What Gina does not know, what her mother does not want to tell her, is that Gina is an immortal, the daughter of one of the Nistarim, and as such will always be a target of the Collectors.

The events in the book span great distances in time and space, and it is not always clear when the setting jumps. For example, Gina is hit by a truck; she should have been killed but walks away with barely a scratch. Shortly afterwards, her mother refers to the accident as having been two years ago--but there was little indication that that much time had elapsed; I thought it had been a few weeks at most. I found the references to the Nistarim confusing--I am not familiar with the Talmudic tradition of the Nistarim and had to look it up. I am still not clear on how Gina can be the child of a Nistarim but not a Nistarim herself but her child could be one. When it seems as if Dov, a young orphan boy that Gina takes under her wing, is a Nistarim, it is unclear whether he has always been one from birth or has become one. A framing device, of a person reading a letter marked with four drops of blood, and seeing the memories of different characters through these drops of blood, also raises more questions than it answers, but will most likely be addressed in the future books.

On the other hand, I really liked the image of a Collector's bite creating a thorny vine which grows within the victim and the blood that collects in the thorns being a purer form of blood which they find more nourishing. I also liked that the demons find a single, sometimes petty, vice to exploit in their victims, creating a sense of discontent. (It reminded me of C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters, or Peter Cook's devil in the 1967 movie Bedazzled: in both those cases, the devil's most effective work was not the great disasters but the little daily annoyances.) Even Dahlia's self-righteousness was shown as a vanity which could be exploited.

I'm not going to waiting expectantly for the next book in the trilogy, but I will read it to find out what happens next.

A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl by Tanya Lee Stone

2008-12-06T23:04:00.000-06:00

Main Characters: Josie, Nicolette, and Aviva

Location: High School

Time period: Contemporary

Genre: YA Fiction, Fiction in verse

Josie is a freshman when HE notices her. HE tells her she's the only one that HE can open up to, the only one HE can tell his reveal his deepest, truest feelings to. Nicolette is older, more experienced (though she mostly hooks up with guys from another school so she doesn't get a reputation) when she meets HIM and breaks her own rules. Aviva, too, falls under HIS spell. And each of them discovers that HE was just playing them, racking up points.

The girls do get a bit of revenge. No, they don't take HIM down and make HIM change HIS ways. But they do band together and discover they are not alone. Josie finds a copy of Judy Blume's Forever on the school library shelf, and writes a note on one of the blank pages in the back. Soon the empty pages are filled by many more than just these three girls.

As a librarian, I know I should cringe at the thought of the book being defaced (and if I found a book written in like this in real life, I would most likely weed it out of the collection) but in context it felt so right. I will point out that this is for more mature readers--there are no graphic descriptions, but two of the girls do have sex. That said, I enjoyed this book, and I liked the girl power solution that the girls found to cope with their shared pain and to warn other potential victims.

Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey

2008-12-05T19:38:00.000-06:00

Main Characters: Sadima and Hahp
Location: undefined
Time period: undefined, but Sadima's story feels Medieval, while Hahp's is hundreds of years later
Genre: YA Fiction, Fantasy
Series: A Resurrection of Magic #1

Sadima lives in a world without real magic, though there are hucksters and charlatans aplenty. When Sadima is born, a magician robs the family instead of helping, leaving the mother to die. Her father and brother then distrust any talk of magic, so Sadima keeps secret her ability to understand animals. Then one day she encounters Franklin, a young man who also has a talent for magic and who convinces her to come to the city and join him and his master, Somiss, who are trying to revive the old ways. Sadima soon discovers that Somiss is a abusive master, but cannot convince Franklin to leave him.

Hundreds of years later, Hahp is sent by his father to the magic academy to learn to be a wizard. There are ten boys joining the academy at the same time, and they discover a strange and cruel world where they are barely taught but left to discover things on their own--with the admonition that they will learn or die. Literally. They are forbidden to help each other, but some of the boys develop small ways to give hints. Oh, and did I mention that Franklin and Somiss are running the academy?

Sadima and Hahp's stories are told in alternating chapters, which is a format I usually dislike--it seems that just as one story begins to get interesting, the author switches to the other. But Duey carries it off well. Sshe doesn't use a lot of cliff-hangers; each chapter is complete in itself so the switch between Sadima and Hahp's narratives is not jarring. And though they live hundreds of years apart, there are definite connections between the two characters--something Sadima learns in one chapter can shed light on Hahp's story later on.

Because this is the first in a trilogy, there are many questions left unanswered. I look forward to the rest of the books and the answers that they contain.

Two-Minute Drill by Mike Lupica

2008-12-04T22:53:00.000-06:00

Main Character: 6th-grader Scott Parry
Location: undefined
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: J Fiction, Sports, Football
Series: Mike Lupica's Comeback Kids

Mike Lupica has written some good sports novels for YAs and now turns his sights towards younger readers with his Comeback Kids series. Reading this book put me in mind of when I was in grade school and reading Matt Christopher, which were the epitome of sports books for kids then and still popular now.

Scott Parry is the new kid in school, trying very hard to make new friends. He is smart but clutzy, which makes him the target of Jimmy Dolan--football player, son of the football coach, and school bully. Things get worse when Scott gets on the football team and Jimmy treats him like his personal tackle dummy. Fortunately, Scott does make friends with Chris Conlan, the team's quarterback. The two get together and practice on the field Scott and his dad marked off behind his house. Chris discovers that while Scott is not very good at catching the football, he is very good at kicking. But Chris has his own problem--he has trouble reading and if he can't pass an upcoming test his parents won't let him play football anymore. The two make a deal--Chris will help Scott with football, and Scott will help Chris with reading.

I enjoyed this book, even though I'm not a big football fan. Scott is a good kid, who is trying to be independent and solve his own problems. His friendship with Chris has its ups and downs, but they are both willing to work at it, and to apologize when they hurt each other. Jimmy isn't as fully fleshed out as the others, but he isn't just a cardboard character; early on, Chris offers some insight as to why he acts as he does. And while Coach Dolan seems to be blind to his son's misconduct, he is still trying to be a good coach.

Two-Minute Drill is on the 2009-2010 Texas Bluebonnet Award List.

Into the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst

2008-11-20T10:40:00.000-06:00

Main Character: Julia
Location: Partly in an undefined real-world place, partly in fairy tale land
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, Fairy Tales

Julie is a girl from two worlds. She lives in the real world and goes to junior high, but her brother is a cat--Puss-in-Boots to be precise--and the Wild, the remnants of the fairy tale world, is kept under her bed. You see, Julia's mother is really Rapunzel (or Zel for short) and while she may look like a simple hairdresser, she was once a fierce warrior who defeated the Wild and freed all the fairy tale characters to live their own lives. Well, almost all of them. Her prince, Julie's father, sacrificed himself in the final battle.

So Julie has never really felt like she belongs anywhere. She longs to know more about her father, but more than anything she really wants to just be a normal girl with a normal life. After dinner with her mother, grandmother, and Snow's seven, her frustration spills out and she tells Zel she wishes Zel wasn't her mother. The next day, her mother is gone and the Wild has escaped her bedroom and begun to transform the town. Julie knows that she--the one person who knows all about the Wild but has never been there--is the only person who might possibly escape the Wild's traps and help her mother defeat it once again.

This was a fun book, with all its references to classic fairy tales and even a few lesser known ones. I loved Julie's friend, Gillian, who puts up her own unique battle with the Wild. Boots' dilemma of wanting to find a soul mate--or at least another talking cat--even if it means losing his freedom is touching; he reminded me of Hoggle in the movie Labyrinth. I even enjoyed the fact that the librarian is the villain. Well, maybe villain is too strong a word, but still.

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

2008-11-14T00:12:00.002-06:00

Main character: Matteo Alacrán, a clone
Location: Opium, a stretch of land dividing Mexico from the United States
Time period: Some time in the future
Genre: YA Fiction, Futuristic, Dystopian Society

For as far back as he can remember, Matteo has lived with Celia in a little shack. He was never allowed outside, for there were monsters there waiting to snatch him up especially at night. Then when he is five, some children came to the shack and find him. They took him to the big house and make a big deal over him until they find the tattoo on the bottom of his foot that says "Property of the Alacrán Estate." Matteo is a clone.

Have you ever noticed that--without even trying--you will find a continuing theme in various books that you read at about the same time? I've got a little cluster right here dealing with identity and humanity, starting with Robin Wasserman's Skinned and Meg Cabot's Airhead. Now I run into the same theme here. Matteo has not been transplanted into another body like Lia and Em. Instead, he learns that he has been specifically created to provide organs for transplanting in case El Patrón needs them. He is not considered human--he is on a level with the farm animals.

How much of your identity is intrinsic and how much is the way people see and treat you? Lia thinks of herself as human though everyone around her sees a machine, and in time begins to see herself as something other than human. Em has her own memories and personality, but finds her body sometimes at odds--such as when it prefers tofu to ice cream. And because of the agreement her parents made, she has to assume the identity of Nikki Howard and at the end seems to have found a comfortable compromise. But they were both teenagers and had had their own life experiences before catastrophic events changed their lives forever. Except for his very early childhood, Matteo has been raised knowing he's a clone--even if he doesn't know exactly what that means. Among the household children, Tom actively bullies him, Stephen ignores him, but María accepts him as is. Among the adults, Celia protects him, El Patrón spoils him, and Tam Lin tries to teach him. But they all send out the message that he is different, that he is not one of them.

Rash by Peter Hautman

2008-11-13T22:50:00.000-06:00

Main character: Sixteen-year-old Bo Marsten
Location: The United Safe States of America
Time period: about one hundred years in the future
Genre: YA Fiction, Futuristic, Dystopian Society

One hundred years from now, the United States (excuse me, The United Safe States) is the safest place on earth. The track team wears padding and helmets, and the track is made out of a more cushioned surface--sure track times have decreased, but at least no one gets hurt if they fall down. There are security cameras everywhere. No one has to work for a living any more, so all labor is done by convicts--which are in ready supply since practically any display of anger is against the law.

Bo is falsely accused of causing a skin rash which has spread rapidly through his school and as a result is sentenced to manufacture frozen pizza in a facility located in the Canadian tundra. There, he finds himself on an illegal football team run by the head warden. In the meantime, Bork, an artificial intelligence computer program that Bo created for a school assignment tracks him down and tries to free him.

This is a sardonic book, taking current trends and attempts to make society safer and stretching them beyond their logical ends to create a world in which safety is a trap. So ask yourself, how would you balance safety and freedom? And how cool would it be to have your own Bork?

Piper Reed, Navy Brat by Kimberly Willis Holt

2008-11-12T22:52:00.000-06:00

Main character: Nine-year-old Piper Reed
Location: Pensacola, Florida
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: J Fiction, Family

Piper Reed is the middle of three sisters, and--as the title informs us--a navy brat. That means that she is used to her family packing up and moving across country on short notice every couple of years. As, indeed, they have to do at the beginning of this book, leaving San Diego for Pensacola (or, as little sister Sam says, Pepsi-Cola) Florida.

This is an episodic family story, like all those Henry, Beezus and Ramona books by Beverly Cleary. Piper is a resourceful and clever girl. She's dyslexic so she sometimes struggles with schoolwork, but she is the one who is able to remember where little sister Sam left her doll and then deduces which moving box it's been packed in. While staying with cousins along the road, older sister Tori shows a mean side, but when Piper invites new friends to a party promising a real gypsy fortuneteller, Tori comes through and saves the day.

Piper Reed, Navy Brat is on the 2009-2010 Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee List.

Airhead by Meg Cabot

2008-11-10T00:09:00.004-06:00

Main Characters: Ordinary high school student Em Watts and teen supermodel Nikki Howard
Location: New York City
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, Comedy, Popular Culture, Celebrity, Identity

Emerson "Em" Watts has no time or patience for fashion or makeup or any of the superficiality of beauty. She is smart and academically driven, and in love with her best friend, Christopher, who does not see her that way. Em's little sister, Frida, on the other hand, is totally into what's in and what's out, wants desperately to be noticed by the popular kids at school, and is secretly trying out for the cheerleading squad.

When Em is dragooned into taking Frida to the opening of a new megastore, they are stunned (and in Frida's case, thrilled) when Nikki Howard and her entourage make an appearance. There is a freak accident and Em wakes up in the hospital. What the reader realizes long before Em does is that, omigod, she's been totally Skinned! Except instead of being put into a robot, she's been transplanted into drop-dead gorgeous Nikki Howard!

Having just read Robin Wasserman's book, I found it very interesting to read Meg Cabot's take on a similar situation. While Lia had to cope with the existential question of her own humanity, Em has to cope with a body that has different likes than she does--it rebels at the thought of an ice cream sundae and chocolate cookies and craves sea bass and tofu instead. She does begin to realize the power of beauty, though, and the heady feeling of having people look up to her. But while she's got two really hot guys vying for her attention, her heart yearns for Christopher who doesn't even look at her.

I really like the relationships that develop and change after Em's transformation, especially with Frida and Lulu, Nikki's best friend. It would have been so easy to make Lulu a frivolous piece of fluff--in other words, exactly what Em scornfully thought of all FFBF's (famous for being famous.) But Lulu, for all her dittziness, turns out to be a sweet and appealing friend.

There will be a second book, Being Nikki, which I am already looking forward to.

Runemarks by Joanne Harris

2008-11-09T13:41:00.000-06:00

Main Character: Maddy Smith
Location: undefined
Time period: undefined
Genre: YA Fiction, Fantasy, Norse Mythology

In Maddy's small village, people do not acknowledge magic. They are also wary of dreaming and imagination. In the constant conflict between Chaos (where magic exists) and Order, Order has the upper hand. So Maddy, who was born with a runemark (or "ruinmark" as the parson calls it) on her hand and has some strange abilities, is an outsider. Her only friend is the Wanderer, old One-Eye, who comes through her village for a short time every year. It was he who taught her about the runemarks and how to control her power to use them. Now he has asked her to go into the World Below and find the Whisperer, an object that could be anywhere or look like anything but Maddy should recognize it when she sees it. She finds the Whisperer, but she also finds Loki, the Norse trickster god. Turns out that old One-Eye is Odin and the Whisperer is the oracle that predicted Ragnarok.

I liked Maddy a lot. She is a strong character who is always true to herself. I also rather like Loki. Yes, he is the trickster that almost the entire Norse pantheon wants destroyed, but he is also charming--a charm that Maddy knows as one of his powers and must guard against.

Norse Mythology is not as familiar to us as Greek Mythology is, but I have been noticing a few books using it as a starting point, such as The Sea of Trolls and The Land of Silver Apples by Nancy Farmer. I don't think it's necessary to know much about the Norse gods to enjoy this book, but it does help to understand their relationships (such as why everyone wants to get rid of Loki.) This is not a retelling of the myths, but an original story imagining what might have happened after Ragnarok and the destruction of Asgard.

Skinned by Robin Wasserman

2008-11-02T22:05:00.001-06:00

Main Character: Lia Kahn
Location: undefined
Time period: a post-apocalyptic future
Genre: YA Fiction, Sci-Fi, Dystopian

Lia Kahn had a perfect life. She was the most popular girl in school; she had the most desirable boyfriend; what she thought, what she said, what she wore set the standards for being one of the cool kids. And then she died in a freak accident. Her father, unable to bear the loss, has her brain dowloaded into a mechanical body. She has Lia's memories, but is she really still Lia?

The society that Lia lives in feels a bit like that of Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series or M.T. Anderson's Feed--everyone is wired in to a central network and communication is almost instantaneous. It is set far into the future, after a nuclear holocaust destroyed most of the cities, and most of the people live in Corps towns--towns run by the corporations the people work for. But Lia's family is one of society's elite, so they live in an exclusive community where they don't have to see the dreariness of the corps towns or the ruins of the cities.

But that's just the trappings--the real story is inside Lia, as she adjusts to her new life. Her family can't quite accept her--even her father, who thought he wanted this, just looks through her or around her, never at her. Her sister, Zoe, is openly hostile, claiming Lia's friends--even her boyfriend--for her own to protect them from what Lia has become. Religious fanatics, the Faithers, call her an abomination. The class nerd, Auden, someone she never would have spoken to before, becomes her only friend, but does he really like her for herself or is he just fascinated by her technology? Worst of all, Lia finds that she can't really feel anything--only really intense sensations register. Things she used to love have no meaning for her anymore. Is she really still Lia, or has she been made into someone else? Is she defined by her exterior? Is she defined by how others see her? Or does she define herself?

In some ways, Skinned reminded me of Peter Dickinson's 1989 novel, Eva. In that book, Eva is nearly killed in a freak accident and her father, an animal researcher, transplants her brain into the body of a chimpanzee. Eva goes through a number of the same processes that Lia does until she can finally, like Lia, find her own place in the world.

Rebel Angels by Libba Bray

2008-11-01T22:21:00.001-05:00

Main character: Gemma Doyle
Location: London
Time period: the 1880's
Genre: YA Fiction, Gothic Romance; Fantasy
Sequel to: A Great and Terrible Beauty

I know a lot of people really like this series, but I'm still not feeling the love. I think it's because I find Gemma rather irritating. She simply cannot make a decision and stick with it! (Yeah, yeah, neither can Hamlet, but that's a whole 'nother story.) For example, Gemma hears her brother (who works as a doctor at Bedlam, the insane asylum) speak of a young girl named Nell Hawkins, and decides that she has apparently been to the realms and has been driven mad. Gemma talks to her and discovers that her rantings do make some sense. The clearest things that Nell says are "Trust no one" and "Stay on the path." Does Gemma stay on the path? No! Is she wary of new people? No! She takes everything someone tells her at face value without weighing what they say against what she knows about them. She believes Kartick until someone says something that make her doubt him. She loves Simon until someone says something. The girl is exasperating!

Now you may get the idea that I think this is a bad book, and the strange thing is that I don't. If it was a badly written book, I would not have such strong feelings. If it was a badly written book, I would just roll my eyes and probably abandon it early on. No, this is a well-written book that kept me reading no matter how much I wanted to just slap Gemma. Mind you, I don't like her friends, Felicity and Ann, any better, but I want to believe that Gemma can learn something, though she's gone through two long books and so far has not figured out much. No, I am just going to have to read the third book, A Sweet Far Thing and see how things turn out for her.

Night Road by A.M. Jenkins

2008-10-31T12:00:00.000-05:00

Main Character: Cole, a hemevore
Location: The Midwest, and New York City
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, Supernatural, Vampires

Cole is a heme, a hemevore, a blood-drinker--just don't call him a vampire. The V-word calls up images from misguided myths and over-the-top movies and bears no relation to the reality of their lives. Cole belongs to a colony which lives in a private house in New York City, but he prefers life on the road, moving from place to place and never really settling down.

But now Johnny, the leader of the colony, has called Cole back for a special task. Another heme, Sandor, has accidentally turned a teenaged boy and he is having trouble adjusting. Johnny wants Cole to take Sandor and Gordon out on a road trip and teach the kid the facts of his new life.

This is a vampire story for people who like vampire stories but are getting a bit tired of vampire romances. These vampires are not interested in romantic entanglements or gothic trappings. Gordon does have a longing to see his girlfriend (from before he was turned) again, but Cole has a good reason to know that that's not a good idea. This is more like a buddy movie, a chance to really examine the life of the vampire and the challenges of immortality.

I would rank this up with Scott Westerfeld's Peeps as an original take on a venerable genre.

The Dead & the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

2008-10-26T13:39:00.000-05:00

Main Character: 17-year-old Alex Morales
Location: Manhattan, New York City
Time period: Contemporary or slightly in the future
Genre: YA Fiction, Dystopian fiction, Survival, Speculative Fiction
Companion to: Life As We Knew It

The Dead & the Gone is set in the same time and the same situation as Life As We Knew It, but while Life followed a family in a rural area, Dead is set in the inner city.

Alex Morales is a smart high school junior with big dreams and plans for his future. On the night the moon is knocked out of orbit, he is working at the pizza place where the only sign that anything has happened is that the cable suddenly goes out. He gets home to find his sisters in a tizzy. Their mother has been called in to work at her hospital in Queens, their father had gone to Puerto Rico for his mother's funeral, and big brother Carlos is in the Marines and is being deployed. So Alex, Brianna, and Julie are alone for the duration.

At first, I thought that Miranda (from Life) was in a better situation than Alex. She had a mother and an older brother to take most of the burden. Alex suddenly becomes the family caretaker. Miranda's family managed to stockpile a lot of food at the beginning. Alex helps his uncle empty his bodega and receives some food in return, but it's not much. But while Miranda's mother worked at isolating her family insisting that they take care only of themselves, Alex has a support network. His church relays information about food lines; his school remains open, guaranteeing a hot lunch on weekdays; and some of his classmates, all from wealthier families, offer information, advice, and other small acts of kindness.

That doesn't mean that Alex has it easy. In a truly horrific scene, Alex looks for his mother among the dead laid out at Yankee Stadium. He and his friend Kevin rob the bodies of the dead on the street for items to exchange for black-market food. When the volcanoes erupt and the air is filled with ash, Brianna develops asthma. Hoping against hope that their parents and Carlos are alive and will come back, Alex and the girls stay in their apartment, but Alex eventually realizes that Julie is not safe--especially after the black market dealer offers Alex and Bri a way out of town in exchange for Julie--and he needs to get them out of the city.

Miranda's story was told in first person diary entries, while Alex's story was told in the third person. This gives a bit a distance to the story; though Alex experiences more than his share of tragedy, this book is not as mournful as the first one. I did think the ending was a bit abrupt, and I would like to know what happens next. Are things really any better in the south? Does the new year bring a clearing of the air? Will mankind survive?

Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell

2008-10-25T22:22:00.002-05:00

Main character: Elaine, the Lady of Shallot
Location: England
Time period: The Dark Ages
Genre: Ya Fiction, Arthurian legends, Narrative verse

I've been noticing an increase in books written in verse, though I haven't had a chance to read much of it. It does require an adjustment in the way you read, rather like reading manga right to left requires an adjustment.

Elaine is a young girl living in Arthur's camp with her father and two older brothers. Most of Arthur's knights--Lancelot, Tristan, Gawain, and the rest--are like her older brothers as well. She has made a place for herself, using the healing arts she learned from Morgan to care for the men after a battle. But all that changes when Gwynivere arrives in camp. Elaine becomes aware of her dirty clothes, her tangled hair, her plainness. She sees Lancelot look at Gwynivere with longing and admiration, and her heart breaks.

As I read this book I tried to imagine how it would have worked if told in prose instead of verse, and I don't think it would have been anywhere near as good. Of course the verse recalls Tennyson's poem "The Lady of Shallot" which tells the traditional version of Elaine's tragic tale. More than that, the verse creates an almost meditative quality as we stay totally inside Elaine's head. With a minimum of description and dialogue, her thoughts and emotions remain raw and close to the surface. But don't let me give you the idea that nothing happens--Elaine refuses to stay safely behind when the men go off to battle. Having been raised by warriors, she has developed a strong sense of duty and honor and a desire to fight for those she loves.

This would be a good book for a family read-aloud. I found myself reading it to my cats just for the pleasure of savoring the words.

Toto! The Wonderful Adventure Vol. 2 by Yuko Osada

2008-10-23T22:20:00.005-05:00

Main character: Kakashi and Dorothy
Location: An alternate world
Time period: Seems to be contemporary-ish
Genre: YA Manga, Fantasy

Kakashi and Dorothy manage to get out of the house only to find it surrounded by the army and a large monstrous creature. They are told that the creature is Toto--but Toto is not supernatural, it's the collar that he wears. It is one of 12 powerful accessories--ooh, do we see a quest storyline coming up? Sakura's feathers from Tsubasa; the shards of the Rikon jewel from InuYasha; and now these accessories. Anyway, the army fires upon Toto to Dorothy's dismay, Kakashi goes to comfort him, and, entering another dimension where Toto still appears to be the cute little puppy he is, merges with Toto. Now Toto's collar is on Kakashi's wrist and in times of stress Super-Toto appears at the end of Kakashi's arm.

A new military character is introduced--Corporal Chopin, who seems to have one of the accessories. He turns his wrath on the military leader that bungled the retrieval of the bracelet and Dorothy and Kakashi escape. They make their way to Dego City, also known as Locomotive Town. Unfortunately, they arrive just as the last locomotive is being crushed into scrap metal to make weapons for the army. Kakashi is being such a bumpkin that he attracts attention, but a girl comes up and claims him as her brother. Millica takes them in and tells them what is happening in their town. They also meet Noil, a soldier who has a talent for building locomotives but would rather be an entertainer. And he's got a crush on Millica. When the military tries to capture Kakashi again, Noil has to choose between his duty to the army and his love for Millica.

Bleach 24 by Tite Kubo

2008-10-22T22:19:00.002-05:00

Main character: Ichigo Kurasaki and everyone else
Location: Japan
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Manga, Fantasy

When last we saw everyone, they were scattered about fighting Arrancars. Now Rangiku is a puddle on the floor (a puddle of hair, at least), Rukia is down, Ururu goes into a trance and gets into the fight only to be skewered. Everyone is in trouble. One of the Arrancars reveals that their numbers indicate the order in which they were made, not their relative strength--except for the top ten. Those are the strongest. And guess who is stuck fighting one of them? Ichigo, of course! He's locked in battle with Grimjow Jaeger-Jaques (what a mouthful that name is.) Just when all seems almost lost, Rangiku gets orders from the Soul Society. The restriction that keeps them using only 20% of their power when in the real world has been lifted so now suddenly each of them is 4 times stronger and they are able to defeat their Arrancars. All except Ichigo, but then Tosen appears and orders Grimjow to leave and report to Aizen. (Aizen doesn't wear his glasses anymore--I am so totally over him.)

Battle is over and healing begins. Orihime works on Toshiro, Rangiku cares for Rukia, and Keigo take Ikkaku and Yumichika home--it's the least he could do since Ikkaku fought defending Keigo. Chad, feeling left out and left behind, begs Kisuke to train him. And finally, Ichigo goes to the Vizored. Hmmm.

The Prince of Tennis Vol. 25 by Takeshi Konomi

2008-10-15T22:03:00.002-05:00

Main character: The Seishun Academy tennis team
Location: Japan
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Manga, Sports

Sadaharu Inue and Renji Yanagi are in the midst of their match, and it looks like Renji has the upper hand. Sadahru even throws out his data, but Renji says "There is no victory for those who abandon their play-style." Indeed, Sadaharu is looking exhausted. But all is not lost--Sadaharu is actually re-creating their last, unfinished match. Now we'll find out who really is the better player--and it's a win for Seishun!

Renji's loss means Rikkai has broken their promise to their team leader, in the hospital waiting for a surgery. Renji submits himself for punishment, but the blow is deflected by Akaya, who now gives himself 14 minutes to win his match with Shusuke Fuji. It's a tough match, and Akaya slams a drive that knocks Shusuke to the group. He gets up to continue playing, but he's got to hide the fact that the blow has made him temporarily blind.

The Prince of Tennis Vol. 24 by Takeshi Konomi

2008-10-14T22:02:00.001-05:00

Main Characters: The Seishun Academy tennis team
Location: Japan
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Manga, Sports

The Kanto tournament continues, and things are not looking good for Seishun. Rikkai has dominated and looks to win the last three matches in record time.

The "golden pair," Eiji Kikumaru and Suichiro Oishi, are up. When one of the opposing players aims the ball at Eiji's head, he goes down and seems to lose consciousness for a brief time. He's carried off on a stretcher as we see a flashback to when he and Suichiro began playing together as children. Awww, how cute they both are! Eiji comes to, leaps off the stretcher, and gets back into the game. (Where is the team doctor? Surely someone should check him out first. And come to think about it, where is the umpire?) Eiji and Suichiro are playing better than ever, but it's still not enough. They lose their match.

In between matches, Ryoma is at the vending machines when he overhears an intriguing phone call. One of the Rikkai players is talking to their team leader, in the hospital and facing surgery.

The next match is a singles between Seishun's team leader, Sadaharu Inui, and Renji Yanagi. They used to play together as doubles partners years ago and are both data collectors. Now they know each other's games so well they can predict not only each other's plays, but finish each other's sentence. But it looks like Renji is going to force Sadaharu to give up his data game.

Love*Com Vol. 2 by Aya Nakahara

2008-10-13T22:00:00.001-05:00

Main Characters: Tall girl Risa and short boy Ôtani
Location: Japan
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Manga

Volume 2, and the romantic misunderstandings continue. An ex-girlfriend of Ôtani's shows up and she is a cute little thing that looks just like Chiharu. Maybe Ôtani does have a type after all. Risa convinces herself that the ex has shown up because she wants to get back together with Ôtani and does all she can to help that happen.

Meanwhile, a really tall and really handsome guy catches Risa up in a bear hug. It is Haruka, an old friend from grade school. Back then he was the target of bullies and Risa defended him, so he's got a crush on her. Nice as he is to Risa, though, he is a real jerk to Ôtani. As Risa continues to defend Ôtani to Haruka, he asks her the same question everyone else is thinking--is she in love with Ôtani? Is Ôtani in love with Risa?

Toto! The Wonderful Adventure Vol. 1 by Yuko Osada

2008-10-12T23:09:00.001-05:00

Main character: Kakashi
Location: An alternate world--name as yet unknown
Time period: Seems to be contemporary
Genre: YA Manga

As you can probably guess from the title, this story has ties to The Wizard of Oz, but it is not just a manga version of that classic book.

Kakashi is a small-town boy with big dreams. He is an orphan; his father was an explorer who left their small island years ago and never returned. Kakashi has one memento--his father's journal which ends "The world is vast. You don't need a reason. Go on an adventure." Kakashi reminds me a bit of Luffy from One Piece--he is unfailingly optimistic and determined to get off of his island.

Kakashi's chance comes in the form of an airship which needs to stop for repairs. When it leaves, Kakashi stows away. In the cargo hold, he meets and befriends a darling little puppy with an intriguing collar. The airship is overtaken by a mafia group who eject the passengers over open water but decide to let Kakashi stay aboard. Kakashi sees a world map for the first time and is stunned at how big the world is. The airship comes under attack by the military and is destroyed but Kakashi, along with his puppy, manage to parachute to safety in a corn field where they meet a young girl named Dorothy.

The puppy, now named Toto, is more than he appears, and is the target of the military search. Kakashi, Dorothy, and Toto, fall into the clutches of the Great Nassau Imperial Army but you know they won't stay captives long.

Translation notes point out some of the various Wizard of Oz references. I caught most of them, but was happy to be told that Kakashi's name also means "scarecrow" in Japanese. I'm sure in upcoming volumes we will encounter the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion as well.

Bleach Vol. 23: Mala Suerte! by Tite Kubo

2008-10-11T21:55:00.004-05:00

Main character: Ichigo Kurosaki, plus a cast of millions (well, it feels like it!)
Location: Karakura Town, Japan
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Manga, Supernatural

I am finding it interesting that, since the end of the storyline dealing with rescuing Rukia from execution has ended, the plots of the books and the anime have gone off in two different directions. The anime, showing weekly on Adult Swim, is dealing with creatures called Bounts who seem bent on increasing their power by stealing human souls. In the books, the Arrancars are the main villains. I'm enjoying both storylines, though I favoring the Bounts at the moment.

Be that as it may, this was a exciting volume--well, after an embarrassing and uncomfortable sequence with Rangiku and Orihime. The Soul Reapers has dispersed around Karakura Town, with Rukia staying with Ichigo, Renji over at Urahara's store, and Rangiku and Toshiro at Orihime's. Orihime confesses to Rangiku that she is a little jealous of Rukia and feels terrible about it--which is very touching and sweet, but takes place while Rangiku is bathing--apparently for no other purpose than to show her in suggestive and inappropriate poses.

The Arrancars are out to destroy everyone who has even the slightest bit of spiritual pressure. The most vulnerable is Chad who is not yet completely healed from his last encounter with them. Ichigo runs to his defense, and Chad is saddened to think that he may never be able to fight side-by-side with Ichigo again. Aww, Chad! You are my favorite character! Rukia reveals that she has regained her powers, and she defeats the Arrancar.

When did Keigo gain some spiritual pressure and become able to see the Soul Reapers and Hollows? I know in the anime storyline with the Bounts he has his near-death experience, but that hasn't happened in the mangas. What have I forgotten?

But the rest of the volume belongs to Ikkaku, who battles with an oversized Arrancar and thoroughly enjoys himself. The fight builds to a crescendo, and then we end with an odd interlude which seems to be a flashback for Ichigo and Rukia from a time before the series started.

The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

2008-10-10T22:12:00.003-05:00

Main character: Percy Jackson
Location: Camp Half-Blood in upstate New York, among other places
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, Fantasy, Greek Mythology
Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians #4

As with Raven Rise, I had a little trouble at the beginning of this book because I had forgotten some of the details of the previous book. (That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the earlier books--I also had trouble remembering details in each Harry Potter book.) Sometimes, I think I should wait until an entire series is finished so I can read them all at once. But that's no fun either.

Anyway, Percy is about to start another new school, one where Paul Blofis (his mother's boyfriend) teaches. Percy wants everything to go well so he won't make trouble for Paul, but his track record at schools is not good. Sure enough, some mythical monsters--empousai, disguised as cheerleaders--attack him and a fire starts. Fortunately, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the mortal who can see through the Mist to the monsters' true form, helps him out and he escapes to Camp Half-Blood.

A lot is happening at Camp Half-Blood. There's a new teacher, Quintus, who has a giant hellhound named Mrs. O'Leary. Despite her fearsome appearance, she is really quite affectionate. Grover has been searching for the great god Pan without success and is now given just a week to find him or lose his searcher's license. Someone is sending Percy Iris-messages concerning Nico. And Annabeth finally gets to lead a quest of her own--into the Labyrinth of Daedalus to find a way to prevent Luke from using to invade the camp at the head of Kronos' army.

What follows is what we've come to expect from this series--plenty of adventure, plenty of humor, and an intriguing take on Greek mythology blended with modern times. Percy continues to grow though he does remains clueless as to just why Annabeth seems to dislike Rachel so much. He celebrates his 15th birthday, knowing that a prophecy says he may not make it to his 16th. Still, he tries to protect his friends, especially Nico who, as the son of Hades, might also be the subject of that prophecy.

Rick Riordan announced on his blog that the title of the 5th book will be The Last Olympian (I wonder if that means it will be the last book?) and the release date is set for May 9, 2009. BTW, have you heard about the Mythology Bee? Grand prize is a trip for 4 to Greece with author Rick Riordan! Things like this make me almost wish I was a middle schooler again.

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

2008-10-09T21:02:00.002-05:00

Main character: Miranda
Location: Rural Pennsylvania
Time period: Contemporary (or possibly near future)
Genre: YA Fiction, Survival, Dystopian, Speculative Fiction

This is one of the books that I included on my dystopian fiction booklist recently. I had read some interesting things about it but hadn't had the chance to actually read the book before now.

Miranda is a typical high school student who lives outside a small town in Pennsylvania. Like everyone else, she has heard the scientists talk about the asteroid that's about to strike the moon. It's expected to make a neat show but that's about it. On the predicted night, everyone is outside; the mood is festive. The asteroid hits and everyone immediately knows that something wrong has happened. The moon suddenly appears larger. It turns out that the asteroid has knocked the moon out of orbit; it is now closer to the Earth and the increased gravitation pull has caused extremely high tides, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. Major cities are destroyed, communications are down, the country's infrastructure is disrupted. Food and gas become scarce, electricity is sporadic.

The story is told through Miranda's diary entries as she struggles to cope with her new life. School is canceled and daily life becomes only about survival. One of her close friends slowly starves herself to death. Another leaves town searching for better conditions to the south. A bittersweet first romance ends when Dan leaves town to try to make it to California. As winter closes in, Miranda's world contracts to just her house and then to just the one room they can still heat in their house. Fortunately, spring brings its promise of re-birth and renewal, or this book would just be too sad to bear.

Raven Rise by D. J. MacHale

2008-10-08T20:53:00.002-05:00

Main Character: Bobby Pendragon
Location: Multiple territories
Time period: Multiple--yes, I know it's confusing
Genre: YA Fiction, Fantasy
Series: Pendragon #9

For the last few Pendragon books, I've been more invested in Mark and Courtney's activities than in Bobby's--which is a little strange, since Bobby is the main character. I started off in this book feeling the same way--at least in the beginning.

Raven Rise starts pretty much where The Pilgrims of Rayne left off, which was a bit of a problem for me as it had been so long since I read the last book that I had forgotten some of the details. Fortunately, enough information was woven into the story to catch me up. (If you haven't read the previous books, though, you really have to start at the beginning.) Mark and Courtney had gone back to First Earth--the 1930's--to try and prevent the inventions of the dados. Bobby deliberately destroyed the tunnel to Ibara, stranding himself and Saint Dane on that territory. He tells himself and everyone else that it was a strategic move to isolate Saint Dane and keep him from causing anymore mischief, but a big part of him is ready to quit the fight and settle down someplace peaceful.

Naturally, nothing is that simple and Bobby's interlude is brought to an end.

A lot happens in this book, almost too much to keep track off. The convergence--a blending of the territories--is beginning. Bobby has choices to make but no one to guide him to the right one. Saint Dane is the only one telling him anything, hinting at a connection between them--I've got a weird idea that Saint Dane is a future version of what Bobby could be if he makes the wrong choices. At Bobby's side are Mark and Courtney, and the travelers from First and Third Earth and Denduron, but Bobby is the lead traveler, the one everyone else looks to, and he is only just 19 years old.

And along that line, kudos to the artist who does the cover illustrations. You can definitely see how Bobby has aged and the toll these four years of fighting have taken on him.

Winter Study by Nevada Barr

2008-10-07T20:08:00.001-05:00

Main character: Park Ranger Anna Pigeon
Location: Isle Royal, Lake Superior National Park
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Series: Anna Pigeon National Park Mysteries #14

Time for another adult mystery break. I have read the Anna Pigeon books from the very first one, Track of the Cat, but I really became a fan with the 4th book, Firestorm. That book, with a murder occurring during a flashfire, was such an intriguing twist on the locked room mystery--one that took place totally outdoors--that I have avidly anticipated every book since.

Winter Study finds Anna Pigeon back up in Isle Royale (the location of the 2nd book, A Superior Death) joining the winter wolf study. Her own home park, the Rocky Mountain National Park, will soon be reintroducing wolves and she wants to learn more about them. Anna joins a small group of scientists and a Homeland Security bureaucrat who is supposed to determine whether the Canadian border is a security hole that needs to be plugged year-round--an action that would effectively shut down the annual wolf study.

Naturally, once Anna arrives on the island, winter weather shuts down all access to it--no one can leave, no one can arrive, cell phones don't work, internet communications are down. And then one of the researchers is killed, apparently mauled by wolves. Shades of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None!

I really love Anna Pigeon. She has grown a lot in the 15 years since we first met her in the Guadalupe Mountains. Then she was a bitter misanthrope, mourning the death of her husband, drinking too much, and preferring solitude to the company of people. Now she has given up drinking and remarried, though her job does keep her away from her husband much of the time. She has made connections with others and now has something--someone--to live for. She hasn't totally lost her cynicism though--there are too many people doing truly ugly things for that.

Please do be aware that while most of the books I've reviewed here have been suitable for teens, this one is definitely an adult book.

Nobody's Prize by Esther Friesner

2008-10-06T20:04:00.005-05:00

Main Character: Helen, Princess of Sparta
Location: Ancient Greece
Time period: Bronze Age
Genre: YA Fiction, Greek Mythology
Sequel to: Nobody's Princess

This book picks up right where Nobody's Princess left off. Helen, disguised as a boy, and Miles, the slave boy she freed and befriended, are trying to find a way to join the Argonauts and their quest for the Golden Fleece. They stowaway on the ship but it's impossible to stay hidden forever. They are helped by Iolaus, who claims them as his weapons carriers, and Hylas, who is Herakles' weapons carrier. When her own body betrays her female identity, her brothers help her by identifying her as Atalanta. Helen does have a moment where she wonders what Atalanta will think when she hears the stories, which put me in mind of The Misadventures of Maude March.

Esther Friesner continues to offer a differing view of the familiar myths, with the truth behind the legends rather mundane and the heroes braggarts and louts. Can't admit you were defeated by a tribe of women? Say that they were really winged harpies. The clashing rocks? A tribe that rolls boulders down on passing ships. Jason is a bully. Medea is insane (possibly caused by the emotional abuse her father heaps on her.) There is a hint of things to come when Agamemnon and Menelaus appears near the end.

Helen continues to be feistier than usually portrayed, though she is beginning to grow into her role as princess and future queen. She sees that her actions have conseqences and often it is others who get hurt. It would be interesting to see Helen's further adventures.

Dystopian Fiction for Teens booklist

2008-10-04T10:17:00.015-05:00

My city is one of the ones participating in The Big Read this month, and our book is Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. As part of the activities, I have put together a booklist of dystopian fiction for young adults. This has kept me from blogging on a regular basis, so I thought I'd share the booklist with you. There are actually more books here than on the printed brochure since some had to be cut for space.

For every book that says the future is bright, there is another that tells us the future will be miserable. The environment will be wrecked through pollution, global warming, or natural disasters. Technology runs amok and machines will take over the world. Art, literature, and music will be deemed dangerous and are forbidden. Plans are made to avert or survive a coming disaster by going underground or colonizing space, but then something goes terribly wrong. These books are called dystopian fiction.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury falls into this category. In this book, society has evolved to a point where literature is no longer valued and is actively destroyed. The characters’ physical needs are met, but their imaginations are starving.

Here is a selection of recommended dystopian fiction for young adults that can be found at the Mesquite North Branch Library.

Anderson, M. T.: Feed, 2002
In this chilling satiric novel, the author imagines a society dominated by the feed--a next-generation Internet/television hybrid that is directly hardwired into the brains of babies.

DeVita, James: The Silenced, 2007
Consigned to a prison-like Youth Training Facility because of her parents' political activities, Marena organizes a resistance movement to combat the restrictive policies of the ruling Zero Tolerance party.

DuPrau, Jeanne: The City of Ember, 2003
In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions. The series continues in The People of Sparks and The Prophet of Yonwood.

Farmer, Nancy: The House of the Scorpion, 2002
In a future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as the young clone of El Patrón, the 142-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between Mexico and the United States.

Haddix, Margaret Peterson: Among the Hidden, 1998
In a future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on his family's farm, until another "third" convinces him that the government is wrong. The series continues with Among the Imposters, Among the Betrayed, Among the Barons, Among the Brave, Among the Enemy, and Among the Free.

Hautman, Pete: Rash, 2006
In a future society that has decided it would "rather be safe than free," sixteen-year-old Bo's anger control problems land him in a tundra jail where he survives with the help of his running skills and an artificial intelligence program named Bork.

Kostick, Conor: Epic, 2004
On New Earth, a world based on a video role-playing game, fourteen-year-old Erik pursuades his friends to aid him in some unusual gambits in order to save Erik's father from exile and safeguard the futures of each of their families. Also read the companion novel, Saga.

Layne, Steven L.: This Side of Paradise, 2001
After his father begins working for the mysterious Eden Corporation, Jack uncovers a sinister plot that threatens the existence of his entire family.

Lowry, Lois: The Giver, 1993
Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives. Gathering Blue and The Messenger are companion novels.

McNaughton, Janet: The Secret Under My Skin, 2005
In the year 2368, humans exist under dire environmental conditions and one young woman, rescued from a workcamp and chosen for a special duty, uses her love of learning to discover the truth about the planet's future and her own dark past.

Pfeffer, Susan Beth: Life As We Knew It, 2006
Through journal entries sixteen-year-old Miranda describes her family's struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.

Prose, Francine: After, 2003
In the aftermath of a nearby school shooting, a grief and crisis counselor takes over Central High School and enacts increasingly harsh measures to control students, while those who do not comply disappear.

Rosoff, Meg: How I Live Now, 2004
To get away from her pregnant stepmother in New York City, fifteen-year-old Daisy goes to England to stay with her aunt and cousins, with whom she instantly bonds, but soon war breaks out and rips apart the family while devastating the land.

Shusterman, Neal: Unwind, 2007
In a future world where those between the ages of thirteen and eighteen can have their lives "unwound" and their body parts harvested for use by others, three teens go to extreme lengths to uphold their beliefs--and, perhaps, save their own lives.

Strasser, Todd: Boot Camp, 2007
After ignoring several warnings to stop dating his teacher, Garrett is sent to Lake Harmony, a boot camp that uses unorthodox and brutal methods to train students to obey their parents.

Westerfeld, Scott: Uglies, 2005
Tally is looking forward to turning 16 when she will get the state-mandated plastic surgery that will make her a “pretty,” but her friend Shay is not sure she wants the procedure. The series continues in Pretties, Specials, and Extras.

White, Andrea: Surviving Antarctica: Reality TV 2083, 2005
In the year 2083, five fourteen-year-olds who were deprived by chance of the opportunity to continue their educations reenact Scott's 1910-1913 expedition to the South Pole as contestants on a reality television show, secretly aided by a Department of Entertainment employee.

Nobody's Princess by Esther Friesner

2008-09-24T23:02:00.002-05:00

Main character: Helen of Sparta
Location: Ancient Greece
Time period: Bronze age
Genre: YA Fiction, Greek mythology

Nobody's Princess is a very entertaining take on the legendary Helen of Troy before she became so legendary.

From her very earliest years, Helen has known that she was loved, favored even, by her parents and under the special protection of the goddess Aphrodite. She also learns that she is beautiful and that beauty wins her attention and approval that she doesn't necessarily earn--as her twin Clytemnestra is always eager to point out.

Helen, however, is not content to be just a pretty princess. She wants to learn to be a warrior. She manages to convince her brothers' teacher, Glaucus, to teach her too. Her brothers, Castor and Polydeuces, are skeptical at first, but her determination not to quit no matter how hard things get soon wins them over. When Clytemnestra goes to Mykenae to marry Prince Tantalus, Helen and her brothers accompany her and here Helen's adventures really begin.

Esther Friesner does a great job in reimagining various stories from Greek mythology and fitting Helen into them. This Helen is courageous, rebellious, loyal to her friends, and no fool when it comes to dealing with braggarts--even when they are some of the most famous and admired heroes. These men create the myths that we know today because the truth will not win them fam and glory. What story would you rather hear--that Herakles defeated the seven-headed Hydra or a bunch of swamp snakes?

It's difficult to see how this Helen will grow up to be the selfish and vain queen whose actions lead to the destruction of Troy, as in Caroline Cooney's Goddess of Yesterday but I could being to see how her need for adventure and her chafing at being confined (even if that confinement is in the most luxurious of palaces) might lead her into running away from a loveless marriage.

The story continues in Nobody's Prize.

The Garden of Eve by K.L. Going

2008-09-19T20:03:00.003-05:00

Main character: 10-year-old (almost 11) Eve
Location: a small town in upstate New York
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: J Fiction, Fantasy, Death, Grieving

I picked this book up after a couple of teens told me they had read it and enjoyed it.

Evie is mourning her mother, who died of cancer not long ago. Her father, too, is in mourning, and their grief has isolated them from each other. Evie's father, an orchard worker, has bought an apple orchard that is regarded as cursed by the people in the town. Evie is not happy at having to leave her Michigan home and is even less happy when she discovers that their new house faces the cemetery. There's a funeral going on as they pass the cemetery, and only one pale-faced boy notices them as they drive past. As Evie slowly begins to learn more about her new home, some strange things begin to happen--things that would seem natural in the stories that her mother used to tell her but which her father tells her flatly can't really exist.

Evie meets the pale-faced boy in the cemetery, playing among the headstones. He introduces himself as Alex, and tells her that he just recently died of leukemia--it was his funeral that she saw when they first came to town. Maggie, the elderly sister of the man who previously owned the orchard, gives Evie a box. It's a present he left with Maggie before he died, telling her to give it to Eve when she came. But Evie never met the old man, so how could he know that she would be coming? The box contains an old seed which just might have come from the Garden of Eden. If Evie plants it, will she be able to see her mother again?

This is a beautiful little book, full of loss and grieving, but also with hope and healing. Like Pieces of Georgia by Jennifer Bryant, Evie is missing a vibrant mother and finding it difficult to connect with an uncommunicative father. There is a poignant moment when her father confesses that sometimes he would hide in the shadows listening to Evie and her mother tell each other stories and wishing that he could join them. The revelation that her father sometimes felt left out gives Evie a bit of insight into him and draws them closer together. The biggest mystery--how did the former owner know about Evie--is finally answered in a birthday card that her mother wrote before she died. It wound up being a much simpler explanation than I was imagining, but no less satisfying.

Autobiography of My Dead Brother by Walter Dean Myers

2008-09-18T18:49:00.003-05:00

Main Character: 15-year-old Jesse
Location: New York City
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction

Jesse is a young African-American teen growing up in the 'hood. Rise is an older boy who has been Jesse's friend since forever; they even did the blood brothers thing when they were little. Well, Jesse was too scared to actually cut his finger but when he fell and scraped his knee, Rise cut his finger and they mingled blood then. They are as close, if not closer, than actual brothers. But lately, Jesse has been noticing a change in Rise.

Jesse and his friends have a social club, the Counts, which has a 40-year heritage. But when Mason joined the Counts, he seemed bent on taking it over and turning it into a gang. When Mason went to jail for robbing a bodega, Rise began following in his path, trying to become the group's leader and trying to take it in a direction that worried Jesse. The bodega that Mason robbed is firebombed. Did Rise have anything to do with it? Did Rise drop a dime on a Diablo in retaliation for a drive-by? Just what is going on with Rise?

Jesse is a good kid, struggling to grow up in an atmosphere that keeps him worried and nervous all the time. He takes refuge in his art, just as his friend C.J. takes refuge in his music. Rise had been a good kid, too. Only a few years before, he had talked about how drugs and crime were doing no good for their neighborhood, so why was he now talking about taking that path?

Walter Dean Myers has written another powerful novel (but, really, were you expecting him to do otherwise? This is Walter Dean Myers we're talking about.) Christopher Myers contributes the portraits and comics that Jesse draws in the novel. These pen and ink drawings not only illustrate parts of the story, but expand on them, such as the panels showing a drive-by shooting. Like Jesse, I felt nervous and anxious through much of this book. From the title, you know that things will not end well for Rise, but the stress was affecting everyone. Jesse's dad, in particular, is feeling the strain and lashes out in a way that is shocking but also, sadly, understandable. I have hopes for Jesse and his life after the end of this book. I would like to think that he will grow to be a good man himself.

Leven Thumps and the Eyes of the Want by Obert Skye

2008-09-15T19:05:00.005-05:00

Main Character: Leven Thumps
Location: Foo, and the human world
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: J Fiction, Fantasy
Series: Leven Thumps #3

This is the third volume of the Leven Thumps series, and I am still finding that I like some parts while other parts still annoy me. I will admit that the balance is tipping and I am not as annoyed as I was in the earlier two books. This gives me hope for the next one in the series.

As in the previous book, the storyline that grabbed me most was the one dealing with Tim, Ezra, and Dennis, along with the remnants of Sabine. The fact that Ezra is really made up of Geth's darker emotions is something I find really interesting. It reminds me of an early Star Trek episode where an transporter malfunction caused Kirk to split into two--one "good" and one "bad,"--and the point was that you really needed both halves to cope effectively in the world. Maybe that's why I find Geth a little bland--though it may also be his lithen nature which puts all trust in fate. It is mentioned a few times in the book that Geth, now that he has been restored to his proper form, is shrinking; I wonder if this is because he is incomplete without Ezra. In the meantime, I still just love the image of Ezra as this spitting mad toothpick with a purple cellophane tassle on his head.

I am also beginning to feel some sympathy for Janet--at least for the will-of-the-whisp Janet that has been trapped in Foo. She is, probably for the first time in her life, examining her life and finding herself wanting. Now that she has come to that realization, it seems as if she is going to actually do something though I'm afraid she's going to wind up on the wrong side of the coming battle. I would really like to see an reconciliation, or at least an encounter, between her and Winter. Notice how I (just like the book) am focusing totally on the sliver of Janet that's in Foo, and not paying any attention to the corporeal Janet back on earth. But now that I mention it, I wonder if losing a bit of her is having an effect on Janet--a parallel of the Geth and Ezra storyline.

Leven finally figures out his place in Foo and it's not much of a surprise, especially for anyone who has read Lois Lowry's The Giver . Still, it was handled very nicely, and I was surprised by the identity of the Want. This volume ended on an up note, and would have made a satisfying conclusion to the series if it weren't for a few loose ends. The title of the fourth book, Leven Thumps and the Wrath of Ezra, promises to tie up at least some of those loose ends and focus on my favorite plot.

The Green Man by Kate Sedley

2008-09-06T17:58:00.004-05:00

Main Character: Roger the Chapman
Location: England and Scotland
Time period: 1482
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Historical
Series: Roger the Chapman #17

I am a big fan of historical mysteries, so when our library got the new Roger the Chapman book I had to take a break from YA Fantasy and put The Green Man at the top of my to-read pile.

Roger is a chapman, a traveling peddlar who sells sewing notions and ladies' finery--things that can fit confortably into a backpack. In earlier books in the series, he has also acted as a spy for Richard of Gloucester (who will before long become King Richard III.) In this book, he has been requested to act as a bodyguard for Alexander, Duke of Albany, the younger brother of Scotland's King James III. James is an unpopular king among the nobles and populace alike, and the English believe that if they can lead an army to Scotland and provoke James into battle they would have the chance to put Alexander on the throne. Alexander is afraid that someone among the English will try to kill him, or possibly one of his own retinue. He knows Roger from an earlier encounter and insists that Roger is the only one he can trust to protect him.

Ever since reading Josephine Tey's excellent book The Daughter of Time, I have been a firm believer that Richard III has been wronged by history (and particularly by Shakespeare.) One of the things that I like about this series is the portrayal of Richard as a amiable man--a shrewd tactician and able warrior, but a man with a sense of humor and a keen judge of people. So I experienced an unexpected chill when Roger overhears a conversation where Richard asks what Albany intends to do with his nephews when he attains the throne--foreshadowing the fate of the little princes in the tower.

Kate Sedley obviously knows her time period well, and includes enough social and political background to set the story firmly in its historical setting. It is the characters that keep me reading, not the mystery. We could actually have a book with no deaths at all and I would be perfectly content. I want to continue to see how Roger is affected (or indeed if he is affected) when Richard attains the throne, and again when Henry VII becomes king.

Ever by Gail Carson Levine

2008-09-05T13:51:00.000-05:00

Main Characters: 15-year-old Kezi; and Olus, god of the winds
Location: undetermined
Time period: undefined, but in the distant past
Genre: YA Fiction, Fairy Tales

Like Fairest and Ella Enchanted, Ever is a fairy tale that has some familiar themes but is a wholly original story. This one has the flavor of the Middle East and western Africa.

Olus is the Akkan god of the winds. He is also the youngest god--the next oldest is 412 years older--and has no one to play with. So he spends much of his time watching humans and wanting to make friends. Needing to find a land where he is not recognized, he travels east and disguises himself as a goatherder. He falls in love with Kezi, a young girl who is always dancing and weaves the most beautiful rugs. Sadly, because of a rash oath made by her father, Kezi is to be sacrificed to Admat in a month's time. Can Olus and Kezi find a way to fulfill her father's oath and yet still be together?

The book is told in alternating voices by both Olus and Kezi, so we get to know both of them. To my mind, Kezi is the stronger character. She is a loving, devout and dutiful daughter, but also strong-minded and independent. She does not want to be sacrificed, but she does not want her father to be an oath-breaker. She and Olus must each go on a quest, and only if they both succeed will they be able to be together. If either fail, they will remain eternally apart.

Some readers may be bothered that there is a conflict between a polytheistic culture and a monotheistic one--especially since Olus and his fellow gods are made manifest while Admat remains hidden. However, I think that most will be able to accept this as a lovely and exotic love story.

Little (Grrl) Lost by Charles de Lint

2008-09-04T11:59:00.000-05:00

Main Characters: Elizabeth, a 16-year old Little; and T.J., a 14-year-old human
Location: the suburbs
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, Fantasy

Due to some bad investments, T.J.'s father has lost the farm that she grew up on and the family has had to move to the suburbs. It's never fun moving, having to get used to a new place and make new friends, but what hurts T.J. the most is having to give up her horse, Red. Late at night, she hears scritching sounds within the walls of her bedroom and imagines a family of cute little mice. She is shocked when a small door in the baseboard opens and out comes a girl only 6 inches tall! Despite her size, Elizabeth is a fairly typical teenage girl rebelling against a life she finds too restictive.

The girls slowly become friends, despite Elizabeth's ingrained distrust of Bigs and T.J.'s tendency to over-protect her. They decide to seek out an author who has written some children's books about Littles and who might actual believe in them, but on their way T.J. is swarmed by a group of bullies who takes the backpack where Elizabeth is hiding.

Through their separate adventures, as T.J. searches for Elizabeth and Elizabeth searches for herself, both are able to grow and learn and lose some of their self-centerness. Elizabeth finds a whole world of magical beings and finds out about her own family history--things her parents never told her because fear and distrust isolated them. T.J. learns to stand up for herself and that first impressions are not always right; she even discovers that an older brother can become a friend.

Maude March on the Run! by Audrey Couloumbis

2008-09-02T11:04:00.003-05:00

Main Characters: Maude and Sallie March
Location: Missouri, Colorado
Time period: 1860s
Genre: J Fiction, Historical Fiction, Western
Sequel to: The Misadventures of Maude March

Sallie and Maude's safe haven with their Uncle Arlen is not as permanent as they hoped. He receives a telegram from in the Colorado Territory and feels honor bound to help an old friend in trouble. Maude is still working as a waitress and baker at the saloon, Marion is in charge of the livery stable, and Sallie, still dressed as a boy, helps out in the smithy. Things should be all right, but Sallie is uneasy without Uncle Arlen. Turns out she's right--Maude is recognized and arrested, Sallie and Marion break her out of jail, and the three of them are on the run again. Not knowing what else to do, they set off for the Colorado Territory.

What follows is a series of adventures, much like we saw in the first book. The legend of "Mad Maude" March and her gang continues to grow, and this time they encounter various wannabes claiming to be the notorious Maude. The real Maude is in the odd position of not wanting the notoriety of her undeserved reputation, but not wanting these pretenders riding on her coattails, either. Fortunately, some people seem more likely to believe Maude's side of the story and it does look like she'll be able to clear her name eventually.

Though at first I felt that Uncle Arlen's leaving was just a plot device to force the girls onto the trail again, it ties back in nicely. Besides Marion, the girls gain friends in John Henry Kirby, a newspaper man who also writes the dime novels that Sallie loves so much; in fact, he's the one that wrote the stories about Joe Harden that got Marion in trouble in the first book. They also meet a medicine man and his wife who take them under their care, and a wagon train of women heading west to find husbands. These characters add some richness and depth to the story.

It's doubtful that the safe haven they find at the end of this book will be permanent either--Maude and Sallie do not seem the type to settle for a peacefull life--and I would be glad to follow any further adventures that come.

Saga by Conor Kostick

2008-09-01T10:32:00.004-05:00

Main Character: Ghost, a 16-year-old with no memory before age 9
Location: Saga, a virtual reality game
Time period: sometime in the future
Genre: YA Science Fiction/Fantasy
Sequel to Epic

After reading Epic, I was really looking forward to reading its sequel, Saga. Since Epic ended with the destruction of the game that was ruining their world, I expected Saga to deal with the rebuilding of their world. I was wrong, but I wasn't disappointed.

Saga is another massive virtual reality game, but in this one the NPCs (non-player characters) have become sentient. They live their own lives in a futuristic society where socio-economic classes are kept strictly in their places. Ghost is an airboarder and member of a small punk gang made up mostly of red cards, though Ghost herself has no card and no official identity. She has no memory of her childhood, and her outsider status has turned her into a master thief. She and her friends, Athena the computer hacker, Nathan the artist, and Milan the street tough, are part of an anarchic movement which indulges in outbursts of vandalism, though Athena dreams of fighting the system from within the system. That will be difficult because their world is controlled by the Dark Queen, an ancient and tyrannical character who has gained her place by assassinating all her rivals.

Saga has now come into contact with New Earth's computers. Erik and his friends think that it is just a new game and they clip in, create new characters, and start to play. This causes some consternation among the inhabitants of Saga, who begin speculating about the mysterious people who suddenly appear and disappear. When Erik, through his avatar Cinderella, learns that the characters of Saga are real, he is shocked and distressed. But by then the people of New Earth are trapped in the Dark Queen's plot.

Though the book was not what I expected or anticipated, I still liked it. I was quickly caught up in this new world and the reality of these characters. Ghost and her friends are very likeable, and seeing circumstances through the eyes of the Dark Queen gave an interesting dimension to the story.

One Handed Catch by Mary Jane Auch

2008-08-30T21:31:00.004-05:00

Summary: After losing his hand in an accident in his father's butcher shop in 1946, sixth-grader Norman uses hard work and humor to learn to live with his disability and to succeed at baseball, art, and other activities.

This story is based on the life of Herm Auch, husband of the author and the illustrator of many of her books. This is my favorite Bluebonnet book this year. It is a story of hope and great achievement in overcoming a tragedy. Norm loses his hand in an accident in his father's market but does not let his "handicap" keep him from any of his dreams. A great inspiration and entertaining read.

Tall Tales by Karen Day

2008-08-30T21:17:00.008-05:00

Sixth-grader Meg Summers and her family move to a new state every few years as her alcoholic father tries to get a fresh start, but when they land in Indiana and Meg finally makes a real friend and begins to talk about her family's problems, they all find the strength to try to change their destiny

I was cheering for Meg throughout the book and hoping she would come to terms with her family's situation in a way that would be satisfactory for her as well as her entire family.

Leven Thumps and the Whispered Secret by Obert Skye

2008-08-29T13:39:00.003-05:00

Main Character: Leven Thumps
Location: Foo, and the human world
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: J Fiction, Fantasy
Series: Leven Thumps #2

This book starts right where the last one left off. Again, I enjoy the use of language, and, again, I am not fond of the reliance on fate and coincidence.

Leven and his friends are separated when Jamoon, one of Sabine's minions, attacks them with a flock of rovens. Leven is torn between rescuing Winter and taking Geth to the turrets where he can reclaim his seat as leader of Foo. If they delay in reaching the turrets, Geth will die. There is an interesting image of a mountain made of rocks representing the sins and transgressions of the people of Foo. (Fooites? Foovians?) But the storyline that really held my interest was the one still on earth. Ezra, who was also formed from the tree that housed Geth's spirit in Oklahoma, holds the dark side of Geth's heart--all the anger and jealousy and bitterness and resentment. He finds a willing dupe in Dennis, a janitor who has been overlooked his entire life. Dennis is compelled to help Ezra return to Foo, but once in Berchtesgaden they encounter the remains of Sabine. At the same time, Tim, an old neighbor and friend of Winter, is searching for her and his path leads him to Dennis, Ezra and Sabine. I will be very interested in following their story.

This is turning out to be a series that has to be read in order, and this volume ends on a cliffhanger that demands that you read the next book, Leven Thumps and the Eyes of the Want.

Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo by Obert Skye

2008-08-27T13:17:00.006-05:00

Main Character: Leven Thumps, a human boy with ties to the Land of Foo
Location: Oklahoma, Germany, Foo
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: J Fiction, Fantasy

I'm not one that necessarily notices the first sentence of a book, but this one jumped up and grabbed me. "It was at least forty degrees above warm." Maybe it's because I'm coming off of a long Texas summer where temperatures are routinely above 100 degrees, but I instantly knew what this sentence conveyed. There is a lot of lovely language in this book; very pretty turns of phrase that would just make me pause and savor them.

Leven Thumps is an orphan boy being raised, grudgingly, by his mother's step-sister and her husband in a trailer park in Oklahoma. Unbeknownst to him, he is watched over by Geth, a spirit trapped in a tree, and Clover, a sycophant. Meanwhile, Winter is not an orphan but might as well be one as her mother is one of the most selfish and lazy characters ever seen outside of a Roald Dahl story. Fate brings them together and they learn that they are the only ones who can save the land of Foo from the evil tyrant Sabine.

Fate plays a big role in this book; Geth is a lithen, a race that trusts completely in fate. That means that nothing is too coincidental or serendipitous to be believed--it's all just the workings of fate. This is a little frustrating to Leven, and I must admit that it’s a little frustrating for me, too. I became impatient with the story at times because of this dependence on coincidence, serendipity, and fate. However, I know that it has appealed to a number of my patrons, because they have told me how much they enjoyed it and urged me to read it.

Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo is on the 2007-2008 Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee List.

Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 16 by Hiromu Arakawa

2008-08-14T23:13:00.002-05:00

Main Characters: Edward and Alphonse Elric
Location: Amestris, a country in an alternate world
Time period: roughly analogous to the late 1910s
Genre: YA Manga, Sci-Fi, Fantasy

After the extended flashback of Vol. 15, we jump back to the story. Edward and Alphonse search for May Chang, the little girl with the black-and-white cat (which I still think looks more like a miniature panda.) They want to learn the purification style of alchemy that she can do. Scar breaks Dr. Marcoh out of prison heads north with him--not because he has any love for Marcoh but because Scar thinks Marcoh might still prove useful. May catches up with them and travels with them. Kimblee is released to lead the manhunt for Scar; they encounter each other on a train and Kimblee is left rather the worse for it.

Major Armstrong tells Edward and Alphonse to head to the north and gives them a letter of introduction. When they arrive at the fortress that guards to border between Amestris and Drachma they encounter Major General Armstrong--the Major's sister! (She is nothing like she was in the brief glimpse we saw of her in the anime series!) Edward discovers that the climate is too cold for his auto-mail and can cause damage to the connective tissue--ewww! Edward and Alphonse are put to work knocking down icicles where the encounter 2nd Lieutenant Falman. A loud rumbling sound can be heard; a new homunculus makes his appearance. "I feel like I'm going to die, but dying is too much work." Could this be Sloth?

Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 15 by Hiromu Arakawa

2008-08-13T23:30:00.000-05:00

Main Characters: Edward and Alphonse Elric
Location: Amestris, a country in an alternate world
Time period: roughly analogous to the late 1910s
Genre: YA Manga, Sci-Fi, Fantasy

On the recommendation of the kids in my Manga Book Club, Fullmetal Alchemist was the first anime that I watched. I was captivated immediately. I also love the manga series. One of the things I'm enjoying about it is the differences between the two formats. It's almost like an alternate alternate reality which allows me to still have that sense of anticipation and surprise.

This entire volume is an extended flashback to the Ishbalan Massacre. We get to know more about the relationship between Hawkeye and Roy Mustang, Marcoh's experiments in creating the philosopher's stone, Scar's brother's studying of alchemy from other countries, and Kimblee's murder of Scar's brother. We get a different but no less shocking look at the fate of Winry's parents. I was personally delighted to see Maes Hughes again. Mostly we watch Mustang as he is changed by the war and he arrives at his understanding that the only way he will ever be able to make the world better is to rise through the ranks and become president.

Two very brief moments had an impact on me. The first comes when Hughes goes into one of his trademark raptures upon receiving a letter from Gracia. Mustang tells him to stop it: "Soldiers who go on and on about their family and loved ones have a high probability of getting killed." Is this why Mustang has no one waiting for him at home? Why his loved ones are his fellow soldiers?

Then, in what I think may be the most significant line in the book, Scar's brother is surrounded by books, charts, and scrolls. Something catches his attention and he realizes "There's something strange about this country's alchemy!!" Is this somehow referring to how the homunculi are influencing alchemy in Amestris?

Hot Lunch by Alex Bradley

2008-08-12T23:53:00.001-05:00

Main Characters: High school sophomore Mollie Ollinger
Location: Undefined
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, School, Humor

Blue-haired Mollie Ollinger is a bad-tempered brat. She has no friends and does not try to make any. She wears her oversized headphones every moment she possibly can in order to shut everyone out. When a teacher assigns a teamwork assignment and pairs Mollie with blond, perky Cassie, Mollie refuses to work on the assignment or even to talk to her. Bad feelings escalate between the two and after they have a food fight in the cafeteria, their punishment is to work in the cafeteria helping to prepare the school lunches. That doesn't stop their sniping at each other and before they know it, the cook quits and they are left totally in charge.

Mollie is really unlikeable at first, but not irredeemable. Slowly, she recognizes her own faults and begins to learn to open up and trust others. As one of her classmates tells her, she has been using her meanness as a shield to keep from being hurt. Once she begins to let her shield down she finds that she is much happier.

Interspersed in the story are some simple recipes to try--I'm looking forward to trying the tomato soup, but I'm not sure about the cream puffs.

Fruits Basket Vol. 20 by Natsuki Takaya

2008-08-12T21:50:00.001-05:00

Main Character: High School student Tohru Honda and all her friends
Location: Japan
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Manga, Fantasy

We get some more of Akito's backstory in this book, and I am beginning to be swayed. Yes, Akito's jealous treatment of the Sohma family is causing all sorts of unhappiness, but the trail of unhappiness stretches back generations. After all, his mother was jealous of him and his relationship with his father; she never even acknowledged him. Even now, all she wants from him is his father's box, and she doesn't care who gets in her way. This inevitably leads to tragedy, and one of the saddest images I have seen in this series.

Kagura encounters Tohru and challenges her to declare her true feelings for Kyo--and to decide whether she truly loves him or just pities him. Tohru draws up her courage and tries to tell Kyo, but he won't listen. Instead he tells Tohru more about the day that her mother was killed, and he expects her to hate him when she learns the truth.

On one of the few happy notes, Momiji breaks his curse, and I think the circumstances give a clue as to how it can happen for the others as well.

The Misadventures of Maude March, or Trouble Rides a Fast Horse by Audrey Couloumbis

2008-08-11T20:18:00.000-05:00

Main Characters: 11-year-old Sallie March and her 15-year-old sister Maude
Location: Iowa and Missouri
Time period: 1869
Genre: J Fiction, Historical Fiction, Western

This is a rollicking adventure that owes a lot to the dime novels that it gently pokes fun at. Sallie and Maude March are orphans being raised by their stern but loving Aunt Kate. Then comes the day when, leaving the general store, Aunt Kate is killed by a errant bullet fired in a drunken contest. The girls are taken in by the minister and his wife, who take advantage of the girls' willingness to work and of Aunt Kate's full pantry. But when they try to practically force Maude into a marriage with a much older man, Maude and Sallie decide to run away and try to find an uncle who was last heard of in Independence. Along the way, they have a series of adventures which get twisted out of recognition in the newspapers, which make Maude out to be a horse thief, a bank robber, and a murderer.

Sallie has long been a fan of dime novels, potboilers that were short on literary quality or accuracy but long on crowd-pleasing adventure. When they meet up with the dime novel hero, Joe Harden, she soon finds that he's not like his stories but he still is experienced riding rough and teaches them a lot that they need to survive. He also reveals that his name isn't really Joe, it's Marion--a nod to John Wayne, perhaps?

The Misadventures of Maude March was on the 2007-2008 Texas Bluebonnet Award list; there is a sequel, Maude March on the Run.

Girl Overboard by Justina Chen Headley

2008-08-10T16:41:00.001-05:00

Main Character: 15-year-old Syrah Cheng, Chinese-American daughter of a multi-billionaire cell phone mogul
Location: Washington State
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, Sports--Snowboarding

Syrah Cheng is a poor little rich girl--or so she thinks. Her father is too busy being a captain of industry to pay any attention to her. Her mother is too busy shopping for antiques to pay any attention to her except to complain about her weight (not that she's overweight--she's just more sturdy than her beautiful and tiny mother.) Her half-siblings hate her because her mother broke up their parents' marriage and they think she's a spoiled brat. She has a hard time making friends because most people just see her as a stepping stone to get to her father, just like Jared, her first so-called boyfriend. And now, the one thing she loves--skateboarding--is taken away from her because she has injured her knee and her father now decrees that it's too dangerous.

With her life seemingly in shambles, Syrah has to re-think things, learn to take a chance on people, and, most of all, trust her own judgement. It's not easy, but she learns to combine her love of snowboarding with her family's philanthropic endeavors and along the way comes to understand her mother and her half-sister, Grace.

I liked this book, and I like Syrah--she's a mopey and petulant teen at first, but like the grape that she's named for, she's a survivor.

Justina Chen Headley is one of the authors behind readergirlz, a great place to find YA books for girls.

Vampire Knight Vol. 3 by Matsuri Hino

2008-08-09T17:03:00.000-05:00

Main Character: Yuki Cross, school guardian at Cross Academy
Location: undefined
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Manga, Fantasy, Vampires

We get a lot of back-story in this volume. I was surprised to learn that the Night Class has been included at Cross Academy for only about 2 or 3 years--I had assumed that it was a long-standing tradition. Kaname was the one who brought Yuki to the Headmaster when he saved her from the vampire that night in the snow 10 years ago. After that, he visited her every year. Since she could not remember anything about her life before that night, the anniversary became the day when they would celebrate her birthday.

A new student arrives to join the Night Class. Yuki is assigned to show her around and she seems very friendly, but there is something very off about her. Could she be somehow connected to the woman who destroyed Zero's family?

I'm still not feeling the love for this series, though I can see why it would appeal to some. The melodrama is just too heavy-handed for my tastes, and I'm not sure I will continue to read it.

Vampire Knight Vol. 2 by Matsuri Hino

2008-08-09T16:51:00.000-05:00

Main Character: Yuki Cross, school guardian at Cross Academy
Location: undefined
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Manga, Fantasy, Vampires

When Yuki and Zero are in town on errands, Yuki is attacked by an unknown vampire. Zero hesitates, and the vampire is killed by two of the Night Class students. Yuki doesn't understand why vampires would kill another vampire, so she and Zero are invited to Kaname's birthday party at the Moon Dorm at midnight. There they explain that there are different kinds of vampires--the purebloods, the aristocrats, the common vampires, and the former humans. The lowest of the low are the former humans who have become mindless beasts and who must be eliminated. Zero, as a human who is turning into a vampire will one day become one of these mindless beasts. We also learn that the blood tablets do not work for him. Unable to see him in such pain and distress, Yuki urges him to drink her own blood even though that is a forbidden act.

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

2008-08-07T23:15:00.002-05:00

Main Character: Bella Swann Cullen
Location: Pacific Northwest
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, Fantasy, Supernatural, Vampires
Series: Twilight, Vol. 4

Be warned--there are spoilers here. I tried to write an entry without spoilers, but it was basically "I read it; I liked it." To really discuss things, I do have to reveal a few things--I'll try to keep them to a minimum.

I have to admit, I really like Jacob. I kinda like Bella, though I find her a little annoying at times. Does she really have to get angry at everyone all the time? And Edward is pretty, but Edward is an enigma. I don't think we ever really get to know him. But Jacob--he wears his heart on his sleeve. And I'm a sucker for an underdog and an unrequited loved story. I'm not saying I wanted Bella to choose Jacob. What I really wanted from this book is a happy ending for Jacob--and I got it, to a certain extent.

There was a point when I thought the book was going in a certain direction. We had Bella's vampiric powers just amazing everyone--her self-control that kept her from going on a blood-lust rampage. We have a hint of why Edward has never been ever to hear Bella's thoughts. Then there was the child who has her own power and is unique in the world and binds everyone who meets her. I really thought we were going to find out that there was an ancient prophecy that they were fulfilling without even knowing it. Well, I was wrong. But there is still something there that could possibly lead to another story. I would love to see a Jacob-centric spinoff.

Of course, life cannot be all peaches and cream for Bella and Edward, and circumstances draw the attention of the Volturi, who have basically just been waiting for an excuse to knock off the Cullen family. Forces are gathered and soon we are on the verge of total annihilation. Some commenters have been disappointed that there wasn't an epic battle, but we did that in the last book. I really enjoyed this stand-off which had plenty of threat, anticipation, suspense--but it was a war of words, not swords. It made me think of a really good court-room drama--or maybe it was the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Really, the only thing I really did not like was the child's name--what an ugly, awkward name. No wonder everyone called her by her nickname.

Woolies and Worms by Stephen MacNeil

2008-08-02T23:52:00.000-05:00

Main Character: Eleven-year-old Sarah Tufts, a governor's daughter
Location: A small, uncharted island
Time period: When pirates ruled the seas
Genre: J Fiction, Adventure, Humor

Sarah and her father are sailing from England to the colonies where her father will become governor. Along the way, they are attacked by pirates and Sarah is swept overboard. She washes up on a small island inhabited almost entirely by young children. They have been kidnapped by the pirates as babies and raised by the evil Mr. Grim who uses them to weave brightly colored woolen rugs which have become very popular all over the world. Now before you start thinking of sweat shops, let me tell you that their method of weaving these rugs is a cross between an exercise class and dancing around the maypole. The children are relatively happy with their life--mostly because it is all they have ever known. Then Sarah, with her knowledge of the outside world, grown-ups, and fathers, upsets the status quo on the island.

I found the word play in this book delightful. Sarah has picked up some of the pirates' colorful curses--alliterative phrases like "Hippos and haberdashers!" or "Chinchillas and chinaware." The children on the island, not having been taught the queen's English, have developed their own language--cheeks high or corners up for smile, the long blink for sleep.

Though there are incidents that could be fraught with danger--Sarah being swept into the ocean, the evil Mr. Grim threatening to lower children into shark-infested waters--the tone of the story is light-hearted and you are never in doubt that things will end happily.

Prince of Tennis Vol. 23 by Takeshi Konomi

2008-07-31T22:50:00.000-05:00

Main Character: 7th-grader Ryoma Echizen
Location: Japan
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Manga, Sports--Tennis

Ryoma finishes his pick-up game against one of his Rikkai rivals, but he is so worn out he falls asleep in the arms of one of the Rikkai players (hee!)

It's the finals, and all the Seishun players and coach are suffering from red-eye (from studying stats, running instead of sleeping, or just crying over a sad movie.) But now it's time for the Kanto Tournament Finals. On Seishun's side--Kaido and Momoshiro. The Rikkai team has been studying them and knows all their tricks. Our guys are rattled when they can't score a point, but eventually they rally and manage to change their tactics.

This book will make you hot just by reading it--these boys are working so hard and the sweat is just pouring off of them. I don't always follow the game strategies, but the artist does a wonderful job of showing the speed and intensity of the games.

Love*Com Vol. 1 by Aya Nakahara

2008-07-30T23:36:00.000-05:00

Main Characters: High-schoolers Risa Koisumi and Atsushi Ôtani
Location: Japan
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Manga, Romantic comedy

Risa Koisumi is the tallest girl in her class; Atsushi Ôtani is the shortest boy. They can't stand each other, especially since everyone at school compares them to a comedy team--think "Mutt and Jeff." Then they wind up having to go to summer school. There's a new boy --Suzuki--in their class. Risa is instantly attracted--after all, Suzuki is as tall as she is. Ôtani offers to help her get together with Suzuki if she'll help him get together with her friend, Chiharu Tanaka. What follows, as you might guess, is classic farce. Suzuki and Chiharu wind up crushing on each other and everyone thinks that Risa and Ôtani really like each other because of the way they've been talking each other up to the others.

This is a very funny, very silly story. I mean, you know from the beginning that Risa and Ôtani will wind up together, but the fun will be in seeing how long they can fight against it without getting annoying.

Airman by Eoin Colfer

2008-07-29T22:31:00.000-05:00

Main Character: Conor Broekhart
Location: The Saltee Islands, off the coast of Ireland
Time period: the 1890s
Genre: YA Fiction, Adventure

This is a old-fashioned adventure story that brings to my mind elements of The Prisoner of Zenda and The Count of Monte Cristo.

Conor Broekhart leads a charmed life, starting with his unorthodox birth in a hot air balloon. His father is a high-ranking military officer and his mother is a scientist, both in the employ of Nicholas, the king of the Saltee Islands. The Saltees are a pair of small, barren rocks off the coast of Ireland that were originally given by England's King Henry II to one of his knights as a punishment for his overreaching ambition. It would have been punishment indeed if not for the discovery of a diamond mine under the smaller island.

Conor is raised in the castle and is playmate to the princess, Isabella. When King Nick arranges for the Frenchman, Victor Vigny, to be the royal tutor, he makes sure that Conor is taught by Victor as well. Victor and Conor bond over the dream of inventing a flying machine. But while the king's policies of making life on the Saltee Islands better for all citizens wins him love and acclaim among the populace, they also make a very dangerous enemy. The king is assassinated and Conor, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, is framed. He is condemned to work in the diamond mines while his parents and Isabella are led to believe that he has died.

Conor is a reluctant hero--all he wants to do is escape the mines, go to America, and work on his inventions. He has no ambition to defeat the villain or rescue the princess or his parents--not knowing they've been told that he's dead, he thinks they have abandoned him. But when push comes to shove, he steps up and saves the day. (Was that a spoiler? But you knew he would!)

This is not a non-stop roller-coaster type adventure, such as Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider series or the humorous Artemis Fowl books by Colfer, but it is a very enjoyable book.

Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor

2008-07-28T22:28:00.000-05:00

Main Character: 12-year-old Addie
Location: Schenectady, New York
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction; Divorce

Addie and her mother have lost their house, due to Mommers' mismanagement of their money. Addie's stepfather, Dwight, arranges for them to live in a mobile home under the railroad overpass and near a convenience store. Mommers grouses about it but Addie is charmed by the trailer and does her best to make things work. She has not had an easy life. Her father died when she was very small. She dearly loves her stepfather, Dwight, and her two little half-sisters, but when Dwight and Mommers got a divorce he got custody of the smaller girls but had no legal claim to her.

Moving to the trailer is like a new start for Addie and Mommers. Addie makes friends with Soula and Elliot, who run the convenience store. She makes new friends in school, too; friends who don't tease her for her dyslexia. She makes it into the school orchestra playing the flute, and even gets a solo in the Christmas concert. But soon Mommers is up to her old ways, making risky business deals and getting involved with a married man. Worse, she is leaving Addie alone to fend for herself for days at a time. Just as I'm beginning to think that Mommers is manic-depressive, Soula asks some questions that clearly show she is thinking along the same lines. Addie loves her mother, but she yearns for a normal life--one she'll never get with Mommers.

Harukaze Bitter Bop Vol. 1 by Court Betten

2008-07-27T22:23:00.000-05:00

Main Character: High-school student Chiyoharu Hasumi and friends
Location: undefined
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Manga with fantasy elements

This is only the first volume, so I'm not quite sure where it is going. It's the start of a new school year. Hasumi is headed towards school where he hopes to start with a clean slate, but as he approaches the train station, he sees a large young man who smiles at him and then jumps in front of the train. Hasumi freaks out. Just then, Kaede Tsubak pops up--she, too, is also a high school student heading for the first day of school, but she's also an undercover detective, who immediately accuses Hasumi of killing the other man. And then Hasumi really freaks out because the man, who by all rights should be dead, gets up. He says his name is Souza of the North Wind, but other than that he can't remember anything about himself. It wasn't the train accident that gave him amnesia--he stepped in front of the train to try to cure it.

From a note at the end of the book, I gather that this is filled with in-jokes that refer back to other very popular series--such as Dragonball. Since I haven't read a lot of those series, most of the jokes have gone straight over my head. However, I liked this enough to want to keep reading it.

The Gospel According to Larry by Janet Tashjian

2008-07-26T19:53:00.000-05:00

Main Character: 17-year-old Josh Swenson, aka Larry
Location: somewhere in the Northeast United States
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, Humorous

Josh Swenson is a fairly typical high school boy--he's had a crush on Beth since grade school but he can't tell her how he feels. Since the death of his mother, he has lived alone with his stepfather, an advertising executive. He's very smart, a bit of a nerd, and though he isn't anti-social, he sometimes feels the need to get away by himself in the woods. Oh, and he is also Larry, the creator of an anticonsumerism website.

Trying to keep his identity as Larry a secret is getting hard, especially when Beth wants to start a Larry fan club at school. She raves about Larry's site, "The Gospel According to Larry," and sometimes feels as if Larry is speaking directly to her (which sometimes, you know, he is, but Josh can't let on.) Larry's message is spreading across the country, and Josh begins to think that maybe, just maybe, he is able to change the world. But there is a thorn in Larry's side--an emailer called betagold who is determined to discover who Larry actually is. (Hey, if betagold is so concerned about Larry's anonymity, why is s/he hiding behind his/her own alias?)

This was such a fun book to read. I really liked Josh and sympathized with his need to make this world a better place, as well as his disdain for celebrity, consumer culture, and crowds. He has a real dilemma when his website begins to get noticed and he himself becomes a bit of celebrity.

The blog Guys Lit Wire posted a review of this book recently, which is what spurred me to read it. Guys Lit Wire is a great place to find YA books for boys and I have come across some good suggestions there--you should check it out.

Fruits Basket Vol. 19 by Natsuki Takaya

2008-07-26T19:45:00.000-05:00

Main Character: High School student Tohru Honda and all her friends
Location: Japan
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Manga, Fantasy

The biggest surprise in this volume is how much some of the characters have grown! Momiji, who has been away for a while, comes back and gets a lot of the girls excited--he's so tall and good-looking. But he still has his rabbit back-pack! Kyo, Yuki, Risa and Hiro all have grown up, too. Only Tohru doesn't seem to age at all--still cute and innocent and optimistic. Things have been getting awkward between her and Kyo, espcially after Hatori tells her that secretly all the other Sohmas need Kyo, the cat; they need to know that his curse is worse than theirs, that he will soon need to be confined for the rest of his life.I swear, this series better end with Tohru breaking the curse for the whole family, Kyo included. I need my happy ending for everyone!

Yuki meets Kakeru's girlfriend, Komaki. Komaki's father was driving the car that hit Tohru's mother, and he was killed in the crash also. Komaki is another cute and innocent and optimistic girl with a wide smile, just like Tohru. Shortly after the accident, Kakeru resented Tohru, feeling that her grief and the attention people paid her somehow belittled Komaki's grief. He said some hurtful things to Tohru, but Komaki set him straight.

There are a lot of characters to follow in Fruits Basket, and at times I wish I had a full scorecard--more than just the main characters listed at the beginning of each volume. I've not been over fond of Kakeru up until now, but I did like the backstory of Komaki and their relationship.

Vampire Knight Vol. 1 by Matsuri Hino

2008-07-26T19:44:00.001-05:00

Main Character: Yuki Cross, school guardian at Cross Academy
Location: undefined
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Manga, Fantasy, Vampires

The Cross Academy is a unique boarding school attended by two groups of students: the Day Class, which seems to be made up mostly of giggly girls; and the Night Class, made up of absolutely gorgeous guys. Yuki Cross and Zero Kiryu are the school guardians, there to make sure that the Day Class and the Night Class never mix and that the Day Class never finds out the Night Class secret--that they are all vampires!

This is definitely a melodrama, highly emotional with many exclamation points. Ten years ago, Yuki was saved from a vampire's attack by Kaname, a member of the Night Class. Left with no memory of her previous life, she was adopted by the headmaster of Cross Academy. The headmaster believes that vampires and humans can learn to co-exist peaceably together, and this school is part of an experiment to prove it. The members of the Night Class all take a blood tablet, which is supposed to quench their thirst for blood, though the scent of it is still enough to send them all into a state of excitement.

Of course, this being the first volume of the series, a lot of time is spent on setting up the situation and a bit of the backstory. It's too early to know where it's going to go yet, but there are definite hints of a love triangle between Yuki, Zero, and Kaname.

Crimson Hero Vol. 8 by Mitsubasa Takanashi

2008-07-25T20:25:00.000-05:00

Main Character: 15-year-old Nobara Sumiyoshi
Location:

Japan

Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Manga, Sports, Volleyball

Nobara arrives at Central Sokai University and looks for Ryo, the ace player her coach told her about. But the Volleyball players laugh at her and tell her that a) Ryo is too small to be an attacker on their team and b) she can’t train with them because she’s a girl. When she finally finds Ryo, he is playing beach volleyball with an amateur club.

Ryo turns out to be Coach Shima’s brother, and, Nobara realizes later, the young player who had inspired her when he played in the Spring Tournament when he was in high school. She is leery of him at first because she thinks he’s a ladies’ man, but he turns out to be a perceptive coach and is the first to realize that what’s keeping Nobara from really excelling at volleyball is not physical but emotional.

I really like this series, and I liked the little touches in this volume—Ryo’s understanding of Nobara and his encouragement; the boys back at Crimson dorm missing Nobara; Yushin finding her cookbook with all the notes she’s kept on what the boys like and dislike. I especially love Ryo’s mother—when the members of the Eagles, the amateur beach volleyball team, are trying to encourage Nobara and boost her self-confidence, Ryo’s mother gives her a slap. "No matter how hard you need to push yourself, you have to take care of your body. That includes eating your meals and enjoying them." So there! Gotta love her!

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

2008-07-24T08:16:00.000-05:00

Main Character: Sixteen-year-old Gemma Doyle
Location: England
Time period: 1890s
Genre: YA Fiction, Fantasy, Gothic romance

Brought up in India, Gemma yearns to go to England. Expected to behave as a proper young lady, she is becoming petulant and rebellious. As they walk through a marketplace, Gemma gets into an argument with her mother and runs away in anger. She has a vision that her mother is in danger and turns back only to find her mother and another man dead in the street. Soon after, she is sent to Spence Academy in England--talk about be careful what you wish for.

At Spence Academy, Gemma learns secrets about herself, about strange visions that started when her mother died, about her ability to cross into a magical realm and channel its magic. She also learns that she is not the first to do so--she finds a diary written by Mary Dowd, an earlier student who had the same abilities.

Though set in Victorian times, Gemma and the other girls have some modern characteristics--Gemma herself admits that she can be sulky and contrary, and Felicity is a definite "queen bee" who surrounds herself with mean girls and wannabes. And yet they cope with situations that are certainly Victorian--pretty Pippa is being forced to marry a middle-aged but wealthy man to erase her parents' debts.

A Great and Terrible Beauty reminded me of the gothic romances of authors like Victoria Holt that I adored when I was a teenager, but updated with a modern sensibility. Though the book can stand alone, it is actually the first of a trilogy; the other two books are Rebel Angels and The Sweet Far Thing. Libba Bray's website is www.libbabray.com and her blog is libba-bray.livejournal.com.