Rock Out with the Scar Boys

How can you convince someone to accept you in 250 words or less? You can't. So Harbinger decides to tell his story. In Len Vlahos' breakout novel, he gives Harbinger a voice, even though he isn't the kind of you man to stand up and shout... or at least he wasn't, until now. 

With a name like Harbinger, and a history behind that name that would make you sob, Harry was bound to live a unique life. But how unique?

He was almost struck by lightning. 

He wished he was struck by lightning.

He was a methadone addict. 

This all happened before he was 10 years old.

When a group of bullies tied him to a tree, they didn't expect or care about the lightning storm that shot a bolt directly at the same tree where he was tied. He wasn't struck by lightning, but the bolt sheared off the top of the tree in a fiery ball of flames and dropped it on an incapacitated Harry. This leads to months of hospitals, reconstructive surgeries that didn't make him look normal again, and a lifetime of hiding his face from disgusted looks. But he never gave up the kids who tied him to the tree. He was scared to death of those kids. But they were probably more scared of him than he was of them. 

Harry's life is eventful and uneventful all in one. He doesn't do anything. He isn't a stellar student. His situation is a burden on his parents' lives and marriage. He doesn't even have any friends. Until Johnny moves to his town and his school. Johnny is like an uncontainable force that changes everything in his wake, including Harry. When Harry is rejected by a girl, Johnny says, "Let's start a band." While it seemed out of place and not entirely comforting, a band was exactly what Harry needed. Harry needed to stop being a tool. He needed to stop being a doormat. And most of all, he needed to stop feeling sorry for himself. A band wasn't a panacea, but it certainly did change Harry's life in ways he never thought possible.

I personally don't read as much realistic YA as I do fantasy or science fiction, but when I do, I am usually quite impressed because I pick those titles carefully. This story was an absolute shock. It was this mix of shockingly horrible situations, endearing moments, and flawed relationships. I am not quite sure how to classify this story, but I know I loved it. Harbinger is the kind of guy who just lets life happen to him. From the lightning strike to the band, he doesn't fight for or against anything. He just goes through the motions. Johnny changes that, but not all for the good. Sure, Johnny befriended a kid most adults were even too freaked out to talk to, but Johnny liked the fact that Harry was damaged. Next to Harry, Johnny was even more impressive. From his smooth, suave talk with parents to the animal magnetism everyone was drawn to, Johnny appeared to be the model young man, but his relationship with Harry was complicated and not altogether positive. I loved and hated Johnny interchangeably, and it was a difficult pair of emotions to resolve. 

Without Johnny, however, Harry would never have become the young man who wrote this college essay (the premise for the story). He never would have lived those moments, thought those thoughts, or even stepped foot outside his door. And even as he lives this strange and legendary few years with Johnny and the band, he doesn't think he is responsible for any of it. He lives his life assuming the bad things that happen to him were all his fault and the good things were thanks to some other force in his life. It was heartbreaking to witness, but Vlahos made it into a story you can't put down. Harry's short life so far is one we thank god we don't have to live through and thank Vlahos for giving it to us to bear witness. Pretty amazing! I would give this to any student- male or female. I don't think there is a "type" of reader who would enjoy this story because I believe it will transform any reader. Excellent story, transformative characters, and enough spunk and humor to keep you going. A+ in my book!

More Left Behind than Just Fire and Ash

Benny, Nix, Chong, Lilah, and Riot have been in our lives for three years now. They have loved, lost and survived. But most of all, they have grown into strong, fabulous individuals who aren't ready to lose their world to the zombies or the evil people who still live and breath but bring just as much death as the zombies. In Jonathan Maberry's conclusion, Fire and Ash, we see a bunch of kids who are no longer children. They have accepted the responsibility of their world and are not about to give up like so many of the world's adults have. 

When they found the plane, Benny and the others thought they had found all the answers to saving the world. They were wrong. They almost died. They were saved by Joe Ledger. Brought to Sanctuary where the monks believe the zoms are the meek who shall inherit the earth and the scientists who don't leave their bunker, the group hoped a cure would be on its way, but things are more complicated than that. The material collected from the plane is incomplete, and without the final documents, it is impossible to see where the original doctors were going with their experiments. But there are bigger problems afoot than the lack of a cure. The zoms are changing. They have evolved. Something has happened and now there are zoms who are really fast, really strong, and scariest of all, those who can think, reason, plan, and even use tools to get what they want: fresh meat. 

While the people at Sanctuary are hoping for a cure, Saint John and the reapers are hoping to play out their final leg of armageddon. They want to kill every living person on earth and final rejoice in the death of all. Saint John doesn't have to rely on faithful followers joining his ranks. When faced with slow, painful death or joining the reapers, the choice usually isn't that difficult to make. Now with tens of thousands of reapers and at least twice as many zoms controlled by the reapers, they are marching from civilization to civilization to exact their final plan. What Saint John and his followers didn't expect, however, were a group of kids who might be underestimated frequently, but are never underestimated twice. 

Loving a series is a special experience. You grow to count on the next book being released for another connection to the characters you love. You wait with baited breath to find out the conclusion to the world you have loved for so long. And when that conclusion comes, it is terribly bittersweet. You know it is the end, but you are so happy to see how it ends. This was my relationship with Maberry's Rot and Ruin series. I absolutely loved this series, and for me, this was the most perfect conclusion. I find myself stunned by the conclusion and yet so happy with it that I feel the need to thank Maberry for bringing such an amazing ending into such a hopeless world. As with the rest of the series, you will have some heartache and people you love will be sacrificed to the Ruin, but overall, you know that this is the way it has to be. We grieved with the loss of Tom Imura, but we also knew the rest would carry on his legacy. In Fire and Ash, we experienced triumph and loss simultaneously. 

The transformation of the characters from start to finish of the series is one of the more dramatic and more realistic of the YA series out there. What was most interesting to me was how over the execution of the series, the zombies essentially became the backdrop to an incredibly rich, well-developed character driven story with deeper rooted evils than just the walking dead. This is the work of a master who knows there is more to the story than just the obvious. I have had great success in giving this series to students who are reluctant readers because there is more to it than just mindless chomp and chew. So, in all, I couldn't think of a better execution of Benny's story. I am incredibly sad to see this series go, (and I am not afraid to beg to see it continue!) but I loved the way Maberry ended the world I grew to love. And if you are an overall Maberry friend, you will be very excited to see an old friend, Mr. Joe Ledger!

Me, Earl and the Dying Girl

High School is all about choosing sides and finding allies, which inevitably makes you enemies. If you are a drama kid, the jocks will undoubtedly ignore you at best. If you are a Queen Bee, the goth kids despise you. But what if you could manage to be accepted on the outskirts of every single group? You would never be able to reveal your allegiance to another group, would have to avoid all areas of congregation like the plague, and would have to accept that in order to be friends with everyone, you can't have any real friends. Is it worth it? For Greg, it was a juggling act that was about to come crashing down in Jesse Andrews' Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl. 

Greg is a pasty, overweight, nondescript kind of guy, but his philosophy for making it through high school is a unique one. If you can somehow manage to have a casual connection with every group on campus without actually committing to a single one, you can be relatively safe from the horrors of high school. For a kid like Greg who is awkward, can't talk to girls (actually, turns into a babbling idiot every time a cute girl walks into the room), and is obsessed with strange, obscure movies, this is really the best decision. He has always had Earl, the filthy mouthed oddball who shares Greg's love of strange movies and is his coproducer in their own miserable attempts at filmmaking, but you wouldn't exactly call Earl a "friend". He is more like a bad habit. 

When Greg actually made attempts to get girls to notice him, they turned into poo-covered, flaming disasters. The only girl he didn't completely alienate was Rachel. Granted, he never accomplished much of anything, but at least she didn't think he was a drooling moron. When Greg's mother tells him Rachel has cancer, she forces him to spend time with her. In reality, it isn't so bad. Rachel is pretty cool, and she isn't appalled by Greg's bizarre antics, but this isn't like what you would expect from a boy who befriended a dying girl. It isn't some life-affirming, wisdom laden one-liner filled cream puff of grief and self-reflection. Greg insists Rachel's presence in his life has not changed him. But is it possible to live through something like the death of a girl who was the first person you let over your protective wall and not be affected? Greg insists it is!

OK, this was a strange book. It was strange in the same way Greg was strange- awkward, sometimes pretty funny, and surprisingly endearing. I actually loved it when I first started it, went through a period of being annoyed by Greg's silliness, and finished absolutely loving it. It was a strange experience, to tell you the truth. Even now, I am not sure how to describe the book that is going to truly do it any justice. Greg is just this big ball of awkwardness. He is so invested in blending in and not identifying himself to anyone, that is becomes terrifying to him to even consider openly befriending Rachel in school, but because he has a soft, gooey center, he does it anyway. And he insists over and over again that he is not affected by Rachel's leukemia, but you can see how it chips away at his resolve and his hard candy coating he uses to protect himself. Not in a "come to Jesus" kind of revelation, nothing that dramatic or expected, but just in small, tiny little ways where he allows Rachel to affect him. It was a really interesting approach. In fact, it made me think that this book was the antithesis to The Fault in Our Stars. Everything Greg made fun of, the deep, meaningful one liners, the emotional roller coaster, the grief, was hidden so well, you would almost miss it if you weren't looking carefully enough. And in the end, although Greg was totally ridiculous at times, it was a really great book.

And the supporting characters were just as hilarious. Earl in all his foul-mouthed glory was so absurd you had to love him. Greg's parents were just as entertaining. I think I can see the exact kind of kid I would give this book to- the wise-guy kind of tough guy who hides behind his wise cracks and silly jokes, the class clown. The only concern is that there is a lot of profanity and sex talk in this book (nothing graphic, just gross teenage boys talking about boobs and whatnot). I personally wouldn't let that keep me from giving this to a younger student if I thought they would enjoy the book, because it is mostly in the form of silly jokes and ribbing, but some might not be comfortable with that, so I thought it was worth mentioning. I am still shaking my head about this book, but I will definitely read Andrews' next book to see how much of this story was his creation of the characters and how much was really Andrews!

Perfectly Addictive

Katarina Bishop has never had a normal life, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been a happy life. She is loved by her con artist family, she knows they will always be there when she needs them, and now she has a boyfriend, Hale. But Hale has never known the concept of family the way Kat has, and when his beloved grandmother dies, that fact becomes all too real.

The boyfriend thing is new for Kat, but when Hale abandons them in the middle of a con, she knows something horrible has happened. When she finds out his grandmother has died, she gets to see the true origins of W. W. Hale V, and it isn't pretty. When she goes to the funeral, she truly begins to understand that Hale is from a different class of people than Kat is, and she knows she could never fit in with this life of his. When the will is read, Hale's world is thrown into turmoil again as he learns his grandmother has left him the billion dollar company. Until Hale is of age to take over the company, the family lawyer will serve as executor, but something is wrong.

When Marcus, Hale's faithful servant, pulls Kat aside to talk to her, he explains his concerns that the will is a forgery. Hale's grandmother never trusted the lawyer, and she always said she would leave something to Marianne, Marcus's sister and Hale's grandmother's best friend. Knowing Kat's particular set of skills, Marcus asks Kat to investigate and find the real will. Now Kat, always a moral con artist (really! I swear!), feels like she must take this job, but how can she take the job that might prove her boyfriend doesn't deserve the inheritance he received? 

You know, I have seen a lot of comparisons of this series to "Ocean's Eleven", but while there is the heist connection between the two, and I love them both, I think this series is in a class all of its own! It really is fun and exciting and gives the reader so much to think about. There was a time I wanted Ally Carter to start writing more YA novels and less MG novels, but I realize that has already happened. Just because her books are clean and can be appropriate to younger readers doesn't mean they aren't also complex enough for older readers. In fact, I find Carter to be very similar to Rick Riordan in that respect. Both of their books are written for younger readers within the genre but are so well written they can easily appeal to everyone, including adults. And in that sense, they are pure genius! There aren't many books that can appeal to both adults and 5th graders and make both demographics happy, but Carter has found the magic formula with this series!

And this was a much different book from the first two because the heists were much more personal to the group. Knowing the possible outcome for Hale, they didn't know how to include him, and he resented their involvement until he found out just how evil the lawyer was. I am keeping my fingers crossed that there will be more of these books in the series, because they are just so great to read. And it isn't often you find a good clean book you can give to tons of readers. If I had one complaint it would be that I wished the covers were more gender neutral because I know boys would love to read these stories, but the covers would scare many of them away. So I might just "heist" the book jacket and trick them into reading it! After they finished it, they would thank me for my trickery!

They Will Fight Down to Flesh and Bone

In a world where zombies may not be the apex predator in all cases, they certainly become the most persistent predator. But Benny Imura and his friends aren't giving up hope, even if it means traipsing across the zombie eaten landscape. In Flesh and Bone, the third book in Jonathan Maberry's Benny Imura series, you get to the real heart of humanity, or lack thereof.

Benny, Nix, Lilah, and Chong are still reeling from the death of Tom Imura, Benny's older brother who kept them all safe. And what makes it worse is that he was murdered by a breathing human being, not a zom. But none could stay in that town with the ghosts of their family haunting them, so they decided to head off to find the source of the jet they saw flying overhead when they were in the Rot and Ruin. Only what they encounter makes the zombies look like kittens.

In a real doomsday situation, humans can often become the biggest threat, and the Rot and Ruin is no exception. When the kids are split up, they all find themselves facing insurmountable odds. Lions, escaped from zoos, now hunt through the country. People they come across, even ones who they save, aren't always grateful (and some even threaten to kill them). But worst of all is the death cult hell-bent on ridding the world of its biggest parasite: living, breathing human beings. When Saint John encountered Mother Rose, a cult was born and their reapers have "spread the word" ever since. But Saint John (a former serial killer before the First Night) has very different intentions from Mother Rose. And Benny, Nix, Lilah, and Chong are all caught in the middle of a turf war they know nothing about.

You wouldn't be reading this book if you hadn't read the first book, so you know Tom Imura died. I am not going to comment on that decision, because while I see how it drove the plot forward, it still devastated me when I read it. But this book deals with grief, and healing, and hope, all wrapped up in a crazy apocalyptic world. And what that does is show this really human side of your main characters, making you love them even more, flaws and grief and all, but it also gives you that terrifying glimpse into those people you wish hadn't made it through the First Night. I always love when an apocalyptic story is realistic, and a huge part of that is acknowledging that a lot of really horrible people will not only make it through the apocalypse in tact, they will thrive. Scary thought, but totally accurate. So Saint John being a former (well, current, to be exact) serial killer is so terrifying but so true. And this installment of the series really shakes you to the core with that realization.

I think it was hard to write this story coming off the supreme grief of losing Tom, but I think Maberry has a clear plan for the series and new how to pivot from that traumatic event and recover. It was done very well and kept me enthralled with each page. This is a phenomenal series and while I am anxiously awaiting the final book, I am also dreading its release and therefore the conclusion of the story. This series doesn't disappoint, and I promise, you will be more scared of the people in it than the zoms.

Such a Romantic Rush

High School is a battlefield and the kids are at war. What side would you be on? In Jennifer Echols' Such a Rush, we get the story of Leah Jones, a girl whose trailer park home and absentee mother have branded her, but she doesn't want to live up to that brand. In fact, she will take unbelievable risks to break out of that mold.


Leah's mother moves every time she gets a new boyfriend. Always a trailer park, which is almost always by an airport. When they moved to Heaven Beach, Leah decided to take control of her life and got a job as a receptionist at a small private airport. But receptionist wasn't enough for Leah; she wanted to fly. Forging her mother's signature, she gave Mr. Hall the money for a lesson (all the money she had) and demanded a lesson. Seeing the fire and love for flying in Leah, Mr. Hall took her under his wing and taught her to fly. Mr. Hall's sons, however, didn't think their father's generosity was as charitable as it sounded. They assumed Leah was paying for the lessons in a less than appropriate way. Why else would their old man be helping this girl?


When Mr. Hall dies suddenly, Leah's hope of becoming a pilot is gone along with him. No one else would take an almost 18 year old girl seriously as a pilot. She assumes Mr. Hall's business is gone, but when the twin sons, Alec and Grayson, return to Heaven Beach, they announce they are keeping the banner business going. Grayson wants Leah to continue on as a pilot, but she doesn't trust him or the longevity of his business. When Grayson blackmails her to not only fly for him, but to also date his brother Alec, she can't figure out what his motives are. But flying is more important to Leah than anything else in her life. So how far would she go to make sure she could fly?


Jennifer Echols has written books under the MTV imprint, and they are edgy, mature, and fun. They fall in the older realm of Young Adult books, and are best left for older teens in high school. There are some intimate scenes and graphic language, but none of it is filthy. But what Echols does best is appeal to those older teens who can smell BS a mile away. We all know teens are BS detectors of the most critical kind, so they require a book that doesn't patronize them or treat them as a children. They might not be "adults" yet, but they sure don't want to be treated like children. Echols' books are upfront, no nonsense, callin' it like it is, whether you want it or not. And this book is no different.


Leah's life with her flighty, always unemployed, leech of a mother in the trailer parks is a sad one. She is labeled the slut because of the way she dresses and her mother invited Leah's boyfriend to move in pretty much sealed the deal. But you know Leah is a proud, bright young woman. She takes the insults in stride and holds her head high. But internally, she struggles to see past how others define her. And she certainly doesn't take any crap from Grayson. I am going to say that I had a tough time with another female YA character falling for the absolute jerk, but I have come to expect it now. Of course, they always have a reason for acting like a toad, and the reason can be healed or fixed, but it doesn't change the fact that they treat these girls like crap and then the girls want them desperately. I wish we could have a romantic story that doesn't start with a verbally abusive male lead... ahhh... if only....


But Grayson's cantankerousness aside, this was an interesting story. I loved Leah and everything she stood for, even in the face of a world where the only person who ever cared about her was basically a stranger and who passed away. The grief Leah suffered at his loss was touching and quiet, as she felt she didn't really have a right to grieve the same way his sons did, even though she spent more time with him than they did. This is still a mature book better left to older teens. It is fairly romantic and emotional and would probably appeal to older girls most. But the best thing about Echols? She is a BS free zone!

Threw a Curveball into my Day

Jordan Sonnenblick has this uncanny ability to take a serious subject, battle the dramatic situation with bittersweet class, and inject the funny that makes such a serious topic digestible. I don't know how he does it, but I keep coming back for more. So when Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip was released, I knew it was going to hit the ball out of the park (pun intended!).


Peter always assumed he would enter 9th grade with his best friend AJ and their dynamic pitcher/catcher combo would land them on varsity. What he didn't expect that ignoring that clicking pain in his elbow would cause his elbow to actually fall apart and never go back together again. After much surgery and recovery time, Peter gets the life-altering news that his baseball career is over. Just over. He can't bring himself to tell AJ the truth, so he starts spending time with his grandfather over the summer. His grandfather has always been a photographer and has taught Peter a lot over the years. But with all the time he is spending with Grampa leads him to believe something isn't quite right.


Grampa is forgetting things and spacing out a lot. Peter tries to talk to his mother about it, but she doesn't want to admit anything is wrong. When Grampa gives Peter all his camera, Peter shakes off the feeling that something is really wrong. Without baseball in his life, he needs a new focus and begins to enjoy his new elective: Photography. Of course it doesn't hurt that the only other freshman in the class is a girl Peter finds whole-heartedly intriguing named Angelika. Peter and Angelika begin photographing the sports teams for the school newspaper, but despite his great year at school, something is still tugging on Peter's conscience about his grandfather. But will anyone realize how bad it has gotten before it is too late?


Oh, dear, dear Sonnenblick. I don't know how you do it. Life-altering injury combined with Alzheimer's Disease and light-hearted humor? Should be absurd or tactless, right? Well, it isn't. It's beautiful. It is bitter-sweet and realistic and beautiful. All hard situations in life are peppered with a little laughter where you just have to look at how crappy things have gotten and laugh. I remember going to a break out session in a conference about Finding the Funny with LD. In the session, the presenter explained how she got her epileptic brother a dog to lift his spirits after he lost his job and his wife left him. Know what happened next? Her brother's lab had a seizure and was diagnosed with epilepsy. She said she and her brother stood at the vet's office laughing. Because, really, what else can you do at that point? Is the epilepsy funny? Of course not, but the irony of the epileptic dog to make the epileptic brother feel better is so bitter you just have to laugh at the situation. This story always reminds me of Sonnenblick. He knows the fine balance between lightening up a sad situation with some witty remarks and situation irony and the tacky fun-poking at a serious topic. And with Sonnenblick, it is never tacky.


He creates a story where Peter is suffering his own life-altering trauma, but in the midst of healing and moving on with his life, he must acknowledge that the man who has always been such a huge part of Peter's life has irrevocably changed. This seems like a double whammy, and by gods it is. This is also a beautifully handled story about a family fighting the knowledge that their father/grandfather is suffering from an incurable disease, a disease that always tends to be harder on the family than the victim itself. When Grampa starts to forget things and space out, nobody wants to admit aloud when they are pretty sure is happening. They ignore the signs or explain them away until they find themselves in a situation where their loved one could seriously hurt themselves. As a granddaughter and great-granddaughter, I have experienced this denial first hand. It isn't neglectful, it is actually steeped in unconditional love where you can't imagine the strong family member you know and love slipping away. Peter and his family are the embodiment of this struggle, and it was written beautifully. 


This is a book for a wide variety of students from early middle readers through high school students, because while the language is simple, the story has layers of depth that would appeal to a wide range of students. It is beautifully written, just as all Sonnenblick's books are. I also love how the inclusion of baseball might draw in a boy reader to enjoy a story that is so much more than just a sports story. But sometimes you just need the hook to get them in. And the characters are all wonderful, brilliantly developed, and easily relatable. You will finish this book and be as blown away as I was. Bravo, Mr. Sonnenblick. You have done it again!

Touching MIddle Reader Series

All women remember that age. You were about 11 or 12 years old, heading into the stage where boys were cute, brothers were horrid, and parents were embarrassing. It last about until you were 18. And school? Well, school was a battlefield. Essentially they were the hardest years of your life. Now imagine your mother and some other mothers decided to have a Mother-Daughter Book Club with girls you would never speak to in school... unless they were spreading vicious rumors about you, but you can't really call that "speaking", now can you?! In The Mother-Daughter Book Club, Heather Vogel Frederick gives her characters plenty to think about as they survive 6th grade and their mothers.


Cassidy is a tomboy who loves to play hockey and embarrasses her supermodel mother with every burp and outburst. Emma is the poor, pudgy daughter of intellectuals who named her and her brother after Jane Austen characters (Darcy?! No wonder the boy played hockey!). Jess is a shy, sweet farm girl battling her own issues on the home front since her mother moved to NY to be an actress while dealing with issues at school where everyone tells her she stinks and calls her Goat Girl. Megan is one of the popular girls and would sooner die than be caught hanging out with Cassidy, Emma, and Goat Girl. But when their mothers start a book club (sans Jess's mom who is MIA), they have no choice but to all get together once a month. They may have no choice about attendance, but they don't have to pretend they like it.


At first all the girls hate the idea, but slowly they begin to enjoy reading Little Women, especially since Louisa May Alcott lived and wrote the story in their town! Their mothers have made the club pretty fun and not hard, so they can live through the meetings once a month. But the book club is a constant reminder for Jess that her mother has left her family behind. It also reveals the tensions between the mothers and daughters themselves. But when Megan and her followers pull a prank that went way too far, the whole Book Club is threatened. Now the girls and their mothers must decide whether the Book Club can survive a betrayal as bad as Megans, but if the girls didn't want the club in the first place, what is going to make them try to save it?


I had a feeling this was going to be an adorable story, and I was right! These girls are a wonderful mix of characters from the Queen Bee to the target to the hockey playing tomboy/jock. It explores this mix of girls and how they interact when they must be on their best behavior in front of all their mothers. But more importantly, it explores their interactions when their moms aren't around, and it can get ugly! I think my favorite character had to be Cassidy who knew she could never live up to her model mother and just wanted to play hockey. In fact, when there was no hockey team for girls in the town, she didn't hesitate to hide her identity and try out for the boys' team! She was a real butt-kickin' girl, and she wasn't afraid to stand up to Megan and her cronies. I liked the other girls, even Megan eventually, but I loved Cassidy!


This also explores that sacred yet tenuous relationship between mother and daughter. Any of you daughters out there can admit that this relationship is always a little strained but devoted at the same time. I am 31 and my relationship with my mom is that exactly! So the different girls and their wildly different mothers all came together for one big lesson: mothers and daughters love each other, but sometimes they don't see each other enough to understand each other. I think this would be a great lesson for any young lady struggling at this age to traverse life with her mom (or her mom struggling to deal with a daughter this age!). This book is best for a high skilled 4th grader through about 7th grade. It is written in simple language, but the book is fun and has great characters. I look forward to the other books in the series, and might even have to read Little Women again!

Clarity in Black and White

In life, there are many circumstances and situations that can give us clarity, or make us see our lives in a way we have never seen ourselves before. Very often, those circumstances are traumatic and life-altering. In My Life in Black and White by Natasha Friend, a young woman's life is changed forever with one bad decision... but it might not be as bad as she thinks it is.


Lexi is beautiful. She is known for her beauty. She is so beautiful a photographer stopped her on the street and wanted to sign her as a model (much to her father's horror). She lives her life conscious of her looks and how they affect everyone around her, including her boyfriend, Ryan, and her best friend, Taylor. But when she walks in on Taylor and Ryan hooking up at a party, she makes a decision she will regret for the rest of her life. She gets in the car with Taylor's brother, and they get into an accident.  They both survive, but not in one piece. Lexi's face is horribly disfigured, bones are crushed, and after many surgeries, she needs a skin graft to cover the hole in her cheek... with skin from her butt. As if being disfigured wasn't traumatizing enough, now Lexi is an actual "butt-face".


Lexi has lost her boyfriend, her best friend, and her entire world is spinning out of control. Her parents are worried about her, she locks herself in her room for weeks, and she even refuses to return to school. Taylor and Ryan keep trying to apologize, but nothing can erase that night from her mind, especially since every glance at a mirror brings it right back to her. While Lexi just wants everything to be over, she finds hope and healing in unexpected places. Her weird band-geek sister is more supportive than Lexi ever gave her credit for being. Her Mother-of-the-Year mom does everything she can to help her daughter, even if she doesn't always say the right thing. And a boy, the kind of boy Lexi never would have considered before the accident, is willing to help her find an outlet for her anger with some boxing gloves. Her life may have been turned upside down, but sometimes that is the best way to head in a totally different direction.


I loved this book. I think the story was really great and the moral was strong but not hokey, but my favorite part about this book was just how real and raw the characters were. I hate to even call them characters because they felt like real flesh and blood people. Lexi suffered a tragedy, yes, but she was also selfish, self-centered, and had a lot of trouble seeing past her own tragedy. Her sister was fabulous. Ruthie marched to the beat of her own drum, did what she wanted, and always scoffed at Lexi's need for popularity. But there was more to her. She loved her sister despite Lexi's selfishness, but she wasn't afraid to call her on her actions. And the way she supported Lexi was so sisterly, the good, the bad, and the ugly, it made me think of the relationship between my sister and I. This is a relationship you can only really understand if you have a sister yourself. And if you do, you will know Natasha Friend did a brilliant job of bringing that tumultuous, loving, devoted relationship to the pages of this book. Lexi's mom was complicated and loving, but oblivious at times, like any teenager would assume their mother to be. Even the friends and the cheating jerk-face of an ex-boyfriend had an unexpected depth. I just couldn't get over the characters in this book. 


But the story itself was just as good. This transformation of Lexi was so complex and really explored the many stages of grief, because when you lose the very thing that defines you, like your appearance, there really is a grieving process. She was a tough, snarky, sassy young woman who wasn't afraid to "use her words" in a way that could make you cringe right along with her. And you travel that journey right along with her. I would love to give this book to any variety of students, although some of the language and intimate scenes might make it best for high school aged students. In particular, this is a great book for any young woman who has a hard time looking past appearances into the actual souls of the people around them. We all know teens can get wrapped up in their own lives and forget about the world at large, so sometimes you need a book like this one to open up a dialogue they might not have in any other situation. Sometimes you have to take a cold, hard look at what you hold dear, at the priorities you have set for yourself. Are you really the best person you can be?

An Abundance of Laughter

A child prodigy does not necessarily grow up to be a genius adult. Imagine being studied, challenged, and revered as a child only to slowly grow up as a smart, but not genius level, quirky adult. In John Green's An Abundance of Katherines, Colin Singleton is all too painfully aware that his best years might be long behind him.


Colin was a child prodigy. Now he is just a quirky young adult who remembers inane facts and has a thing for girls named Katherine. In fact, he has had 19 girlfriends named Katherine, all with their own stories and all with their own reasons for dumping Colin. When K19 dumps Colin, he can't bring himself to just go on with life as usual. His wise-cracking Lebanese friend Hassan has a wonderful solution: a road trip! 


The two boys climb into the car and head off into the sunset with no real destination in mind as long as it is not home. When they end up in Gutshot, Tennessee, they realize the small town has more to offer than just the body of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. With a motley crew of people centered around a tampon string factory and the impetus for WWI, Hassan and Colin find jobs, first kisses, another Colin, and a theorem that can predict the longevity of relationships and reveals Colin's life as a Dumpee. 


Have you ever watched a movie where not much happened, but the witty dialogue kept you giggling and hanging on until the end? That is the gist of An Abundance of Katherines. The quirky relationship between Colin and Hassan will have you laughing from start to finish. I can honestly say there isn't much action to this story, but that won't stop you from enjoying the story. Colin's obsession with Katherines and intrigue with Lindsay leads him to develop a mathematical equation that explains the life of a relationship. For a washed up prodigy, his success with the equation is reliant upon his need to feel useful and intelligent again. Both boys are such unique characters, you will wish you knew them in person!


This book has some mild intimate content and a decent amount of choice language, but that isn't the reason I would save this book for an older student. The dialogue is so quirky and fast it would most likely be lost on a younger student. It requires a unique sense of humor and appreciation for sarcasm and wit to enjoy this book. If you enjoy those things, you will undoubtedly love this book. If you are looking for a linear story with a beginning, a middle, and a conclusion, this book might not be your cup of tea. The other cool feature of this book is the footnotes. They add to the story in unique ways, giving snarky remarks regarding the story, confirming or denying tidbits of information, and developing the characters further. So don't overlook the footnotes, and if you need a witty book to make you laugh, Katherines is waiting for you!

This is Not Just a Zombie Novel

They say "Don't judge a book by its cover," but they should also say, "Don't just a book by its blurb". With publishing houses trying so hard to sell their books, they jump to use anything from the book they think will catch people's attention, but sometimes in doing so, they alter the focus of book, maybe even mislead people. This can be very frustrating sometimes, but other times it can give you a chance to experience the book with a clean slate. Since your preconceived notions don't match up, you have to just let the book do work its magic. This is a pretty rare occurrence these days, but I treasure the experience. And experience I did with Courtney Summers' This is Not a Test. 


Sloane's idea of hope disappeared when her sister left her to suffer their father's abuse alone. She has never felt so helpless... until the world turns upside down. When the dead begin to rise, no place is safe and hope is a luxury of the past. But somehow Sloane and 5 other kids make it to the only place they could think to close off and fortify, the one place no teenager would want to make their final home... the high school.


Now that they have gotten to the school and barricaded themselves inside, the illusion of safety begins to shatter. The zombies are outside the building eager to get in and the kids inside are all too painfully aware that nothing can keep them out forever. They also know their resources won't last forever, but for the time being, they are eager to accept the relative safety of the school and hope for someone to rescue them. Unfortunately, they can't know whether there are people alive out there or whether they are all alone. But things inside the school are not all peaches and cream, either. The kids' emotions are running high, but for Sloane, the apocalypse has provided the perfect opportunity she needs: the opportunity to end it all.


While this started out like your typical zombie novel, scared people running for shelter, escaping the dead, it quickly became something else entirely for me. While there were zombies outside and the kids were clearly afraid of the world crashing down around them, this was a story of past and present and all too painfully slim future. The kids each had their own baggage and sacrifices they carried into the school building that ate away at them after weeks of hiding from the walking dead. But Sloane's is the worst. While the other kids remember the monsters their friends, family, and even parents became after the apocalypse started, Sloane remembers the monster her father was before the dead started walking. She is a deeply troubled girl whose biggest betrayal was when her sister, the same sister who always swore they were together until the end, left and abandoned Sloane to her father. I loved this character because it really resonated that no matter what happens in your future, it is near impossible to lose the memories of what happened in the past. All too often we read (OK, I read!) apocalyptic books with strong leading characters who also, conveniently, have lovely survival skills. But what about the other people? The less McGuyver-esque people? Do they make it? Or are they the first to get eaten? This book really delved into the fact that survivors will most likely be a motley crew of people, some useful, some not, some cutthroat, some willing to accept the inevitable. 


This was a real testament to the characters Summers' created. All too often in "action" type books, the characters become second string to the main character: the action. Summers remembered that the human aspect of any story is what really affects people, and so she created a story you will think about for a long time after finishing, not a book for cheap thrills. Even though this is a zombie story, the zombies are almost an afterthought or background noise, not the central conflict of the story. With so little zombie influence, this would be a book that could appeal to a variety of readers, even those not into the zombie stories. I might not give it to a really young or naive student because they would lose the subtle intricacies of the characters that make this book so interesting. So even if you aren't a zombie-phile, give this book a chance- there is more out there than just flesh eating and zombie hordes!

Who Survives?

I remember having a conversation with a family friend a year or so after 9/11. We were talking about humanity and the good and the seriously ugly that comes out of humanity. And after we talked about some pretty ugly things, one being all the people who died on 9/11, I made a comment that quieted us both. I said (not verbatim), "Well, there wasn't a single call of vengeance or hate or anger that came from those buildings or those planes. They were all of love." I remember him pondering that for a moment and saying, "I guess humans aren't so bad after all." We lived through 9/11. We remember where we were that day. What we were doing. Who we were with. But our children and students don't. I am teaching middle school students who were born after that horrible day. They hear about the horror, but none remember it. So how do we teach them about a day we will never forget? David Levithan has the right idea with Love is the Higher Law. He talks about the people who survived that day. And you didn't have to be in the towers to be a survivor. 


Claire was sitting in homeroom when it happened. When she saw people bustling around and whispering to her teacher, she was scared something had happened to her mother. What she didn't expect was a tragedy that would take so many people's mothers and fathers. Jasper was sleeping. With his parents in Korea, he was using the time to indulge in late nights and later mornings and had disconnected the phone. For a family halfway around the world with their son in the middle of a terrorist attack, nothing can be scarier than him not picking up the phone. Peter is in Tower Records, picking out the next great album and day dreaming about his date that night with a cute boy named... Jasper. When he walks outside, he removes his headphones because any song he heard as he watched the second plane hit the towers would have been forever tainted by the horror he was witnessing. 


When the towers went down in NYC, many people died. But while many people survived, a small piece of them went down with the towers. Everything stopped in the city that never sleeps and certainly never stops. And three young adults all living very different lives found their lives intertwining and never losing sight of what their city lost: the facade of safety and imperviousness. Claire, Jasper, and Peter all survived in very different ways, but they carry the towers and what happened that day with them each and every day. 


The importance of this book is that it is not a dictation of facts of what happened that day. It is a personal, human story of three teenagers living through the scariest day of their lives. I think this is a story that teens today could not only relate to, but also get a better image of what happened that day. But the story doesn't stop with that day. It continues for days and years after, showing the true influence 9/11 made on those kids. What was particularly important for me was how different their reactions are. When we look at the way people deal with tragedy, we have to acknowledge the widely differing reactions and this book chronicled three of those. In particular, Jasper was unable to get it out of his mind while Peter just wanted to move on with his life. 


While this book wouldn't tell the whole story of what happened that day, it would be a great companion to any lesson on the subject for teens. It is very realistic and upfront about the lives of these three teens, a skill Levithan is a master at. He doesn't hide behind stereotypes and fluff, but rather delivers a story that will leave you different by the last page. This is a short story, a little over 150 pages, so it is good for an older reader who struggles to focus on longer books or as a part of a larger unit about this time period. Levithan does it again. He brings the humanity out of the shadows and into the light. 

Team Fight the Cheese!

Imagine a world with humans and vampires living side by side. The vampires aren't allowed to turn people without a consensual license, they aren't allowed to eat people, but they still have the potential to do all the things that made them feared throughout history. In that world, where does one passionate, meddling teen find herself? Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan tell you in Team Human.

The city of New Whitby was created as a haven for vampires who may have been persecuted elsewhere, but that doesn't mean everyone is happy to have the vampires nearby. For the most part they stick to the Shade, the vampire part of town, but when a vampire comes to Mel's high school, he brings mixed opinions. Some kids are obsessed with Francis, others hate him with a passion, but the scariest reaction is Mel's best friend Cathy who falls madly in love with him.

Mel takes it upon herself to blackmail Francis into leaving Cathy alone, but there was a misunderstanding about her source of blackmail. When Cathy runs away to the Shade to find Francis, Mel figures it out and tracks her down, but not before she breaks into a vampires lair (properly called a shade in such politically correct vampire times!). While there, they meet Francis's "nephew", a human named Kit who was raised by a group of vampires. Kit's "mother" is a vampire cop who isn't too thrilled about their entry into her house, but once Mel takes a minute to get to know them all, she may realize the vampires in the equation aren't always the bad guys.

So, let's get this out in the open. This looks like a ChhEEEsy book, right?! Well, yeah, sort of. But it is also surprisingly good with some strong allusions to racism and Civil Rights in our own not-alternate history. Mel's emphatic dislike for vampires is said to be based on her friend Anna's father's abandonment of his family for a vampire patient, but that kind of hatred and prejudice doesn't happen easily. It was something that was clearly societal and ran much deeper than just one or two instances. And Mel wasn't afraid to show it. When Francis arrived, despite being totally polite (albeit a bit of a stuffy pants), Mel made comments that were considered highly insulting in the vampire world. Her friends even called her on it on more than one occasion. The other interesting thing about Mel is how darn much that girl meddles into other people's business. At first you think she is being protective, but there are points where you want to tell her to just back off and let people make their own decisions. In fact, a couple of characters flat out tell her to lay off. In the end, of course, she ended up helping some of her friends and learning valuable lessons from the others. It was a nice transition and it made me like her more even though she had moments of supreme grating and annoying-ness.

So, my advice is don't let the Cheese factor keep you from reading this one of many vampire books- it was actually a pretty good one. If for no other reason than the fact that when a person undergoes a "turning" into a vampire, they have a 1/10 chance of dying, and worse, a 1/10 chance of becoming a zombie! And the Zombie Disposal Units can tell you the horrors of those transformations gone wrong! Oh, I almost forgot. Another reason to really like this story was Kit. Oh, laughing, fun, adorable, sometimes snarky Kit. FINALLY! A main character and/or love interest with a little bit of fight in him! I love it! I am going to vote here and now that we shall no longer have lead men who always wear the "broody face". I hate broody face. I want snarky guys with some saucy retorts that keep me laughing!

This is a very clean book for a variety of ages. It might look too young for older students, but the cover doesn't do the story justice. If you have read it and can speak from experience to recommend it to otherwise skeptical teens, you might find they will really enjoy it. I know I enjoyed it once I got past the cheese-tastic title and cover!

The List Changes Everything

In high school there are the "hot" girls and the "not-so-hot" girls, but no one writes it down on paper. It is not something out in the open for everyone to see. In Siobhan Vivian's The List, those girls are labeled ugliest and hottest girl for each class, and the label will change them forever.


Every year the List comes out. There is an ugliest girl and a hottest girl in each grade. No one knows who makes the lists or how the official (stolen) school seal that marks the official list gets passed down from year to year, but they accept the list as a part of their high school lives. This year is no different from previous years for most people, but it is a life-changer for the 8 girls on the list. One has been on the list all 4 years of her high school career... as the ugliest girl in her grade. One only makes the list after her anorexia slims her down. One embraces her Ugly status by writing UGLY across her forehead and refusing to shower for the whole week leading up to the Homecoming game.


But one thing is for certain: the list affects every single girl it names. And while you might think it would help the lives of the Hottest girls, you would be miserably wrong. Being named Hottest only makes your friends jealous and guys think they have a right to hit on you or think you are a trophy to be won. Being on the list tests every relationship you have ever had, your values, and worst of all, what you think of yourself. The List has changed these girls... but you won't believe how.


This was a deceptively awesome book, I must say. I assumed it would be rife with cliches and stereotypes and full of pink plush morals and "typical", but it really wasn't. Instead, it surprised me. Time and time again, what happened to these girls REALLY surprised me. I thought I knew what was going to happen to the Ugly girls vs. the Hot girls, but I found myself flipping the pages time and time again with that "What the heck?!" shocked look on my face. It was a really refreshing read! But at the same time, it was a frighteningly accurate reveal into the world of high school culture. We, as adults, sit on the outside of the true happenings of our schools, and although we have lived through it, we have also outgrown it, making our opinions jaded. I mean, can you honestly remember what it felt like to live through high school? I can honestly say I have tried somewhat (un)successfully to block it from my mind, but every now and then I see something going on where I teach and all those memories come rushing back. 


This would be an excellent book for any high school aged girl through adult trying to understand the lives and roles of teenagers these days. And to try and pretend judgment and criticism are not a part of adolescence is simply ridiculous. Sometimes we, as adults, just need to immerse ourselves in their world, even through a story like this one, to see the truth of what they live through every day. It might make you a little more sympathetic as you give them detention or scold them for not finishing their work. We see the world through our adult eyes, but we forget that as teenagers, we didn't even know who we were at that point. Vivian did a great job with this story explaining the lives of teenagers and I am sure all adolescents would find at least one character to relate to. Even if they don't want to admit it!

A Need to Help People

We all want to help people in one way or another. We want to help a little old lady cross the road, donate to charities, save abandoned dogs, and Adopt families during the holidays. But how far would we go to give to someone or help them in a time of need? In Suzanne Young's A Need So Beautiful, Charlotte must ask herself that question on a whole new level.


Charlotte has always experienced the Need. When she feels the Need, she has to follow it to whomever is in need of the knowledge she has, whether it be to warn a pregnant woman that something is wrong with her baby or to guide a criminal to the right path. In the past, the Need only came once in a while, but the crippling need to answer the Need is becoming more and more frequent. So frequent in fact that her adoptive mother, best friend, and boyfriend are starting to notice that it isn't just asthma (which she uses to explain the loss of breath when she feels the Need). She just can't hide her secret anymore


But something else is wrong. Charlotte is starting to get scared and seeks out the help of her family doctor, the man who runs the local free clinic. She shows him that something strange is happening to her skin, almost like it is peeling away, but she isn't ready for the answer he has for her. Trapped in an impossible decision with catastrophic consequences on either end, Charlotte comes to a crossroads that will ruin her. The question is, will she help herself or help others?


This story was a strange and unique angle on the whole angel genre that has flooded YA novels in the past few years. I had never thought of this type of angel and was really interested in the impossible decision Charlotte had to make. The worst part about it is that she is a good person who just wants a little happiness for herself after being abandoned at the age of 6. Luckily, she was adopted by a wonderful woman and had a supportive best friend and loving boyfriend. Her life wasn't perfect, but it wasn't bad, either. But this choice... this choice is horrible to ask of anyone, but particularly horrible to ask of Charlotte. If you ever needed to see a main character pushed to the brink, this is the book for you.


On a whole, though, there were times this book was a little slow for me. The unraveling of the true nature of the Need was paced well, but I still found myself wanting it to just move along. But overall, it wasn't a bad book and I intend to check out A Want So Wicked when it comes out. This is a good book for a middle school through emergent older reader as it is interesting, but has fairly simple language. It isn't a book I would throw at everyone who came by, but it was a fun and decent read. You will enjoy it!

No Safety in Malls

As a person who hates malls with every ounce of her being, I can honestly say the idea of being trapped in a mall with tons of other people and no way out might be my idea of the seventh layer of hell! Now add a possible biochemical weapon, and I am terrified by Dayna Lorentz's No Safety in Numbers!


As Marco was running for his life in the mall parking garage from the beefy jerk from school, he had no idea his hiding spot was also the hiding spot of something a lot more sinister. A bomb. Lexi's mom, The Senator, thought a family outing was going to make up for all the time she has to work, but she couldn't have predicted how wrong she would be as the mall had to be quarantined. Now tons of people are locked down in the mall with no idea what is happening.


At first it seems like a slight inconvenience for most, and maybe even a fun sleepover for others, but the novelty of being held captive in a mall wears off quickly. The bathrooms quickly become filthy, food starts to run out, and riots break out when people realize just how trapped they really are. When people start getting sick and the government agencies require everyone to submit to a blood test, people begin to realize there is something even scarier than being trapped in a mall- being trapped in a mall with a deadly virus rampaging through its halls.


This was an interesting story and one a lot of kids would not be able to stop thinking about. The mall is a place of fun, a haven for kids to shop and goof around and just be kids. So when it becomes a nightmare, it makes everyone reevaluate their previous beliefs. The story also does a good job of showing the progression of such a situation. People aren't panicked at first. They are bored and making the best of the situation. But when things go south, they really get ugly. Looting, violence, and every other manner of human nature when people are scared and determined. 


Although the story was good, it had some huge holes. First, I can't imagine it would take people 6 whole days to panic. I think a day, maybe two, and everything would just implode. People don't just accept a quarantine, and especially not when there is the threat of a deadly virus. I know FEMA and the other government agencies would be relatively good about locking things down, but no force could control tat many scared people. And why didn't anyone question the store that was taken over as a command center until the very end? And why did the credit card machines still work when the phones and internet lines were taken down? There were definitely some holes in the story, but it was still entertaining, which is all you can really ask for.  It would be appropriate for any manner of student and has an average reading level. But be forewarned, it is apparently a trilogy, so there is no resolution at ALL at the end of the book.

Poseidon Blows This One Out of the Water

Have you ever felt like there was something different about you? Something that can't easily be explained? In Anna Banks' Of Poseidon, Emma finds out there is more to that feeling than she ever thought possible.

Emma is enjoying her final summer with her best friend, Chloe, on the beach in Florida, but when she crashes into a haunting stranger with the same strange purple eye color as Emma, she can't help but be intrigued. When a freak accident finds Emma fighting with a shark to save Chloe, she doesn't realize the stranger, Galen, witnesses her ability to talk to fish... because as a Syrena (mermaid), Galen has the ability to cloak himself underwater. 

Galen suspects Emma is a Syrena from the Poseidon clan, but some things don't add up. She can hold her breath for an inhuman amount of time, she has tough Syrena skin, but she can't shift into a fin. And the worst part of it all is that if she truly is Syrena, she must marrying Galen's brother Grom, the royal heir, to prevent an all out war between the two clans. Galen knows he owes this to his people and his brother, but he can't help but be distraught about the idea of Emma marrying another man. But before anything can be settled, they have to first get to the bottom of Emma's origins... Is she really Syrena?

You know that feeling you get when a book surpasses your expectations? Well I totally experienced that with this book! Not only was it a fun, intriguing story, but it was also hilarious! I found myself laughing out loud throughout the entire story! Not only were the main characters good fun, but the supporting characters, Torif and Rayna have such a great story line. They are officially married, but Rayna doesn't want to be married. Torif loves her, but can't get her to admit she really wants him. despite her constant rejections, Torif just cheerily plods on with his affections, even when she splits his lip and threatens to kill him! I loved Torif! He was hilarious and endearing. The characters really do drive this story.

I also really appreciated that the love story between Emma and Galen isn't as "I met you two seconds ago but I know we are soul mates and I would end my life for you" like many YA novels these days. They certainly were intrigued by each other at first, and they grew on each other over time, but Emma wasn't afraid to tell him where to go when he deserved it. I loved that about her. This is a good story for any middle school through high school student. It's fairly clean and appropriate for a wide range of ages.  This was a really fun story, but I warn you, there isn't much of an ending. You will find yourself flipping that last page back and forth looking for more chapters that just aren't there! But there has to be another story... there just HAS to be!

Dexter Meets Seven

There is nothing scarier than a serial killer.  Sure, monsters and demons are scary enough, but serial killers are out there right now, free to do as they wish. At least the monsters and demons are only a figment of my imagination. Now imagine growing up with that serial killer as your father... having a serial killer teach you his "trade". That horror is unimaginable... until Barry Lyga's I Hunt Killers.

Jazz just wants to be a normal kid, but there is no chance of normalcy when you are Billy Dent's son. Billy Dent has killed well over 100 people and is currently serving multiple life sentences with no hope of every getting out again. He taught his son well, but Jazz doesn't want to follow in Dear Old Dad's footsteps. Instead, he wants to just live his life and forget the world he was brought into. That isn't so easy when Child Protective Services wants to place him in foster care, he lives with his lunatic grandmother, and his only friend is a hemophiliac who bleeds with a simple sneeze.

When a dead girl is found in a field, Jazz knows it has the signs of serial killer, but the cops won't listen to him. The sheriff who caught his father is patient with Jazz, but he still doesn't want him near the crime scene or the evidence. But Jazz can't help himself. He knows there will be more bodies. When the bodies start piling up, the crimes look awfully similar to those of Billy Dent's earlier murders... and to the town where the serial killer lived, there is only one person who can follow in his footsteps. Jazz knows he must find the killer, not only to prove to everyone that it isn't him, but also to prove to himself that he isn't a monster like Dear Old Dad.

If you like the show "Dexter", you will like this story. It has the boundary crossing of being a serial killer and hunting a serial killer where the hunter and the hunted are eerily similar. I really loved Jazz because he desperately doesn't want to be the monster his father raised him as, but he is afraid all those years of brainwashing may have paid off. His only way to use that disturbing knowledge usefully is to find this killer before anyone else dies. He also feels somewhat responsible because he should be able to stop "his father's" crimes this second time around. Jazz is a complex character and the reader will find themselves wanting to protect him from everything he has lived through. But what impresses me the most are Jazz's girlfriend and best friend who both know his history and still care about him. They keep him as normal as possible and in Jazz's mind, the love for another person is what keeps him from ever becoming a monster. It was a lovely addition to this grim murder mystery. Finally, the sheriff who caught Billy is almost like a surrogate father figure for Jazz, caring about him and watching out for him. This book is full of complex relationships and characters that keep you from knowing what is around the corner, and I really appreciated that.

This book is certainly gruesome with the murders and dismemberment, etc. While the active serial killer is bad enough, the descriptions of Billy Dent's murders are the most gory. Not to mention the very existence of this "super killer" who knew how to defy all police expectations makes me pretty terrified! Billy Dent will give you nightmares, no doubt about it! I think this is a book for your typical high school student rather than a younger reader because some of the content is pretty bloody, but more importantly, the characters and relationships are so complex, a less mature reader will get lost in the intriguing ambiguity. The writing style is highly accessible and exciting, and this would most likely be a great book even for an adult who is interested in serial killer stories and murder mysteries. But I caution, this might not be the book for the feint of heart! And, just to warn you, the very, very end of the book will leave you hanging in a way you won't believe (and that will keep you looking out your window and behind the shower curtain!).

Remember the Gallagher Girls?

Cammie Morgan hasn't had the most normal childhood. It doesn't help that she grew up attending a school  for spies, but the real hardship is her father's disappearance. When a covert group called the Circle of Cavan attacks Cammie, she made a huge decision: her friends and family would never be safe with the Circle after her. The only way to keep them safe was to leave the Gallagher Academy. In Ally Carters fifth Gallgher Girls book, Out of Sight, Out of Time, we see Cammie grappling with the consequences of that decision.


Cammie wakes up in a convent in the Alps with no idea of how she got there. Even worse, she finds out she has been missing all summer, and she has no memories of anything since she left the school. She calls her mother and Aunt who come to get her and bring her back to the school, but her loss of memories isn't the only thing plaguing Cammie: the Circle is still out there and they aren't going to rest until they get what they want from her. 


Despite everyone's insistence that she not try to recover her memories, Cammie needs to know what happened in the months she lost. No one at the school trusts her anymore, even her own mother and friends. She starts losing time and doing things unconsciously, like putting together an assault rifle without even knowing how she learned to do so. The only thing Cammie can be sure of anymore is that the memories of summer hold huge secrets, and she isn't afraid to go digging.


This middle reader series has seriously grown up since its first book. This book is the most adult book, in terms of seriousness, not inappropriate content, so far. It really gets to the scary and ugly side of being a spy, which is something that has been sort of glossed over so far. The evolution of Cammie is pretty impressive, and I think readers can grow up along side her character. She has made great sacrifices to protect her friends and family, but the idea that those people would literally put themselves in grave danger to protect her is the most comforting and scariest thought Cammie has ever had. But that is what people who love you do!


This started out a middle reader series, and while still appropriate for middle readers, it is also great for any kid who has transitioned more into the young adult age group but still read the early books in the series. They won't be disappointed as the story gets darker and more serious, and neither will you. It is a great series and although Carter claims to only have one more book planned, I hope she continues the series! 

Wracked with Fury

Have you ever hurt someone? Have you ever caused someone pain, whether you meant to or not? Do you think sorry was enough to make up for what you did? You better hope it was or you could be the next victim of punishment in Elizabeth Miles' Fury series. 


Em is Gabby's best friend, but Em can't stop thinking about Gabby's boyfriend Zach. When Gabby goes away for the holidays, she feels guilty about the fact that she is looking forward to spending time with Zach and no Gabby. What she isn't expecting is that he might feel the same way about her. She knows it is wrong, but she can't help the way she feels, right? 


Chase has scraped and climbed his way to the top of the social pyramid with careful execution, but he stil lives in a trailer, a fact that he never forgets. His inspiration was a childhood friend named Sasha whose mother remarried and with the help of her stepfather's money, was flung to the head of the social staircase. But when Sasha throws herself from an overpass and is in a coma in the hospital, Chase struggles with the fact that he may have been involved in her decision to commit suicide.


Both have made mistakes. All their mistakes had reasons and regrets behind them, but they still chose to do what they did. Now things keep going wrong. Chase is haunted by a beautiful girl who he can't stop thinking about. No matter what she does to hurt him or humiliate him, he can't say no to her. When Em starts seeing a similar girl, she feels like she is being stalked. But what they don't know is that the girls following them are much more dangerous than they look...


Fury was an interesting book, but I found myself really confused in the beginning. Actually, I found myself really confused for about 2/3 of the story. I suspected the book was about Furies getting vengeance on bad people and when the couple of kids in the book were doing fairly bad things, I realized my suspicions were right. But I didn't really understand the connection between Em and Chase. It turns out there really wasn't much of a connection other than the fact that they went to school together and kind of knew each other. My other small qualm about this book was their "crimes" for which the Furies were after them. Once you get to the heart of what Chase did, you will agree that the jerk deserves to be punished, but Em's crime, while despicable, isn't exactly death-worthy. I mean, cheating with your best friend's boyfriend is beyond crappy, and you deserve to come back as a dung beetle in a future life, but to die for that? As a teenager (who are notorious for stupid decisions when it comes to hormones and emotions)? It seemed a little harsh. Not sure if I totally agree with that decision on the part of the author. In fact, I might have either had the second story more serious or eliminated it altogether. 


The writing was nice and clear, and the characters were multidimensional, which I appreciate. I loved the fact that the Furies' victims were not just pure evil- they were normal people, not all good, not all bad, who made bad decisions. I think it brought the human quality into the story where you almost felt bad for them by the time the Furies caught up with them, which made you feel confused as a reader because you knew they did crappy stuff. It was a great moral paradox to grapple with as a reader and made the stories less black and white. The way the story ended left me excited to see where the story will go in the next two books and opened the possibilities up tenfold. There is so much Miles can do from here! On a whole, great breakout series and look forward to more from this author.