Sheer Shadows and Mischievous Mystery

A typical graphic novel is told in pictures and in words, but what if the story was actually two stories: one through words and one through images? Brian Selznick did it with surprising grace, and now Kiersten White and Jim DiBartolo have done it with In The Shadows, and the result is pretty awesome. 

Cora and Minnie's mother runs a boarding house where they all live together. Minnie has an insatiable desire for adventure (bordering on the side of reckless), while Cora prefers to play it safe, except when Minnie calls her out on her stuffiness and she has to live up to her little sister's expectations. But after Minnie convinced Cora to climb a tree and peer into the witch's window and she got caught, she has never been the same. Her father died the very next day, and Cora knows it was a curse the witch put on her. Arthur was brought to live with them over a year ago after his father disappeared, but the girls suspect there is more to the reason Arthur is with their family. When Charles and Thomas arrive for the summer, the group bands together, all for different reasons, but all for the hope of some fun (at Minnie's direction). Especially when Charles' illness and imminent death is a weight holding Thom down. 

When they visit the witch's house all together this time, Cora is more than just a little nervous. In fact, she is terrified, but the others convince her it will be fine. When they see the witch, Mary, they aren't prepare for what they witness- she hangs herself right in front of them. When they report it, however, something scary happens- her body isn't there anymore. When they see her again in town, she is with the scary man from the boarding house... and a woman Thom is convinced he heard speaking to his father right before he was sent to the boarding house. Something very mysterious is happening in this sleepy little tourist town, and Minnie and the others are going to get to the bottom of, regardless of the risks.

Half this story is the one I have just described. It is written in short chapters like any other typical story. The other half of the story is written in illustrations and follows an entirely different set of characters. I haven't described the illustrated story because it isn't easy to describe it without giving away too many important details needed for the end of the story when everything comes together. But they do, and when they do, it is pretty gosh darned awesome. My biggest issue with this book throughout the entire story was that I had absolutely no idea what was happening in the illustrated story- until the very very end. Now, in hindsight, I can see it was designed that way and that is what made it such a cool story, so I should have just had faith in the authors. 

Another thing I struggled with was the ages of the kids. One moment they struck me as definite middle schoolers. Precocious, adventurous, and usually reckless abandonment regarding concern for consequences. But then the next moment they felt a little older, like young adults. It made them difficult to understand completely. While Minnie was the fun, impish, mischievous one, Cora and Arthur were the ones I really liked. Unfortunately, the story is really brief, so you don't get to spend a lot of time getting to know any of the characters very well. The important thing to know, though, is that this is one serious mystery! It was really a nail biter right to the end, and I did not see it coming. I really liked this story, and I hope White and DiBartolo give this format another shot!

How Can You Kill the Buzz?!

There are enough mysteries about high school without adding murder to the list. When Millie stumbles upon a body, she becomes embroiled in murder mystery she never wanted to be in the middle of in the first place... especially because the victim had direct ties to her father. In Beth Fantaskey's Buzz Kill, the sleuthing rivals Nancy Drew!

Millie Ostermeyer lives with her father. She loves her father, but as the Assistant Coach of a big high school football team, his time is generally consumed by the goings-on of the sport. She has worried about him since her mother passed away, but he isn't exactly an open book, so she gives him his space. When her father's nemesis, the head Coach Killdare, is found dead on campus, Millie is not only traumatized since she was the one who found the body- she is worried that all the signs point to her father as being the one with real motive to do away with the jerky head coach.

Millie's unlikely partner-in-crime, the new and mysterious football star who doesn't seem to fit the mold of typical high school star athlete, helps her to uncover some of the secrets Killdare kept from everyone around him. The further she digs, the clearer it becomes that this murder is more mysterious than she ever thought it could be. Unfortunately, her father is still in the crosshairs of both the local police department and Millie's own nemesis, her arch-enemy on the school paper, is hellbent on making her father look guilty. She has to get to the bottom of the story and quickly if she has any hope of saving her father's reputation... and keeping him out of jail!

I loved Fantaskey's Jessica series. I hated the cover, and I thought the title was a total cheese-fest, but the characters were really fun and unique, and I loved the story itself! I mean, laugh-out-loud kind of awesomeness! So, I was thrilled to see her come out with something that had a great premise, a good title, and a far better cover (although it does feel a little hokey). But, my experience with her writing said I was going to like this story, and I really did! I have to say, however, it was certainly a little campy at times, and I think the campiest parts were with Millie. She was less unique than the characters in the Jessica series, and a little more of a "type," but I still liked her. Chase, however, was my favorite part of this story. There was a boy with a past that I couldn't wait to learn about. He did not fit any stereotype, and I was intrigued from the moment Millie laid eyes on him. Even Millie's dad and Killdare were great characters. She just wasn't as awesome for me as they were, which was a little hard since the book was about her!

The good part was the plot and the pacing was a lot of fun. It was just mysterious enough to hold your attention without being silly or too predictable. There was a lot at stake for Millie, and she took her job of sleuthing very, very seriously. In fact, you are going to see some references to Nancy Drew, which I appreciated because it pointed out the elephant in the room. Everything about the story felt very Nancy Drew, so it was important to acknowledge that fact rather than pretend it didn't exist. Overall, this book continues my love for Fantaskey, even though Millie wasn't my favorite character ever, and I will keep an eye out for this author's next project!

There's No Story Like Back Story

Once you are a part of the Morning Glory Academy, you really have no choice but to stay. Not only do they cut you off from your family, but in isn't difficult to make the students realize they have no choice but to stay put. In Volume 2 of Nick Spencer's Morning Glories, the six new students all have a story to tell. 

Everyone has a story, but how important are those stories in relation to the person you have become? For the newest Morning Glories, those back stories directly tie to how they got there, and who they are going to become. If you are a little rich kid who committed an unspeakable act, is there a chance you can find your way out of it, or are you going to have to face your actions in the harshest way possible. When twin brothers are separated, can they ever come together and be the same? When a little girl is taken from her people, will her extraordinary talent lead who she is to become? 

The second volume of The Morning Glories wasn't much different from the first. The story was filled with mystery and intrigue, but I'll be darned if I am not still totally in the dark about what they heck is happening! I expected a few more answers than I got, so the story was a little frustrating when all it did was give me more questions. Still, the mystery continues to be interesting, so I will continue to keep reading, but I want answers people! I have NO idea what is happening! The back story was very interesting, and I was glad to have it, but now I need more about this Academy and what on earth is happening inside it!

Mystery at the Morning Glory

An invitation to join an elite private school is one you can't pass up. It brings six teenagers from very different walks of life together in one place. Morning Glories by Nick Spencer is a story with more than one secret to reveal... but you won't get all the answers you want!

With a population that rivals "The Breakfast Club," six teens with checkered pasts are brought to the mysterious and prestigious Morning Glory Academy. While its clear they won't all immediately become life long friends, they are expected to work together. The school is unconventional, but when one of the girls tries to call home and her father has no idea who she is, they start to get suspicious. The school passes it off as a strategy to keep kids from getting homesick, but it was too real. He didn't even know she existed!

More and more, the kids think there is something deeply wrong with Morning Glory. The school's tactics for sussing out their special "talents" is disturbing at best. At worst, it is downright deadly. When you put six kids together who are known to be the best and the brightest, you can't also expect them to be the most obedient. But Morning Glory is ready for some disobedience. In ways the kids never expected. 

This was another one of those stories where you can enjoy the whole thing, be ready for the next in the series, but you have absolutely no idea what is going on. I know there is something fishy about the school and its administration, and let's just say the teachers make the Trunchbull look like a little kitten, but I never actually got any real answers. Instead, I found myself flying through in order to find any speck of an answer because, by the time I finished Volume 1, I have absolutely NO clue what is going on. 

The mystery is fun, though, and the wildly different personalities of the 6 kids makes it exciting. From the preppy rich kid to the chick with two dads, they are quite a diverse group, and their varied ways of dealing with the circumstances are interesting. I wasn't overly fond of the art in this graphic series, though, and I felt the illustrations were a little flat or generic. I would have liked to see something more unique. All in all, it is an interesting story, and I am intrigued to see where it goes!

Exposed and Fabulous

Some kids just can't help themselves. They find themselves in trouble regardless of where they go or what they do. Tory Brennan seems to be drawn to the craziest situations like a moth to a flame. In the fourth Virals book by Kathy and Brendan Reichs, Exposure, Tory and the other Virals find themselves caught between life and death... again! 

After the Gamemaster was stopped and the Virals found out their pack member Ben was helping him, nothing has been the same. Ben was expelled and lives with his mother, which makes it easy for Tory, Hi, and Shelton to avoid him. The problem is, even if they feel betrayed by Ben, they still never feel whole without him. He is the fifth member of the pack with the three kids and Tory's wolf-dog Coop. When the pack is apart, their powers are disjointed. When twins from school are kidnapped and the killer leaves a Zodiac card behind, Tory and the others just can't help themselves. They have to investigate. Even with everyone from their parents to the headmaster to the police watching them after their involvement with the Gamemaster, they can't help themselves. They know they can find things the investigators overlooked. 

The problem is, they do find clues to the disappearance of the twins, and when they realize the police aren't making any real progress, they can't help themselves but get further involved. The deeper they get, the more they realize the story behind this kidnapping isn't what it appears to be. To make matters worse, their separation and struggles within the pack have left their powers a little wonky. Now, when they flare, it feels like the flare is completely consuming them. When hunting a kidnapper, there is nothing worse than going from 100 to 0 in 10 seconds flat. Now the pack is in danger, but can they get themselves out of this one?

These books are so much fun and so adventurous, it is hard not to get sucked into them. Each time these kids get sucked into another dangerous adventure, I know I should be skeptical, but I just don't care that in reality, their parents would have left this island already. I just love how much fun the story is! And it really is fun. From start to finish, you know they are going to get into trouble, they are going to work together as a pack, and by golly, those bad guys are going to get what is coming to them! On a whole, the stories are predictable, but their bits and pieces are not. There are always twists and turns around each corner to keep you hooked, which is why I love them so much. 

I love these books for mature middle readers. They are fun, exciting, easy reads, and fabulous for strong middle readers. Because they are just clean, fun stories, you don't have to be afraid to give them to an inappropriate reader. My one complaint was toward the end when the pack was split, the narrator remained first person but it jumped from Tory to Hi and back and forth. It took me a while to figure out who on earth was speaking, and it would certainly confuse unfamiliar readers. I wish there was a better way to acknowledge the narrator at that point. Otherwise, you are going to love them all- Tory, Hi, the rest of the pack, even scary Whitney! And when you get to the end, you will be delighted to find out there most certainly HAS to be another book!

Surprising and Intense

A story that completely catches you off-guard is an experience in and of itself. One that catches you off-guard, kicks you in the cojones and dances a jog on top of them is something you can't miss! Andrew Klavan's Nightmare City did just that... if I had cojones. 

Tom Harding believes in the integrity of journalism. He was just an average teen in high school until he wrote and published an article that exposed his championship high school football team for using steroids to win the championship a couple of years earlier. Tom had sources and hard evidence, but like any respectable journalist, he maintained their requested anonymity with a ferocity. Even when the principal and football coach pulled him in and threatened him, he refused to give them his sources or to retract the story. It was true and Tom believed in the truth. 

When Tom wakes up in the morning, something about the day feels off. He looks outside to see the marine fog has crept far inland and seems to be blanketing the neighborhood. Even creepier, the whole neighborhood seems eerily quiet. When he goes downstairs to get his mother, she is nowhere to be found. Then he hears his brother's voice calling to him from the basement rec room. The only problem is his brother died in the service six months earlier. Tom realizes something is deeply wrong and when he sees a woman outside, he tries to follow her. He doesn't think anything of the mist that seems to be enveloping him, until he realizes something is wrong. Something is very, very wrong. And then he sees them. The creatures. They are all around him, coming for him...

OK. I am going to warn you about something, but I am not going to give away the surprise. This book is NOTHING like the description I just gave, but that is all I am going to give you because the real story, the surprise twist in the story is too good to ruin for any reader. I started reading this book and thought, "OK. Decent horror story. I'm enjoying this!" And then, about 100 pages in it threw me on the ground and beat the crap out of me. The whole story was nothing like I expected. There was nothing to indicate this about the blurb or the cover, but it was a total twist. And man, did I love it! So, if you are going to read this story (and you should), make sure you go into it with an open mind! 

Everything about this story makes it a brilliant option for reluctant readers. It is exciting and fast-paced, and you will flip that last page and be just as stunned as I was! In fact, I ended up starting this book very late last night and stayed up until 2am to finish it in one sitting. That's how fun of a read it was! I plan to use this book for those tough boys who don't like to read anything. It will knock them off their chairs! Klavan has done a great job with the young adult genre. It is full of simple language but is still a complex and intricate story I couldn't get enough of and never got bored with. Loved it! 

Can You Break the Code?

The Virals are not immune to trouble and adventure. In fact, both trouble and adventure seem to hunt them down and find them. In the third Virals novel Code, by Kathy and Brendan Reichs, we see how the superhuman pack reacts to a game that loses its "fun" appeal with the first bomb.

Tory Brennan is no stranger to adventure. After she and her three best guy friends, all of whom are the children of the scientists on the very island where they were exposed to a mad scientists experiment that turned them into a superhuman wolf pack, solved a crazy pirate's treasure hunt to find enough gold doubloons to save the island and LIRI, the lab, they became fairly legendary. Unfortunately, legendary still doesn't earn them any friends at the snooty private school that pegs them as "scholarship brats". But Tory and her friends Hi, Shelton, and Ben are too interested in their lives as Virals and the next adventure to care much about typical teen drama. 

When Hi starts geocaching, he is delighted to find a first time cache on Loggerhead Island, the very place where the research laboratory is located. Although his friends think geocaching is silly, when he finds an ornate Japanese puzzle box with a bizarre clue inside, they can't help but be intrigued by the thrill of the hunt. It takes them a while to break the clue, but their Flare doesn't let them down. While it might be invasive to be able to read one another's thoughts and act like a pack, they can't scoff at the benefits. But when they find the second clue, it seems they have stumbled upon a sick joke left by an even more disturbing individual who calls himself the Gamemaker. Now they must solve the clues int he time the Gamemaker gives them or they will be responsible for the deaths of countless innocent people. But the Gamemaker didn't plan on one very important detail when he targeted the Virals- a pack never gives up and never loses. 

This is such a fun, entertaining series. It really is perfect, good, clean fun for any reader, boy or girl, middle reader or young adult. Even adults would enjoy this fun series that keeps them guessing and trying to solve the mystery. I think the language is simple enough for lower skilled students, but the appeal is really in the fast-paced entertainment. You will be hard-pressed to find a reader who wasn't hanging on every situation the Virals found themselves in. The protagonist is fairly young, 14, so it might seem a little too young for a more mature reader, but I imagine they will quickly get sucked up into the excitement pretty quickly!

My one sticky wicket with this story was the final reveal at the end. I just didn't like it the way I have liked the big reveal of the evil mastermind behind the badness in the other books. This one was far less satisfying, but I still enjoyed the story. In fact, I am really looking forward to the next book. These books are so fast that I feel like I just devour them. Can't wait to devour the next! 

A Venomous Past

Serial Killers aren't a new phenomenon, they are just more commonly talked about. So, is it hard to imagine the dark dealings that may be going on in the shadows of a city like Venice? In Fiona Paul's new series, The Secrets of the Eternal Rose, she explores the mystery of murders only a young girl is willing to investigate.

Cass lives the life of any other Venetian girl of means: she waits to be married off so she can become a proper wife. The only problem is her fiance, Luca, is a terrible bore. When her friend succumbs to an illness and dies, Cass has a hard time dealing with the loss, especially after having lost both her parents. At night she slips out of her house to visit her parents' graves, and when she does so to visit her friend, she finds the body has been replaced by another body- one that certainly doesn't belong there and certainly did not meet a peaceful end. With a giant X carved into her chest, the girl clearly met an ugly ending. Terrified, Cass leaves the crypt and bumps into a man named Falco. She should be scared of any guy wandering the graveyard at night, but there is something about Falco she finds intriguing. When he agrees to help her investigate the girl in the crypt, Cass finds herself with a new partner in crime.

Together, Cass and Falco delve into the seediest areas of Venice, places Falco is clearly comfortable with but that Cass has never experienced. Throughout their investigation, Cass finds herself drawn to him in ways a proper engaged girl shouldn't be thinking about a man who isn't her betrothed. Of course, she isn't exactly proper as she escapes into the night in her nightgown with a strange man to hunt down a murderer. Cass's connection with Falco makes her forget just how dangerous what they are doing truly is, but the shadows of Venice can only stay hidden for so long. 

I had actually started this book a while ago and put it down only a few pages into it because I just wasn't in the mood for historical fiction, and I am really glad I did, because when I finally did read it, I really enjoyed it. Good historical fiction doesn't get bogged down with too many specifics of the time period, but rather allows them to come out naturally through the progression of a really good plot. That was how this story was. It had a great pace, a solid story, and it really kept me intrigued right to the last page. In fact, I really loved how the whole setting developed around the plot. 

Sometimes I was a little annoyed with Cass, especially with her volleying feelings about Falco and Luca. There were times when it felt like her feelings went from one guy to the other six times before the end of a page. It was so frustrating! But in the end, I was surprised but not displeased with where the story left her between the two men. It left me wanting to come back for more and check out the next book in the series. The story deals with some ugly parts of the time period (prostitution, lack of police protection, murder, indentured servants, etc.) and might be better for older readers. But if you have a younger student who is a strong reader and enjoys historical fiction, this is for you! 

Hysteria Unraveled

If you are covered in your boyfriend's blood and his lifeless body is found in your kitchen, there is no chance you will ever be considered innocent. The courts may be persuaded to believe it was self-defense, but in the eye of the public, you are still guilty. Especially to the guy you killed. In Megan Miranda's Hysteria, one girl carries the weight of what she did on her shoulders, but no one will let her move on.

When her mom hides the knife block in the kitchen, it was the first sign Mallory's own parents didn't trust her, were possibly even scared of her. She had been found innocent, and the murder of her boyfriend Brian was considered self-defense after he broke into her house and attacked her, but she can't even remember what happened that night. After Brian's mother breaks into their house, Mallory is sent to her father's old boarding school to get away from everything... and she is convinced her parents sent her because they don't trust her.

But everything isn't perfect at Monroe. Steeped in tradition and secrets, there is more to Monroe than meets the eye, and Mallory isn't exactly accepted with open arms. She struggles to fit in, and her roommate even leaves the room when she sees Mallory there. Luckily, Mallory has Reid, the son of her father's best friend from Monroe. Reid helps Mallory feel a little less lonely, but when a boy is murdered in Mallory's bedroom and she doesn't remember anything about it, the situation feels all too familiar. 

This is a murder mystery, a psychological thriller, and a ghost story all rolled into one. It was really interesting, but sometimes the plot became difficult to get a firm grasp on. Sometimes I thought I understood what was happening only to find myself confused again. I understand that is the general slow roll-out of a plot that centers around mystery and intrigue, but it felt a little too heavy-handed at times. But on a whole, it was a very interesting story. I certainly wasn't able to unravel all of the mystery at the end ahead of time, so it was a successful mystery!

The characters were many-layered and interesting. Mallory is, of course, intriguing, but so were Reid and her friend Colleen, not to mention the other Monroe kids. The layer of tradition and secrets kept you wondering about these fancy prep schools and how this stuff can persist. I wonder about the kind of kids who come out of these prep schools with their lack of sensitivity to manipulation and deceit. That has got to carry over into their adult lives! This is a good book for any kid who needs a good mystery but has trouble figuring things out because the murder is out in the open, but there is still layer after layer of mystery to unravel. It makes this novel a good combination of obvious and not-so-obvious. 

Murder Mystery, Fantasy, and Real Problems all in One!

When a country puts a limit on how many children are allowed per family, what happens to the "extra" kids? And when one gender is preferred over the other, the treatment of the lesser orphans can be horrifying. We have seen this in our own world, but Miriam Forster takes a real issue and places it in a fantasy world where real solutions were created in City of a Thousand Dolls.

Nisha has no past, and even her future is unclear. But she has lived fairly well in the City of a Thousand Dolls since she was found and brought there as a young baby. She can speak with the sacred cats in the city and seems to hear things she shouldn't around the city. As the Matron of the city's eyes and ears, she has a special place in the city, but still, she has no House to call her own. Each house takes the orphan girls left by their families who prefer boys in the world where how many children you have are limited. They take the girls and train them so they may be Reclaimed when they are ready, and returned to society with a House and a life. Without being claimed, they will never be accepted into society. Nisha knows her talents are limited, but she desperately hopes her romance with the second-born prince will lead him to Reclaim her. 

When a girl has died falling from a roof, the entire city is rocked. But when a second girl is found dead by the fountain, the stench of foul play looms over the city. With her mysterious talents and perceptiveness, Nisha offers to quietly investigate the murders for the Matron. What she uncovers, however, is a murderer who specifically targets certain girls, and Nisha hasn't figured out the pattern. But when the murderer goes after her only true friend in the city, the girl who is training to marry the prince and become princess, she knows she will have to take risks in order to prevent another murder. What she didn't realize was that there are even bigger and deeper secrets surrounding her own life. As Nisha digs deeper, she unravels webs of lies she never thought existed, and those lies will change her life forever.

This was such an intriguing book and interesting world, I am almost sad that I think it is a stand-alone. Some of the world-building was too slow for me, and left me struggling to understand the story, but on a whole, this was a really brilliant world Forster created! It really ended in a way where it doesn't seem like there will be another story, but maybe that will change! I really wanted to hear so much more about the city, the world as a whole, the wandering tribes, etc. Especially the cats! It seemed like such a strange side story to have Nisha able to speak to the cats, but the story behind it (which I won't divulge and you have to get to the end for) was SO interesting! And I want MORE!

But Nisha was the real story for the entire book. She was so integral to the mystery surrounding the world, as she belonged but didn't even in a city full of outcasts. I loved the intrigue that surrounded her and in the end, she proved to be such an honorable and amazing young woman. I would love to see more about her as she continues through the world, learning more and more about who she was. It was amazing to see a young woman who had almost no past, present or future still fight to live and fight to protect those she loved. Nisha was the kind of character you want your young women to read about!

This book also delves to the heart of the issue of limiting children to families, as has been the case in China. They have the same problems of infanticide and female orphans China has faced in the rash solution to overpopulation, but the way the City of a Thousand Dolls has chosen to protect those orphan girls is amazing and controversial at the same time. Many are married off or taken as mistress to the highest "bidder", while others become healers and musicians. It isn't a perfect system, but the Matron is doing the best she can for girls who would otherwise never have a future. The idea of sacrificing a few to unhappy lives to save the many comes up more than once, and it is discussion-worthy. I would definitely have a student read this book and research China's practices and consequences when we were done. Sometimes a fantasy world can help you see more about your own world than you thought it could! 

Dance of Mediocre Shadows

Dancing, like music, can be a spiritual thing, but when the people surrounding get too caught up in it, it can get dangerous. In Yelena Black's Dance of Shadows, Vanessa already knows how dangerous the New York Ballet Academy can be, but she doesn't care. She cares about finding her missing sister.

Vanessa has been accepted to the prestigious New York Ballet Academy, but her parents are obviously nervous about her actually attending since her sister disappeared from the same Academy years ago. Still, they let her go, and she is determined to attend. For Vanessa, ballet is addictive, almost a drug, but there is something even more important at the Academy than dance: answers about her sister's disappearance. 

When she gets there, she realizes there are many dark secrets to the Academy. The lead choreographer, Josef, is ruthless in his control of all the dancers, and it turns out Vanessa's sister isn't the only lead ballerina to disappear. In fact, every girl who was made lead in the Firebird has disappeared, along with some others. But it seems anyone who digs too deep goes missing as well. And when Vanessa is made lead in Firebird as a freshman, she starts to get close to the truth. When a friend of hers goes missing suddenly, the shadows around the studio become all too apparent. Vanessa will not give up on her sister and the other girls, but she may be playing with fire...

Sadly for me, I didn't think this was a stellar story. I was very interested in the ballet angle, the missing girls, etc., but where this story went was particularly odd. But that wasn't the only thing I struggled with. First, the characters weren't well-developed, including Vanessa. They were all very flat for me, and even the love triangle with Zeppelin and Justin was so dry I just didn't particularly care who she ended up with. 

**SPOILERS AHEAD** And even worse for me was the supernatural element. I think the mystery of the missing girls was a great angle, but wouldn't a school be shut down if it lost 13 girls in 20 years, especially with so few kids accepted into the school?? How does that go unnoticed? But even so, the supernatural element was odd. It wasn't particularly interesting for me, and I love supernatural books. Also, the "mystery" was relatively predictable and seriously?? A necrodancer? Oh, boy. That was a stretch. Worse yet is that this is supposed to be a trilogy. As if one demon of the dance wasn't bad enough, now we plan to track down all the evil ballet demon summoners? *END SPOILER*

So, sadly I will most likely not be reading the next book in the trilogy. If I do, it will most likely be a moment of weakness to see where the story leads. I wasn't particularly thrilled with this book and I wish the story was as flawless as the beautiful cover. 

Will Haunt You Long After You Finish

Some books are haunting and others literally haunt you. This book, both physically (the cover and graphics are amazing) and as literature, will stay in the back of your head for long after you have finished it. I was surprised by the content of this story, as it turned out to be much different from what I expected, but I was absolutely not disappointed. Lauren Myracle really threw herself into Shine. You can tell there is a piece of her soul left on these pages, and you won't be the same once you have read it.

Cat and Peter grew up in Black Creek, NC, a small, rural community that keeps its skeletons in the closet and has no tolerance for anything that might come out of the closet. This is your typical southern community rife with poverty and homophobia. Everyone has "known" Peter was gay, but by not acknowledging it they don't have to confront the issue of their own homophobia.

Over the past few years, Cat and Peter have drifted apart due to her pulling away. She didn't sink into herself to get away from Peter, but rather to escape the shame of a sexual assault by one of her brother's and Peter's friends. When Peter is brutally attacked at the gas station where he works, left beaten almost to death with a gas novel taped to his mouth and a homophobic message left scrawled across him, Cat knows she must come out of her self-imposed exile in order to save her best friend. She knows she is the only one who can find the truth, because the rest of the community is content to assume the attack was made by strangers and move on with their lives. Cat has a feeling Peter was attacked by someone in their community and she will do anything to find out who hurt her friend.

As Cat digs deeper and deeper, she uncovers many nasty details about the lives of the people she grew up with, including her brother Christian. When she learns some of the boys have been dealing and using meth for the local drug dealer, she knows she is treading dangerous waters. As secrets are revealed that were never meant to see the light of day, Cat has to come to terms with her own demons as well as the ones who hurt Peter. Can she find out who hurt her friend without becoming the next victim?

This is a beautiful and ugly story all at once. The ugliness of the community's prejudices are blanketed by the beauty of how Myracle writes such a difficult story. Underneath the pain and shame of the surface story lies one of love, friendship, and loyalty. What happens to Peter is so hard to read about, but Cat's devotion to him and the truth is overwhelming. The beauty of this story is the lesson to the reader that anyone can overcome something ugly. Anyone can overcome hate and ignorance, they just have to believe in themselves. In a world that is still full of homophobia, racism, prejudice, and ugliness of other manners, it is important to realize that just one person can make a difference. One person can change things.

The language in this book can be mature at times, but so can the story itself. While this is a difficult and mature story full of attempted rape and hate crimes, the difficult nature is handled beautifully. This is a story you can share with your children and students and be sure you will both come out of the experience having grown and changed. In a world that can be really ugly at times, we need to have these kinds of conversations with our children. Sheltering children does not protect them from anything, it just leaves them unprepared when the inevitable ugliness of the world pokes its head out. A book like Myracle's Shine can prepare them for what is really out there.

Fall for Hush, Hush

Whomever has the nerve to say "don't judge a book by its cover" hasn't seen the cover of Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. This book is simply beautiful. And the story isn't far behind!

The story starts with Nora Grey, a girl who isn't terribly interested in the guys at her school, is suddenly very aware of the new guy, Patch. He is dark, mysterious, and possibly quite dangerous- all the things a teenage girl shouldn't want but can't resist. When it seems as though Patch is following her and turning up in the oddest place, Nora begins to wonder what is really going on behind those brooding eyes. But her friend Vee is determined to pair the two of them up with an odd duo of guys they met. In fact, Vee wants Nora to stop seeing Patch. So does Nora's new guidance counselor. From being followed by a mysterious person, to a few near-fatal encounters, Nora knows something is going on, but has no idea that something is who Patch really is- a fallen angel. And there is even more to the story about why Patch has shown up in Nora's life than you can imagine.

I really enjoyed this book, but I was a little concerned by two things: striking similarities to Twilight and 3/4 of the book without knowing anything about who Patch really is. From the "cute meet" in biology class, to the internet search that gleans vital information, there are certainly some similarities between Fitzpatrick's novel and Stephanie Meyers epic series. While they are glaring, and I do think Fitzpatrick would have been better off if she carefully chose situations that did not make us instantly think of Bella and Edward, I think this book still holds a good story.

However, leaving the meat of the story until the last 1/4 of the book was not the wisest decision. I think the vagueness and confusion of both the plot and the narrator is something that could easily turn a reader off. In fact, we don't actually know anything about the big conflict until the last 50 pages of the book (and this is a 400 page book)! While the information leading up to the big reveal is certainly interesting, by the time I finished the book, I was saying to myself, "Well, heck, Becca! Why not bring this out earlier! I want to know more!"

If you give this book a chance, though, you will find an intriguing story about Fallen Angels and Nephilim (human/fallen angel offspring). The book has a lot to offer if you give it a chance, but it might not be the best choice for a reader who needs to be grabbed by a story. Suggest this book for the student who can plow through pages, not the one who needs to be prodded along. Give it a chance, but leave the comparisons behind- they will only leave you a little disappointed!

Marcelo in the Real World

by Francisco X. Stork

GE:  5.3

Interest Level:  Grades 9-12

Marcelo's father wants him to give up his summer job caring for the ponies at Paterson School. Marcelo's father wants him to spend the summer working in his law firm, where he can get a taste of the "real world." Marcelo's father wants him to spend his senior year at Oak Ridge High, where he will be challenged. Marcelo father makes a deal with him; if Marcelo can be successful at the law firm, Marcelo can choose which school he wants to attend in the fall. Though he's reluctant to give up his summer job, Marcelo sees no other choice. His concession will allow him to remain at Paterson for his senior year, and he knows he cannot survive at Oak Ridge High.

Marcelo (he's very clear that it's pronounced Mar-SEL-o, not Mar-CHEL-o) speaks of himself in the third person. He refers to his parents by their names, Arturo and Aurora. He hears music inside his head that no one else can hear (internal music, or IM, he calls it). He has an obsession with religion, and despite his Christian background, he meets regularly with the rabbit to discuss religious issues. He has regular appointments at the hospital, where his brain is scanned; the doctors never find much that is remarkable. Marcelo suffers from an unidentifiable disorder that falls somewhere on the autism spectrum.

When he is forced to leave the comfort of Paterson, Marcelo confronts challenges he never imagined: commuting to work on the train; binding documents in the mailroom; getting lost while delivering a document to a client for a signature. Marcelo befriends Jasmine, who runs the mailroom at the law office, and develops some degree of competence working there. He cannot work fast, but he can do the work that is asked of him, at least until Wendell, his father's partner's son, tries to blackmail him into setting him up with Jasmine. When the delicate balance of power between the sons of the owners is upset, Marcelo discovers a mystery and a coverup that force him to question his family loyalty and his understanding of right and wrong. When the mystery is unraveled, he realizes there is a future for him in the elusive "real world." 

Marcelo is a captivating character. Although the mystery of the injured girl Ixtel and the Vidromax windshield manufacturers carries the story forward, the greatest interest for me lay in Marcelo's development. The reader watches as he transforms from a student defined by his disability into a young man with "normal" hopes and dreams. The story dances around the theme of nature vs. nurture and the ways in which the environment can either limit or encourage personal development. If you like a good mystery, this is a good pick for you; if you like a good psychology novel, it's even better.