16 Year Old Assassin vs. Pirate Lord

No one would think a 16 yr old girl could best a pirate lord. But no one has seen Celaena in action before. The assassin's apprentice may look young and innocuous, but there is nothing that can stop her when she has set her mind to something- not even being trapped on an island with hundreds of angry, violent, murderous pirates.

When Celaena's master sends her, the heir to the Assassin's Guild, to settle a debt with the pirate lord, she is annoyed that he also sends Sam, the boy her master passed over to make her the heir. But what sends Celaena off is when she realizes their presence on the island had nothing to do with accusing the pirate king of killing three assassins. It was to broker a deal entering the Assassin lord into the slave trade. Celaena may be a kill for hire, but she will not settle for entering innocent people into slavery. But how can a young girl take on this battle by herself? Maybe she isn't alone...

This was such a good short story, I can't wait to read the other four. I was a little skeptical about these short stories Maas released before the big release of the Throne of Glass series, but I was totally wrong. In the first book of the series, we already saw Celaena captured and fighting to regain the foothold she used to have, but with this short story, we see her in her prime. We see her as the full assassin she was born and trained to be. And it is... AWESOME! This is a great way to continue with the series (even though it is a prequel). If you liked the series or if you haven't started it and need something to entice you, try this short story. You will get hooked! (pun intended!)

Fast Paced Action Will Seize You

When we think of "accidentally walked into an experiment and was infected" we think of Peter Parker and crazy Spidey Senses, right? Well what if they were just kids who wanted to save some animals who ended up becoming part animal themselves? When Tory and her friends were infected in Kathy Reichs first novel in the series, Virals, they gained wolf senses. Now they have super hearing, sight, smell, taste, and sometimes even telepathy. But that doesn't keep them out of trouble in Seizure.

Tory and the other three in the "pack" get to live in island paradise of the Carolinas because their parents all work at the laboratory on one of the islands. Thanks to the bad press surrounding the animal testing a crazy scientist was conducting that the wolf pack unearthed (and subsequently gained their wolf-ish-ness), the lab is closing and the island is being sold. The three boys are ready to give up, but Tory won't let the pack get broken up, especially if selling the island endangers the wolves and monkeys and other animals on the island. She has a plan to save the island but no one, not even the rest of the pack, can really imagine it working out.

The plan involves Anne Bonney, the famous female pirate who was supposed to have buried her treasure in Charleston. Tory is convinced they, especially with their super super senses, can find the treasure and have enough money to buy the island and keep them all together. Whether it be stealing a treasured map from a local museum, swindling a pawn broker, escaping thugs, discovering centuries-old pirate booby traps, breaking out their crazy former classmate from the loony bin, or deciphering clues left by shifty pirates, the pack can't seem to give up with Tory at the helm. She just knows the treasure is still out there and nothing will stop her from saving the island... not even endangering the lives of the entire pack!

This was a really fun story with a lot of action to keep you hooked. I am not sure how we went from science experiments to pirates in this series, but I didn't mind! It was something like Pirates of the Caribbean meets National Treasure, complete with deadly booby traps and tricky clues. But Tory is a fun, headstrong character who won't give up when she sets her mind to something. The boys in the pack don't really know what they get themselves into until it is too late, and they make hilarious supporting characters.

The story is long but fast-paced and clean enough for any middle school through high school student. Anyone who is a fan of the Bones series would most likely enjoy this series (and Temperance Brennan even makes a couple of brief appearances). They are kind of goofy at times, but there is nothing wrong with that! I couldn't put the book down! The action was a lot of fun and kept you wondering what was around the next corner. And trust me... you won't see anything coming!

A High Seas Adventure

Who can resist a story full of cheeky pirates and sword flailing adventure? I was a little hesitant about this story at first, because I generally don't like time travel stories, but Carrie Vaughn rocks this fun pirate story. Steel is a great story with a strong female lead who takes things as they come, even when she is tossed onto a pirate ship centuries before her time.

Jill is a champion fencer, but when she loses the most important match of her career, her world changes in more ways than one. After the loss, her parents decide to take a trip to the Caribbean to lift her spirits and get her out of her room. While on vacation, though, she refuses to pull out of her funk. When she finds the rusted, corroded tip of a rapier on the beach, she feels inexplicably drawn to the sword fragment. Her pull to the sword makes her take it with her on a boat ride with her parents. When she accidentally falls overboard, she and the sword are transported back in time to a pirate ship where the sword tip is more than just a cool artifact- it is the object of a deadly feud between the Diana's Captain Marjory Cooper and her nemesis, Captain Blane.

Aboard the Diana, Jill gets a quick lesson in pirate life. She is forced to swear an oath to the ship or be put in the gallows. When she chooses to sign the oath, she becomes part of the crew- most of which involves endless scrubbing of the deck and seriously hard work. At first she is terrified of the crew and their fearless female captain, but quickly she begins to see they are more of a family. At one point, they even take over a slave ship and deliver the slaves to safety. Jill grew up thinking all pirates were thieves and self-serving, but she quickly finds out there is more to the story. Despite her desire to get back home in any way possible, Jill begins to care for her crew and captain.

But the issue of the broken rapier still exists. Captain Cooper tells Jill it is the piece of Captain Blane's sword she threw in the ocean. Blane used the evil and mystical sword to try and form a pirate empire in the Atlantic- one that would ensure terror and evil controlled the sea and no one would escape. When she defeated Blane, she destroyed the sword, but now that the piece has come back, Blane is chasing the Diana in a murderous effort to reclaim it. Jill must help the crew of the Diana defeat Blane, but ultimately, Jill must find her way home. Will Blane's defeat help her get home or is she stuck on this pirate ship forever?

I love when historical fiction brings strong messages with an exciting story, and that is exactly what Vaughn did with Steel. She showed a world where women should have been second-class citizens, but instead they were captains of mighty ships and revered like any other fair and just captain. On the ship itself, Jill became an equal to the other men (although it required a little time and proof that she was worthy of their respect). This is a strong book with strong characters who I would be proud to share with my students, male and female alike. In fact, although the main character is a girl, this is a great book for both boys and girls. Nothing about it is "girlie" and who doesn't love a girl who fences anyway?!

The language is moderate and there are no inappropriate circumstances. The violence is limited and not overt or gruesome. This is a great book for any high skilled 6-7th grader through a high school student. It has great characters and plenty of action to keep anyone hooked. While it would certainly appeal to a kid who enjoys pirate stories (Pirates of the Caribbean wholeheartedly included) it also would appeal to someone who knows nothing of pirate lore. Vaughn knocked it out of the park with this fun adventure, and I can't wait to see what she does next!

When All the Water is Gone...

With such a haunting and beautiful cover, this post-apocalyptic story by Cameron Stracher had a lot to live up to. How do you take a scary scenario and breathe some life into a hopeless world? The Water Wars does it with strong characters who keep you rooting for them through every obstacle and struggle.

Vera and Will live in a world where the water is gone, and with it, life as we know it has gone as well. People survive on genetically modified foods, are given water rations that barely keep them alive, and dream of the days with grass, animals, and rain. When Vera sees the new boy, who rides in a limo and has a bodyguard, pour a cup of water out onto the road, she knows there is something different about Kai. No one wastes water anymore, not when there isn't enough to keep the world alive.

Kai tells Vera and Will about a hidden river, and they can't stop thinking about it. One day, Kai takes Vera to an old abandoned mill where he shows her the water in a hidden aquifer below the surface. Later, when she and Will go to find Kai, they discover his body guard shot and his apartment trashed. Kai is nowhere to be found. Worried about their friend, they take off after him, using his father's notebook they found in the apartment. From the minute they leave their small, dehydrated town, they find themselves on a whirlwind journey that they just barely survive.

Kidnapped by pirates, they are taken out of Illinowa and to Minnestoa. There, environmental terrorists blow a dam that almost kills Vera and Will. Now they find themselves in the hands of the most brutal and greedy group- the environmentalists who destroy the earth just as quickly as the others, if they can make a profit doing so. Just when they think all hope is lost, Ulysses, the pirate leader, comes to their rescue. They continue on their journey to find Kai, but in the meantime, they realize all they knew about their government, the water, and the world is wrong. Now they must rely on the help of outlaws and pirates to get to Kai in time. Can they do it?

This was a really interesting post-apocalyptic tale. Since it was a shorter novel, it would be a good start for a student who is interested in this kind of topic but hasn't read much yet. The writing is fairly simple, and the horror of the story isn't in the language or the gruesomeness, but rather in the sheer possibility of something like this being possible. It would be a good story for any age group, from late elementary students through high school. It is particularly good for older students with lower reading abilities who want a mature subject. The action is non-stop and will keep the attention of any reader.

The beauty of this story is that even when the worst thing possible happens, there is still a way to survive it all and come out on top. Even when Vera or Will were ready to give up, the other one kept them both going, refusing to give up on their friend Kai. Nothing was going to stop these two kids. I also liked the idea that things are not always as they seem. With the pirates and the other outlaws, the ones who you would assume are good people turn out to be horrible and greedy, and the pirates turn out to be pretty good people- Ulysses even risks his life to save the kids. This story will defy all your assumptions and keep you reading until the very end. There is never a dull moment in a world where there isn't enough water.