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It is hard seeing the final book of a beloved series be released, knowing it means that is it for your favorite characters. And the worst is if your started the series with the first book, waiting a year or more for each installment. After a few years, you look forward to that last book with as much anticipation as dread. That is how I felt about Forever, by Maggie Stiefvater, the conclusion of the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy.
Grace saved Sam from becoming a wolf forever by injecting him with meningitis, which fought off the wolf. Bought what neither of them expected, was that Grace was becoming a wolf. The horrible fever she had as a child that stopped her from shifting wasn't permanent. Just as Sam is cured, Grace is lost. Without Grace, Sam is completely lost. it doesn't help that Grace is officially missing and the entire town, Grace's dad and the police included, think Sam killed her. But there are bigger problems in Mercy Falls than Grace and Sam. Isabel's father, seeking revenge on the wolves he thinks killed his son, has finally won his petition to remove the Mercy Falls pack from the protected list and organize a hunt via helicopter- one where the wolves will have no chance of survival.
With Grace, Beck, and the others out in the pack, Isabel, Sam and Cole are desperate to find a way to stop the hunt. Cole takes a different means of attack by trying to simultaneously find a way to catch a wolf (Grace in particular) and cure them or turn them human again (even if only briefly). While Cole's ego is tough to take at times, his devotion to Grace and Sam leads him to practice his concoctions on himself. Even Isabel, who can't admit she loves him, thinks he has lost it. What they don't understand is that Cole has never really had family before, and he considers them family and will do anything to save them. When the hunt is moved up, they must do anything to get the wolves to safety, even if it means trusting people they never thought they could trust. The fate of the Mercy Falls wolves are in the hands (or paws) of a few teenagers. Can they pull it off?
I hate to say it, but I was underwhelmed by this story. The excitement of saving the wolves was basically ignored (with the exception of Cole) until the last quarter of the book. Most of the book was Sam pining for Grace and Grace unable to control her shifting. It left me a little annoyed with the main characters and more interested in the chapters about Cole and Isabel. Cole's character is the most interesting, with his crusty exterior and complete, surprising devotion to the people he now calls family. Otherwise, the story was very slow until the very end. I was surprised and expected more from the final installment of this series.
The story is appropriate for any middle school through high school student. As the last piece of a trilogy, it won't make much sense without having read the first two books. I am sure anyone who got this far will want to read the book to finish out the series. I was, however, very happy with the ending. It was bittersweet, but I think it ended well. Now I will be waiting impatiently for Stiefvater's new series to be released!
When we last saw Evie, she had been released from the International Paranormal Containment Agency (IPCA). Assumed dead thanks to the woman who raised her who works for IPCA, Evie was free to live the normal life she always dreamed about. The problem? Normal is pretty boring. In Supernaturally, by Kiersten White, we see how Evie is drawn to the paranormal world, whether she wants to admit it or not.
While Lend is in college, Evie has moved in with a cantankerous vampire, works in a paranormal-friendly diner run by a tree sprite and a gnome, but high school is her biggest challenge. Try as she might, she just can't bring herself to care about the mundane nonsense everyone in high school seems to obsess about. When she is contacted by IPCA to take occasional jobs and help them out on the understanding that she can pick and choose what jobs she wants, Evie jumps at the idea. Even though Lend doesn't want her to. Her first few jobs go awry, especially as Evie is trying to reconcile herself with IPCA's motives. They swear to have stopped their more controversial practices, like neutering werewolves, and convince Evie they are only trying to protect innocent people from harmful paranormals. But when one of her jobs leads her to a group of trolls assumed to be keeping humans as slaves, instead she finds kind trolls who bought their land themselves and live peacefully- except for the horrid vampire who has been feeding on their children.
Since Evie refused to use any fey on her jobs (thanks to being kidnapped by Reth, her faerie former boyfriend), she is given Jack as a paranormal taxi. Jack is a human who can travel the faerie paths without getting lost for all of eternity- not something humans are supposed to be able to do. Despite Lend's irritation with IPCA and Jack, Evie finally starts to feel useful with her new job. She even starts to spend more time with Jack and ventures into the faerie world with him. Unfortunately, there is something brewing among faeries and she keeps finding herself in strange and dangerous situations. Is someone trying to hurt Evie? Can she figure out who before they succeed?
I was surprisingly underwhelmed by this sequel, which was incredibly disappointing since i loved the first book so much. The book jacket described some faerie war where both the good (Seelie) and bad (Unseelie) courts of fey were fighting over her, but there was almost nothing in this book about that war. I kept thinking it was building up to it and it would be along shortly, but once I was done with 3/4 of the book, I realized it wasn't coming! There was a slight mention of the fey wanting her, but no war like the jacket and book descriptions all mentioned. Instead, the story was kind of slow and much more teenage angst than paranormal story. I have no problem with teenage angst, but with a title like Supernaturally, I was left wondering where the heck the supernatural stuff really was! It was there, but more as an after thought than the focus of the story. It also pained me to see Evie portrayed more as a whiny teen girl when she was so saucy and snarky in the last book, which I loved.
The writing and content for this book is appropriate for any kid in middle school through high school. The plot wouldn't be understandable without first reading Paranormalcy, but I would rather give a student who liked the first book a different title than this sequel. Some might like it, but there is more out there that is much more exciting. I have to say I am sadly disappointed by this book. I expected so much more after such an amazing first book!
Can you imagine if someone could literally step into your dreams? What would you be embarrassed by? Horrified by? Now imagine every time someone fell asleep next to you and started to dream, you were thrown violently into their dream while your body convulsed on the floor like you were having a seizure. Could happen in study hall, at work, even while you were driving. Sound creepy? Then pick up Wake by Lisa McMann and learn how Janie handles her unwanted gift.
Janie realized at a young age she had to avoid people who were sleeping. She manages to do so pretty well at home since her mother is usually passed out drunk. Janie is generally avoided at school since her clothes are too small or grungy or not the current fad, but when Carrie moves in next door, she doesn't let prejudice and gossip dictate who she will be friends with. Unfortunately, that means she is also friends with Melinda, the Queen Bee who hates Janie with a passion. When Carrie invites them both over for a sleepover, Janie's journey into Carrie and Melinda's dreams are too much information. She realizes sleepovers are just not a good idea.
Janie works hard, saving money for college, since their mother drinks any money that didn't go to pay the rent. When Cabel, another kid who was generally ignored through high school, shows up at school with a new haircut, a new wardrobe, and has all the other girls drooling, Janie is shocked when he pays attention to her. Their budding relationship is rocky at best, especially since they both seem to be hiding something. When Janie admits her ability, she expects Cabel to share his secrets too, but instead he sends her mixed messages. When he starts hanging out and partying with the popular crowd and rumors start floating that he is a drug dealer, Janie refuses to speak to him. But what she doesn't realize is there is much more to Cabel's life than he is allowed to tell her. So much, it makes her dream walking seem pretty tame!
Wake was a fun little book, only topping out at 200 pages. It is broken up really well with chapters broken up in chunks of time according to what Janie is doing at the time. This makes it a good book for oral reading in one-on-one tutoring or to be read in short chunks. Because it is so broken up, you have frequent places to stop without breaking up the action. The story is very tame and appropriate for younger students. The writing level is fairly low, but it deals with serious topics such as alcoholism and drugs, so it would also be appropriate for an older student with low reading skills.
The story itself is interesting, but not terribly complicated. I will admit I didn't see the truth behind Cabel's life coming, but once it was explained, I could see how McMann was setting it up (I was just dense- a more savvy reader might figure it out earlier). That makes this a bad book for any of those kids who can analyze and dissect a movie plot 10 minutes into it (I am not one of those people- Usual Suspects and Sixth Sense were made for people like me). Those kinds of kids might get bored by this story. Even so, it is a good middle reader-ish story and I enjoyed it. I also plan to pick up the other two books in the trilogy because it ended with tons of potential for Janie and Cabel's future! So stay tuned for those reviews to come!
When we last left Calla, she was trying to save Shay from being sacrificed at her bonding to Ren. In their attempt to escape, they were trapped in his house by Incubi, Succubi, and a whole other host of creepy creepers. Just before they were about to be overcome, the Searchers, the very group Calla was raised to fear, fight, and kill, comes to their rescue and take Calla and Shay back to their base. In Wolfsbane, Andrea Cremer gives a whole new meaning to plot twist.
Just when you thought you knew who the bad guys were, you find out you were wrong. The Searchers tell Calla and Shay they are really the good guys who have been fighting the evil Keepers all their lives. The Searchers respect magic and the natural way, when the Keepers defy nature every day. In particular, by creating the Guardians. They want to gain the trust of Calla's pack because having the Guardians on their side is the only way they can stop the evil of the Keepers. But when Calla travels back to Vail, the group is attacked and she quickly realizes the packs have been changed. Nightshades are following the Bane alpha, Ren's father, and her pack is nowhere to be found.
When Calla's brother Ansel arrives after being accidentally shot by Searchers, Calla manages to heal him with her pack blood. Unfortunately, Ansel is more damaged than she originally thought- as punishment, his wolf was permanently removed, stripping him of being a Guardian. Ansel is inconsolable and Calla doesn't know how to help him. When he tells her of the horrors her pack has suffered since she ran away, Calla is determined to help him. A group of Searchers volunteer to come along to help, but what they find is not a full and willing pack awaiting them. Now Calla must find a way to reconcile with losing half her pack, her feelings for both Ren and Shay, and how they all plan to work together to save the world from the Keepers.
This was an excellent follow up novel and sets you right up for the final book in the trilogy. The Searchers added a great group of supporting characters, both with their own problems, love triangles, and reasons for being involved in the supernatural war. Some are serious, some hilarious, but they really added to the story. One really amazing thing I noticed in this story and the first book were the abundance of positive gay characters. In the first book, two young male wolves are in love, but they know their keeper has the ultimate say in mating and would never pair to male wolves. In this book, two female Searchers are a couple and when one is lost on a mission, you see the real grief experienced in losing the person you love. These characters were so positive and just a natural part of the story instead of being forced in for a specific objective. It made me so happy! These healthy, loving relationships are great for young adults to read about. While the stories about the negative end of being a gay teen are so vitally important to our young readers for empathy, I really like seeing happy couples who love each other. Cremer did a beautiful job with them in her story, and I think it is an invaluable exposure for young adults.
The reading and age level for this book is similar to the first book. There is a little more intimacy in this story, as Calla is no longer bound by the Keepers' rules, but it still isn't overdone or gratuitous. The story is exciting enough to keep any reader engaged and make them crave the next book. I know I am!
When you think of "werewolves" I am sure you think of those creepy man/wolf concoctions that run around on two legs and are entirely too disturbing to really like much (unless it is Oz from Buffy the Vampire Slayer" of course!). But with the Shiver series, we found ourselves loving the kind of werewolves who are really shape shifters- they go between fully human and fully wolf, depending on the circumstances. In Nightshade, by Andrea Cremer, we see this type of wolf. A shifter who can change when the situation calls for it, but who pulls off a relatively normal life considering they are half pooch!
A long time ago, a Witches War was fought and two types of witches emerged: Keepers and Searchers. Keepers try to protect the sacred places of power that tie this world and the nether world together while Searchers try to steal that power. It is a constant struggle that never ends. That's where the Guardians (werewolves) come in. They are the obedient soldiers who help the Keepers protect the powerful places and in return the Keepers give them the best homes, educations, and everything they need to live. The price? Guardians live under the direct orders of the Keepers and they can't even choose their own mates- the Keepers choose who they mate with.
Calla and Ren are the upcoming alphas of two rival packs: the Nightshades and the Banes. They are to be married in order to merge the young wolves of both packs together and create a third pack. While Calla would never think of disobeying an order, she resents the fact that she will never be able to marry for love. When a human boy named Shay comes to the school, he sends her world into a tailspin. He seems to be connected to the Keepers, but still doesn't understand the world around him. When she saves him after a fatal bear attack by giving him her blood, enchanted pack blood, her secret is out. Now Shay will do anything to get to know Calla more, even irritate Ren, the pack alpha who could rip Shay to pieces.
When Calla is ordered by her Keeper to keep an eye on Shay, she reluctantly starts spending time with him. He comes across a forbidden book that the Guardians will only read under the punishment of death. Even though she is scared of the book at first, she lets him convince her to translate and research the book, which turns out to be a history of the Witches War through a prophecy that seems to have something to do with Shay. Unsure of Shay's role in her marriage and the Guardian world, Calla begins to have feelings for Shay, even though she knows it is completely forbidden. What she doesn't know is Shay's role in her world is very dangerous, so dangerous it may put her entire pack and the only life she's ever known in jeopardy. Is Shay worth the risk to Calla's entire world?
The pack dynamic and obedience vs. dominance in this story is very interesting. It transcends through to the Keepers who claim the wolves are their soldiers while Shay claims they are nothing more than slaves. The huge amount of control they have over the wolves is clear, but at first it seems to be an understandable arrangement. It becomes quickly clear, however, that the Keepers take too many liberties with the wolves, including their romantic interests in the young wolves (who have to obey the Keeper's wishes). This is a hard dynamic to deal with and understand, and makes the book very interesting.
The writing for this story is average skill level for junior high to high school students and the content is appropriate for a wide range of ages. The story is gripping right from the first chapter, so despite its length, there is no trouble convincing yourself to stay with the book. There is a pretty standard love triangle, but I am not going to lie, I am a total sucker for a love triangle! And this one is tough because you like and dislike both guys enough that you find it hard to pick a side: Team Shay or Team Ren! I guess for now I will hold off picking a side until I read the next book- maybe that will sway my decision more!
What happens when we put our heads down and ignore all the bad things around us? Do they just go away, or do they come back to haunt us? Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King is a phenomenal story that shows the life of an average girl who struggled to ignore what was happening around her and prayed everyone ignored her very existence. Fortunately and unfortunately, that was impossible.
Vera has been friends with Charlie since they were in elementary school. They have suffered through his abusive father, her mother leaving when she was 12, and deep dark secrets they only shared with one another. But when Charlie starts hanging out with a bad group of kids, drugs ad alcohol aren't the only changes to his life. The girl he starts dating, Jenny, is manipulative, a liar, and hates Vera's relationship with Charlie. When she tells Charlie things she swears Vera has been spreading around school about Charlie, he believes Jenny instead of Vera, who would never say such things. He finally joins the rank of the others and starts torturing Vera in every way possible, from throwing dog poo at her to telling the school how her mother was a stripper when Vera was a baby. Charlie's betrayal is more than even when her mother abandoned her.
Now, almost a year later, Charlie is dead and blamed of a heinous crime. Vera deals with her emotionally unavailable father and works a full time job in addition to going to school, just like he tells her to do. Of course, the vodka bottle beneath her car seat she uses just to get through the day and numb the pain is nothing her father would understand- especially since he has always warned her about their "alcoholic genes" they must be careful of. As Vera's destructive behavior continues, her father is desperate to save her, even if it means accepting the pain he still suffers and would prefer to ignore. What he doesn't expect to uncover is the truth behind Charlie's death.
Please Ignore Vera Dietz is a story you simply cannot ignore. Told in a series of flashbacks to the times when Vera and Charlie were young as well as snapshots of Vera's life now, it slowly gives you snapshots that add up together into a story you can't ignore. The story isn't revealed immediately, and you truly don't know everything until the very end, but you won't want to stop until you find out exactly what happened. It is one of those stories that pulls you into the whirlwind and won't let you go until it spits you out all disheveled and discombobulated.
The story has some mature content and language, but it is handled beautifully and in a way that opens up so many important discussions between you and the reader. Charlie starts selling his underwear to a perv he met on the street, but when things escalate, he doesn't know what to do. Vera knows her family's history, but can't break out of her inevitable future. Perhaps she feels she deserves to suffer like her whole family did because they had her so young. It also raises the question of when you should step in and do something when you know your neighbor is terrorizing and beating his wife and child. At what point do we need to become involved. Although this book has some mature language and content, it is just too important to censor from kids. I would suggest this story for mature middle school students through high school students, but be prepared to talk about it. Not only will your student want to talk about it, you will need to talk about it too.
I'm not even sure how to review this book. It was so dark and terrifying, yet so enthralling, I can't even bring myself to talk about it. I know it was written as a young adult novel, but it defies all boundaries and rules the genre set down. Rotters by Daniel Kraus defies all boundaries, adult, young adult, and everything in between. If you go into this book thinking you know what is going to happen, you are going to be sadly mistaken!
Joey's mother dies in a freak accident and he is shipped off to live with his father who he never met. When he gets to the filthy hovel his father calls a cabin, Joey knows live has changed forever. His father disappears for days, and with no food in the cabin and no money, Joey is literally starving. When he is caught trying to steal money out of a locker to buy lunch after days without a meal (or seeing his father), he confesses his living situation to the principal. They put him on free lunches and summon his father to come to the school as soon as he returns. When his father finally comes back home and goes to the school, it is clear they forced him not to leave Joey alone, and Ken Harnett is not happy about it.
Harnett starts getting anxious and slips out at night occasionally. After snooping around the cabin, Joey assumes his father robs recently deceased people's homes. He follows Harnett one night and discovers something so gruesome he can barely process it: Harnett is a grave robber. He digs up graves and steals the valuables, expertly replacing every piece of dirt or tuft of sod so no one knew he was there. Joey is oddly interested and insists (blackmails) Harnett into taking him on the next dig. On his rookie run, Joey is in for the lesson of his life that changes his very sense of being.
After working for a time with Harnett, they head off to witness the relocation of an entire cemetery: an event that brings all the Diggers together, despite their strictly observed territories. It is here that Joey meets the other Diggers and starts to learn about the mysterious culture and rules surrounding them. The Diggers are a mix of strange men, some who take solace in books, one looks like a deranged Santa Claus, but they all have something in common... they are all loners. For Harnett to not only have an apprentice, but for that apprentice to be a son is a defiance of all Digger rules. The superstitious group grudgingly accepts Joey, but one Digger is feared and avoided by all: Baby. Raised as brothers, Baby and Harnett have a tumultuous history, but Baby's rapid downward spiral into drugs, delusions, and a deranged psychosis makes everyone nervous about his presence. When Baby takes an interest in Joey (and even thinks Joey is his son at times), things begin to get dangerous. But nothing can compare to biggest desecration of the most important grave in Joey and Harnett's life. Can Baby be stopped? How far will he go in his madness? Do the Diggers deserve redemption?
This book will not only break down every boundary of humanity and society you think you know, it will also take twists and turns you didn't think possible. Joey is your normal, average kid who ended up in a crappy situation, but his move changes his very being, making the Digger in him seep deep into his bones. He becomes a different person, not just one who is bullied in high school and has a crush on the Queen Bee, but one who sees people at their most vulnerable- their final resting place. It makes him more of a loner, willing to acknowledge that the Digger's solitary life doesn't just protect the Digger, but also the people around them.
I don't know how to describe my feelings for this book because I almost feel dirty or embarrassed to have liked it! It was one of those creepy stories that you can't help but get sucked into, but can you really admit you liked it? It was so morbid and disturbing that I really don't think I have every read another book like it. This book is a true original, and you won't be the same after the first pages you flip through. Just like Digger life changed Joey, it will change you too.
For the sole reason of content, I would save this book for an older reader, maybe 11th grade and up. It is very mature and deals with some really heavy ideas and societal norms. Discussions about desecration of graves and eternal resting places are sure to come up, but the problem is this book precludes those discussions from being black and white. It will change every way you think about things you always thought were clearly right or wrong. There is some mature language, but that isn't the reason to save this book for a more mature reader, it is the shear morbid content that requires it. I suggest reading this book before you share it with a student so you know who is up for the strange and disturbing ride. You will love this book, but you won't know how to feel about the fact that you love this book!
