Alchemy of the Soul

How does the soul connect to our body? Is it possible to still be you if you lost a limb? A heart? A head? So what makes us who we are? And if we answer that question, what keeps our souls connected to our bodies? In The Alchemy of Forever by Avery Williams, alchemy has answered those questions, and corrupted the very meaning of life.


Seraphina has been alive for 600 years, but she must change bodies every ten years or so. That is how long it takes for her soul to burn out the host body. Seraphina was made an Incarnate by Cyrus, an alchemist who brought her back to life after she had been attacked. At the time, it seemed like the natural thing to do, save your own life, but now she knows being an Incarnate is anything but natural. In fact, it makes her and the rest of the coven into cold-blooded murderers and she can't take it anymore. She is ready to end her life, permanently. 


But cyrus would stop her if he knew what she was planning. He enjoys controlling their coven and wouldn't appreciate Sera leaving them. She has a plan to escape, complete with a get-away vehicle and a way to finish her life for the last time. But nothing goes as plan. And a final act of kindness leads to her demise where a young girl gets into a horrific car accident right in front of her. Sera tries to save her, but the pull f the dying body is too much and Sera's soul takes over Kailey's body. Now stuck inside a 16 year old girl, Sera must find a way to live Kailey's life and stay hidden from Cyrus. What she doesn't expect is for Cyrus to find her so easily and for Sera to truly love the family who took in the woman who ended their daughter's life.


The idea of what makes us who we are has always intrigued me, and it is a question you can mull forever and never truly come to a conclusion for. In this book, we have a lot of questions, some unanswerable, some with necessary answers, but many go unanswered. I was surprised how many loose ends there were throughout this book. In fact, the ending felt more like the end of the first part of one volume rather than the end of an entire installment. There was so much left unsaid and unresolved, it felt unfinished and incomplete. I assume there is a second book since it just *ENDS*, but I haven't checked it out yet. I understand the idea of keeping the reader interested, but too many loose ends can be discouraging.


I did like the story, however, I just wished things were more complete. I liked the idea of jumping bodies and the moral issues attached to ended a life to further your own. It was a great moral dilemma that could encourage great discussions. I hope the next book has more explanations and answers, but fewer questions, of course. And I hope Kailey/Sera gets some resolution. The idea of her trapped between a man she desperately needs to escape and a family she has grown to love is quite an emotional roller coaster. 

Don't Forsake the Dystopia

Do you believe in nature or nurture? I ask my students this all the time. Fate vs. Free Will. Nature vs. Nurture. Can our choices determine who we become? Or are we destined for a specific future? In The Forsaken by Lisa M. Stasse, kids are all subjected to a test to determine whether they will become future criminals. And you don't want to fail this test.


Alenna watched her parents taken from their home by force. She was put in foster care, but even as an orphan, you don't escape the test that determines your possible criminal future. She can't imagine she would fail, but when she is put under for the test, she wakes up on the island, known as The Wheel to the residents of the penal colony. She knows the life expectancy on the wheel is only a few years, but she has no idea how to protect herself. She wakes up next to a boy she hopes she can trust, but when he gets injured, she has no choice but to abandon him and run away with the girl who saved them from the lunatic drones (other kids who follow the Monk). The Monk owns most of the island, but the other kids are struggling to hold on to their last piece of the wheel. 


They know their days are numbered, so they plan to find a way into the Gray area of the wheel- the only inaccessible piece that is protected by a strange bubble. But their plan to escape is delayed by attacks from the Monk's drones, sickness, and the feelers- creepy unmanned flying crafts that suck kids up into them. Those kids are never seen again once the feeler takes them. And the Gray area is the only place the feelers could be kept, so the kids know this mission would most likely mean a swifter death for anyone who goes. But that doesn't stop Alenna. She wants to find a way off the island... and she doesn't want to be left behind by Liam. Liam, the strong, fearless hunter, is leading the trip to the Gray area and nothing will stop them from getting there... but what about the Monk, the drones, the illness, and the feelers? How could they possibly make it?


This was a really interesting dystopia. The idea of screening kids for criminal futures and dumping them to survive on their own at a penal colony is terrifying and would be a real eye opener to any young adult. It also brings about the big question of Fate vs. Free Will. I love having this conversation with my students because they can never pick one side and stick with it. It is one of the ultimate unanswerable questions, and I enjoy the discussions it creates. Alenna wasn't my favorite character, though. I found her a little *meh*, and preferred Gadya, the girl who saved her in the beginning. She was feisty and angry, and I appreciated that. I was also confused by David, who just floated in and out of the story with no real purpose, explanation, or conclusion. Even by the end, I had no idea what his real purpose was.


But the rest of the story was really exciting and interesting. It was a dystopia that will appeal both to dystopia junkies like myself and the general population. There is even a little "Love of My Life" action in case you couldn't imagine a dystopia without an insta-love (rolling my eyes). I will definitely read the next book, but I wish there was a little more explanation by the end of this first book. Instead it opens up a whole new can of worms... and then just ENDS. So, if you can't handle the year+ wait, I suggest holding off for the next book, because you are gonna be ticked off by the ending!

A Savage Conclusion

Werewolves are tricky business. They are right up there with vampires in the "played out" category. But Bree Despain got in before the market was flooded and gave us a different kind of werewolf book. She gave us one full of mythology and faith and curses and real wolves. In The Savage Grace, her Dark Divine series comes to a thrilling and bittersweet conclusion.


Grace has sacrificed everything for Daniel. She has been infected with the Urbat curse (werewolfiness),  she has forsaken her family (granted her brother just tried to kill her), and she was forced to kill Daniel, the man she loves. Of course she only killed his wolfie, evil half, but now he has transformed into a giant white wolf and he can't shift back into a human. As each day passes, Daniel, the pack's true alpha, loses more and more of his connection to humanity and gets farther away from Grace. Not to mention he has left her with the "Lost Boys", the boys from Grace and Daniel's pack, now that Daniel has claimed Grace as his mate (a fact her father was NOT thrilled to learn about).


Grace throws herself into finding a way to bring Daniel back to the two-legged, less furry kind of boyfriend, but she is so concerned with saving Daniel, she doesn't realize how much danger she could be putting her friends and family in. Not to mention, she has two crazy packs after her for two very different reasons. Caleb, Daniel's insane father, has a pack of Urbats, demons and vampires ready to overthrow the pack and kill as many people as he can. That doesn't even consider Sirhan's ancient pack, who want Grace because they think she is the Divine One. But Grace feels like anything but Divine. She feels like she has failed everyone she has ever loved. Is redemption even a possibility at this point?


I am always a little skeptical about a book that has religion as a backdrop and not the focus. If it is the focus, I know what I am getting myself into and what to expect. If religion is a backdrop, it can either be handled very well, or it can become too preachy where it feels like a sneaky way to shame and guilt. I hate that. So I know I was skeptical at first that there was a religious element to this book, but it wasn't preachy or obnoxious in any way. In fact, it was so much a part of Grace and her family that a beautiful and faithful acceptance came out of all of them. It was the type of faith you can respect and appreciate rather than feel lectured by. I loved this part of Grace, and in the end, it was her compassion that set her and Daniel apart from the rest of the Urbats out there. In a world of hurt and viciousness, Grace is a healer with the compassion to care about even the people who want to kill or enslave her. That is a beautiful underlying moral in this story.


As a conclusion, this story had it all: action, fighting, redemption, and a bittersweet finale. It was an ending you don't totally expect, but are completely satisfied with. There are some losses, of course, but there are also some beautiful connections. The first half of the book is all about saving Daniel, and the second half is all about the threat of the other packs, so the book is very divided from one end to the other. But this doesn't feel forced or stretched at any point; it is just the evolution of Grace in this final installment. If you loved the rest of the series, this is a graceful (pun intended) way to say goodbye to your beloved characters. You won't be sorry, except to see them go.

The Future With Facebook

When I tell my students there were no real cell phones (remember the car phone in a bag??) and Facebook hadn't been created yet when I was in high school, they look at me like I was alive when dinosaurs roamed the earth. But what they don't realize is that their iPhones and Facebook and wireless internet are very young in the grad scheme of things. Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler examine what a teenager in the 1990's would do if they stumbled upon their future selves as is represented in Facebook in The Future of Us. 


It's 1996 and Emma's father got her a brand new computer as a consolation prize when he got remarried and started his replacement family. When Josh Templeton stops by, she is surprised since things have been awkward between them since he admitted he liked her. They are still friends, just not the kind of friends who hang out at each other's houses regularly anymore. So when he comes over, she is shocked, but excited by the AOL disc he is carrying. His mother got it in the mail and thought she might like it for her new computer since Josh's mother doesn't believe in the internet. when Emma pops the disc in, something strange happens. A screen called Facebook pops up. Emma checks it out and realizes the woman named Emma Nelson Jones is her... in the future.


She calls Josh over because she just can't believe what she is seeing. Married to a man who doesn't come home at nights and might be cheating on her is not how Emma hoped her future would turn out. But Josh is convinced this is all an elaborate joke. Until he sees his own Facebook page and he is married to the hottest girl in school. But every time they open up the program, their lives have changed. They begin to realize every choice they make changes their future in small ripples. Emma, sad about her depressing future, starts to do things to purposely change her future, but Josh is worried about ruining what seems like an awesome future. What they quickly realize, though, is that the future is something you can't predict or control. Or can you?


I loved Asher's book 13 Reasons Why. It rocked my literary world. So I had high hopes for this book. I liked this book, but it wasn't as good as 13. I think it had a much younger feel than the first book. Even though the characters are thinking about college and talking about graduation, their reactions and actions feel very young- almost middle school-like. Also, I LOVED the nostalgic nods to life in the 1990's (when I was in high school- yep. I'm that old). The music (Dave Matthews and Green Day) and the greeting when you first open AOL, instant messenger, etc. It was like I was back in high school again! Oh wait, I hated high school. Never mind! But seriously, the references were fun, but they would be totally lost on kids of today. The references to old technology would be interesting in an anthropological sense, but I don't think they would enjoy the pop culture references.


Still, the book was interesting and fun to read. The way small things changed their futures was something that makes you really think, especially about fate vs. free will. How can your choices change what you become in the future? This would be fun to talk with your students about, maybe even plan out how some choices could lead them to different future possibilities. I think the characters might seem to young for more mature students, but middle school through youngish high school students would appreciate this fun story. And most important moral of the entire book? When Josh asks, "Why would anyone say this stuff about themselves on the Internet? It's crazy!" (although this was a close second: "Why does it say she had three hundred and twenty friends? Who has that many friends?").

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!

City of Secrets and Lies

How many of us believe what our government, our bosses, or our parents tell us? We tend to believe and trust what people in positions of power tell us without questioning their motives. In Jeanne DuPrau's City of Ember: Books of Ember, Book One, she takes a world of darkness and shows how far a little light can really go. 


Lina Mayfleet has been given her job in the City of Ember. She is to report to Pipeworks, the worst, dirtiest, wettest job in the city of Ember that works underground keeping the city's pipes patched and running. Doon Harrow got the coveted position of Messenger, but he offers to trade Lina for Pipeworks. She is baffled by his choice but won't pass up a chance to be a messenger. Doon is determined to find a way to save Ember, and he thinks the answer might be the generator which is underground. 


The City of Ember is in trouble. The electricity is failing more frequently, the good canned goods are gone, leaving behind the ones people suffer through, and materials are becoming more and more scarce. The reason is the Builders of Ember never intended for the people of Ember to stay this long. They had a plan, complete with an exit route, mapped out, but through greed and selfishness and mishap, the box with the plans has been lost in Lina's house for generations, set to pop open at the appropriate time. When her little sister Poppy finds it and begins to eat it, Lina saves it before it is totally destroyed, but not before Poppy's drool erased some important parts. Lina goes to Doon and together they try to uncover the secrets that lie within the City of Ember. What they don't expect is that not everyone wants to hear about what they have found.


I have known about this series for quite some time, but never got around to reading it. I am really glad I finally did because it is quite phenomenal! It is most certainly a middle reader series, as the writing is very young and in particular, the characters are incredibly naive. There were times when Lina and Doon were reporting misdeeds they had encountered to the very people reaping the benefits (who clearly wouldn't be happy about a couple of kids revealing their thievery) and I was screaming, "No! Don't Do it! ARRGGHHH!" But, as very, very sheltered kids stuck in this little city where the only light is manufactured (and quickly running out), I guess I can see why they were so naive. They have never known anything other than following what their leaders tell them to do (in fact, they don't even know what a boat is). But while that naivete made me a little frustrated at times, it would be perfect for a younger reader, maybe a strong 3rd grader through low-skilled 7th grader who is themselves fairly naive. An older, more worldly student would be annoyed by the kids' lack of skepticism. 


The youngness of this series would make it a perfect addition to any middle reader shelves. All those kids whose parents were worried Hunger Games was too violent while the kids just want to read what is popular, might like this very different, yet very good dystopia. There is also a movie made of the first book! So keep this great story around for your younger readers intrigued by strange places and you will get them hooked, because the end of this book leaves off with the reader dying for more! You won't be able to resist!

A Tragedy Like No Other

You don't have to actually be a parent to know the most terrifying thing is the loss of your child. Whether it be illness or violence or kidnapping, the idea of a losing a child is terrifying to anyone and everyone. In Lisa McMann's Dead to You, the reader experiences the confusing and emotional return of a child who was kidnaped years earlier.

Nine years ago Ethan was abducted from his front yard when he was just 7 years old. Now he is a 16 year old about to be reunited with his family he has pretty much forgotten. He is terrified about meeting his family again, especially since the woman who took care of him all those years, Ellie, (and abandoned him, causing him to live in an orphanage and become homeless eventually), was someone he truly loved. As he returns, everyone wants to hear about the horrible woman who abducted him and the awful things she did to him, but he really doesn't have any stories like that. He loved Ellie.

But the transition back into the family isn't the worst for Ethan. He has a crush on his childhood best friend and she is very protective of him. He is overwhelmed at first by all the attention, but eventually, he settles into his new life. But Ethan's return is hardest on his younger brother Blake who was just four and in the front yard when Ethan was abducted. Blake is convinced Ethan is not really Ethan, that another boy has come to their home pretending to be Ethan. Ethan's father contemplates a DNA test, but Ethan's mother will not doubt her son. She knows if she asks him to take a DNA test, she will always be the mother who doubted her son. But why can't he remember anything from his life before the abduction? Is he really Ethan? Can the family survive losing another son?

OK. I am gonna put this out there with as few spoiler-ish hints as possible. The ending is one of those, "What the H-E-double hockey sticks just HAPPENED" kind of moments. The last ten pages are the kind of ending that readers want to believe they hate, but really it accomplishes what the author was going for- you are still thinking about it and talking about it for WEEKS after you finished the book! I know a lot of people want a sequel to find out how things were resolved, but I hope McMann leaves this story alone. The ending is unresolved, but that is what makes it so powerful. Uncertainty fills the book, so why not end it with uncertainty too? I know I usually hate unresolved endings, but with this book, I actually love it. I think it makes the book that much better.

The story itself is pretty complex and disturbing. Imagine getting your son back after nine years and then people start to question whether he is the real deal or not. That has to be devastating. The mother is such a wonderful character. She never doubts Ethan. She fights for her son tooth and nail, and I loved her for that. But Blake's character was the most interesting for me. It had to be so hard for him, always the one who was there when Ethan was abducted. Not that they blame him, but that guilt that still surrounds him all his life about BEING there when his brother was taken. Then his suspicions about Ethan and how vehemently he tries to prove this isn't the real Ethan, but how much everyone ignores him, assuming jealousy is the cause. It felt so realistic and terrifying, but sad and heartbreaking. This book is written in simple language (with minor profanity), but the story is quite deep and provocative. It would be perfect for an older, low-skilled student who wants a mature book but needs a lower reading level. It would be perfect for papers, discussions, and "What if" assignments where you could really question the fabric of family, suspicion, and the unresolved ending. I will definitely be keeping this on my shelves for a variety of students. But a warning... if you can't handle unresolved endings, this book is going to tick you off!