Book Review: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Hardcover: 9780316042673, Hachette, $17.99

Lena Duchannes is forever the new girl in town, jumping from place to place to conceal her power and the curse on her family. Ethan Wate is forever a townie, determined to leave yet fated to always be a part of Gatlin, South Carolina. 

Lena longs for normalcy, friends, a chance to go to the prom, and an answer as to how to control her powers. Ethan longs for something different than the bleached, tanned, vapid cheerleaders and dead-end feeling he has for this town. 

Seeing each other in dreams weeks before actually meeting, when they finally are face to face, it's the showdown of the century as history repeats itself, when once again a Wate and a Duchannes fall in love and are determined to beat the odds keeping them apart.

Lots of supernatural stuff meets high school stuff in this book - stuff being the catch-all term for magic, witches, telepathy, vampires, dogs who see all, secret libraries, full-moon ceremonies, voodoo, cheerleaders with attitude, nosy neighbors, best friends with crappy cars, and the Daughters of the American Revolution. 

Pretty funny, witty internal monologues and external dialogues keep this chunky book from getting too long, and the tension built up during the countdown to Lena's birthday is sure to keep you reading to the exciting conclusion on the final page.

Book Review: The Curse Workers: White Cat by Holly Black

White Cat (The Curse Workers #01)
by Holly Black
9781416963967, $17.99, Pub. Date: May 2010

Introducing the beginning of a new Holly Black series! So dark, so complicated, so witty - so wonderful.

How to explain this book to without giving a page-by-page detailed explanation? Okay, let's begin with setting. The time is now, or sometime mirroring now, with the cars, phones, technology, etc. that we have. The difference is the existence of curse work. Some people have the ability to work curses, magic, by touching other people with their bare hands. There are different types of curse work - memory curses, emotion curses, and transmutation curses. Curse working has been outlawed and everyone wears gloves to avoid touching each other with bare hands.

Enter Cassel Sharpe. He was born into a family of curse workers, and though he's an excellent con artist, he's not actually a curse worker. That doesn't mean there isn't something a little magical going on. Cassel keeps dreaming of a white cat, and waking up not in his boarding school dormitory bed. His dreams tend to center around one event he'd like to forget: the night he killed the girl he loved, Lila Zacharov. She was the daughter of the powerful head of the Zacharov crime family. The only reason Cassel is still alive is that his older brothers, all powerful curse workers, covered up for him.

While this all sounds strange in its own right, the part that's more bizarre is that Lila's curse magic was an ability to turn into other animals, and a white cat was her favorite. How is Lila controlling Cassel's dreams if she's supposedly dead? As the complex plot unfolds, Cassel begins to realize he can't trust anyone or anything - not his own family, and worst of all, not even his own memory. Someone has been curse working him. Now if only he could figure out who and why...

Throw in a dysfunctional family, a girlfriend who just dumped him, the beginnings of actual friends for the first time in his life, and you've got one heck of a teenage life to get through.

The Odyssey Bookshop welcomes 

Holly Black & Cassandra Clare 

in a duo-author event on 

May 11th at 7 p.m.!

Book Review: The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller

The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller

9781595143082, Penguin, $18.99, Pub. Date: August 2010

I admit I don't tend to like lovey-dovey YA, but Haven's voice, and that of her gay best friend Beau, kept me hanging in there. As did the unique premise –love as the cause for reincarnation.

Haven Moore lives in Tennessee but can describe New York City without having been there. She's seen it in visions since she was a child; visions of the city and a time when Haven was known as Constance and she was in love with a man named Ethan. Haven's grandmother thinks she's possessed by the Devil. Haven knows she's not possessed, but then how to explain these visions? How to explain the feeling that she must go to New York, and how to explain she thinks famous playboy Iain Morrow might be Ethan?

Going to New York provides her with some answers but more questions as she gets caught up in a web of lies involving the Ouroboros Society, a society begun to help people who remember their past lives, but which now is a den of corruption that has spread around the world from the highest to the lowest classes of people. Haven doesn't know whom to trust as she gets more involved with Iain - who feels like he's her soul mate, but then blatantly lies to her.

Events are brought to a head when Iain gets accused of kidnapping and murder. Not knowing who to trust, being chased by the "grey men" (the henchmen of the Ouroboros Society), Haven runs around New York City picking up tidbits of information here and there, having visions and flashbacks that allow her to piece together how her past is affecting her present and future.

With help from her gay best friend Beau (her brother in a previous life), Haven escapes from being kidnapped by the evil Adam Rosier, the man who was Haven's husband in her very first life. In her first life, Haven was kept cloistered in her husband's home because he was a possessive and jealous man. When she fell in love with a servant (the man who would later become Ethan/Iain), Adam killed them both. All three have been reincarnated again and again, destined to replay the same love triangle until true love conquers all.

Though Haven makes some dumb decisions at times (really, you're 18, never left TN, but go to NYC and allow some guy you've just met – yes he may be your soul mate, but still – to fly you to Rome in his private jet and then not let you call home for 3 days?), she has a strong character and personality, trying to make sense of what her brain and her heart and everyone else is telling her. Romantics will love this because of the resolved ending, and it's a new twist in the "love conquers all paranormal adventure story" genre.

Book Review: Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Raised By Wolves
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
9781606840597, $16.99, Egmont (Random House), Pub. Date: June 2010

Exciting, sexy, funny, strong, adventure, danger, love. Those are the top words that come to mind when thinking of this novel. I was shocked at the depth of the story and the pull of the writing. Admittedly, there comes a point when you say to yourself, How many more werewolf books can I really read? If you're reached that point, I want to say, read one more. This one.

Bryn was four when a rabid werewolf murdered her parents. Saved by Callum, the Alpha of his pack, Bryn is human, but has been raised among werewolves. She is not fully pack, nor does she feel fully human, and at age 15, Bryn has seen and experienced more dangerous things that most other humans.

Then she meets Chase, a teenager, recently turned werewolf. He is dangerous, turned against his will, but has an instant connection with Bryn. Though Callum forbids Bryn from seeing Chase, Bryn needs Chase's help. The pack is hiding a secret. The rabid werewolf who attacked Bryn and her parents is not dead. The attack wasn't random. There's a bigger plot afoot than Bryn can even imagine, and she needs Chase's help to figure it out before it's too late. It's Bryn and Chase and Bryn's other teenage werewolf friends against a rabid werewolf and the rest of the werewolf community.

The good guys win, of course, but with a twist that very pleasantly surprising. Bryn has great inner strength, more than she knows, and she'll need every ounce of it to get through everything and stay alive.

This was my first Jennifer Lynn Barnes novel; I'm looking forward to going back and reading her others. Read her livejournal blog, and check out this interview about a past book.

Book Review: The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal

The False Princess
by Eilis O'Neal
9781606840795, $16.99, Egmont (Random House), Pub. Date: July 2010

This debut novel was a delight! Very strong writing, a satisfactory conclusion, love, danger, intrigue, magic, a prophecy, and three princesses.

After turning sixteen, Princess Nalia of Thorvaldor learns she is not the true heir. A prophecy made before her birth foretold the princess would die before her sixteenth birthday, and so the real princess has been hidden in a convent for sixteen years while she, the false princess, was raised in the castle. A spell had been cast over both the real princess and the false one, disguising them both. Now known as Sinda, the former princess is forced to leave the only home she has ever known and travel to her aunt's house in a little village far from the city life. Not only is she leaving her home, she is leaving the people she thought of as her parents and Keirnan, the boy she knew to be her best friend.

Struggling in her new life as a peasant - not that she's not willing, she just doesn't know how - Sinda discovers she has the ability to do magic. Returning to the city, she is taken in as an apprentice by Philantha, a somewhat eccentric master sorceress. Sinda is told that the spell she was under to make her look like the princess, also kept her magic from showing itself. While Sinda has an almost overwhelming amount of magic inside her, controlling that magic proves to be difficult.

Reuniting with Keirnan in the city brings Sinda great joy, but also puts her into contact with the real princess, Nalia. Or is it the real princess? Sinda discovers Nalia is under a spell, too. So, where, then is the real princess? What sort of conspiracy is going on, that there should be two false princesses? Sinda and Keirnan must retrace the steps of the princess's life, all the way back to the prophecy, in order to find out who is the evil behind this plot.

Sinda feels compelled to find the real princess and set things right, in order to be able to focus on who she, herself, is. If she can't figure that out, she'll never be able to control her magic or return the love Keirnan has for her.

A great YA fantasy read, I was most definitely not disappointed with the ending. The true princess is the best woman for the job, I think, and Sinda's future looks nothing but promising.

Book Review: Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist, Book Two: The Basilisk's Lair by R.L. LaFevers

Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist, Book Two: The Basilisk's Lair
by R.L. LaFevers, illustrated by Kelly Murphy
9780547238678, $15, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Pub. Date: June 2010

I'm so excited about this series! It's the perfect blend of text and pictures, adventure and fun, risk but happy endings.

In this second book, Nathaniel and Aunt Phil (who's really a cousin), and of course, Greasle the Gremlin, have received an urgent telegram telling them about the escape of a Basilisk, a creature known as the King of the Serpents. The Dhughani people have been protecting the Basilisk's lair, but someone has found a way to get it out. Nathaniel, as a beastologist-in-training, is only supposed to watch and assist Aunt Phil in recapturing the Basilisk. As in the first novel, things go awry, and it is up to Nathaniel and Greasle to save the day. How exactly does one go about capturing a creature who can kill you with its breath, its smell, its touch, and its gaze? You'll have to read to find out, but I think we all know the answer is very, very carefully.

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second book in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, Harry came up against a Basilisk, too. While that fight scene was frightening (to me!) and ended in the Basilisk's death, that is not the same situation in the Nathaniel Fludd book. No one is seriously harmed, and the Basilisk looks more like a type of dragon. It is captured and returned to its cave for the Dhughani people to watch over.

This series, though very different from Harry Potter, might be a good way to judge if your child is ready for reading that older series. If someone gets scared reading Nathaniel Fludd, it's too soon for Harry Potter.

The most exciting part of The Basilisk's Lair came at the end, when Aunt Phil decided it was time to start on home. I can't wait to read book three, where I hope we'll find out more about what might have happened to Nathaniel's parents, and whether they're still alive.

If you haven't read the first one, don't miss it!
Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist, Book One: Flight of the Phoenix
9780547238654, $16, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Book Review: Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

Finnikin of the Rock
by Melina Marchetta
9780763643614, $18.99, Candlewick

I love Melina Marchetta's writing. As proof, I offer up my former post concerning (also by her) at my bookstore's blog here, as well as the fact that I read Jellicoe Road a couple of times a year and sob my way through it each time, in the best possible way.

Finnikin of the Rock is an epic fantasy that is just as compelling as her fiction. I was almost scared it wouldn't be, in that way that something is almost too good to be true, but I gathered up my courage, began reading it, and wasn't a bit disappointed. Now, granted, it's a 400-page book, but I was amazed at how it flew by! So much is packed into that 400 pages, a complete story (as in, not the beginning of a series), and still I could barely believe it when it was done. Where to even begin in telling you about it? Okay, I'll begin with the title character: Finnikin of the Rock.

In this fantasy world, there are different lands, and different groups of people within those lands. Finnikin is of the Rock people from the kingdom of Lumatere. Another kingdom has taken control of Lumatere during the five days of the unspeakable, and due to dark sorcery, the kingdom is impenetrable, surrounded by a thick mist. No one can go in; no one can come out. Finnikin is the son of the former captain of the guard. His best friends were Prince Balthazar and Balthazar's cousin, Lucian. As children, Finnikin, Balthazar, and Lucian mixed their blood and made a pact to protect Lumatere. The time has come for them to keep their promise.

Believing both his father and his father's wife, the Lady Beatriss, to be dead, Finnikin has spent the last ten years outside Lumatere, an apprentice to Sir Topher, the King's First Man. Finnikin has a dream that leads them to a convent on the top of a mountain where they meet with a novice, Evanjalin. Evanjalin has the power of the sight, but only when she bleeds can she have visions. One vision has told her Balthazar, the heir to Lumatere, is still alive. Finnikin, Sir Topher, and Evanjalin must travel the land far and wide, finding their scattered peoples, and bringing them home under the hope that Balthazar can break the curse hanging over Lumatere. In their travels, they will cross paths with the holy man of Lumatere, the Captain of the King's Guard, a slave child from another land, and they will begin to unravel the plots, myths, and legends that have sprung up regarding the five days of the unspeakable.

Since meeting Evanjalin, Finnikin has felt a loss of control as he is buffeted about by voices of fate, Evanjalin's plans and prophecies, and his struggle with his guilt and fear about a prophecy concerning his own future. Who is Evanjalin really? Where is Balthazar if he is still alive? And if they manage to get inside Lumatere, what will they find there when they arrive?

I don't want to give too many spoilers, but Melina Marchetta brilliantly weaves an ending that captures the heartbreak and hope a story like this would really entail, and which is also characteristic of her award-winning contemporary fiction. I am awed by her ability to blend that quality with an entirely new genre. Congratulations, Ms. Marchetta. I can hardly wait to see what you will give us next.

Book Review: Mistwood by Leah Cypess

Mistwood
by Leah Cypess
9780061956997, $16.99, Greenwillow Books (Harper), Pub. Date: May 2010

Isabel doesn't remember her life before they came for her. She was living in the forest, that much she knows, and apparently, not as a human. The new king (Rokan) and his brother (Will) found her there. The king's sister (Clarisse) does not approve. The king's high sorcerer (Albin) does not approve. Rokan brings her back to the castle anyway.

Isabel is a shape-shifter. THE Shifter sworn to protect the king. She should not have emotions. She should be cold, calculating, and exist only to save the king from danger.
Except Isabel does have emotions. She does have feelings. She does form attachments and opinions about who and what she likes. So how can this be?

Similar to the tale of self-discovery told in Kristen Cashore's Graceling and Fire, Isabel will have to unravel the tales of her own existence, the secret history of the new king, and her own forgotten past lives in order to find out who and what she has the power to be.

A strong debut novel for Leah Cypess. This is a teen read, ideal for ages 12 through 15.

Three Short Book Reviews

Here are three short book reviews I've been meaning to get to.
All three books are teen reads. Two are sci-fi/fantasy, one is action-adventure. All three books have strong male and female characters. Though I hate to "gender" books, I will say that the third book, The Devil's Breath, is great for teenage guys, in particular. Though, as you've probably guessed, I'm not a teenage guy, and I LOVE this book. All of these books are out already, none of this teaser stuff I've been throwing at you. Enjoy!

Incarceron
by Catherine Fisher
Hardcover: 9780803733961, Dial - Penguin, $17.99

Immediately gripping, Incarceron offers a great new cast of characters, with Claudia and Finn as leads. Finn is inside Incarceron – a former utopian community, turned hellish prison. Finn has brains, guts, and flashbacks from the time he KNOWS he spent "outside". Unfortunately for him, coming from "outside" is virtually impossible, which makes him, and his strange flashbacks, a bit of a nut case. Claudia lives "outside"; in fact, she's been trying to find her way inside for years. When Claudia realizes the extent to which she's been a pawn in her father, the Warden of Incarceron's, political schemes, she breaks free from the constraints of her pseudo-perfect society. Despite her pampered upbringing, Claudia has brains and guts to equal Finn's, and the two of them find themselves relying on each other for the information each desperately seeks.
An exciting first book in a new series, I can hardly wait for the next one! I've been told the sequel is scheduled for sometime in Spring 2011.

The Maze Runner
by James Dashner
Hardcover: 9780385737944, Delacorte - Random House, $16.99

(I'm going to refrain from making bad jokes about "Dash-ner" and "Runner".)

Thomas wakes up in an industrial elevator shaft. A crowd of boys pull him out and he finds himself in the Glade. He doesn’t know where he came from, he doesn’t know why he’s here, and worse, neither do any of the other boys. The walls around them close each night, keeping them trapped in, but safe from the creatures roaming the maze outside the Glade. During the day, the maze runners run as fast and as far as they can, returning each night just before the doors close. They add their paths through the maze to the stacks of maps they’ve been making for years. Thomas knows he must become a maze runner. He knows he can help find answers. And when, for the first time ever, a GIRL is discovered in the elevator shaft, he knows he knows her from somewhere before. Soon the Gladers will have to make a choice—take their chances in the maze or die in the Glade.
Book one in the Maze Runner Trilogy. Watch out for The Scorch Trials, book two in the trilogy, out October 2010.

The Devil's Breath
by David Gilman
Hardcover: 9780385735605, Delacorte - Random House, $16.99

Max Gordon’s father has gone missing, and now someone just tried to kill Max. He has one clue, and must use all the resources and training his secret agent father taught him to save himself and find his father before it’s too late. His journey will take him from England to Africa, where he gets help from Kallie, a bushpilot with experience beyond her years, and !Koga, a Kalahari Bushman who must help Max in order to become a man in the eyes of his tribe. Can these three teens stop an evil man named Shaka Chang who is trying to control all the water on the African plains, save Max’s father, and fulfill a Bushmen prophecy? This is real James Bond-type stuff, (minus the sex), with plenty of action/adventure.
First in the "Danger Zone" series, and one of my all-time favorites. Don't miss Ice Claw, the second "Danger Zone" book, coming out April 2010.

Book Review: Worldshaker by Richard Harland

Worldshaker
by Richard Harland
Hardcover: 9781416995524, Simon & Schuster, $16.99, Pub. Date: May 2010
Tween read: Ages 10-14

More steam-punk to add to your list!

Worldshaker is a constantly traveling machine known as a juggernaut, the size of a small city. Classes exist within a rigid hierarchy complete with regal figureheads Queen Victoria and her consort Prince Albert. Col Porpentine is a child at the top of the Upper Class. He has just been named his grandfather's successor as Supreme Commander of the juggernaut. But with this responsibility comes startling revelations about exactly what the ship is, who the "Filthies" and "Menials" (the lowest of the low classes) really are, and just what his family's role is in all of it. When Col meets Riff, a Filthy girl who turns out to be the Filthy revolution leader, his entire world begins unraveling. Col is forced to make a choice between duty to his family, and his own morality.

At almost 400 pages, Worldshaker is meaty but reads quickly. I would have loved to have heard more about Riff herself, what her history was, how and why she became the leader of the Filthy revolution at 14-years-old, etc. Also, Col's sister could have been a bit more flushed out, and Col's younger brother could have been cut as a character entirely. A couple of plot points were left unresolved, such as what happened to Col's wife (read to find out where that fits in!), and what happens romantically between Col and Riff could have had a bit more punch to it as well. I felt like there was some good material here for a sequel, or it could stand on its own as an enjoyable tween read in the steam-punk genre.

Richard Harland is an Australian author - this book was published in Australia, and now will be in the U.S., and the U.K. I seem to enjoy Australian authors. See my post about Melina Marchetta's Jellicoe Road, one of my all-time favorites, here at my bookstore's blog. All these great Australian authors make me want to visit there one day even more.

Book Review: Hearts at Stake & Blood Feud by Alyxandra Harvey, The Drake Chronicles, Books 1 & 2

Hearts at Stake & Blood Feud, The Drake Chronicles Books 1 & 2 by Alyxandra Harvey

These are the first two novels in a new vampire series. I know, I know, how many more do we need? But this one is worth it, and I'll tell you why. To begin with, they are the perfect mix of character-driven and plot-driven narratives. By this I mean you care about the characters and get to hear their stories, but instead of pages and pages written from inside their heads, Alyxandra Harvey has remembered to add the plot, too! Lots of action in both these novels - mostly the fighting kind. Both novels have romance in them, but that aspect is tame enough that the 10-to-12-year-old crowd who shouldn't have read Twilight in the first place, but did, and now want more, well, this is perfectly appropriate for them, too, as well as the older teens it's meant for.

The series centers around the Drake family - mother, father, 7 sons, 1 daughter, and the daughter's best friend, Lucy.

Hearts at Stake, Drake Chronicles #1
Paperback: 9780802720740,Walker & Company, $9.99

This first novel is about Solange (kudos to Alyxandra Harvey for starting off with the girl!). Solange is the only female vampire to be born - the rest have been made, or "turned" - and this means she is destined to become a vampire queen. In the Drake family, when you reach the age of 16, that is when you "change," or officially become a vampire. As the clock counts down to Solange's 16th birthday, the vampire world begins to explode politically: Leander Montemartre, an evil vampire, pits factions against each other in an effort to kidnap Solange to gain political power. Add to this a human best friend who may or may not be falling in love with Solange's vampire brother Nicholas, a member of the anti-vampire league named Kieran Black who Solange may or may not be falling for herself, and the tiny, insignificant fact that Solange may not even survive the "change". This is the deadliest sweet sixteen you'll ever read about!

Blood Feud, The Drake Chronicles #2
Paperback: 9780802720962, Walker & Co., $9.99, Pub. Date: August 2010

The second novel in the Drake Chronicles features Solange's brother, Logan. Without giving too much away, the vampire clans are gathering for the royal coronation of the next vampire queen (you think you know who it is, but it's not!). The Hounds are a vampire clan who practice magic and have a deep connection to wolves and dogs (though they're not werewolves). Isabeau St. Croix has been sent to lead the delegation from the Hounds. Turned by Greyhaven in the early 1800s, Isabeau is still hunting for this evil vampire who bit her and left her locked in a coffin for 200 years. As the Drakes and the Hounds try to work together toward fighting a common enemy - Leander Montmartre - Greyhaven has a plot of his own in the works. There may come a time when Isabeau is forced to choose between revenge and Logan Drake.

If I was a bettin' sort of woman - oh, who am I kidding, I totally am - I'd make a bet that the rest of the Drake Chronicles will simultaneously solve the vampire political problems while pairing off the rest of the Drake clan (by my calculations there are 5 brothers left after Logan). The only downside is we have to wait until January 2011 for Drake Chronicles #3.

Book Review: Delcroix Academy, Book 1: The Candidates by Inara Scott

Delcroix Academy, Book One: The Candidates by Inara Scott
Hardcover: 9781423116363, $16.99, Harper, Pub. Date: August 2010

Another perpetual search: teen reads suitable for non-teen readers (and teen readers as well). Here's a new one to add to that list, and you know what I like best about it? The paranormal powers discussed in this book have nothing to do with vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, necromancers, ghosts, angels, or fallen angels. Don't get me wrong, I like me a good vampire/werewolf novel just like almost everyone else. But it's nice to break away from that every now and again, with your good, old-fashioned, unexplainable paranormal ability.

Danica Lewis tries her best to be the most mediocre person around. She dresses in neutral colors so she can literally blend into the background. Her desire to go unnoticed doesn't stem from a place of hostility – rather, she's afraid to care about people too much. When she does care, and she sees someone she likes being threatened in some way, bad things happen to those doing the threatening. Bullies have tree branches suddenly dropped on their heads. A man threatening her grandmother "slips" and ends up in a coma.

As inconspicuous as Danny wishes to be, certain people are watching. Two recruiters for Delcroix Academy, the prestigious private academy on the other side of town, show up on Danica's grandmother's doorstep, offering Danica a full scholarship for all four years of high school. Danica knows she would be crazy not to accept, but why would Delcroix – the school that collects the best of the best – want ordinary her (well, ordinary minus that special power she's not thinking about)?

Danica's freshman year begins, and against her better judgment, she begins to make friends. Maybe this is a place where anything's possible. But just as she's beginning to let down her guard, her new friend Jack reveals Danica's not the only one with a power, and they both may have been specially chosen to attend this school. Delcroix's students excel at gymnastics and are computer whizzes, but what if some of them have special powers too? Danica doesn't want to believe it but what other explanation could there be for receiving a full scholarship and for Cam, the hottest guy in school, to hang around her a lot? He must be part of the group of Watchers, evaluating her on the power she struggles to keep hidden. It can't possibly be that he likes her. Could it?

Now I have to be honest. I know most girls out there will probably be drawn to Cam, the perfect, charming, handsome older man, but I can't help but hope that Danica's friend Jack, the pierced, tattooed, misunderstood classmate of hers, gets the girl in the end. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Book 2.

Procrastination Reviews #2: The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry

The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry
Hardcover, 9781599903347, $16.99

The second book in the exciting "Procrastination Reviews" series, I picked this one up off the shelf when I was searching for an appropriate book to send to the 14/15 year-old girl in the Odyssey Bookshop's Gift of Reading Program. This is a program where people sign up a child in their life to receive a book that has been hand-picked for them. I do the hand picking. This is one of my favorite, and one of the most challenging, aspects of my job. I have 20 children each month whose reading history I review, personal preferences I review, and then I make an age-appropriate, genre-appropriate book choice for them. Occasionally, I throw something different into the mix; reading too much of the same thing isn't good for anyone. This book can be exhibit A in my case - it's hardly my usual "for myself" reading, but it was entertaining nonetheless. Sort of like a teenage version of a Harlequin romance novel, only without any of the sex or violence.

Lucinda Chapdelaine used to be the only child in a wealthy family that was close to the king. Orphaned by a carriage accident that killed her parents on their way home from a ball, Lucinda has grown up in her uncle's jewelry shop, hated and made to work as a servant by her step-aunt. Lucinda doesn't remember much of her life before the shop, though the grief of her parents' death is still with her. Then, in one day, a beautiful woman visits the shop, an enchanted stone makes its way into Lucinda's care, and Lucinda meets Prince Gregor for the first time since childhood. Soon Lucinda is off on an adventure involving a thief named Peter, an immortal woman named Beryl, the Amaranth Witch, and the truth behind her parents' death.

It turns out the enchanted stone holds Beryl's soul and someone is out to steal it in order to rule the world. Lucinda is drawn to the stone, and so tries to keep it safe, only to have it stolen by Peter, a street thief, who is unaware of its true value. Peter sells it to Prince Gregor, who is looking for the perfect betrothal gift for the Princess he has never met, but who is soon to be his bride. Lucinda makes a deal with Beryl - in return for getting back her soul, Beryl will restore her parents' lands to Lucinda, making her a woman of wealth and property again. On her quest for the stone, Luncinda is caught as a thief, meets her parents' murderer, is almost hanged but manages to escapes, dances several dances with Prince Gregor (is she falling in love?), gets saved more than once by her trusty goat sidekick she calls Dog, and unveils more than one person's true identity.

(See what I mean about the Harlequin romance novel plot-line? Throw some duels and hot sex in there and you've got yourself a whole different type of book contract.) It all works out in the end, and the right people marry their true loves without any awkwardness or bruised feelings. A quick read, the book is plot heavy with fairly little character development. Perfect breezy book for a teen summer read.

Book Review: Fire by Kristin Cashore

Fire by Kristin Cashore
Publication date: October 2009
Hardcover: 9780803734616, $17.99

Also counts for Chunkster Challenge, Book 2.

First of all, let me just say that, particularly as first novels, Graceling and Fire (and Kristin Cashore, for writing them) are an inspiration.

I really enjoyed Graceling, and despite the fact that I'm apparently reviewing primarily fantasy books recently, I don't read much fantasy (honest!), so this is saying a lot. The premise - that there are these beings called Gracelings, who have eyes of two different colors, and who are gifted with some sort of enhanced ability - struck me as intriguing. Katsa and Po, the two main characters, were compelling in their development as individuals, as was the plot as it twisted its way through the world of the seven kingdoms.

In Fire, the companion prequel to Graceling, Cashore has created an equally original world of beautiful "monsters": animals, plants, and occasionally people who are irresistably beautiful and extremely dangerous. Fire, the last living human monster, lives in near-isolation, protecting herself from those who want to harm her because of the way her father, also a monster, harmed them. Her father was the advisor to the previous king in the land of the Dells - a land over the mountains from the seven kingdoms in Graceling, a land on the brink of war. He was a cruel and twisted man who could control people's minds and make them suffer in unimaginable ways. While Fire has inherited his abilities, but not his cruelty, sadly there are many people who would rather condemn or kill her first, and ask questions later. When her abilities are needed to help fight to keep the rightful rulers on the thrown, Fire has to face her own inner monsters in order to make the best use of her gift. She is afraid of the way people's minds open to her; all except for the mind of Prince Brigan, the commander of the royal army, and an increasingly fascinating man. By exploring the depths of her abilities, and how far she is willing to go for this kingdom she is beginning to love, Fire carves a place for herself. Much like a phoenix (sorry, the metaphor had to be used), Fire rises from the ashes of her father's universal betrayal to form her own solid reputation of self-discipline, courage, and love.

How is this a prequel to Graceling? The bad guy, Leck, in Graceling is introduced as a boy in Fire. Clearly rotten from the beginning, he plays a deceptively minor role until a pivotal moment of the book. Though it was nice to see some sort of connection between Graceling and Fire, I actually thought that the connection hindering on Leck was the weakest part of the plot. His apperance as a character didn't add much (in my opinion) to my pre-existing knowledge of him, based on Graceling. There was no deeper understanding of him, or explanation as to how he got to be the evil man he was. He was apparently born that way. So, it was a connection, but not a meaningful one, for me. I hope to read more of Fire and Prince Brigan in Cashore's third work, Bitterblue.

Though the stories of both books offer (relatively) resolved endings, Cashore doesn't hold her punches, writing difficult (as in, sad) story developments with sensitivity and grace, making them understandable and necessary, despite being hard to read. Her strong female leads discover their own strengths and weaknesses. They are matched by the men in their lives, but not sheltered, led, or protected by them.

This is a good series to give to that difficult group of 10-13 year-old-readers, the ones who read above their level, but who may not be ready for scenes of graphic sex or violence. There are some references to sex, particularly in Graceling, and of course some violence, but it is never gratuitious, and the sexual references alluded-to, more than shown.

I wish you all had early copies of the book, too, because I can't wait to gush about it with other people who have read it!

Book Review: Naamah's Kiss by Jacqueline Carey

Chunkster Challenge, Book 1:
Naamah's Kiss by Jacqueline Carey
Hardcover: 9780446198035 $26.99

(If you want to know what I mean by "Chunkster Challenge," refer to my blog post here.)

Naamah's Kiss is the first book in the third trilogy in the fantasy world created by Jacqueline Carey. The first trilogy followed the as yet unsurpassed story involving Phedre and Joscelin, Terre d'Ange, Kushiel's blessing/curse, and the fate of the world. The books in the first trilogy are Kushiel's Dart, Kushiel's Chosen, and Kushiel's Avatar. The second trilogy followed Phedre and Joscelin as their lives intertwined with the fate of the nation and the fate of Imriel de la Courcel, son of D'Angeline royalty and the nation's most famous traitor. This series is comprised of Kushiel's Scion, Kushiel's Justice, and Kushiel's Mercy. Now, a third trilogy is going to hit shelves in June.

Naamah's Kiss is a softer read than the previous trilogies. I'm sorry, but nothing has come close to touching the political intrigue with fascinating historical and religious references and wrestlings combined with the compelling (and at times heartwrenching) love story. Not to mention, let's be honest, Jacqueline Carey knows how to write a smokin' sex scene. In Naamah's Kiss, we lose a lot of (my personal favorite) the interesting bits - the politics, the way Carey alludes to our own knowledge of world history and religions morphed into the world she has created, and the sacrifices made in the name of honor, duty, and most importantly, love. There is a certain passion missing in Naamah's Kiss, despite the very evident passionate love scenes. Or maybe it's not missing, entirely, maybe it's just quieter, and as I'm used to this bold, reckless style, it's hard to switch gears and properly appreciate the quiet dedication of a softer personality, a softer love.
Whatever the reason, I was a bit disappointed at what I saw as the lack of additional interesting story elements to pad out a so-so twisting plot. The part of the book that held my attention the most was actually the beginning, when we learn of Moirin - the main character - and her childhood spent with her mother, living in a cave, learning the wild ways of the Maghuin Dhonn, the oldest tribe in Alba. Descended of Alban/D'Angeline royalty, half Maghuin Dhonn, half D'Angeline by birth, Moirin's secluded upbringing has allowed her to grow independent, wise, free-thinking, yet naive in the ways of the rest of the world. This naivete, while originally charming, quickly irritated me when she failed to have a backbone at certain points in the story. I'm sure it's not often that a reader asks for more plot complications, but there were a few elements in the story that seemed far too pat for me to believe; knowing Carey's writing as I do, she is capable of more.
The second half of the novel, when Moirin (who left Alba for Terre d'Ange, at which point the plot and her personality had the consistency of a wet blanket) leaves Terre d'Ange for Ch'in, is where I was expecting to find that fascinating filler of information on this new culture, but was left a little disappointed. The high point of the second half of the novel was not actually the love story between Moirin and Bao - which, btw, I called the moment his character was introduced, and I'm not saying that in a complimentary way - but instead was the 3-way relationship between the Princess, the dragon imprisoned within her, and Moirin - the only person to whom the dragon would listen. Carey does write a good adventure story from this point on, but the tentative, lukewarm, barely blossoming feelings between Moirin and Bao paled in comparison to the begrudging respect, agonizing courtship, and eventual passionate love between Phedre and Joscelin (who you can't help but compare them to).
This book did end well, and I look forward to reading more about Moirin's trek into the land of the Tartars, following the other half of her heart and soul. Perhaps she'll find a little more plot, my favorite - cultural, religious, and historical elements, and some backbone there.

Book Review: Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey

Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey 9780446198172, $13.99
Published May 2009

I have been a Jacqueline Carey addict since high school. That is when my sister and I first discovered the Kushiel series. I honestly don't remember who discovered it first. I think it was me, but I'm never quite sure, and anyway, we were pretty much trading those books back and forth from the moment either of us found them. The Kushiel series is 6 books - two trilogies combined to make a series. There is soon going to be a new spin-off book, Naamah's Kiss, published in June 2009. I haven't read that one yet, but will review it as soon as I have.

Santa Olivia is not of that series. Santa Olivia is a different beast entirely, but one that has proven just as effective by sinking its claws into me. Carey has this incredible ability to create new worlds out of something that seems so familiar. For instance, this story takes place in an isolated town in the no-man's-land border between the United States and Mexico - perfectly plausible, given the state of the world today. Not a part of either country, the U.S. military runs the town that surrounds the military base. The people of Santa Olivia (the town) have been forgotten by the world, and it is into this controlled, neglected, forgotten wasteland that Loup Garron is born.

The daughter of a human woman and a genetically-modified "Wolf Man" (a project of the U.S. military - genetically modify humans to make them faster, stronger, fearless, fighters), Loup has been taught by her mother and brother to hide who she is so the military doesn't take her away. Her father was forced to leave for his own safety, before Loup is born, so upon her mother's death, Loup goes to live with the other orphans at the town church. The orphans know her secret and help her to conceal it, while simultaneously working together to right some of the wrongs in the town. Hence, the living legend of Santa Olivia - already the patron saint of the town - is born. When Loup's brother is killed in a boxing match set-up by the commander of the military base, Loup vows to fight and win, even knowing this would mean exposing herself, thus leading to her capture and possible death.

A beautiful side-story is Loup's relationship with her fellow orphans. As a half Wolf-Man, Loup always feels a little different; though they love her, her fellow orphans recognize that difference, especially when they start growing up and pairing off. Loup tries kissing, tries dating, even tries sex, but it is a surprise to them all, with whom Loup actually ends up being. Wolves mate for life, and the love between these two is no exception. But what will become of it, with Loup's fight looming closer and closer? What, and who, will Loup choose? Avenge her brother? Stay with her lover? Be herself? How can she possibly win everything she's fighting for?

I'm not going to give away the ending, but I will say, it in no way disappoints.

Book Review: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - 2009 Newbery Award Winner

2009 Newbery Award Winner - The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

I realize I may be one of the last people to finish this book - my co-worker, Nieves, has been trying to get me to read it since it first came out (congratulations to her for reading a book before me and being the first to gush about it!) - but I finally finished it last night and so am here to tell you all about it.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Hardcover: 9780060530921 $17.99

Great book! Am thrilled it won the award! Enough said!

(he he, just kidding)

Honestly, though, it was a great read. Completely engaging; kids are going to love this Newbery. (Unlike winners of previous years, and the rather recent discussions about the lack of kid street cred given to those winners...hmmm...I wonder if that influenced a decision at all?)

The Graveyard Book grabs you from the first moment and maintains a steady interest throughout the story. What's fascinating, and is one of the reasons Gaiman is such a genius, is that it's a rather morbid, even slightly horrific base story, yet the book is not a scary read. Perhaps this is because Bod - Nobody Owens, the main character - seems to know no fear.

Barely escaping murder as an infant (by the nefarious Jack, of the notorious Jack-of-all-Trades organization), Bod has been raised by ghosts and his guardian Silas (not alive but not dead), in the Old Town graveyard. Bod grows up, having all sorts of wonderful and peculiar adventures, mostly in his graveyard: like visiting the Indigo Man - the oldest being buried in the graveyard; learning about ghouls, ghoul-gates, and night-gaunts, first-hand; making friends with witches; and being taught various lessons by long-dead ghosts and a werewolf. On the few occasions he ventures outside of the graveyard - to run away, to go to school, to find out more about his family's murder - the world is not a safe place for him and he ends up getting into tricky situations.

Even in these various scrapes, Bod keeps his cool, and uses his wits to outsmart everyone from the ghouls to the Jacks. An interesting plot thread, to me, was Bod's complete willingness and interest in ridding the world of the threat of the man who had killed his parents. Even before the climactic confrontation scene, you get the sense that this doesn't necessarily mean Bod is looking forward to killing Jack, or engaging him in any sort of fight, really, yet he is determined to get rid of him. The ingenious way Bod accomplishes this is a masterful stroke of tying in plot points and making use of Bod's unique character.

The end of the book itself is filled with hope. This may sound odd for a book which takes place primarily among the dead, but it seems that having grown up with the dead gives Bod a special appreciation for actually living life to its fullest. Have to admit, I'm kind of hoping for a sequel - Bod in the world. Somehow, though I've closed last page, I haven't quite closed my thoughts on Bod's adventures.

End of review.

So, I have to admit a total lack of knowledge regarding copy write laws.

I want to include in this post an interview with Neil Gaiman that was published in ShelfAwarness.
It was published in the Thursday, January 29th, 2009, Vol. 1, Issue 848, issue.
Here is the link to that issue of Shelf Awareness, and here is the article itself:

Neil Gaiman: 'Children's Fiction Can Change the World'

Neil Gaiman is having a good week. On Monday morning, in the midst of promoting the movie inspired by his book Coraline, which releases February 6, he received a phone call from Rose Trevino, chair of the Newbery committee. The Graveyard Book had won the 2009 Newbery Medal. Gaiman has called the novel a twist on Kipling's The Jungle Book, except that hero Nobody Owens is "somebody who gets raised by dead people" instead of animals, and "Bod" is mentored by a man called Silas, who is not quite like the other ghosts.

All day long in Denver on Monday, librarians were twittering about Gaiman's tweets of "delighted swearing," as he puts it in his blog. You may follow his tweets on Twitter.com, his blog entry of the Newbery call, and watch him reading aloud The Graveyard Book (Gaiman is especially pleased with the crowd's reaction midway through chapter 7, "Every Man Jack," where he had to stop at a cliffhanger). Tuesday, he appeared on the Today Show. Shelf Awareness spoke with Gaiman yesterday while he was en route to the airport to fly back to Los Angeles.

If memory serves, you wrote Coraline late at night, about 20 minutes at a clip, at the same time that you were writing American Gods.

That's very true. I started it many years before, the idea was this was the project I was doing "on my own time," and then we moved to America, and I ran out of "my own time"--it no longer existed. I sent [what I had] to my editor, Jennifer Hershey, and she said, "It's amazing, what happens next?" And I said, "Why don't you send me a contract, and we'll both find out." And she did, bless her. But the problem was I didn't have any more time, so I decided that instead of
reading 10 pages before bed, I'd write half a page. I started [Coraline] for Holly, who's now 23, and finished it for Maddy, and she's now 14.

Was Coraline your first book for children?

It was my first novel for children, technically, but in reality when I was 20 or 21, I wrote my very first book, and it was a children's book. I sent it, I think, to Penguin, and they wrote back with an encouraging note, I put it in the attic and forgot about it. After Coraline and Wolves [The Wolves in the Walls] came out I was reading to my daughter Maddy every night and I remember I went to the attic, found it, read it to Maddy, and then put it back in the attic where it will stay until I'm dead.

You've said The Graveyard Book was inspired by your then 18-month-old son riding his tricycle in your neighborhood cemetery. Was there a specific gate in that cemetery that inspired the ghoul-gate?

The ghoul-gate was inspired by a grave I found in Cornwall about two-and-a-half years ago. I'd taken a little cottage with no wireless, no Internet, and I wrote [chapters] two and three there, "The New Friend" and "The Hounds of God." In the little town of Redroof, I drove past a cemetery and wandered around, and there was one grave that was funghoid--it had a statue, but the statue no longer looked like an angel but rather like a giant fungus. There was a crack down
the middle as if something had been trying to get out; it looked like an opening to somewhere. The line wandered through my head, "There's a ghoul-gate in every graveyard."

I loved that Silas tells Bod that he was worse than Bloody Jack (the man who murdered Bod's family), yet Silas is completely sympathetic. Did you name him for Silas Marner?

I don't think so. Some characters turn up with names, and some don't--the ones who don't, you spend an awfully long time worrying about their names. The boy in the graveyard was someone I'd wondered about for 20-odd years. Then I ran into that line, "Rattle his bones/Over the stones/ It's only a pauper/ Who nobody owns." Whereas Silas was Silas from the moment he walked onto the page.

Before Monday morning, did you know what a Newbery Medal was?

Oh of course! When I was eight years old maybe I picked up my Puffin copy of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, and I loved it enough that it registered as a Newbery. In the years that followed, I read Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh; From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Lloyd Alexander's The Prydain Chronicles, because they won the Newbery. So yes, I never imagined it would be an award that it would be my lot to ever take home. I'm awed by it.

So what do you think about children's books?

They're terrible; they should be banned. What kind of question is that? I think they're wonderful. When I was a kid, I was a kid with a book. As far as I was concerned, had you asked me at the age of seven what the most important things in the world are, I'd probably say the first six Narnia books, the first three Mary Poppins books. . . . Had I discovered The Hobbit yet? Not yet. The books that took pride of place on my shelves were Stig of the Dump by Clive King, Tales of Ancient Egypt by Roger Lancelyn Green. I was the kind of kid who, during my summer holidays, would persuade my parents to drop me off at the library in the morning, and I'd spend my day there. Sometimes I'd pack a lunch. At 6:30 when they closed, I'd walk home.

Children's fiction, for me back then, was the most important thing there is. It has a holy place and position that adult fiction doesn't have. Adult fiction is a wonderful thing and enriching to the soul and mind, and it takes you to great places. But children's fiction can change the world and give you a refuge from the intolerable. It can give you a place of safety and show you the world is not bounded by the world you live in--there's more than that.--Jennifer M. Brown