Lone Star Reading List Discussion Blog

Diamond Willow by Helen Frost

2009-08-23T16:10:00.002-05:00

Main Character: 12-year-old Willow
Location: Alaska
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, Books in Verse

This was a really lovely book about a young girl struggling to grow up, and making mistakes along the way.

Willow lives in a remote part of Alaska and spends most of her time with her dad's sled dog team. She desperately wants her parents to see that she is grown up and responsible enough to drive a small sled with one dog by herself for an overnight trip to her grandparents' home. She is finally allowed to do so, and arrives safely there. In high spirits on her return trip, she allows the dogs to run fast and doesn't see the fallen tree until it is too late. Her beloved Roxy runs into one of the branches and seriously injures her eye. Willow takes care of her as best she can, but is wracked by guilt and the fear that her parents will have Roxy put to sleep.

The story is told in different voices. When Willow is speaking, the text is written in verse that takes a diamond shape. In the center of the diamond are certain words in bold print--a hidden message revealing Willow's deepest thoughts. Other sections are narrated by the various animals who witness the events, and who are actually the spirits of Willow's Athapascan ancestors watching over her.

This is a slender book that doesn't take long to read, but it touched me deeply and at times brought me to tears.

Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande

2009-07-08T11:24:00.000-05:00

The following is the review I originally posted on one of my other blogs, What is the Librarian Reading?

Main character: High school freshman Mena Reece
Location: Not defined
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction

Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature is the first YA novel I've read that deals with the debate between evolution and intelligent design. It is a pleasant enough read, though ultimately disappointing.

Mena Reece is not looking forward to her first day of high school. She has done something which has turned her entire conservative Christian church community against her. Her minister has denounced her from the pulpit, and even her parents are barely speaking to her because their insurance business is so closely tied to the church and they are worried that she will cost them customers. Since she is being shunned by her former friends, she begins to interact with other classmates that she never would have otherwise, including brainy Casey, her science lab partner. Casey introduces her to science fiction and fantasy, which is not as evil as she has been told.

When her science teacher, Ms. Shepherd, begins to teach a unit on evolution, Mena's church organizes a protest and demands that she also teach intelligent design. Ms. Shepherd steadfastly refuses to do so. The classroom becomes a battleground of strong wills, with Ms. Sherherd continuing to teach the unit and the protesting students turning their backs the moment the word evolution is mentioned. Then the unit is over and the class moves on to another subject.

Let me say that I am fully on the evolution side of this debate. But I have to say that this book came off as one-sided. I liked the portrayal of the teacher and her calm but firm way of dealing with the protesters. Mena and Casey are also appealing characers. I like their growing friendship and how Mena's world opens up because of him and his family. But the Christian students are portrayed as horrid, close-minded puppets who just parrot the hateful rantings of their preacher. The only one that that is not a vindictive "mean girl" is the minister's daughter who is so meek and mild that she is totally ineffectual. In the end, Mena and her parents join another church--one which (shock!) the science teacher Ms. Shepherd attends--which is much more accepting of different opinions. (And just where were these people during the rest of the book?)

In the end, I don't think that this book is going to pursuade anyone to change their minds.

Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature is on the 2009-2010 Lone Star Reading List.

The Great Wide Sea by M.H. Herlong

2009-05-30T11:25:00.002-05:00

You know how some books have a short one or two sentence summary? You usually see in on the back of the title page, and in library catalogs. The summary for this book says: "Still mourning the death of their mother, three brothers go with their father on an extended sailing trip off the Florida Keys and have a harrowing adventure at sea." While that is factually correct, it does nothing to prepare you for this book. Much better is the paragraph on the second page of the prologue:

"I don't tell about the morning when we woke up and Dad was gone. I don't talk about the storm. Or when we wrecked on the coral reef. I don't talk about--I never will talk about--when I left Gerry alone, standing there on the empty beach of that desert island with Dylan dying at his feet."

With THAT as an introduction, you start off the book with a deep sense of foreboding, alert for the coming disasters.

After their mom dies in a car accident, Dad goes off the deep end. Without telling the boys, he puts the house up for sale and purchases a sailboat which they will pick up down in the Florida Keys and then sail around the Caribbean for a year. He gives a book to Ben on small engine repair because Ben will be the engineer and a book on navigating by the stars to Dylan since he will be the navigator. They have a very short time to pack what they want to keep, but only what will fit in a duffel bag. Ben is especially upset when his dad packs up everything that belonged to his mom; it's as if his dad had already forgotten her and wants to wipe every trace of her away. On board he becomes a tyrant, never discussing things with the boys, only telling them that this is the way things will be done. Every day, Ben's anger grows until he is barely able to speak to his dad.

Harrowing is a good word for what happens to the three boys. After their father disappears, Ben is forced to make decisions that have life or death consequences not only for him, but for his brothers as well.

Most of the Lone Star Books are now in!

2009-05-16T11:13:00.000-05:00

Most of the 2009-2010 Lone Star books are now in and available for checking out from the North Branch Library. I haven't had a chance to read many of them yet, but I'm putting up the pages so you guys can post your comments and questions--just follow the links on the right-hand sidebar. As I get them read, I'll post my own reviews.

The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

2009-01-04T10:19:00.004-06:00

The following is the review I originally posted on one of my other blogs, What is the Librarian Reading?

Main Character: 17-year-old Alex Morales
Location: Manhattan, New York City
Time period: Contemporary or slightly in the future
Genre: YA Fiction, Dystopian fiction, Survival, Speculative Fiction
Companion to: Life As We Knew It

The Dead & the Gone is set in the same time and the same situation as Life As We Knew It, but while Life followed a family in a rural area, Dead is set in the inner city.

Alex Morales is a smart high school junior with big dreams and plans for his future. On the night the moon is knocked out of orbit, he is working at the pizza place where the only sign that anything has happened is that the cable suddenly goes out. He gets home to find his sisters in a tizzy. Their mother has been called in to work at her hospital in Queens, their father had gone to Puerto Rico for his mother's funeral, and big brother Carlos is in the Marines and is being deployed. So Alex, Brianna, and Julie are alone for the duration.

At first, I thought that Miranda (from Life) was in a better situation than Alex. She had a mother and an older brother to take most of the burden; Alex suddenly becomes the family caretaker. Miranda's family managed to stockpile a lot of food at the beginning; Alex helps his uncle empty his bodega and receives some food in return, but it's not much.

But while Miranda's mother worked at isolating her family insisting that they take care only of themselves, Alex has a support network. His church relays information about food lines; his school remains open, guaranteeing a hot lunch on weekdays; and some of his classmates, all from wealthier families, offer information, advice, and other small acts of kindness.

That doesn't mean that Alex has it easy. In a truly horrific scene, Alex looks for his mother among the dead laid out at Yankee Stadium. He and his friend Kevin rob the bodies of the dead on the street for items to exchange for black-market food. When the volcanoes erupt and the air is filled with ash, Brianna develops asthma. Hoping against hope that their parents and Carlos are alive and will come back, Alex and the girls stay in their apartment, but Alex eventually realizes that Julie is not safe--especially after the black market dealer offers Alex and Bri a way out of town in exchange for Julie--and he needs to get them out of the city.

Miranda's story was told in first person diary entries, while Alex's story was told in the third person. This gives a bit a distance to the story; though Alex experiences more than his share of tragedy, this book is not as mournful as the first one. I did think the ending was a bit abrupt, and I would like to know what happens next. Are things really any better in the south? Does the new year bring a clearing of the air? Will mankind survive?

The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd

2009-01-02T10:17:00.002-06:00

The following is a review I originally posted on one of my other blogs, What is the Librarian Reading?

Main Characters: Brother and sister, Ted and Kat
Location: London, England
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, Mystery

This is a really well-constructed locked-room mystery. Ted and Kat take their cousin Salim to ride on the London Eye--that huge ferris wheel-like attraction on the River Thames. Before they buy their own tickets, they are approached by a man who says he has a ticket he can't use. Since Ted and Kat have both ridden it before, they give the ticket to Salim and watch him get into the car. They keep their eye on the car the entire way around so they can greet him as soon as he gets off. But when the car arrives back at the starting point, Salim is not on it.

While their aunt panics and the police are stumped, Kat and Ted decide to try and solve the mystery themselves. Ted is the one who is able to come up the how because his brain is "wired differently"--he has Asperger's Syndrome and sees things in ways that others don't--while Kat is able to figure out the why.

Of course, now I want to take a trip to England and ride on the London Eye!

Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix

2008-12-31T21:35:00.000-06:00

Main Characters: (Almost) Thirteen-year-olds Jonah and Chip, and Jonah's younger sister Katherine
Location: Undefined
Time Period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction, Science Fiction, Time Travel
Series: The Missing #1

A plane mysteriously appears at an airport terminal. It was not scheduled, it was not on radar, it did not land. It just appeared. When airport personnel boarded it, they found no crew. But in each of the thirty-six seats on the plane was a crying baby.

Thirteen years later, Jonah receives a letter. There is no return address, no signature, just a single sentence: "You are one of the missing."

Seriously, do you need more than that to want to read this book?

This is the first book in a new series by the author of the Shadow Children series (better known--in my library, at least--as the Among the... series) and as such has to lay a lot of groundwork for the rest of the series. But Haddix keeps the story moving along to the climactic reveal--which is so much more complex than I was expecting. As with the Shadow Children series, there is the potential to follow many different characters through various adventures and some who were minor characters in this book could become major characters later. According to her website, there will be seven books in this series, just as in the Shadow Children, and the second one, Sent, will come out in August 2009. I can hardly wait.

Found is on the 2009-2010 Texas Lone Star Reading List.

Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor

2008-12-30T10:15:00.002-06:00

The following is a review I originally posted on one of my other blogs,What is the Librarian Reading?

Main Character: 12-year-old Addie
Location: Schenectady, New York
Time period: Contemporary
Genre: YA Fiction; Divorce

Addie and her mother have lost their house, due to Mommers' mismanagement of their money. Addie's stepfather, Dwight, arranges for them to live in a mobile home under the railroad overpass and near a convenience store. Mommers grouses about it but Addie is charmed by the trailer and does her best to make things work. She has not had an easy life. Her father died when she was very small. She dearly loves her stepfather, Dwight, and her two little half-sisters, but when Dwight and Mommers got a divorce he got custody of the smaller girls but had no legal claim to her.

Moving to the trailer is like a new start for Addie and Mommers. Addie makes friends with Soula and Elliot, who run the convenience store. She makes new friends in school, too; friends who don't tease her for her dyslexia. She makes it into the school orchestra playing the flute, and even gets a solo in the Christmas concert. But soon Mommers is up to her old ways, making risky business deals and getting involved with a married man. Worse, she is leaving Addie alone to fend for herself for days at a time. Just as I'm beginning to think that Mommers is manic-depressive, Soula asks some questions that clearly show she is thinking along the same lines. Addie loves her mother, but she yearns for a normal life--one she'll never get with Mommers.

Airman by Eion Colfer

2008-12-28T10:09:00.003-06:00

The following is a review I originally posted on one of my other blogs, What is the Librarian Reading?

Main Character: Conor Broekhart
Location: The Saltee Islands, off the coast of Ireland
Time period: the 1890s
Genre: YA Fiction, Adventure

This is a old-fashioned adventure story that brings to my mind elements of The Prisoner of Zenda and The Count of Monte Cristo.

Conor Broekhart leads a charmed life, starting with his unorthodox birth in a hot air balloon. His father is a high-ranking military officer and his mother is a scientist, both in the employ of Nicholas, the king of the Saltee Islands. The Saltees are a pair of small, barren rocks off the coast of Ireland that were originally given by England's King Henry II to one of his knights as a punishment for his overreaching ambition. It would have been punishment indeed if not for the discovery of a diamond mine under the smaller island.

Conor is raised in the castle and is playmate to the princess, Isabella. When King Nick arranges for the Frenchman, Victor Vigny, to be the royal tutor, he makes sure that Conor is taught by Victor as well. Victor and Conor bond over the dream of inventing a flying machine. But while the king's policies of making life on the Saltee Islands better for all citizens wins him love and acclaim among the populace, they also make a very dangerous enemy. The king is assassinated and Conor, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, is framed. He is condemned to work in the diamond mines while his parents and Isabella are led to believe that he has died.

Conor is a reluctant hero--all he wants to do is escape the mines, go to America, and work on his inventions. He has no ambition to defeat the villain or rescue the princess or his parents--not knowing they've been told that he's dead, he thinks they have abandoned him. But when push comes to shove, he steps up and saves the day. (Was that a spoiler? But you knew he would!)

This is not a non-stop roller-coaster type adventure, such as Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider series or the humorous Artemis Fowl books by Colfer, but it is a very enjoyable book.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

2008-12-27T10:23:00.003-06:00

The following is how I reacted to this book on another one of my blogs, What is the Librarian Reading?

Main Character: Conner, Risa, and Lev
Location:
Time period: Not too distant future
Genre: YA Fiction, Dystopian Society

WOW! This book is a stand-out! Set in a not-to-distant future in which teenagers between 13 and 18 years old could be "unwound"--taken apart for organ transplants--three young people fight to stay alive. It's told from multiple POVs so we see the events through the eyes of Conner, Risa, and Lev, as well as some of the other kids and the few adults who interact with them. There is a scene which depicts an "unwinding" which is just terrifying in its matter-of-factness.

2009-2010 Lone Star Reading List

2008-12-26T09:54:00.002-06:00

The new Lone Star Reading List is out! And I've already read 6 of them! (Woo-hoo!)

I have ordered the titles that we don't already own so we should have all the books available before too long. Here is the full list:

The Compound by S.A. Bodeen
Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande
Airman by Eion Colfer
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor
Gym Candy by Carl Deuker
The London Eye Mystery by Siobahn Dowd
The Possibilities of Sainthood by Donna Freitas
Diamond Willow by Helen Frost
The Red Necklace: A Story of the French Revolution by Sally Gardner
Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The Great Wide Sea by M. H. Herlong
The Black Book of Secrets by F. E. Higgins
Suck It Up by Brian Meehl
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
the dead and the gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Antsy Does Time by Neal Shusterman
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
I, Q.: Independence Hall by Roland Smith
How Not to Be Popular by Jennifer Ziegler

I, Q. by Roland Smith

2008-05-16T13:07:00.000-05:00

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

2008-05-16T11:48:00.001-05:00

Suck It Up by Brian Meehl

2008-05-16T11:47:00.000-05:00

The Black Book of Secrets by F.E. Higgins

2008-05-16T11:45:00.000-05:00

Red Necklace by Sally Gardner

2008-05-16T11:42:00.000-05:00

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2008-05-16T11:39:00.000-05:00

Antsy Does Time by Neal Shusterman

2008-05-16T11:26:00.001-05:00

How Not to Be Popular by Jennifer Ziegler

2008-05-16T11:25:00.004-05:00

Gym Candy by Carl Deuker

2008-05-16T11:21:00.001-05:00

The Compound by S.A. Bodeen

2008-05-16T11:16:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the Discussion!

2007-12-12T15:38:00.001-06:00

Welcome to the Mesquite Public Library's Discussion Blog for the Texas Lone Star Reading List books. We have links to the books in our right-hand sidebar, so you can jump directly to the title you want. After you've read a book, let us know what you think about it. And if you're trying to decide which book to read next, we hope the discussion will help you choose (but beware of spoilers!)

You are invited to post comments to any of the titles, but please keep in mind the following guidelines:
*Be courteous and respectful of others and their opinions
*Remember that this is a public forum--don't post anything you wouldn't want your mother to read
*Keep yourself safe--don't post any personal information
*This is a moderated discussion group, so your comments won't be posted immediately

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

2007-12-12T15:07:00.004-06:00

After passing a series of mind-bending tests, four children are selected for a secret mission that requires them to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules. What they find in the hidden labyrinth of the school's underground tunnels is more than your average school supplies.

A sequel, "The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey," is scheduled for May 2008.

After having read too many fantasy books and too many angry foster kid books at one time, it was very refreshing to pick this book up. I've been trying to think of books to compare it to, and I'm having a hard time doing so. In some ways it reminded me a bit of The Westing Game, a book I enjoyed though I have heard opposing opinions from some kids.

On the surface, it seems like so many other fantasy or adventure books. Four children, each with a special talent, are sent to infiltrate a school to stop an evil mastermind from taking over the world (hey! Alex Rider did that in one of the Anthony Horowitz books!) But this is nothing like the Alex Rider series. Nor is it like the Harry Potter series, even though the main character is an orphan, and his friends have different skills or talents and only together can they defeat the evil mastermind determined to take over the world. The book itself is a parody of a certain type of book, though nowhere near as heavy-handed as the Series of Unfortunate Events books. When I try to think of books that it is like, I wind up thinking of more old-fashioned books, like Edgar Eager's Half-Magic or the above-mentioned The Westing Game. It's really hard to describe this book. It's just different. And given that I'm over-saturated on fantasy and other genres right now, different is good.

So what did you think of it? What other books would you compare it to?

First Light by Rebecca Stead

2007-12-12T15:06:00.002-06:00

Peter is thrilled to join his parents on an expedition to Greenland, where his father studies global warming. Peter will get to skip school, drive a dogsled, and-finally-share in his dad's adventures. But on the ice cap, Peter struggles to understand a series of visions that both frighten and entice him. Thea has never seen the sun. Her extraordinary people have retreated to a secret world they've built deep inside the arctic ice. As Thea dreams of a path to Earth's surface, Peter's search for answers brings him ever closer to her hidden home.

I thought this was a really delightful book. The story starts with Peter as his father announces that they will be going to Greenland, and it seems that this will be an adventure/survival story along the lines of Peak by Roland Smith. The only hint of something a bit out of the ordinary are Peter's headaches. His mother has headaches, too, which sometimes send her retreating to her room for days at a time. But when Peter starts having them, I began to realize that they were not migraines as the description led me to believe, but something else. Peter has the ability to see things that are not right in front of him--not visions or dreams, but actual people, things, and events. Meanwhile, Thea is part of an underground community that fled the wider world generations back and is now growing to large for their limited land to sustain them. She is advocating finding a way back above ground but her grandmother, the council leader, is adamant that they stay where they are. There seems to be no connection between Peter and Thea (at times I even wondered whether Thea and her people were even human--maybe elves, fairies, or selkies?) but as circumstances bring them together, they learn that their lives have been twined for years.

Zen and the Art of Faking It by Jordan Sonnenblick

2007-12-12T15:06:00.001-06:00

When eighth-grader San Lee moves to a new town and a new school for the umpteenth time, he doesn't try to make new friends or be a loner or play cool. Instead he sits back and devises a plan to be totally different. When he accidentally answers too many questions in World History on Zen, all heads turn and San has his answer: he's a Zen Master. Just when he thinks everyone is on to him, everyone believes him in a major Zen way.

Peak by Roland Smith

2007-12-12T15:05:00.001-06:00

Peak Marcello is arrested for scaling a New York City skyscraper and is left with two choices: wither away in Juvenile Detention or go live with his long-lost father, who runs a company located in Thailand. His father has a renewed interest in him and wants Peak to be the youngest person to reach the top of Mount Everest. If he does, it could cost him his life.

The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott

2007-12-12T14:58:00.001-06:00

While working at pleasant but mundane summer jobs in San Francisco, fifteen-year-old twins, Sophie and Josh, suddenly find themselves caught up in the deadly, centuries-old struggle between rival alchemists, Nicholas Flamel and John Dee, over the possession of an ancient and powerful book holding the secret formulas for alchemy and everlasting life.

I think most people first heard of Nicholas Flamel from the first Harry Potter novel, but he was an actual person. (So, no, Michael Scott did not steal from J. K. Rowling.) Nicholas Flamel was a French alchemist who lived in the 14th century. He did search for the philosopher's stone which would change lead into gold. He died in 1418, but there are those who say that he achieved immortality. The other alchemist in this story, John Dee, also was an actual person though he lived over a hundred years after Flamel. Dee was the court astrologer for Queen Elizabeth I in England and prospered during her reign. However, her successor, James I, did not believe in astrology so Dee lost his position at court and died in poverty.

So on those bare bones, Scott has come up with this story of human immortals, mythological creatures, and the forces of Light and Dark, and the future of everything resting on the shoulder of twins 15-year-old Sophie and Josh. It's a lot of fun, but I think I may be suffering from a bit of fantasy fatigue. My heart actually sank a bit when I hit the line "End of Book One." There were some sequences that I really liked--a big chuck of the book takes place in Hekate's home, Yggdrasill, the great World Tree. It is a beautiful place and its wanton destruction just illustrates Dee's villainy. But two little newspaper items near the end that "explain" the odd events as being a special effects movie being filmed seem a bit lame.

The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt

2007-12-12T14:57:00.002-06:00

During the 1967 school year, on Wednesday afternoons when all his classmates go to either Catechism or Hebrew school, seventh-grader Holling Hoodhood is forced to stay in Mrs. Baker's classroom where they read the plays of William Shakespeare. He learns a lot about the value of the world he lives in.

I'm a big fan of Shakespeare now, but I remember when I thought the language was inaccessible and the plots were way too complicated. Then I took an English class with Sister Joan, and somehow she had the key to unlocking the plays, much as Mrs. Baker does with Holling. I don't think you have to familiar with Shakespeare to enjoy this book but it certainly adds to the enjoyment. The thing is, Holling discovers, that Shakespeare can start creeping into your life no matter how much you try to resist him.

Night of the Howling Dogs by Graham Salisbury

2007-12-12T14:57:00.001-06:00

In 1975, eleven Boy Scouts, their leaders, and some new friends camping at Halape, Hawaii, find their survival skills put to the test when a massive earthquake strikes, followed by a tsunami.

What the Moon Saw: A Novel by Laura Resau

2007-12-12T14:56:00.002-06:00

Fourteen-year-old Clara Luna spends the summer with her grandparents in the tiny, remote village of Yucuyoo, Mexico, learning about her grandmother's life as a healer, her father's decision to leave home for the United States, and her own place in the world.

It took me a while to get into this book, but once I did I was caught in its spell, much as the main character, Claire, is caught in the spell of her grandparents' remote home in Mexico. Claire has grown up without knowing her Mexican parents, but when she turns 14, she receives a letter inviting her to stay the summer. At first she dismayed by how very different it is from the home she's used to--from the airport there is a long bus ride, and an even longer walk when the bus slides down the mountainside--but as she listens to her grandmother's stories and explores the countryside, she begins to realize some things about herself, like her love of nature and desire to heal, as well as an awakening ability to sense the future

Breathe: A Ghost Story by Cliff McNish

2007-12-12T14:54:00.001-06:00

When he and his mother move into an old farmhouse in the English countryside, asthmatic, twelve-year-old Jack discovers that he can communicate with the ghosts inhabiting the house and inadvertently establishes a relationship with a tormented, malevolent spirit that threatens to destroy both his mother and himself.

Ian, you requested the section where Jack has his worst asthma attack. I'm thinking you mean the climatic one at the end of the book right after the ghost mother has been taken by the Nightmare Passage.

Chapter 25: The Loved Ones
Jack lay on the corridor floor, barely breathing anymore. He was vaguely aware that his mum was there, trying to get his body into a better position--his head being lifted, his back straightened--but he couldn't help her. She left, running to her bedroom, and soon Jack stopped breathing altogether. Sarah returned, vaulting down the stairs, an object in her hand. Nearly unconscious, Jack couldn't focus on what it was. Something small.
Sarah knelt beside him. She raised his head. She pressed the hard plastic and cold metal against his lips. She did not speak except to say. "Come on, Jack. One breath. You need to give me one breath." He tried, but it was beyond him.
Seing that, Sarah forced his slack mouth open with two fingers, thrust the inhaler tube between his teeth, and slapped his face. When that didn't work she slapped him again, as hard as she could. This time Jack gasped out in pain--and drew in a thin quantity of air. Another half breath followed, but it wasn't enough. So Sarah pinched his nostrils tight, put her lips across his and breathed for him. She forced the air inside until Jack's body jerked back--a slight opening of his throat. Quickly, Sarah inserted the inhaler into his mouth. A single dosage of the chemicals, and the pathways in his lungs marginally expanded. Three more ragged gasps and Sarah removed the inhaler. She eased the position of his chest. "Don't talk," she said, when he tried to. "Breathe."
Jack breathed. His mum held him and he breathed.

Epic by Conor Kostick

2007-12-12T14:53:00.005-06:00

Violence on New Earth had been banned generations ago and conflicts were now resolved via a computer game called Epic, which everyone played.. If you won, every dream and wish was fulfilled, but if you lost, your life in or out of the game was worthless. When Erik, seeking revenge for the unjust treatment of his parents, subverts the rules of Epic he finds himself up against the masters of the game, the Committee, in a game he dares not lose.

Wow! I liked this book. I'm not sure I completely understood this book, but I liked it and I'm looking forward to the sequel, Saga, which is scheduled to be published May 2008.

Erik lives in a culture where a massive multi-player online game has become the basis of their law and economy. Everyone spends so much time in the game that they neglect daily chores in the real world. And since your wealth in the virtual world affects your status in the real world, everyone scrounges for coppers in the virtual world but rarely try anything that might get their characters killed because then they would lose everything and have to start again. Erik, however, begins to think differently. When he needs to create a new character, he makes a female swashbuckler who has few fighting skills but is very pretty. And when he walks down the streets of the virtual world, he begins to notice that the NPCs are noticing him. And he learns that when he takes the time to explore the game in ways he never did before, opportunities arise which promise to make him very rich and powerful.

The book had a bit of similarity to Margaret Haddix's Hidden Children series in that both of them deal with an unjust or corrupt government and the resistance movement that arises in response.

Brothers, Boyfriends & Other Criminal Minds by April Lurie

2007-12-12T14:53:00.003-06:00

While living on the same block as several members of the Mafia does have the advantage of a lower crime rate, fourteen-year-old April and her brother find there are times when it is also a major disadvantage.

Well, after having overdosed on fantasy and angry foster children stories lately, it was refreshing to something totally different. April is at a pretty good time in her life now, though she doesn't always recognize it. Her parents think she's a bit of an oddball since she doesn't like to join in a lot of group activities and prefers to read some rather dark books, like Edgar Allan Poe's The Masque of the Red Death and Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. She's got a crush on a "bad boy" too--that would be Dominick, a guitar player. At first, Dominick doesn't even know she's alive but she manages to get his attention. She also attracts the attention of Bert, a boy from another school that she goes on a blind date with mostly as a favor to her best friend. Her older brother's best friend, Little Joe, is also looking at her in a new and different way. But it's not just romance that's coming her way. A tennis coach spots her playing at the park and recruits her for his team, and her English teacher is so impressed with a short story she wrote that he wants her to enter a city-wide writing contest.

On the other hand, big brother Matt has fallen hard for Bettina. They're playing the leads in the high school production of Romeo and Juliet. Unfortunately for Matt, Bettina is the daughter of a Mafia crime boss who doesn't approve of Bettina's choice of boyfriend.

This book was a lot of fun to read, but I wonder at the 1970s setting. I grew up in the 70s, so there was plenty of familiar nostalgia going on with me while I read it, but will you guys enjoy it? Did "That 70s Show" create (or tap into) a nostalgia for this decade? Or do you blip over the references to music, fashion, trends, etc. and just enjoy the story and the characters?

Schooled by Gordon Korman

2007-12-12T14:52:00.001-06:00

Capricorn 'Cap' Anderson lives on a farm commune. He has never watched television, never tasted pizza, has never heard of a wedgie. He has been homeschooled by his hippie grandmother, Rain. When his grandmother falls out of a tree and has to stay in the hospital, he is sent to a local middle school where his weirdness makes him a target for the school bully.

You know how people always tell you that you should just ignore a bully, that if you let them see that they get to you they'll just pick on you even more? That seems to prove true in this book. Cap doesn't actually ignore Zach's bullying, he is just sublimely unaware--unaware that bullying exists, unaware that anyone could be mean, unaware that he is being made fun of--and so the jokes fall flat or actually turn back around onto Zach. Though it may be hard to believe that anyone could be as innocent or naive as Cap, it is also hard to resist his appeal.

Visit the author's website here.

Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf: A Year Told Through Stuff by Jennifer L. Holm

2007-12-12T14:51:00.001-06:00

Ginny has ten items on her big to-do list for seventh grade. She uses notes, grocery receipts, report cards, calendars, art work, bottle caps, newspaper clippings, and other pieces of stuff to explain a year in middle school where things never turned out as expected.

What a way cool book this is! When the title says a year told through stuff, it means it--this book does not use traditional prose to tell the story, it's a collection of stuff. Reading this book is rather like looking through someone's scrapbook or shoebox of things, or possibly rifling through their trash, though everything's been organized in chronological order so the story make sense. It reminds me of Avi's book Nothing But the Truth (1991), which is told through letters, memos, radio transcripts, telephone conversations, and newspaper articles, but Holm adds a graphic element so instead a reading the text of a memo you see the actual memo, or post-it note, or ticket stub, or whatever. It's not surprising that she's done a book in this form--Jennifer Holm is the author of the graphic novel series Babymouse.

The Floating Island: The Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme by Elizabeth Haydon

2007-12-12T14:50:00.000-06:00

The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney by Suzanne Harper

2007-12-12T14:49:00.000-06:00

In Lily Dale, New York, a community dedicated to the religion of Spiritualism, tenth-grader Sparrow Delaney, the youngest daughter in an eccentric family of psychics, agonizes over whether or not to reveal her special abilities in order to help a friend.

There really is a Lily Dale, New York, and it is populated by mediums, psychics, and spiritualists. I've been there. Yes, I was one of those tourists who attended some workshops during one of the summer symposiums. We didn't book a private reading, and no one had any messages for me during the big public meeting (which was held outdoors in the woods rather than the auditorium that Sparrow describes.) Having visited there added a little bit to my experience of reading this book--I could actually picture the charming old houses with their gardens.

But you don't have to know about Lily Dale in order to enjoy this book, which is a good ghost story with a touch of romance.

Tales of the Cryptids: Mysterious Creatures That May or May Not Exist by Kelly Milner Halls

2007-12-12T14:48:00.002-06:00

Cryptozoology is the study of animals that may or may not be real: familiar animals like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster, and those that are less familiar like the Marozi of Kenya, the Orang-pendek of Sumatra and the Thylacine of Tasmania. Meet these and more in this introduction to cryptozoology. Hey, they used to say that the giant squid was just a myth. The coelacanth was supposed to be extinct long ago until a fisherman pulled one up in his nets. Who's to say that Bigfoot doesn't really exist.

Check out the companion website.

Dark Water Rising by Marian Hale

2007-12-12T14:48:00.001-06:00

Seth, 16, wants to be a carpenter like his father, but his dream ends when his family moves so he can become a doctor. When a storm warning alerts Galveston, nobody imagines it will be anything significant. While salvaging and rebuilding in the aftermath of the flood, Seth proves himself in a way that his previous efforts never could, but he still must face his father man-to-man.

I'll admit it, I'm a sucker for disaster stories--fiction and non-fiction. I will read anything that deals with hurricanes, volcanoes, blizzards, etc. I watch every documentary the Discovery Channel does on the Titanic. I'll even watch Dante's Peak every time it shows up on tv. So I grabbed this book dealing with the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 as soon as it came into the library. Not surprisingly, I enjoyed it. It is told totally from Seth's point of view--his experiences in surviving the hurricane, his worry about his family, and his actions in coping with the aftermath. The hurricane itself takes only a small portion of the story--most of it is concerned with the aftermath, the cleanup, the search for missing loved ones, the rebuilding, and Seth's internal journey to adulthood. Though the author does not shy away from the horror of the stuation she is not overly graphic in her descriptions. There is a particularly heartbreaking scene where Seth and Josiah find a girl buried in the rubble who is still alive but they are unable to get her out. An afterward by the author tells how she became interested in the story of the storm, and even includes some photos of the aftermath.

If you want to learn more about the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, read Issac's Storm by Erik Larson (available at both Mesquite libraries.)

So what did you think of Dark Water Rising? Did you believe in Seth's annoyance with his parents at the beginning? Are you a disaster junkie too?

Beastly by Alex Flinn

2007-12-12T14:47:00.002-06:00

Kyle is the most popular guy at school. He's also the meanest and most self-absorbed. When his monstrous behavior goes a step too far, a witch turns him into a beast. Only true love will break the spell, but that's a tall order in today's cynical world. Will Kyle remain a beast forever?

The fairy tale novel has been having a mild resurgence lately, ever since Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted. Some have been using fairy tale elements to create an original tale, but others, like this one, retell an actual tale. Most fairy tale novels (at least the ones that I'm familiar with) tend to be female-centric, so it is refreshing that this one is told from the point of view of the Beast, and lets us get to know him before the witch curses him. Kyle is a snobby rich kid who thinks he is better than everyone because of his looks, because of his money, and because that is how his father has raised him. His cruel jokes cause a witch to transform him, making his outside as ugly as his inside. Alex Flinn does a really nice job in updating the Beauty and the Beast story, blending the traditional elements with modern culture. As the Beast, Kyle has his rose garden, which winds up being the catalyst for his Beauty (in this case, Lindy) to come to his home. He also has his servants who have their own sort of enchantment (okay, that is stretching it a bit on my part, but after you've finished the book, you should see my point.) But there is a chat room where he first reaches out to the world outside his lonely brownstone, and when he goes searching for love on the internet the magic mirror shows him that not everyone is who they claim to be.

I really enjoyed this book. What about you? Do you like the fairy tale aspect? What about the references to The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Jane Eyre, and The Phantom of the Opera? Or did you think the author had to strain too much to get everything to fit?

Pieces of Georgia: A Novel by Jen Bryant

2007-12-12T14:47:00.001-06:00

In journal entries to her mother, a gifted artist who died suddenly, thirteen-year-old Georgia McCoy reveals how her life changes after she receives an anonymous gift membership to a nearby art museum.

What a very sweet, very sad, very hopeful book. Georgia and her father are both shy and quiet, so they have never really expressed their mutual grief over the death of Georgia's mother. Because she is so quiet and sometimes prone to stomach aches, her school has labeled her "at risk" and she has to go see the school counselor. It is the counselor that gives her a journal which she uses to write to her mother.

Take a look a Jen Bryant's website.

Chance Fortune and the Outlaws by Shane Berryhill

2007-12-12T14:45:00.002-06:00

For as long as he can remember, fourteen-year-old Joshua Blevins has wanted to be a superhero. He has the brains, the passion, and the heart. There's only one problem: he doesn't have any superpowers. But Josh isn't about to let that stop him. Determined not to give up on his dream, Josh enlists the aid of his mentor, Captain Fearless, a retired costumed adventurer, to gain entrance to the Burlington Academy for the Superhuman under the false identity of Chance Fortune a superhuman with the power of having unnaturally good luck. Masquerading as Chance, Josh rises among the ranks of his fellow students at the Academy, eventually becoming the leader of his own combat team, the Outlaws. Together, Chance and his teammates Psy-Chick, Shocker, Gothika, Space Cadet, Iron Maiden, and Private Justice make new friends, battle new enemies, and ultimately find themselves caught up in a struggle for the fate of the universe. Can Chance and the Outlaws save the universe and survive their freshman year?

There are a number of humorous superhero books available for young readers now--this subgenre seems to really have grown since the release of The Incredibles. This book is geared to a slightly older audience, and has the intriguing trick of making the main character someone who has no superpower at all. Like Batman or Doc Savage or the Phantom, he has gone through many years of rigorous training, both physical and mental, to achieve a certain level of superhuman abilities, but that is not enough to gain him entrance into the Burlington Academy for the Superhuman. However, when he changes his name to Chance Fortune and claims that his superpower is good luck, he is accepted into the school. Though it may seem that he is at a disadvantage, he soon becomes the leader of his team, mainly because he has grown up without a superpower to depend on. His teammates may have psychic abilities, or the power to shoot lightning from their eyes, but Chance is the one who sees how they can combine their powers and work together to defeat the other teams in competition.

The middle section feels a bit rushed--a lot of time is spent on coming to school, making friends, building the team and winning their first competition, and then we jump to the end of the school year and the final competition against the team of school bullies. Still, there were some very enjoyable moments and I look forward to the next book in the series

Home, and Other Big, Fat Lies by Jill Wolfson

2007-12-12T13:06:00.002-06:00

Whitney, 11, a foster child with an eye for the beauty of nature and a talent for getting into trouble, takes on the loggers in her new hometown when she tries to save the biggest tree in the forest.

You can see Jill Wolfson's website here.

So I've been on fantasy overload--reading too many fantasy books in a row--and decided I needed a break. And what do I pick up? Another book about an angry foster kid! I must admit, it took me a while to get into this book. I didn't take to Whitney at first. She seemed to have such a chip on her shoulder about being a foster kid. I can't really blame her for that--she's on her 12th foster home and she's not even 12 years old--but it did keep me from liking her right away. Fortunately, she found some kindred spirits in her school--both other foster kids and a really neat science teacher. And once she started going into the forest, she began to really open up to the world of possibilities that she had never noticed or never been exposed to before. By the end, she even has a sense of belonging that she has never before experienced in her life.

Runaway by Wendelin Van Draanen

2007-12-12T13:03:00.001-06:00

After running away from her fifth foster home, Holly, a twelve-year-old orphan, travels across the country, keeping a journal of her experiences and struggle to survive.

Holly was first introduced in the book Sammy Keyes and the Sisters of Mercy. In that book, she is a secondary character, but she wouldn't let the author go until her own story was told. This is a wonderful book as we travel with Holly from one side of the country to another, and from being angry and bitter to beginning to feel hope and optimism.

Notes from the Midnight Driver by Jordan Sonnenblick

2007-12-12T13:01:00.001-06:00

Alex finds that being 16 isn't easy. His parents are separated, and his father is now dating his former third grade teacher. He ends up getting into some trouble with the law and is ordered to do community service at a nursing home. During his service there, Alex befriends a cantankerous old man who has some lessons to impart about jazz guitar playing, love, and forgiveness.

I enjoyed this book. There weren't any big surprises (well, there is one kinda medium surprise at the end, but if you're paying close enough attention--I wasn't--you'll be expecting it.) But really this is one of those books where the plot isn't that important--it's the characters and their relationships that make the story. I like Alex. I like Sol, the old man that Alex is assigned to work with and eventually becomes a surrogate grandfather. There is a lot of humor here, even with some serious stuff going on.

Take a look at Jordan Sonnenblick's website.

The Wizard, the Witch, and Two Girls from Jersey by Lisa Papademetriou

2007-12-12T12:59:00.000-06:00

Two mismatched teenage girls must find their way back home to New Jersey after being zapped into the pages of a fantasy novel.

Visit the author's website.

Dairy Queen: A Novel by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

2007-12-12T12:57:00.000-06:00

After spending her summer running the family farm and training the quarterback for her school's rival football team, D.J., 16, decides to go out for the sport herself, not anticipating the reactions of those around her. An expert only with cows and football, she will learn a lot about love.

D.J.'s father has injured his hip working with the manure spreader. Big brother Bill is off at college, Mom is a teacher and assistant principal at the local elementary school, and little brother Curtis helps out as much as he can but he's still young. That means that D.J. is pretty much working the farm by herself. And you thought your life was hard! So a family friend (and high school football coach) sends over someone to help out with the haying--Brian Nelson, quarterback for the rival school's football team. Brian is not used to physical labor so he's more hindrance than help, but slowly he and D.J. learn to work together and she helps him train for the upcoming football season.

If you enjoy this book, the sequel, "The Off Season" is already out and the author is currently working on a third book about D.J.

Take a look at the author's website.

Out of Patience by Brian Meehl

2007-12-12T12:56:00.000-06:00

Twelve-year-old Jake Waters cannot wait to escape the small town of Patience, Kansas, until the arrival of a cursed toilet plunger causes him to reevaluate his feelings toward his family and its history. This book reminded me of Holes by Louis Sachar--there was the similar theme of a family curse and blend of the magical and ordinary. Lots of fun.

Shackleton's Stowaway by Victoria McKernan

2007-12-12T12:55:00.000-06:00

A fictionalized account of the adventures of eighteen-year-old Perce Blackborow, who stowed away for the 1914 Shackleton Antarctic expedition and, after their ship Endurance was crushed by ice, endured many hardships, including the loss of the toes of his left foot to frostbite, during the nearly two-year return journey across sea and ice.

I have long been fascinated by the Ernest Shackleton expedition on the Edurance. For all the hardships they suffered, not one man died, which is really incredible. After all, Robert Scott, the man credited with being the first to reach the South Pole, died on his expedition. Even more incredible is that when expedition members wrote about their experiences afterwards, their descriptions of Antarctica were of its beauty not its dangers. I was really looking forward to reading this book, but it never grabbed me like I hoped it would and I didn't finish it.

What about you? Did the story pick up? Should I go back and give it another ty?

Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass

2007-12-12T12:54:00.001-06:00

Just before his 13th birthday, Jeremy Fink receives a keyless, locked box that was set aside by his father before his death five years earlier that purportedly contains the meaning of life. Jeremy and his best friend Lizzy have just one month to find the keys before his birthday. They end up having to do some community service after an effort goes awry, but soon he discovers that there are other ways of finding out the meaning of life.

Visit Wendy Mass's website.

Heat by Mike Lupica

2007-12-12T12:52:00.000-06:00

Pitching prodigy Michael Arroyo is on the run from social services after being banned from playing Little League baseball because rival coaches doubt he is only 12-years-old. Michael has no parents to offer them proof. Just when the shadows in his life grow darker, heroes emerge, and for Michael, heroes don't come any bigger than the Yankees.

Black Duck by Janet Taylor Lisle

2007-12-12T12:51:00.001-06:00

Years afterwards, Ruben Hart tells the story of how, in 1929 Newport, R.I., he and his friend Jed found a dead body on the shore. They found out later it was due to conspiracy. He then describes how his family and Jed's family were caught up in the violent competition among groups trying to control the local rum-smuggling trade. This book is about friendship, family, hard choices, and a betrayal so deep it may never be forgiven.

Visit the author's website.

Born to Rock by Gordon Korman

2007-12-12T12:50:00.000-06:00

Leo Caraway, a future Harvard student, learns that his biological father is the lead singer of Purge, the most popular punk rock band ever seen. At first, Leo is horrified to learn that his father is a rock legend, but when his Harvard scholarship is revoked after he is falsely accused of cheating on a test, he needs his father's help. Leo accepts a job as a roadie on Purge's summer tour, secretly hoping to get his father to pay his Harvard tuition.

Visit the author's website.

La Línea by Ann Jaramillo

2007-12-12T12:43:00.001-06:00

Miguel, 15, finally gets his chance to leave his poor Mexican village, cross the border illegally, and join his parents in California. His younger sister, Elena, is determined to join him and follows him. Together the two take a dangerous journey of desperation and desire, loyalty and betrayal.

Shug by Jenny Han

2007-12-12T12:40:00.000-06:00

Annemarie 'Shug' Wilcox, 12, proves there is nothing worse than being a teen. She is positive there is nothing good or amazing about herself, and when she enters junior high, the friends she knew her entire life act like complete strangers. She learns to cope with her changing life while learning about friendship, first loves, and self-worth in a small town in the South.

Visit Jenny Han's website.

The Black Tattoo by Sam Enthoven

2007-12-12T12:38:00.000-06:00

When his best friend, Charlie, is possessed by an ancient demon, fourteen-year-old Jack, accompanied by a girl with superhuman powers, battles all over London and into the underworld to save him.

I will admit that I did not like this book as much as I thought it would. I like the premise--three teens fight to save the universe. I like the concept of this particular hell, and the hierarchy of demons. I like Jagmat and the other gladiator demons (well, except for Shargle--he was just gross.) The author may have meant it differently but I thought the Chinj was darling. But I couldn't really get into the book, and I have to admit I skimmed through some sections.

What did you think of it? Is it the most awesome fantasy adventure ever and I just totally missed the point?

Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima

2007-12-12T12:35:00.000-06:00

After learning about his magical ancestry and his own warrior powers, sixteen-year-old Jack embarks on a training program to fight enemy wizards.

Visit the author's website.

I'd Tell You That I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter

2007-12-12T12:34:00.000-06:00

The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women isn't your typical all-girl's school. Portraying itself as a school of geniuses, it's actually a school for spies. Sophomore Cammie Morgan is sheltered from 'normal' teenage life. As a result, she's unprepared for what happens when she meets an ordinary boy who thinks she's an ordinary girl. With so many secrets to hide, can Cammie expect to ever fall in love with a normal guy?

The second book in the Gallagher Girls series, Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy, was published in September, 2007.

Read Ally Carter's blog.

Avalon High by Meg Cabot

2007-12-12T12:33:00.001-06:00

Ellie's thrilled to meet Will, the star quarterback at her new school. Yet as she gets to know Will, she discovers some strange things about him, the school, and even herself. Ellie doesn't believe in deja vu, but she can't shake the feeling that somehow this has all happened before. The author of 'The Princess Diaries' presents a modern story with an Arthurian twist.

While not as sparkling as Cabot's Princess Diaries series, this is an ejoyable read. Ellie is a likeable character (as is Will!) and I really like her relationship with her parents. The parallels with Arthurian legends flow well without strain and I really liked the twist at the end. I really enjoyed the descriptions of the storm at the end. It's not my favorite book on the list this year, and it's not my favorite Meg Cabot book, but it was fun.

Avalon High has been spun off into a manga series.

Take a look at Meg Cabot's website.

The Lambkins by Eve Bunting

2007-12-12T12:22:00.001-06:00

After being kidnapped by the lonely widow of a brilliant geneticist, Kyle finds himself shrunk to doll-size and living with three other children in a dollhouse from which there seems to be no escape.

Gideon the Cutpurse: Being the First Part of the Gideon Trilogy by Linda Buckley-Archer

2007-12-12T12:14:00.000-06:00

Ignored by his father and sent to Derbyshire for the weekend, twelve-year-old Peter and his new friend, Kate, are accidentally transported back in time to 1763 England where they are befriended by a reformed cutpurse.

This is the first part of a trilogy. The second volume, The Time Thief, is due to be published Dec. 26, 2007. The paperback version of Gideon the Cutpurse has been retitled The Time Travelers.

View the website for the series.

I had been hearing a lot of good things about this book, but I still put off reading it for a while. England of the 1760s is not my favorite time period, and the summaries I read didn't really grab my interest. Once I did start reading it, though, I quickly got into it and was reluctant to put it down. Peter is an only child who feels neglected by his father. (Strangely, he doesn't feel neglected by his mother, though both parents seem to put their careers before him.) Kate is part of a large and loving family. You know that under other circumstances, they would never be friends. But an accident with an experimental anti-gravity machine sends the two of them back in time--though they stay in the same location. They encounter Gideon, a young man who was reluctantly forced to become a cutpurse (or a pickpocket) for his employer but who is a really decent person and helps them acclimate to their new situation as they try to figure out a way home. The story comes to a satisfying conclusion while still setting up for the next volume.

What did you think of the book?

Airball: My Life in Briefs by L. D. Harkrader

2007-12-12T11:08:00.000-06:00

Humor and basketball combine in this novel about a very untalented seventh-grade team. Klutzy Kirby Nickel braves his coach's ire and becomes captain of the basketball team in order to help him prove that NBA star Brett McGrew is the father he has never known

Visit the author's website.

Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature

2000-05-16T11:17:00.000-05:00