Lily Dale: Awakening by Wendi Corsi Staub

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

What could be worse than getting dumped via text message? Calla thought that was the worst thing that could happen to her but she was wrong. Not long after getting dumped she finds her mother dead. Calla's life as she knew it is over. Her father is a professor and is scheduled to do a sabbatical in California. While her dad is in California getting things ready for them Calla goes to spend the summer with her grandmother Odelia in Lily Dale. To Calla's shock Lily Dale is full of psychics including her grandmother. As Calla gets to know Lily Dale and the people who live there unusual things start happening to her. She starts seeing ghosts and having visions. Is she like her grandmother and will she ever uncover who her mother really was. The only way to uncover family secrets is to stay.

I really liked this book but it read like a first chapter. What I mean by that is it felt like I was only getting the beginning of the story not the middle or the end. That could be because there are three other books that follow. Lily Dale: Believing, Lily Dale: Connecting, and Lily Dale: Discovering. The next two books are out already but Lily Dale: Discovering will be out in October 2009.

I can't wait to start reading the next book.

Nick of Time by Ted Bell

I just read the Young Adult book "Nick of Time" by Ted Bell. I enjoyed it very much and would rate it a 4. The setting is on the coast of England in 1939, the eve of World War II. Nick McIver, a 12 year old boy, and his younger sister Kate help their father who is looking for German U-boat wolf packs that are circling the Channel Islands. The information they provide to Winston Churchill is vital as he tries to warn England of the imminent Nazi invasion. One day Nick discovers an old sea chest, left for him by his ancestor, Captain Nick McIver, asking for help. The chest contains a time machine which Nick uses to return to the year 1805 to help his ancestor and the Admiral Lord Nelson's entire fleet. The Royal Navy is being threatened by the French and the evil pirate Billy Blood. Meanwhile, Nick's sister Kate with the help of two of England's most brilliant detectives, Lord Hawke and Commander Hobbes, tries to stop invading Nazis. An adventure for all ages.

Submitted by Helen Duda

Keeper of Light and Dust by Natasha Mostert

Reading Level: Adult
(3 out of 4)

I liked this book but it seemed like it took me forever to get through it. I would have liked the romance to have been explored more. All in all I'm glad I read it.

Mia Lockhart is a tattoo artist and she practices martial arts. Mia has a secret. She is a Keeper. Keepers are woman who are warriors, healers, and protectors. They have the ability to keep people safe. As Mia practices her craft among the boxers and martial artists of South London, she has no idea that a man who calls himself "Dragonfly" is watching from the shadows.

Adrian Ashton is a brilliant scientist, an expert in the field of biophoton emissions from cells within the human body. He is also a skilled martial artist and a modern-day vampire. With the aid of an ancient Chinese text, he has mastered the art of draining the chi of his opponents and by doing so he kills them but he stays young. Mia is drawn to him but when she finds out he is threatening those she loves she knows she has to stop him.