Revenge of the Homecoming Queen

Revenge of the Homecoming Queen by Stephanie Hale

Reviewed by Gerti

This is the third book I have read by author Stephanie Hale, and I like it a lot. I had previously read “Austenland” and “Midnight in Austenland” because of my love of writer Jane Austen’s works, to which those books pay mild tribute. I liked the former book, didn’t like the latter. I picked up this book, “Revenge of the Homecoming Queen”, because I needed something to break that tie about the author’s talents. This book proves again that Hale is a very good writer with a fabulous sense of humor and a gift for creating likeable characters.

Perhaps more YA than the other two books, this book centers around high school senior Aspen Brooks. Perhaps that implausible name is a tip of the hat to the name of heroine “Cher” in every teen girl’s favorite film, “Clueless”. Like Cher, Aspen is a dream girl, an A-lister popular girl with all the right clothes, attitudes, and even friends. She dates the quarter back, of course, and is all teed up to become Homecoming Queen. That is until the principal, Miss Hott, calls the name of her nemesis, Angel Ives.

Quarterback boyfriend Lucas is also not chosen to be Homecoming King, but that’s his own fault, as he started a campaign to elect a nerdy boy named Rand whose parents are impossibly rich. Lucas explains to Aspen that he did it because he thought she and Rand had a lot in common, and thought she would be elected queen. Angel is none too happy about Rand being her king, either, and that’s the only fact that saves Aspen from being heartbroken.

Aspen starts to have very bad days at school, after her tire gets slashed and someone stuffs her locker with porn. She thinks its Angel, but it turns out Angel is only after her boyfriend, and when she sneaks away during a party to be with Lucas, Angel accidentally gets kidnapped. The rest of the story involves trying to track down the Homecoming Queen, and the other people who end up getting kidnapped after her. But the ending is satisfying and gratifying, as we find out that the kidnapper was only out to punish Aspen and keeps nabbing the wrong girls!

This book was terrific fun, and not just for teens. I thoroughly enjoyed how Aspen grows up, from selfish teen/queen to a girl who is capable of caring for others (and the environment!), even putting her own life in danger to save her mom. It’s a rollicking good time filled with plot twists, humor, and a little naughtiness to keep it all interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was sorry to see it end.

Prom and Prejudice

Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg

Reviewed by Gerti

I wasn’t but a few lines into this book when I realized what a cute and clever sendup Elizabeth Eulberg had written. “Prom and Prejudice” is her riff on Jane Austen’s classic novel of British literature, “Pride and Prejudice”, and Eulberg treats her story as an honest tribute, with a good amount of humor and style.

Of course the main character remains Elizabeth “Lizzie” Bennet, and she still lives at Longbourn, but in this version it is Longbourn Academy, which is a Connecticut high school for mean girls who also happen to be trust-fund babies. Her best friend/roommate is a girl named Jane, unlike in Austen’s original novel, where Jane is her elder sister. Jane’s younger sister here is Lydia, who remains a trouble-making wench, just as Austen conceived her over a hundred years ago.

This book revolves around what to Longbourn Academy is the biggest social event of the year – the prom. And of course, Jane longs to be asked by her boyfriend, Charles Bingley. His evil sister Caroline, however, plots to separate the two of them, mainly because Charles’ friend, Will Darcy, has his eye on Jane’s friend Lizzie, even though she is just a scholarship student at Longbourn.

Like in the original, the struggle between rich and poor is evident here, with Lizzie and her fellow scholarship student Charlotte victims of naughty remarks and even nastier pranks by the rich girls at the Academy. Their snobbishness is shared by the kids from the neighboring single-sex boys school, Pemberley Academy. One exception seems to be George “Wick” Wickham, who befriends Lizzie at the coffee shop where she works. He was tossed out of Pemberley Academy, and claims it was because of Will Darcy. But as in Austen’s original, “Wick” is not being entirely truthful to Lizzie, and has been using his rich friends, girlfriends (and even their minor sisters!) in unsavory and sometimes illegal ways.

This version of “Pride and Prejudice” by Eulberg is a delight to read, as it is not bogged down by Austen’s sometime dense and intricate linguistic style. I like how Eulberg makes an effort to include most of Austen’s original characters, although she changes their relationship somewhat, if not their personalities. I don’t like the ending, as Darcy and Lizzie decide NOT to attend the prom after all, because that doesn’t jibe with the flavor of the original, where Lizzie and Darcy flaunt convention by disregarding their family money when making their love match, but still agree to marry and not just run off together, like the dishonorable Wickham and Lydia.

Still, this book will be a delight to read for any fan of Austen’s original novel, and I highly recommend it to teen readers and older. Readers of Eulberg’s other famous novel, “The Lonely Hearts Club,” may use this text to give them a leg-up on Austen’s classical plotline without bogging them down in antiquated language.

Just As Long As We're Together

Gerti's Review of Judy Blume’s “Just As Long As We’re Together”

Judy Blume is an author that I found irresistible when I was a teenager, many, many years ago! I recently picked up one of her books at a library book sale, and realized that she kept writing even after I went to college! Her books are still designed to appeal to her traditional target audience – tweens and teens.

In this book, “Just As Long As We’re Together,” a young girl named Stephanie is getting ready to go back to school. Her best friend since second grade, Rachel, is scared about the new school year, but excited, too. Then a new girl named Alison shows up in their neighborhood, and the longtime best friends begin to drift apart. Add to that social complication the fact that Stephanie’s parents are separating, which they of course hide from her, and you’ve got a story of typically modern teenaged angst. Stephanie hates her dad’s new girlfriend, and works hard to break them up and re-introduce her mom into the love equation. Rachel has a hard time accepting Alison as Stephanie’s new friend, and the two girls have a huge fight that their parents try to mitigate. And of course, all three girls are starting to notice boys, which leads to its own problems! Oh, the drama!

More “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret” than “Forever”, “Just As Long As We’re Together” is a book for young teens who may be going through the same sort of social upheavals. The lessons are softballs - it’s hard to insert new friends into old alliances, and it’s even harder to figure out the opposite sex! While I like the book’s well-defined main character, Stephanie, her friends seem like caricatures. Rachel is the prototypical “smart girl,” and Alison, the foreign, worldly one. Her mom is a famous actress, and as a result Alison has travelled the world and was even born abroad, which is pretty sophisticated for her group of friends.

Each girl has to solve her own crisis, but in Judy Blume world, it all turns out all right. JALAWT has little content that could be objectionable to parents. And while it still amazes me that middle-aged Judy Blume still knows about the silly things that worry teenagers, I guess that’s the nature of her creativity. It was amusing, as a parent, to spy on the pubescent conversations she presents here, and perhaps more than when I was young, this text shows me exactly how talented a writer Blume is. This book won’t change anybody’s life, but it is an entertaining and well-written effort by one of America’s favorite writers of teen fiction.

I Hunt Killers

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga
Teen Fiction

Meet Jasper "Jazz" Dent. His claim to fame in his hometown of Lobo's Nod is being the son of serial killer Billy Dent. Billy is safely in prison, but a string of recent murders is casting doubt on Jazz. Could the son be following in the father's footsteps? Join Jazz as he starts his own investigation, hoping to clear his name and answer some of the questions in his own mind.

And then read Game and Blood of my Blood to see the series through to its surprising conclusion!

Wicked Bugs – The Louse That Conquered Napoleon’s Army & Other Diabolical Insects by Amy Stewart

Reading Level: Teen Non-Fiction
Submitted by Gerti

This is the 2^nd book of Amy Stewart’s that I have finished reading, starting with “Wicked Plants” and here reading her “Wicked Bugs.” I don’t know which she wrote first, but they are very similar in design and execution, although I must admit I like “Wicked Bugs” better. I am still working on a third book of hers, “The Drunken Botanist”, but I haven’t managed to finish it yet. It isn’t nearly as interesting as these other two if you don’t plan to brew your own moonshine!

Like “Wicked Plants”, “Wicked Bugs” is full of strange and unusual facts about insects, arachnids and other creepy crawlies (like scorpions). Like her other book, the creatures descriptions are arranged alphabetically for ease of use, and there is a tab on the upper right corner of the page that indicates whether it fits various categories, like “deadly” or “painful.” While for the plants, I was upset that there were no actual full-color pictures of the plants to help humans avoid them, here I don’t mind the sepia-toned drawings of the insects, etc., mainly because so few of them reside in the US!

Unlike “Wicked Plants,” the drawings in this book don’t bother me, mainly because they are of the creepie crawlie in question, and not of some bizarre nightmare or a psychedelic state the bug bite might cause. It was actually fun showing my kids the pictures of the various bugs, some of which appear to show the creatures actual size, which is pretty creepy when they are 5 inches or larger! I don’t know whether the pictures accurately represent their actual size, only that the size of the drawing of a particular bug seems to mimic the size range the author mentions. Actual entomologists might quibble about it, but I don’t care that much! I’m really just counting eyes and legs when I look at bugs!

Is it worth reading? Yes, like “Wicked Plants”, “Wicked Bugs” is probably even worth purchasing for the home library, since it talks about how dangerous various critters can be. I would especially buy it if I were planning to head to South America or Africa or some other site where the bigger, deadlier things lurk. Fortunately, here in the United States, it seems all I have to watch out for are eating raw pork (she does include a section on parasites) and getting bitten by a brown recluse. Still, this book makes me glad that I spend most of my time indoors!

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

I finally jumped on the Divergent band wagon, or should I say train since they are highly referenced in the book, and read it.  Also here is a new cover that I really like with Shailene Woodley on it.  I think that she is a great choice to play Tris.  Anyway  I really liked that the setting is Chicago and I knew a lot of the places Ms. Roth talked about.  I like to think I have a great imagination and can create what authors describe but I didn't have to think to hard about the landscape in this book.

With that said Veronica Roth tackles a subject that many have done before her, a dystopian world.  Much like in the Hunger Games you don't know why the world is the way it is, it just is that way.  In Roth's world people are separated into five factions or virtues: Abnegation (The Selfless), Erudite (The Intelligent), Dauntless (The Brave), Amity (The Peaceful), and Candor (The Honest).  You are born into one of the factions and on your sixteenth birthday you are tested to see which faction you should spend the rest of your life in.  But you don't have to go with what the test says, you can choose differently.  For those that are Divergent the test can't determine which faction you should be in.

Beatrice Prior is Abnegation but her test results come back Divergent.  She has never felt selfless enough to stay with her faction so she chooses Dauntless.  Dauntless is a brutal faction that isn't quite what it seems.  There she meets Four and several other people that will become friends and enemies.  Some people in their society are no longer happy with the way things are ran...so of course trouble is coming!

I really enjoyed this book and the twists and turns the author took me on.  I just couldn't help think while reading, especially during the initiation training, how violent some of the scenes were.  Eric, their leader, was one cruel puppy.  I know that I would not have made it in the Dauntless society.  I really don't think I would fit very well into any of the factions but I think that is really the point.  We can have a little of all the virtues.  I am eagerly awaiting the movie which comes out on March 21 and until then I have started reading Insurgent.

Happy Reading!

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Reading Level: Young Adult

Submitted by Gerti

I’m so proud of Northwestern University graduate Veronica Roth for this brilliant debut YA novel. Although teens consider it this year’s “Hunger Games”, that comparison does not mean it is bad. “The Hunger Games” is the story of a young woman’s struggle to survive in a dystopian world, and so is “Divergent,” but in Veronica Roth’s novel, the setting is Chicago, which makes this an even more interesting read for someone familiar with the city and its sights like Navy Pier and Millennium Park. Also in Roth’s favor is the fact that her heroine, Beatrice Prior, has a normal name. Sorry, Suzanne Collins. I think Katniss is a mouthful.

In THG, the brave new world is divided into 12-ish districts, and just about any teen can tell you which tribute comes from which district, and what that district makes or grows. In Roth’s world, there are five factions instead, and they are divided into specific virtues that the survivors of a war decided were important to keep around. Protagonist Beatrice (or Tris, as she becomes later) is from Abnegation, a grey-wearing, Amishesque group who believe that being selfless is the path to true peace. The other groups are Candor (for the painfully honest), Dauntless (for the insanely brave), Amity (for the friendly), and Erudite (for those who like research and reading). But there is movement between the groups.

Just as in THG, teenaged Tris is at this turning point in her life where she must choose what to be. In the Hunger Games, the districts have to send tributes to the eponymous “games”. In Roth’s world, each 16 year old has to undergo a series of mental tests which determine (to a large extent) to which faction they truly belong. Tris has had a hard time being selfless like her parent’s in Abnegation, and her test shows it. But she is something even rarer called Divergent (hence the title), which means that she has elements of various factions. Her test giver changes the results so this fact isn’t automatically known to her superiors, and warns Tris that she should tell no one about the results (not even her family), as being Divergent can be deadly.

Despite some qualms about leaving her family, Tris chooses Dauntless, and her new name comes with her introduction there as a Transfer. Like THG again, there is some training, there are some tests, but like Katniss Everdeen, Tris is able to learn and move from the bottom to the top of the ranks of new Dauntless candidates by playing to her own peculiar strengths. Like any young adult novel, Tris makes friends, faces down enemies, and has several opportunities for romance within her new faction. Of course there are symbols for each faction (think marketing opportunities!) and Tris gets a few tattoos which reflect her heritage and choices. The final scenes of the book involve her foiling an Erudite revolution against Abnegation involving a Dauntless army… and if that sounds too confusing, you must read the book! It is a thrilling trip into a dystopian post-war Chicagoland filled with teenaged angst and adventure. Can’t wait to read the next one!

The Taking by Kimberly Derting

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

Coming April 29, 2014

I was so lucky to get my hands on an advanced e-galley of this book.  I love Kimberly Derting's Body Finder series and this first book in her new series about alien abductions did not disappoint.  I don't want to say too much about the book and give anything away.  Just know I read this in two days.  I couldn't put it down, it was that good.  I can't wait to read the next one!


A flash of white light . . . and then . . . nothing.
 
When sixteen-year-old Kyra Agnew wakes up behind a Dumpster at the Gas 'n' Sip, she has no memory of how she got there. With a terrible headache and a major case of déjà vu, she heads home only to discover that five years have passed . . . yet she hasn't aged a day. 

Everything else about Kyra's old life is different. Her parents are divorced, her boyfriend, Austin, is in college and dating her best friend, and her dad has changed from an uptight neat-freak to a drunken conspiracy theorist who blames her five-year disappearance on little green men. 

Confused and lost, Kyra isn't sure how to move forward unless she uncovers the truth. With Austin gone, she turns to Tyler, Austin's annoying kid brother, who is now seventeen and who she has a sudden undeniable attraction to. As Tyler and Kyra retrace her steps from the fateful night of her disappearance, they discover strange phenomena that no one can explain, and they begin to wonder if Kyra's father is not as crazy as he seems. There are others like her who have been taken . . . and returned. Kyra races to find an explanation and reclaim the life she once had, but what if the life she wants back is not her own?(from http://www.kimberlyderting.com/taking.php)

Duchessina-A Novel of Catherine de Medici by Carolyn Meyer

Reading Level: Young Adult
Submitted by Gerti

When my daughter had to do a report on Catherine de Medici for her 8th grade class, I requested this book from the library.  The book arrived after the report, but I decided to read it anyway, since I like the approach Carolyn Meyer's takes with her series of Princess biographies, by focusing on the historical figures as children and teens.

I knew from Stephanie's report that Catherine de Medici's parents had died when she was still an infant, which already makes the Duchessina a sympathetic character.  What the Wikipedia articles on the Duchess of Urbino don't focus on is the next part of her life, which the young Catherine spent hiding in convents, as the city of Florence turned against her rich and famous family.  Meyer again makes Catherine an object of pity, as she shows how hard it was for her to have a famous name...giving me a little more sympathy for those rich kids who show up in TV news reports after having done something incredibly stupid, despite having advantages of wealth and fame that normal mortals don't have.  Meyer makes it sound more like a curse than a gift to shoulder a name and a reputation, even before you've grown up to earn one.  It's a fresh perspective, and I always welcome that while reading.

Meyer also gives de Medici a childhood romance, which of course the school of research on Catherine didn't turn up.  Whether or not it's accurate or wholly fictional, I don't know, but it does, I'm sure, make the book more appealing to teenaged readers, who may be harboring their own crushes!  The rest of de Medici's life follows the historical pattern we studied-she moves to France to marry a prince who doesn't love her, but survives it exactly because she had been brought up in such a cold, loveless environment.  Who knows what would have become of her if she had in fact been coddled and sensitive, like we expect our princesses to be!  And she triumphs in the end exactly because of her ability to endure and look at the big picture, which is a great message to send.

In short, I'm not sure about the amount of "fact" in this fictional account, but I do like Meyer's use of language, and her story-telling abilities are spot on in this novel for young adults.  She makes Catherine de Medici an accessible character, someone to whom teen girls can relate, and that's a pretty neat trick for a historical figure who died hundreds of years ago!  Meyer makes Renaissance Italy as real as downtown Hobart, and "Duchessina" a book worth reading for all audiences, from children to adults.

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Reading Level: Young Adult

Submitted by Gerti

I’m not sure if this book is supposed to be for adults or young adults, but John Green’s “An Abundance of Katherines” has a charming pre-college narrator who has a bright, contemporary voice. His tortured tales of teen romance took me back to my own glory days. Colin Singleton is a child prodigy who is working hard on becoming a genius, and in his spare time, he romances 18 different women with the same first name. That is just one of the quirks about Colin that makes him such a delightful narrator, even though he is busy trying to survive his breakup with Katherine 19. It’s that breakup that precipitates a road trip of self discovery, as he and his best (only) friend Hassan head down I-65 from Chicago to take Colin’s mind off his heart.

Colin spends his time (while trying not to focus on his latest breakup) by coming up with a mathematical formula that will predict the course of any relationship, based on such factors as a person’s sex, and whether the person asking is more likely to be the dumper or the dumpee when it all falls apart. In the tiny roadside berg of Gutshot,Tennessee, Colin and Hassan meet an equally charming and quirky girl named Lindsey who shows them the grave of Franz Ferdinand, the famous Hapsburg whose assassination in 1914 lead to the start of World War I. When her mother offers them a summer job interviewing the locals to help her write a history of the town, the boys decide to stay.

Of course, Colin falls in love with the girl who by virtue of being a Lindsey breaks him out of his Katherine rut. He also comes out of his geeky, fame-driven shell and does things he could never imagine doing before during his sheltered and dysfunctional upbringing, like wild hog hunting with a 12-gage shotgun. Hassan, who is a Muslim, also does a number of things that are not haram, including kissing a girl and drinking beer. So at its heart, this is a coming of age novel involving both of the boys, which is certainly a classic form when writing about teens. But as opposed to reading something by a dead author like Thomas Mann, this bildungsroman is as light and fluffy as meringue and as contemporary as a gluten allergy. In fact, so many of Green’s characters grow and change during this novel that it is as refreshing as a hit of wasabi as we watch these characters to whom we’ve formed an attachment become more alive and real every minute. You almost expect them to step off the page and show up outside your door, ready to eat cheeseburgers and watch Judge Judy.

I don’t know what the Printz medal is, but after having read this book, I fully believe that John Green deserved to win it with this charming, easy-to-read novel that will take all its readers to the heart of what it means to be young, smart and in love. I can’t wait to read more by Green, and imagine that this book is destined to become a movie.

Just so you know the Printz medal: The Michael L. Printz Award annually honors the best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit, each year.  To read more about it click Here

Eva by Peter Dickinson

Reading Level: Young Adult
Submitted by Gerti

I read this book because it is assigned reading for my kids’ school. Though eco-science fiction is not a genre I would usually read, it fits in with their goal of teaching middle schoolers about ecology and overpopulation in today’s world. Author Peter Dickinson has set his narrative in a different world (perhaps a future earth?) in which man has destroyed the planet, so that there are only small areas of the globe where the surviving species can live. Not all species have survived to this time, but among those still in existence (mainly due to their use as experimental animals) are chimps, and this story revolves around a chimp research scientist, his wife and their 13-year-old daughter.

The scientist and his family (along with a few chimps) are involved in a terrible accident before the book starts, and the tragic result is that his daughter’s body has been destroyed. To save her “life”, her brain is transplanted into the body of a young female chimp, “Kelly”. So the first few chapters of the book involve the daughter – Eva Adamson – and her brain’s merger and acceptance of her new simian body. We meet various characters, all of whom have different motivations for making this first-of-its-kind experiment successful, including other doctors and researchers, as well as television producers and a juice company who adopts Eva as their living logo. Dickinson also makes up some new vocabulary for this “other world,” and that’s one of the places where the book falls flat for me.

So Eva becomes a “shaper” celebrity, and although she tries to go back to her earlier lifestyle of school, friends and family, it is the chimp society that really draws her interest. Over her mother’s objections, Eva begins to spend more and more time with the animals, and finally begins to adopt a leadership position in their society. A friendly producer named Grog helps a small group of chimps migrate to an island to shot natural footage for a planned “shaper” show. But when a storm rolls in, Eva and her group use the bad weather to escape to another part of the island, away from cameras and people. The book ends with Eva’s daughter and granddaughter chimps coming to see her before she dies, having lived many years in the wild.

The back cover calls this book “Daring! Mesmerizing! Riveting!” and that language is a little strong. While the plot is interesting, and the writing is sometimes clever, it is an imperfect book whose message is more important than its medium. Dickinson would have been just as well served leaving out words like “shaper” and just using our current TV technology to make his point. There is no great technological leap in his world, as people are still using cars, boats and helicopters to get around, children are still going to schools, and adults still have jobs, so the world is not that different. However, “Eva” does inspire questions about the nature of research and using animals for experiments, and for that reason, it would be appropriate to teach a middle school audience.

The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell

Reading Level: Young Adult

Submitted by Gertie

This is the first book I've ever read by the acclaimed author Candace Bushnell that I felt would be appropriate for my teenaged daughter to read.  I've read a half dozen books by Bushnell already, and love her easy, breezy (and sometimes sleazy) writing style!  This book, on the other hand, is a revelation with its simpler, more innocent voice, which makes the read a scintillating mix of sex and sentimentalism.  I haven't seen the TV series based on this book yet, but I look forward now to doing so!

The main characters include the famed Carrie Bradshaw, who is also the main character in the acclaimed TV series "Sex and the City."  Here she is a young high school student, caught between her romance-minded girlfriends, Maggie and Lali, who are somewhat more sexually advanced and aggressive than she is, and her desire for more adventure than her hometown has to offer!  A new boy in school, Sebastian Kydd, brings the choice to a head, as Carrie and seemingly every other female in her class have a crush on him, and for a while, Carrie holds his attention.  But some of the other girls are willing to do more than she is to snag this prize, and Carrie wrestles with betrayals and backstabbing as her best friend and the most popular girl in the class vie to win Sebastion's roaming heart.

Carrie has other options besides being Sebastion's girlfriend, though, including a boring suitor at Brown University with literary connections, and her burgeoning interest in becoming a writer.  She eventually leaves all the high school drama behind after winning a prestigious writing opportunity in New York City, but not before burning a few bridges and setting a few rivals on fire with her scathing attacks in the student newspaper.  In the end, only the reader can decide whether Carrie has made the right decision, but of course, most of us are already aware of her success in the Big Apple, making these petty high school jealousies seem slightly irrelevant.

"The Carrie Diaries" is a delightful read which took me back to my own high school days in a way few other "teen" books have.  Perhaps it's because Bushnell is closer to my generation than some of the other authors penning YA fiction; perhaps because high school is where I made the decision to become a writer, just as Carrie does.  Whatever the reason, the book was a great pleasure for me to read, and makes another great addition to my Bushnell library!

Teen Read Week-Author Interview-Diana L. Sharples

Equilibrium. That's what Stacey and Calvin found in each other. He is as solid as his beloved vintage motorcycle and helps quiet the constant clamor in Stacey's mind. She is a passionate, creative spirit---and a lifeline after Calvin's soldier brother dies.But lately the balance is off. Calvin's grief is taking new forms. Voices of self-loathing are dominating Stacey's life. When struggles with body image threaten her health, Calvin can't bear to lose another person that he loves. Taking action may destroy their relationship, but the alternative could be much more costly. (From LCPL's website)

Click HERE to request a copy.  You will need your library card number and pin.

Calling All Vampire Academy Fans

I was very excited to see on People.com that Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series was finally coming to the big screen.  It looks like the movie will be opening at theaters on Valentines Day!  Guys if you want to impress your ladies take them to this movie.  We can only hope it is as good as the book.

The Hardy Boys #61-The Pentagon Spy by Franklin W. Dixon

Get ready for another exciting mystery with the Hardy Boys! This time, their famous father, Private
Detective Fenton Hardy, is sent off to investigate secret government files that have been stolen. The
boys are left to handle his other appointments, and they get a call from a Mr. Hammerly, a Pennsylvania Dutch farmer who fears his prized weather vane will be stolen. Along the way, the boys meet many friends, but also enemies and suspects.

As the Hardy family begins to unravel the secrets behind their cases, it becomes more and more obvious that the two are connected somehow. Faced with threats and attempts on their lives, they must come through yet again and put those responsible behind bars. Overall, a moderately exciting book with a surprising ending. Check it outl (literally).

Submitted by Max

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

This is the last Suzanne Collins book in the popular "Hunger Games" series. The series is an enormous hit at school, and paperback copies were circulating there for weeks before I could get my hands on the edition from the library. As hard as
it was to get the book, I find Collins' style to be an easy read, although not as easy or as pleasurable as the 2 books leading up to the point.

I must say that the beginning of the book was very disorienting. Compared to the other two books, which Collins puts in chronological order, this book jumps ahead of the action and finds Katniss Everdeen waking up after her injuries in
and rescue from the special Hunger Games anniversary edition she had to endure. The importance of that Games, the Quarter Quell, is that many champions from past years have to fight each other. Katniss and her partner from
District 12,Reeta Mellark, study the films of the past winners so that they are familiar with their strengths and weaknesses before choosing their allies. But the
Games don't go as the Gamemakers plan; many of the previous winners are out to defeat the government of Panem, and not each other, due to the cruelty of the Hunger Games system.

The book opens as Katniss recovers from her concussion, and we only slowly find out how she has ended up in a District 13 hospital ward, and what happened to her friends, family, and fellow competitors. It is interesting to find out about life in this District which was supposed bombed to the ground during an earlier war, but in which the inhabitants have moved to underground tunnels many layers deep. There is however, menace from the start, as Katniss tries to figure out who
cares for her and who is trying to use her for their own political ends.

I enjoy reading about how Katniss endures each challenge, physical as well as mental. She has moments of weakness as she watches her old boyfriend Peeta being paraded on Panem lV in weakened condition, or sees her new Mockingjay costume designed by her friend from the Capitol, Cinna, who was killed before her eyes right before the Quell started. While she is mainly ignorant and often ambivalent about the political movement brewing behind her, she agrees to become its symbol, "the Mockingjay," in order to make a better life for her family and friends. There are many twists and turns and opportunities for her humanity to shine before everything resolves itself satisfactorily when Peeta rejoins her at the end.

While this is the weakest of the 3 books for me, Katniss uses her skills to triumph in the end, leading a squadron of rebels into the Capitol to witness the death of President Snow and the birth of a new government before returning to District 12.

Submitted by Stephanie

Auracle by Gina Rosati

Reading level: Young Adult

On my massive reading list!

From the catalog: A teenaged girl who has the power to astrally project finds her body taken over by a dead classmate. Now she must find a way to reclaim it if she wants to save herself and a friend who is accused of murder.   

Spark by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Reading Level: Young Adult

On my massive reading list!

From the catalog: Waverly and Kieran are finally reunited on the Empyrean. When Seth is mysteriously released from the brig the night of a strange explosion that sends the ship off-course, tensions between Kieran and Seth reach a boiling point, as Waverly ponders following her heart, even if it puts lives at risk.   

Ask the Passengers by A.S. King

Reading Level: Young Adult

On my massive reading list!

From the catalog: Astrid Jones copes with her small town's gossip and narrow-mindedness by staring at the sky and imagining that she's sending love to the passengers in the airplanes flying high over her backyard. Her mother doesn't want it, her father's always stoned, her perfect sister's too busy trying to fit in, and the people in her small town would never allow her to love the person she really wants to: another girl named Dee. Little does she know just how much sending her love-- and asking the right questions-- will affect the passengers' lives, and her own, for the better.

Dark Eyes by William Richter

Reading Level: Young Adult

On my massive reading list!

From the catalog: Born in Russia but adopted by a wealthy American family, Wallis Stoneman has lived a life of glamorous luxury. At sixteen she rejects the world that doesn't feel like her own to live on the streets of New York. When Wallis discovers her real father's identity, a fight to stay alive begins-- because he's a terrifying Russian gangster on the hunt for her mother. And he'll stop at nothing and no one-- even his own blood-- to find her.