Dark Warrior Unleashed by Alexis Morgan

Reading Level: Adult
(4 out of 5)


This a new series by Alexis Morgan. If you are familiar with her she also writes the Paladin series. In her new series she introduces the Kyth. They are a species of people that feed off energy, good or dark. They have lived for thousands of years. They have a Grand Dame who rules her people and has a special team of Kyth called Talion enforcers. They keep the peace among their kind. Ranulf Thorsen has served his people for a thousand years as an enforcer and just wants to be left alone on his mountain, but the Grand Dame has other plans for him. He has to work with his bitter rival Sandor Kearn to track down a rogue Talion and take him out. They also have to play bodyguards to a woman named Kerry, who is a Kyth but doesn't know it. The rogue is after her and Ranulf will protect her with his life. If you like fantasy and romance you will most likely like Ms. Morgans books.

What They Always Tell Us by Martin Wilson

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)


The story of Alex and James is told in alternating chapters. It starts with Alex goes to James and back and forth. Alex and James are brothers and they have drifted apart. James is a senior and popular. Alex is a junior and starts his junior year by drinking Pine Sol at a party. All Alex's friends have ditched him. Alex finds a friend in his neighbor and is befriended by one of James friends Nathan. Nathan gets him interested in cross country running and Alex makes the team. Alex is happier than he has been in a long time. James is just wanting to get out of town and go to college. Over the course of the year he and Alex reconnect and he realizes that once he gets out of town coming home won't be so bad.

Suicide Notes by Michael Thomas Ford

Reading Level: Young Adult

(4 out of 5)

This book chronicles fifteen year old Jeff's 45 day stay in the psychiatric ward of the hospital. He wakes up there on New Years Day after having tried to commit suicide. He doesn't understand why he is there. He doesn't think he belongs with the rest of the "nut jobs" as he calls them. From the start of the book you wonder what would have compelled him to take his own life. Slowly the wall that Jeff has built up around him starts to crumble and you get to know the real him. Jeff starts to realize that suicide was not the answer.

Good Dog. Stay. by Anna Quindlen

Adult
(4 out of 5)

This book is a very fast read. It is only 82 pages and about half of those pages are pictures. In this book Mrs. Quindlen talks about Beau. Beau is her beloved black Labrador retriever. She reflects on his life from a puppy to old age, and eventually death. This book is for dog lovers and dog owners. I found myself nodding or laughing at different things in this book because I could so relate. Towards the end I started to sniffle because you knew his life was coming to an end.

Below taken from http://www.randomhouse.com/rhpg/annaquindlen/.

“The life of a good dog is like the life of a good person, only shorter and more compressed,” writes Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anna Quindlen about her beloved black Labrador retriever, Beau. With her trademark wisdom and humor, Quindlen reflects on how her life has unfolded in tandem with Beau’s, and on the lessons she’s learned by watching him: to roll with the punches, to take things as they come, to measure herself not in terms of the past or the future but of the present, to raise her nose in the air from time to time and, at least metaphorically, holler, “I smell bacon!”Of the dog that once possessed a catcher’s mitt of a mouth, Quindlen reminisces, “there came a time when a scrap thrown in his direction usually bounced unseen off his head. Yet put a pork roast in the oven, and the guy still breathed as audibly as an obscene caller. The eyes and ears may have gone, but the nose was eternal. And the tail. The tail still wagged, albeit at half-staff. When it stops, I thought more than once, then we’ll know.”Heartening and bittersweet, Good Dog. Stay. honors the life of a cherished and loyal friend and offers us a valuable lesson on our four-legged family members: Sometimes an old dog can teach us new tricks (2/13/09).

Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

This book is 108 pages and I read it in one night. Once I started I couldn't put it down. What I really liked about this book is that it's all written in journal entries. Tish Bonner is a sophomore in high school and her English teacher Mrs. Dunphrey wants the class to keep a journal but if it's something they don't want her to read they can label the entry, "Do not read." Tish starts her journal entry's out with "do not read" to see if Mrs. Dunphrey can be trusted. When Mrs. Dunphrey proves trustworthy Tish starts writing about school, her job at Burger Boy, and her home life that is starting to spiral out of control. Her father has been gone for two years and her mother has been in an emotional coma since. She works but doesn't do much else. Tish takes care of herself and her younger brother Matt. When her dad comes back it looks like life might be better but she has a hard time trusting him and soon he disappoints. Then her mother leaves to find him leaving Tish and Matt alone. Tish feels like she can't trust anyone but likes writing in her journal and eventually trusts Mrs. Dunphrey with her secrets. This is an older book and I think the story was set in the 1980's but the issues talked about haven't changed through the decades. I think any teen picking up this book could relate to Tish and her problems. I think everyone has felt the way she felt about school a time or two. It was a very good read.

Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult

Reading Level: Adult

(3 out of 5)

Jodi Picoult does not shy away from controversial or hot topics. In this book a baby is found dead in the Fisher's barn. The Fisher's are Amish and the most likely suspect is their eighteen year old daughter Katie Fisher. She denies ever having a baby even when blood is running down her legs and the hospital confirms she gave birth. Katie's family didn't know she was pregnant and since she is unmarried it is a sin. Her father Aaron just wants her to take responsibility and not have representation but Katie's Aunt Leda, who has been shunned from the Amish community since she married and Englisher, has a niece by marriage that is a lawyer and just happens to be visiting. Ellie Hathaway came to her Aunt and Uncles to rest and take a break from law cases but she feels compelled to help Katie. To keep Katie out of jail and from having a bond she agrees to be responsible for her and has to live with Katie and her family on their farm. Ellie gets a first hand look at how the Amish operate and what their beliefs are. It takes awhile to untangle the mystery of what happened to baby Fisher. This book was very good but it was really long and a lot of the information given is repeated twice. Once before the courtroom drama and then again in the courtroom. The ending to me was shocking. I wasn't expecting it at all. That's what I like about mysteries. I don't want to figure out the mystery by the first few pages I want to be kept in suspense. To find out more about Jodi Picoult and the books she has written you can visit her website: http://www.jodipicoult.com/

Multiple Bles8ings by Jon and Kate Gosselin

Reading Level: Adult
(4 out of 5)








Eight children in three years? Impossible! For Jon and Kate Gosselin nothing is impossible. When Jon and Kate met it was love at first sight. Not to long after they got married. Both really wanted children but Kate found out she had Polycysitc Ovarian Syndrome, which means that she did not ovulate. So in order to get pregnant they were going to need a little help. In 2000 they got pregnant with twins. It wasn't an easy pregnancy. Nice months later Kate gave birth to Cara and Mady. Kate soon felt the itch to just have one more. Jon was against it at first. He remembered what it was like the first time around. Painful injections and then a turbulent pregnancy. Soon he came around and they started another round of treatments. In 2003 Kate successfully got pregnant. Before Thanksgiving a visit to the infertility specialist gave them the shock of a lifetime. From the ultrasound the doctor found seven fuzzy little blips that represented life. Jon and Kate were against reduction. At a following ultarsound it was determined that there were six babies. Jon and Kate were having sextuplets. On May 10, 2004 Kate gave birth to Alexis, Hannah, Leah, Aaden, Collin, and Joel. This book tracks their amazing journey from Kate's fight to keep the babies in her belly long enough for them to grow to finally being able to enjoy having a family of eight. It was amazing to read about all the support that they had and how their faith provided for them.

Jon and Kate also have a website: http://www.sixgosselins.com/ and they have a show called Jon and Kate Plus Eight on TLC.