"Black Hole Son", by David Macinnis Gill (YA-Sci Fi)

"Black Hole Sun" is a dystopian novel set in the future on a teraformed Mars.  The population is extremely segregated by social and economic classes.  The working class population struggles to earn enough to eat and water is scarce.  The life is hard and dangerous, and that is before you toss in the former humans turned cannibals who eat children and torture people.

This book was a favorite of my mentor, and my teenage son also loved it, however it was not my cup of tea.  It's a shame really, as I was hoping the book was more along the lines of "Firefly", but it ended up more like "Resident Evil".  While I love fantasy novels, sci-fi often leaves me wanting more.  The violence and imagery in this book did not appeal to me in the least.  I read halfway through the book before giving up as I really didn't care to finish it.  Given the violence and torture, I would not put this book in any school younger than an upper middle school or junior high school.  There wasn't any sex or inappropriate foul language. 

"39 Clues: The Maze of Bones", Rick Riordan (YA-mystery)

"The Maze of Bones" is book 1 in the 39 Clues series.  This volume, written by Rick Riordan, introduces us to Amy & Dan Cahill and sets the stage for a very big mystery.  Amy & Dan are 14 and 11 year old orphans when their grandmother dies.  In the reading of her will, they, and 40 of their family members, are presented with a choice.  They can either take a million dollars now, or they can get one clue.  The clue is the beginning of a long mysterious quest to a lot of power and money, but it will be difficult and dangerous and only one person or team can win.  Many of their relatives opt for the cash, but Amy and Dan choose the quest.  They have to use their wits and knowledge to beat everyone else to the next clue, which leads to another clue, etc., however, their distant relatives are trying to win as well.  They mislead the children, follow them, and try to kill them.  Amy and Dan, with the help of their young au pair, manage to elude most of the traps on their world-wide hunt.

There have already been several volumes in the series published, which helps readers move through the series without needing to wait for the next edition.  The story reminds me of the "National Treasure" movie, which mixes fiction with historical facts, so the reader doesn't realize they're learning while they're reading for fun.  The quest is intriguing and has an online counterpart where the readers can login and help Amy and Dan find clues.  There are some minor suspenseful scenes, but no sex or profanity.  I would place this book in the 3rd through 6th grade range, although it would also be great for low level readers in middle school.

"The Lost Hero", Rick Riordan (YA-Fantasy)

"The Lost Hero" continues the storyline of Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief" series, but with a twist.  In this story arc, we are introduced to three new demigods, with splashes of the ones we're already familiar with.  These heroes are also at Camp Half-blood and we visit several Greek gods.  However, these Greek gods tend to morph into their Roman counterparts when in the presence of Jason.  Jason is leading his friends on a new quest to save the world, only he has no memory of his past.  Piper and Leo are 2 other demigods who will form the seven needed.  One question remains until the end of the book...where is Percy?

I rather enjoyed this new story arc.  Of the Percy Jackson series, I only read the first volume.  This one seems to be written better than the previous series.  It was a quick read and I am interested in the rest of the series.  I gave the book to my son (13 years old) and he devoured it in one day, which is a ringing endorsement.  This would be a great book for middle school students or advanced readers in upper elementary.  I purchased one copy for my K-6 school library and many of the 5th and 6th graders are chomping at the bit to check it out.  There are some battle scenes, but no profanity and no sex.

"Eternal Ones" by Kirsten Miller (YA Fiction)

"Eternal Ones" is a story about what happens when someone remembers flashes of their past lives, but with an interesting twist.  In this case, Haven is a small town girl planning to head to New York for college in a few months.  However, ever since she was a child, Haven has been prone to fainting spells where she has visions of herself in a former life and her grandmother and half the town believe she's demon possessed.  Her best friend Beau, who happens to be gay, is also college bound.  The two bond as children and start a dress-making business together to help pay for college.  One day, Haven catches a glimpse of Ian, a famous playboy, on TV and has a flash of him as Ethan in her former life.  All of a sudden, they notice people watching their every moves.  There's also the problem of if Ethan killed Constance in the past life and if Haven can trust Ian.  There's a weird society that helps reincarnated people, only they're also corrupt and have a hand in several disasters and seem to have a weird obsession with Haven/Constance and Ian/Ethan.

The book was different, but I didn't see anything in it that would be objectionable (assuming reincarnation itself isn't objectionable to some).  There are a couple times that the "lovebirds" allude to sleeping together, but they don't go into any kind of detail.  It all happens off-screen.  There's less of that in it than in the Meg Cabot "Airhead" books, for example.  No swearing or anything.  Also, the secondary character, Beau, is gay, but is not in a relationship during the entire book.  Having a gay character would help students with different lifestyles to identify with someone, and yet not throw the parents or school board into a tizzy, so I wouldn't have any qualms about putting it in a middle school at all.

"Nightlight" by Harvard Lampoon (YA-parody)

Reading "Nightlight" is like watching a train wreck.  You're horrified, but can't look away.  "Nightlight" is a parody of "Twilight" by Meyers.  Granted, I'm not a fan of the original, but was intrigued by the parody, so thought I'd give it a whirl.  It's humorous in a "so bad I can't believe it way", but I have to admit that I've never been a big admirer of this type of writing either.  I got about halfway through the book before putting it down though, which says something. 

If you like parodies, then take it for a spin.  Otherwise, you may want to stay far away!

"Hunger Games", Suzanne Collins (YA fantasy)

The world is a very different place than we know it.  North America rebelled against the government and is paying the price.  We have been divided into 13 colonies that are not allowed to intermingle with each other.  In order to remind us of what we wrought, each year a boy and girl (ages 12-18) are randomly drawn from each district and forced to participate in a televised fight to the death.  Whomever is the last person standing gets food for their district for the next year...all other districts are left to starve and manage as best they can.  Hence the name, "Hunger Games".  The twist for this year?  The boy and girl from district 13, who's district hasn't won in several decades, happen to love each other.  How are they supposed to kill each other in order to survive?

"Hunger Games" is an interesting dystopian novel for young adults and the first in a trilogy.  This book is very well written with a male and female protagonist so as to engage readers of both genders.  The storyline is gripping with a few plot twists and the beginnings of a little romance (nothing more than a kiss).  There is some violent scenes, which should be obvious given the context of the book, but nothing overly descriptive.  This is a book that I would recommend for middle or high schools, as well as for adults.

"Need", Carrie Jones (YA fantasy)

"Need" is an entertaining romp into the world of pixies and weres.  After Zara's step-father dies, her mother packs her up and sends her from her Southern home to the Northern cold.  On Zara's first day of school, she sees a figure in the woods of a man that she has seen before.  Is it a stalker?  Given the evidence of gold glitter dust, her friends think he's a pixie out to either find his queen or kidnap boys.  What does he really want with her?  Why are so many of the teens at the school acting weirdly?  What's really going on?

This book has aspects of mystery, intrigue, romance (although kissing only) and suspense.  I would recommend this book for middle or high schools.  It was a nice quick read and very well written with decent character development.

"I am a genius of unspeakable evil...", by Josh Lieb (YA fiction)

"I am a genius of unspeakable evil and I want to be your class president" is not appropriate for school libraries, in my opinion.  Granted, I didn't get further than 20-25 pages into the book, so things might have turned around.  However, during those 20-25 pages, all the 7th grade protagonist did was complain about his life and mock people.  Not seeing any redeeming qualities in the character, I promptly put the book down and moved on to one more interesting.

"Fallen", by Lauren Kate (YA urban fantasy)

"Fallen", by Lauren Kate would be an excellent book for middle or high school libraries.  The storyline is about star-crossed loves who reunite every 17 years only to be tragically ripped apart...repeat.  There's also a bit of mystery and some religious overtones tossed in as you learn the origins of the characters.  This particular reincarnation finds the characters at a reform school for various misdeeds.  Parts of the story dragged on a bit, but the characters were interesting and make the reader want to get to the bottom of the mystery.  The second book in the series is due to be released this fall.

For those who would like specific details regarding appropriateness, there isn't any sex or explicit scenes, although there is some kissing.  There are a few fights and an epic battle, but most details are left out.

"Infinity" by Sherrilyn Kenyon (YA and Adult, Fantasy)

Nick Gautier is a 14 year old student who is often picked on by the more privileged students at his school.  He is from a broken home with a father in jail for murder and a mother who became a stripper to make ends meet.   While she loves him, Nick's mom keeps buying him loud Hawaiian shirts from Goodwill to wear to school, which doesn't help his image any.  Weird things start to happen in New Orleans and living teenage zombies (as opposed to undead ones) are eating his classmates.  Who's controlling them?  How do they stop the zombies?  Why do they keep coming after Nick?  And who is this guy who says he's related to Nick and trying to help him?  Is he really helping or is he the cause of the weird events?

"Infinity" poses an interesting dilemma for me.  It's a great read, and is written with a 14 year old protagonist so you'd think it was young adult lit, however, the lead character is also in her adult fantasy novels, although he's 10 years older.  I enjoyed the story overall, and it was great to see Nick as a young lad and how he met the other characters and became a Squire, but her adult novels are certainly not appropriate for middle school students, given the sexual content in them.  This book, however, is appropriate for both middle school and high school students and contains nothing more than a single kiss for romantic involvement.

"Skulduggery Pleasant" by Derek Landy (YA mystery fantasy)

"Skulduggery Pleasant" is a fun romp in the world of the weird.  Stephanie's uncle Gordon, a famous writer of fantasy mystery novels, seems to have gotten himself dead.  He was the owner of something that couldn't pass hands until he was no longer of this world, so someone helped him leave earlier than he had planned.  As his favorite and only niece, Stephanie inherits just about all of Gordon's worldly possessions even though she is only 12 years old.  After being attacked by goons, and rescued by Gordon's best friend, Skulduggery Pleasant, Stephanie is introduced to a fabulous new world of magic.  Skulduggery, an animated skeleton detective guides Stephanie on her quest to find out what happened to her uncle.

This is an engaging book and very entertaining, with many quirks and irreverent humor.  It would be good for upper elementary or middle schools. 

"Red Pyramid", Rick Riordan (YA Fantasy)

Rick Riordan's "Red Pyramid" is a great story and an easy read.  It is very similar to the author's other famous series, "Percy Jackson & the Olympians", but with Egyptian gods and goddesses instead of Greek ones.  Two siblings, a boy and a girl, share the lead roles in this novel and take turns telling the story.  A few chapters for each, and then they switch off as though they are transcribing notes after the adventure is over.  They even have comical asides to each other in their narration as well.  Great characters, interesting information on Egyptian mythology, intriguing plot and supporting characters, etc.  This book is an excellent choice for middle or high school readers and I look forward to the next installment.

"Morpheus Road" by DJ MacHale (YA Horror Fiction)

I have mixed feelings about "Morpheus Road".  Professionally, I think this book was very well done.  It is written well, has interesting characters and an intriguing plot.  This would be great for high school students or advanced middle school readers.  Personally, I thought the story was creepy.  Let me explain.  I'm not the type of person that likes to scare myself.  I don't enjoy haunted houses, slasher movies or Stephen King novels.  They just freak me out.  This book was written along those same creepy lines.  I'm sure those that enjoy the macabre will love the book and I didn't find anything objectionable about it other than the heebie jeebies.

"Morpheus Road" is the first book in a new trilogy by DJ MacHale, the writer of the popular Pendragon series.  In this book, we are introduced to a new cast of characters, one of whom is missing and another is being haunted by his own creation.  This creation seems to be able to possess people or force them to do his bidding and, his bidding is to kill off the protagonist.  In order to find out what happens and why, as well as solve the mystery of his friend's disappearance, you'll have to pick up the book...if you dare!

"Iorich" by Steven Brust (Fantasy Fiction)

I am a long-time fan of Steven Brust, however this latest edition to the "Jhereg" series, "Iorich" fell a little short of the mark for me.  I enjoy the fast paced action, well developed plot and characters, as well as the excellent dialog in his novels.  "Iorich" did have most of those qualities, but I found that it dragged on more than I would have liked.  Perhaps it was due to the mostly absent usual cast of characters, I'm not sure.  On the plus side though, this book got me thinking about how appropriate this series would be for middle and high school readers.  There isn't any sex or foul language in the book, and not even any overly descriptive violence.  The author even tries to incorporate social issues to get people thinking, which is great.

"Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer (YA fantasy)

"Artemis Fowl" is an interesting story of a 12 year old crime lord.  Artemis believes he has found a way to steal the power of fairies by using technology to translate their secret tome after tricking it from a fairy.  At the same time, Holly, a fairy, is the only female in the fairy police and has a habit of getting herself in more trouble than she can handle, such as being kidnapped by Artemis!  This is an interesting and engaging story for middle school students and perhaps for more advanced upper elementary students as well.  However, I do not recommend the audio version of this book as the change in perspectives from Holly to Artemis is difficult to follow at first when audio only.

"Heist Society" by Ally Carter (YA fiction)

"Heist Society" would be an excellent selection for middle school students.  It is a lighthearted romp through the seamy underworld of art thieves, but with a twist.  This time the art thieves are teens!  Kat's father is one of the greatest thieves of all time, and he is the prime suspect for stealing a mob boss's prized art collection.  In order to get it back, the mobster threatens Kat with her father's life.  Only Kat's dad didn't do it...he was committing another heist at the time of the theft, but no one believes him.  Kat assembles a motley crew of teens and they figure out who has the paintings, where they are and plot to steal them back.  However, there is more to the story than meets the eye!  Read on dear readers to discover all the twists and turns!

"Warriors: Into the Wild", Erin Hunter (YA fiction)

"Into the Wild" is the first book of Erin Hunter's "Warriors" series.  This book is very popular among male and female middle school students, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.  In talking with one of the students, he seemed to indicate that they were warrior cats.  In my mind, I was picturing cats walking around on two legs and more human sized.  This was an incorrect perception on my part.  These warrior cats are kittypets (housecats) and stray cats living in the woods and their societies that they've created.  There are humorous references to things like taking cats to the cutter (vet), clearing away their dirt (poo) and such, but they also have some interesting tribes that they've formed.  Along with the new cat culture, there are traitors, manipulation and intrigue.  Definitely worth reading and good for reluctant readers given the content and easy vocabulary.

"Finnikin of the Rock" by Melina Marchetta (YA Fiction)

I just finished "Finnikin of the Rock" and have mixed feelings about the age range for it.  It's a great story and deals a lot with finding yourself, while also rescuing an enslaved and cursed people, reuniting them with exiles, etc.

There isn't any sex in it, and the violence (they are at war) isn't overly descriptive, however there are a couple things to be mentioned.  There are a few places where there are references to what happens to women by evil soldiers at war, and a couple references to a man bonding with a man.  Neither are overt or descriptive, but mentioned in passing.  If you know what they're talking about, it's simple to figure out, but if you don't know, you might not catch on. 

Overall though, it's an excellent read and one I can see in high schools.  Middle school is a maybe though.

Animoto

Check out my Animoto video to go along with my booktalk...


Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

"How to Train Your Dragon", Cressida Cowell (Young Adult Fiction)

"How to Train Your Dragon" is a fun read and excellent for reluctant readers.  This book has humorous pencil drawings and ink stains scattered throughout the book.  It tells the tale of an unlikely hero and his dragon who save the village, including his larger than life viking father.  Interestingly enough, this book doesn't have much in common with the movie that opened yesterday, with the exception of the cast of characters.  Still, I recommend it for grades 3-6.

"The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin", Josh Berk (Young Adult Fiction)

"The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin" is a combination of realistic fiction and mystery.  The protagonist of the story is a deaf high school student struggling with attending mainstream school for the first time.  He has to deal with his deaf friends' disapproval, parental worries and making friends when you can't hear.  Not to mention teachers who don't understand how to teach hearing impaired students so they turn away when he's trying to lip read, students with pranks on their minds and solving a murder mystery.

This book was written well and covered a lot of ground, however, given a few references to sex, I would recommend this for high school rather than middle school.

"Diary of a Wimpy Kid", Jeff Kinney (Young Adult Fiction)

"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" is a very quick read and enjoyable.  I can see why this book is so popular with reluctant readers.  It has an interesting facet by adding cartoons throughout the book while detailing the life, friendships and family of a middle school student, as he struggles with honesty and popularity (or lack thereof). 

I would recommend this book for grades 3-6, as well as reluctant readers or students with reading challenges.

"Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians", Brandon Sanderson

"Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians" was a hysterical romp through an interesting mind!  The hero, Alcatraz, is an orphan who receives a gift from his long dead parents on his 13th birthday...a bag of sand.  Little does he know, this sand can be used to create lenses with magical properties.  Swiftly, we are introduced to Alcatraz's unknown grandfather and a cast of characters with unique traits.  Alcatraz, himself, possesses the ability to break things.  He opens a car door and the handle falls off, he touches a gun and it falls to pieces, etc.  His grandfather's ability is to arrive late to things, so when he is attacked, nothing happens to him as he arrived late to his injuries, and so forth.  In this world, the horde of evil librarians are trying to assimilate other lands into the Hushlands.  They do so by controlling information to the populace.  For example, there are really 10 continents, but they hid 3 of them from the world!

There were several times where I literally burst into laughter reading this novel.  Such as when we learned that authors don't write books because they need to express their imaginations, but because they love to torture people.  This certainly explains all of those cliffhangers!  Recommended for middle/high school students or adults, but most certainly for librarians everywhere!  This is the first book in a 3 book series and readers must have a sense of humor to appreciate the nuances.

"The Last Knight", Hilari Bell (YA Fantasy)

"The Last Knight" is about a fourth son who sets out to be a knight errant in a time when such things are past, although not so much in the past that it seems out of the realm of possibility.  The knight acquires a squire, who sees the absurdity in his knight.  The gullible knight goes on a quest to free a maiden who was abducted.  However, after freeing said maiden, the knight and squire are arrested as it seems she was no maiden.  The lady in question was in prison for murdering her husband!  Now the knight and squire are forced to find and return her for her punishment.  As they roam the countryside looking for her, you can imagine the mischief they get into! 

This book is interesting in that each chapter changes perspective from the knight to the squire and back again.  It's a little difficult to get into as a result, but humorous nonetheless.  Recommended for middle school students.

"The Otherworldlies" by Jennifer Anne Kogler (YA Fiction)

"The Otherworldlies" started out with promise, which it quickly destroyed.  At first glance you think you're reading an interesting tale about a girl who exhibits strange powers and may have a supernatural gene or two.  However, the author can't seem to make up her mind about the source or the mythology, which can be very confusing.  First, these power seem to come from Greek mythology, but then they come from vampires.  But wait!  Vampires are actually descended from Greek gods!  Really?!?!?  All in all, the story is well written and the characters and sub-plots were interesting, but that Greek god as vampire bit was too much for me to swallow.  There book is acceptable for middle school students, and there wasn't any romance or descriptive violence.  In fact, most, if not all, of the violence was aborted before it ever occurred.  Threats were made, but that's it.

"Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment", James Patterson (young adult, fantasy)

"The Angel Experiment" is the first volume in the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson.  In this edition, we are introduced to the flock and get the basic background and set up for the rest of the series.  This storyline revolves around a group of children who have undergone genetic manipulation by a secret government or wealthy private medical group (the specifics are unclear).  These doctors/scientists have spliced animal DNA with human DNA and created a variety of experiments, similar to what happened in "Dark Angel", if you're familiar with that TV show, or inspired by H.G. Well's Dr. Moreau even.  There are mentions of several experiments, but the main focus is on a wolf/human hybrid group and a human/avian group.  There are 6 members of the avian flock, ranging in ages 6-14, who are trying to live on their own and outwit the wolf packs sent to find and retrieve them.  At one point the youngest gets caught and the rest try to rescue her but get caught in the process.  Find out what happens after they break out, as well as who their parents are, what Max's mysterious destiny is and where they go from here...

"Fantasy in Death", JD Robb (adult, mystery, fantasy)

"Fantasy in Death" is the latest chapter in the Eve Dallas "in death" series about a futuristic homicide detective.  JD Robb is Nora Roberts, however, unlike her fluffy romances, the Eve Dallas stories are focused around a homicide that Eve and her entourage try to solve.  The connecting storylines and characters make these books more interesting and really should be read in order to preserve the continuity.  This particular edition has an interesting twist in that the cause of the murders stump even Eve for most of the novel.  If you're familiar with suspension of disbelief, you'll probably solve it in the first few chapters as I did.  However, as they find more information and try to come up with alternate versions of 'what happened', you may begin to doubt yourself...again, as I did.  LOL  Given a couple scenes, this book is recommended for adults only.

Interactive History Adventure Books (Young Adult, Realistic Fiction)

"You Choose Books" has put out a line of historical novels where readers can choose their own adventures.  I read "The Titanic" by Bob Temple which was interesting.  The ending, obviously, is the same with it hitting the iceburg and sinking, however, the choices the reader makes determine if they live or die.  All of the tales supposedly happened to people on the ship and there are several historical details as well.  In this particular volume, you can choose to be a first-class passenger, an employee of the ship, or a third-class passenger.  From there you make such choices as to help others, have dinner with some people, go above deck, speak English, etc.  The book is short and none of the endings are gruesome or scary, so I'd recommend it for upper-elementary students through middle school.  A word of caution, however, in some of the story threads, you can die.

"Being Nikki", Meg Cabot (Young Adult, Fantasy)

"Being Nikki" is the sequel to Meg Cabot's "Airhead", which I reviewed a few posts ago.  In this story, Nikki is introduced to her brother, who claims their mother has gone missing.  Nikki/Em feels obligated to help look for her "mom", but lets her "brother" in on her secret.  Things with Stark are getting even more creepy with additional bugs in the home.  Plus, what's up with people thinking that Nikki is sending them email and texts, when Em certainly hasn't been?  Read it to find out!  The third installment, "Runaway" is due out in April 2010.

"Malice", Chris Wooding (Young Adult Fantasy & Graphic Novel)

"Malice" is the first Wooding book that I've read.  It's an interesting concept where the author changes from traditional storytelling to graphic novel format and then back again.  The idea is that children get their hands on an underground comic, gather some items like cat fur, tears and a feather, burn them and then say "Tall Jake take me away" six times (similar to other urban legends like CandyMan).  When you're alone, Tall Jake takes you away and you awake in a comic book world.  Readers of the graphic novel can see you and your actions from the "real world".  Children then fight to stay alive and get out of Malice.  If you die in the comic book, you die in real life.  If you return, you remember nothing.  It's a bit on the creepy side, but no overt violence.  I'd recommend this book for 7th grade and older, but not much younger than that.

"Airhead", Meg Cabot (Young Adult-Fantasy)

Meg Cabot has written several young adult series, including the "Princess Diaries" and "Avalon High".  "Airhead" is the first of a new series where an average, although intelligent, girl saves her sister from a tragic accident, but sustains fatal injuries in the process.  A few feet from her dying body, a teen supermodel suffers from a brain injury and dies.  Before anyone realizes that these girls are dead or dying, they are wisked away for a super-secret procedure where the average girl's brain is transplanted into the supermodel's body.  Naturally, given the amount of money involved and invested in the model, no one can know what happened.  Emerson must now live life as though she was Nikki, although she realizes everything is not perfect in Nikki's world either! 

Overall, this is a cute story and very entertaining.  I'd recommend this for middle or early high school readers.  If it means anything, I'm curious to see what happens in "Becoming Nikki", the second book in the series.

"Born of Ice", Sherrilyn Kenyon

"Born of Ice" is the latest in a new series by Sherrilyn Kenyon.  This series is NOT appropriate for young adults, unless they be of the older variety, given that there are sex scenes in the book.  This is an interesting new world placed sometime in the future when we have started populating other planets and have no trouble traveling between them.  Most of the characters seem to have their own personal spaceships, similar to how we have cars now.  The first two installments deal with two couples who are also friends, and this one is about the son of one of those couples and him finding his true love...who also happens to be a spy/slave sent to find or manufacture evidence against him and send him away for life.  It's a good quick read and an excellent form of brain candy.

"Flirt", Laurell K Hamilton (adult-fantasy)

"Flirt" is the latest addition to Laurell K Hamilton's Anita Blake series.  This book is a much smaller addition than her usual books are, but it's nice that it has an interesting plot and only one sex scene instead of the copious amounts of sex that has been found in her works as of late.  In this one, Anita turns down a few animator jobs but then one of her would be clients tries to force her to do it by kidnapping her and threatening to kill 3 of her loved ones.  Oh, and Anita crosses a line and also adds a lion to her list of animals to call.

"Death by Bikini", Linda Gerber (YA - Mystery)

"Death by Bikini" is another great selection for middle school students.  This one is very popular in my school library, so I thought I'd give it a read.  This one is a murder mystery that takes place on a private island resort.  The heroine is the owner's daughter who solves several mysteries.  Long time mystery fans will figure things out before they happen, but there are still a few interesting twists along the way.  There is some light romance, but nothing more than a kiss, keeping it appropriate for a younger audience while still being interesting enough for older students.

"Bounce", Natasha Friend (YA - Realistic Fiction)

"Bounce" is another realistic fiction novel by Natasha Friend, who also wrote "Lush" and "Perfect".  I've already reviewed "Lush", but "Bounce" is also a great one for middle schoolers.  This one is about a family who's widowed father is marrying a woman with several children in a different city and state.  So, it incorporates blending families as well as being the new girl in school.

"Runaway", Wendelin Van Draanen (YA-realistic fiction)

"Runaway" is written in journal style and is about a 12 year old girl who is an orphan after her mother over-doses.  She is sent into various foster homes.  Her current home is where this journal begins.  Her foster parents are horrible and lock her into her "room" which is a cold laundry room with nothing more than a thin blanket and a bucket to use if she need to use the bathroom.  Her only way to get water to drink is to turn on the washing machine and drink that water.  After being sani-flushed and starved for the day because she objected to her creepy step-father's overtures, she runs away and manages to successfully get to Los Angeles.  This journal details her adventures for almost a year of living on the streets, including the perils and dangers of being 12 and living on your own with no means of support other than what you can steal or manipulate from people.  All in all, this is an excellent portrayal (if a little sanitized) of the dangers homeless people face as well as the problems with the social services system.

"Lush", Natasha Friend (YA - Realistic Fiction)

Natasha Friend has a series for young adults that helps them deal with serious issues and concerns.  "Lush" is about a girl whose father is an alcoholic and whose mother keeps enabling his drinking.  She has no one to turn to and starts corresponding with an unknown person by exchanging notes placed in a book in the library.  Through these notes, the other person reveals that they are gay and their families issues with this as well.  Things come to a head when the girl's father bashes her baby brother's face with a whiskey bottle to the point of breaking his cheekbone and requiring stitches.  Can the father stop drinking?  Can their relationship be repaired?  In the back of the book are also resources for young adults dealing with these types of issues.

The other books in the series are "Bounce" (about adapting to life with step-parents and step-siblings) and "Perfect" (about eating disorders and the pressures to be perfect).

"Hunted", P.C. & Kristin Cast (YA-Fantasy)

"Hunted" is the latest in the "House of Night" series by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast.  I found this latest installment to be mildly interesting.  While I enjoy the series, and think the plot lines and character development are interesting, this particular novel didn't add much to the story.  It was almost as though they were setting it up for future novels, but it didn't really go anywhere.  Honestly, I was a little disappointed with this one.

"City of Bones", Cassandra Clare (YA-Fantasy)

I thought "City of Bones" was pretty good.  Interesting storyline and characters, but a lot of serious foreshadowing going on.  I also found that I started skimming for dialog and skipping a lot of the descriptions as it was dragging the flow of the book under.  It is the first installment in the Mortal Instruments series, so maybe they were just setting up the other books.  It was good enough that I'll be reading the rest in the series when I get a chance.  I'd probably put it at 3.5/5 stars, if it was a rating system.  Young adults would probably love it, but I'm a little more finicky.

"Sizzle", Julie Garwood (Adult-Romance/Mystery)

I enjoyed "Sizzle".  It wasn't anything out of this world, but the story was interesting and had a nice twist in the end, and I liked the character development as well.  There were a few humorous lines and the sex scenes weren't over the top, but nicely done as well without all the graphic language that many authors are using these days.  Julie Garwood's books are light, entertaining and always a nice vacation for the mind.

"Elphame's Choice", P.C. Cast (Young Adult-Fantasy)

I've read all but the last book in P.C. and Kristin Cast's "House of Night" series and enjoyed them.  However, I'm finding it difficult to get through "Elphame's Choice".  The world seems interesting, but I'm simply not connecting with any of the characters and finding myself bored.  I'm not sure what the issue is really.  It may be too much description and not enough dialog, or just that I'm not seeing the point of the plot, but I put this one down after reading 1/3 of the book and I really don't care how it ends.

Zipper Ties?

In a non-book related vein...ever heard of "zipper ties"?  I encountered them while shopping with the family this weekend and bought two!  Great idea!  They look like traditional ties that have already been knotted/tied, but with a twist.  They are created with a zipper built into the tail end.  You flip the zipper lock on the tail, then you can make the noose bigger or smaller without fear of it coming untied.  Then flip the zipper lock back into "locked" position and you're good to go!  My hubby says the inventor deserves to be a millionaire. 

"Never After", anthology (Adult-Fantasy)

I'm enjoying many of the short stories in the "Never After" anthology by Laurell K Hamilton, Yasmine Galenorn, Marjorie M Liu and Sharon Shinn.  I love the fairy tales with a twist idea, where the heroine never ends up with the guy with whom she would have traditionally fallen head over heals in love.  In particular, I enjoyed Hamilton's fairytale as it reminded me of her earlier Anita Blake novels where the plot revolved around a murder mystery, as opposed to being all about relationships and sex.  Recommended for anyone looking to explore some new authors, although not an accurate telling of their current books.  Still, if you enjoy one of the authors, there's a chance you may find another to try out.  I highly recommend local libraries for forays into authors that you've never read before.  Might as well find out if you enjoy their longer works before you invest money into them!

"Magic to the Bone" by Devon Monk (Adult - Fantasy)

Pretty good read actually.  This is a new author to me and I found her writing to be quite engaging.  She created a new world with an interesting female protagonist.  Decent character development and plot lines as well as witty dialog.  To summarize, it's a world where everyone can access and use magic, however the magic comes with a personal price.  If you don't feel like paying the price and don't pay much attention to legality, you can offload it onto an innocent bystander.  Allie Beckstrom's job is to hunt down these heinous criminals and bring them to justice.  But what happens if the jerk is her own father?  Beware, not everything is as it seems when corporate spies get involved.