Answering The Call Could Be a Bit Risky

Think back to when you were 12. What were you doing? Meeting mysterious old (and I mean really, really, REALLY old) men who can stop time? Getting home to find an exact copy (or at least a close approximation) of yourself in your bedroom who is completely made from mud and who says he is a Golem and has been sent to take your place? How about battling a beautiful princess (at least when she’s not turning into a monster) whose mother is the Mother of Monsters and has been banished for eternity, or 3000 years, whichever comes first? My guess is probably not, but that is exactly what 12 year old David McAvoy, known as Mack, is doing in The Call, the first book in The Magnificent 12 series by Michael Grant.

It’s just another average day at Richard Gere Middle School with Mack about to get pounded by the Bully of Bullies, Stefan Marr, when time is suddenly stopped by Grimluk, the original Twelve of the Magnifica, a group of twelve who possess the enlightened puissance. The Magnifica were brought together “A REALLY, REALLY LONG TIME AGO…” (if you don’t believe me, just check out the chapter heading for the chapters about the time of the Magnifica) to try to defeat the Pale Queen. The Magnifica captured the queen and imprisoned her forever, “Or so we thought. It turns out three thousand years is still not forever.” (Just in case you hadn’t figured it out, people in Grimluk’s time were’t very good with numbers.) Now those three thousand years are almost up, all the original Magnifica except Grimluk are dead, and Grimluk is trying to convince Mack who is the epitome of “mediumness” that he has to find eleven other twelve-year-olds and convince them to help him save the world from the Pale Queen and her daughter Ereskigal, also known as Risky, who can be beautiful and sensuous one minute and a real monster the next (no, really… I mean an actual monster who would love to bite your head off, literally). Can Grimluk convince Mack to save the world, or better yet, can Mack convince himself that he can save the world?

I actually downloaded this book on my Nook app quite a while ago when I came across it as a Free Friday selection, but I never got around to reading it. Then a couple of months ago I added the series to my library collection without making the connection between the series and the title that was wasting away unread on my Nook. Then I happened to rediscover it on my Nook, realized that it was the series I had just processed for the library, and decided to give it a try, and I’m glad I did. It is a fun adventure story written with lots of humor and word play, but also some “big words” that will have you accidentally improving your vocabulary. The story shifts back and forth between the present with Mack and his conundrum and the past with Grimluk and his becoming one of the Magnifica. As is the case with many children’s and young adult series, there is a companion website that allows users to learn more about the books, see illustrations of the creatures involved in the story and maps of locations in the story, and create a personal avatar to play games related to the book’s adventures. You can learn more about the series by visiting http://www.themag12.com/.

Divergent Movie: The Good, The Bad, and the Missing

Okay, I typically just use this blog to discuss books, but after seeing the Divergent movie this weekend, I had to get on my soapbox for a few minutes. SPOILER ALERT!!!! If you haven't seen the movie, and are planning to, don't read this blog until after you see it because I will be giving some movie specifics.

First of all, Divergent was a good movie, and most everyone I spoke to and the comments I read online were positive with most people saying they "loved" the movie. In fact, it was enjoyable, the sets were phenomenal, and the acting was true to the type of movie. My husband, who is not a reader, enjoyed this movie more than he enjoyed Catching Fire. I am beginning to think that the best way to enjoy a book-movie is to NOT read the book before seeing the movie.

While the actors were all (for the most part) good actors, Theo James, Shailene Woodley, Ashley Judd, Kate Winslet, etc., I did not like the casting. Now, I know I'm getting into reader opinions here, and your reader opinions or the characters may be different from mine, but this is my blog so you get my opinions. So, here goes.... Four was too sexy and too old (don't get me wrong, he was nice to look at on the screen, but he just wasn't "Four-ish"), Christina was too short, Al was too skinny, Peter was too ugly, Marcus was too... not sure, really, but he just wasn't the evil Marcus I had in my mind, Eric was too clean and too thuggish, Molly was too pretty and too nice, and Edward was too MISSING!!! Which leads me to the next part of my blog title, The Missing. Where was Edward? How do you leave him out without completely screwing up the next two movies, and how do you decide to just omit the knife-in-the-eye incident?!? Where was the water at the bottom of the Chasm in the Pit? Where is the hard drive? And if there is not hard drive, how does Peter try to steal it in the next movie? AARRRGGGHHHH!!!!

Why do directors choose to change so much of a perfectly good story? I know that there is no way to fit a 487 page book into a two hour movie so things have to be omitted, but changing the very essence of a story by modifying the plot is just wrong.  Jeanine is a major character in the books, but she is way too prevalent in the movie. She opens the choosing ceremony, she's at the final examination of the Dauntless initiates, she is constantly showing up at Dauntless headquarters, she is in the control room controlling the simulation when Tris breaks in even though, according to the book, Four, alone, is controlling the simulation at that time. Why the need to add a fight scene between Tris and Jeanine in this movie when it was already written into Insurgent? I think the thing that makes me the maddest about the movie changes is that the author was very involved in the film-making process even appearing in a small scene in the movie. Why didn't she fight the changes? I know the answer, money. Film-makers want to make the movie the way they want, and if the writer interferes too much, the movie may not get made. The back of my copy of Divergent says,

"ONE CHOICE 

DETERMINES YOUR LOYALTIES--FOREVER  

ONE CHOICE 

CAN TRANSFORM YOU"

Veronica Roth's choice to give the directors free reign definitely showed me her loyalties and, most assuredly, transformed the story of Divergent into a good movie, but a not-so-good book-movie. Now, don't not go see the movie just because of my soapbox rant here. Go enjoy a good movie, but just don't spend your time picking out all the differences (more than I even included here) like I did.

Find the Seventh

If the seven stones dishonored be,
And slain the noble willow tree,
Revenge will come each thirty year
Til seven infant deaths bring fear.

These lines are from the Prophecy of Blind Meg. So far six Minerva children have died, all on Solstice Eve, and now Jim, who has just moved onto the Minerva Estate with this father and sister, is hearing a ghostly voice telling him to "Find the Seventh".  Now Jim is getting ghostly visions of how each of the six previous children died, and he's trying to figure out what these ghostly children want him to do.  Is he supposed to save Henry, the autistic son of the mean-spirited owner of the Minerva Estate who is supposed to be away at boarding school, but who Jim has seen wandering the grounds of the estate? And how can he figure anything out when Lord Minerva is watching his every move with a plethora of security cameras and keeps threatening to fire Jim's dad if Jim doesn't quit roaming the estate? When Jim finally hears the end of Blind Meg's Prophecy, "The let the skytale tell a stranger, How he may prevent this mortal danger", Jim knows that he must defy Lord Minerva and his father to solve the mystery  that could cost more than one person's life.

The Hunt for the Seventh is a classic ghost tale set on a sprawling British estate. The mystery of what or who the "seventh" is and what exactly Jim is supposed to do when he finds the "seventh" takes twists and turns until the very end. Jim spends most of his time alone trying to figure out the mystery of the estate because he doesn't feel that he can or should involve his dad or his sister. The characters that Jim encounters along the way are not always who they at first appear to be which sets up the biggest plot twist of the book.

Overall I enjoyed the book. The story kept me wondering how Jim was going to overcome the obstacles that his dad and Lord Minerva were putting in his way. The story is set in Great Britain, so I was a bit unfamiliar with some of the British slang and colloquialisms in the book, and there weren't always enough context clues to help me figure them out. I was expecting a good ghost story, but I wasn't really expecting the paganism that is a part of the story. The story is supposed to be set in modern times, but the people in the story seem to still believe in "cunning women" (healers/witches) are still making offerings to nature spirits. In spite of this, I still think it is a mystery that kids will enjoy reading.

Not Your Average Vampire Tale

Paranormal fiction is all the rage right now with beautiful teens falling for sexy vampires and such, but the vampire story I just finished is most definitely NOT your typical vampire story. In fact, there are no sexy vampires and not even any blood-sucking anywhere in this book. There is, however, a cute, fluffy little vampire bunny who will suck all the juice (and color) right out of your vegetables.

The Editor's Note at the beginning of the book tells you that the manuscript for this book was dropped off at the editor's office by a sad-eyed dog. With the manuscript was a letter from the author who identifies himself as the family dog, Harold, and claims that the story in the manuscript is indeed factual (though the names have been changed to protect his family). Harold's story tells how the family (identified as the Monroes) found the orphaned bunny in a seat at the theatre where they went to watch the movie Dracula (which is what led them to naming the bunny Bunnicula). Strange things begin to happen in the Monroe home, mainly to the vegetables which mysteriously turn white over night. Chester, the family cat, is certain that the bunny is a vampire and a threat to the family (even though the only thing Bunnicula seems to be biting is the vegetables).  Chester, who is a very well-read cat, turns to The Mark of the Vampire to help him and a reluctant Harold figure out how to rid the family of the alleged vampire bunny. The effects, while not necessarily effective at getting rid of Bunnicula, are quite hilarious.

Bunnicula has been around for quite a while being first published in 1979, and I'll admit that the real reason I read it was because I had some students doing a project on it and needed to know the book to be able to evaluate their projects. With that said, I really liked the book! It was cute and funny and had enough wordplay to appeal to adults as well as kids. At one point, Chester reads that you can kill a vampire by pounding a stake into the vampire's heart, but the "stake" he uses is actually a sirloin "steak" (after I finished reading the book I had to apologize to one of my student groups for correcting their spelling).  The book is a quick but fun read. Probably the best recommendation for the book came from one of my students who is VERY picky about the books he reads (he only likes to read Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Puppy Place books and pretty much refuses to try anything else). After he finished Bunnicula, he was anxious to read others in the series. When I told him I didn't have the entire series, the told me that I really needed to get the rest of them so he could read them. Isn't that what a good book is all about?

Going Viral

Tory Brennen is good at science (which isn't surprising since her aunt is Temperence Brennen, renowned forensic anthropologist), but also good at getting into trouble. When she and her friends Hi, Shelton, and Ben find an old dog tag while searching for a wolf-dog family on Loggerhead Island, an island off Charleston, SC that houses a facility for sea turtle research, Tory sets off a chain of events that not only endanger her life and the lives of her friends, but also change their genetic makeup. When Tory and her friends sneak into LIRI, the research facility where her dad works, to borrow the lab's equipment to clean the dog tag she found, they end up rescuing a wolf-dog puppy that has been infected with a mutated strain of Parvovirus that can be passed to humans. Now, in addition to trying to save the puppy, they are also fighting an illness that is mutating their DNA and giving them "powers" similar to those of a wolf, and she and her friends have stumbled across a decades-old murder mystery that could bring down one of Charleston's most powerful families, that is, if it doesn't get them all killed first.

Virals is the first book in a series of young adult books by Kathy Reichs, author of the Temperance Brennan novels and inspiration for the television series Bones. Fans of the no-nonsense Brennan portrayed on Bones may be put off a bit by the element of supernatural of this series. Tory and her friends develop "superpowers" after being exposed to the experimental parvovirus; powers like super strength, smell, vision, and hearing. I enjoy watching Bones and I enjoyed Virals, but I couldn't help but hear the TV Brennan whispering, "This doesn't make sense. It's not logical." If you can get past the voice of TV Brennan, Virals is quite an exciting ride.

The story is written for teens, so you get lots of teen situations. There is quite a bit of profanity, so I would not recommend it for anyone younger than middle school. You can learn more about all the books in the Virals series at http://kathyreichs.com/virals/.

"War has many unexpected casualties"

I almost hate to make this statement, but I like Holocaust literature. Now, I'm not talking Mein Kampf or anything that glorifies the atrocities of Hitler and his Nazi goons. I'm talking stories of heroism and survival like Night by Elie Wiesel, Ashes by Kathryn Lasky, Number the Stars by Lois Lowery, and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Now add to that list The Klipfish Code by Mary Casonova.

I'm not a big history person, so it often amazes me just how many places and people were directly impacted by Hitler's desire to create a perfect race. The Klipfish Code tells to story of Hitler's invasion of Norway. Marit Gunderson, her brother Lars, and their parents are all jolted from their dreams and from their lives when bombs start raining down on Isfjorden in the middle of the night of April 9, 1940. After the bombing ends, Marit's parents decide to send Marit and Lars the island of Godoy to live with Bestefar, their grandfather, and Aunt Ingeborg, while they remain behind to help with the resistance efforts. Marit is crushed not only because she wants to stay with her parents, but also because she and Bestefar do not get along.

Once on the island, things continually get worse. The Nazis come to the farm weekly to collect their "donations" of milk, eggs, and produce; they confiscate all the families' blankets for the soldiers to use; and they demand that all radios be turned over to the soldiers. Marit admires her Aunt Ingbeborg who teaches at the local school but refuses to give in to the Nazi's demands to teach the Nazi Philosophy, but she is angered at her grandfather who seems to give in to any demand that the Germans make.When her aunt is taken from school by German soldiers, Marit fears she will never see her again, but she is also more determined to find a way to help the resistance. She gets her chance when she stumbles across an injured Resistance soldier in the mountains one afternoon. She wants to save him and help him complete his mission, but will it put her whole family at risk?

The Klipfish Code follows Marit over a period of five years. While Marit's family faced hardships because of the Germans, until her aunt is taken by the soldiers, they are not directly threatened. The Germans hoped that Norway would move over to their side, and it only took two months for the Norwegian army to be defeated, but they were not expecting the resistance by ordinary citizens. As with all the other Holocaust literature I have read, I am always amazed at the strength and endurance of those who found themselves under Nazi domination. According to the author's note at the end of the book, all the major details of this story come from the life of a personal friend who grew up in Nazi-occupied Norway.

The author, Mary Casanova, writes primarily middle grade novels and picture book. For more information about the author or any of her books, visit www.marycasanova.com.

Two For One: Infinity Ring Books Six and Seven

The Infinity Ring series is the latest print and online combination series by Scholastic that takes a story that starts in the books and continues it online through a game that is accesses using a special code from the book. Scholastic's first attempt at this combination was the popular 39 Clues series which is still going strong with it's third spin-off series. Like the 39 Clues series, each book in the Infinity Ring series is written by a different author. Where this series differs, however, is that the online game tells a part of the story that isn't included in the books. While you don't HAVE to play the online game to understand the series, you do miss details and part of the adventure if you don't signup and play the game.

Behind Enemy Lines by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Book six in the series has Dak, Sera, and Riq landing in Europe in 1943 during World War II. Just after meeting the local Hystorian, a bombing raid causes a building collapse that kills the Hystorian and destroys their SQuare, leaving the group with no guidance as to what the break is or how to fix it. Dak and Sera are  forces to travel back to their time to try to get a new SQuare, but instead of finding the Hystorians, the find Tilda, leader of the SQ. While trying to escape teh SQ and warp back to 1943, Dak and Sera inadvertantly take Tilda with them. Now, in addition to trying to figure out and fix the break, they also have to try to stay away from Tilda and the additional danger she brings to their mission.

With a new SQuare in hand, the group learn that this break is the one that led to the SQ rising to power, so it becomes even more important to them to fix this particular break. The break involves a covert mission called Mincement Man which tried to distract the German forces away from the Allied's true target. In order to fix the break, the group must split up. Riq stays in Scotland while Sera goes to Spain and Dak heads to Germany. If the kids can pull this off, the Allies will win the war and the SQ will not rise to power. Can they convince the Germans of Mincement Man's authencity, or will they end up prisoners themselves? Will they be able to stop Tilda, especially now that she has her own time-travel device or will she mess up everything they have fixed and bring on the Cataclysm?

The Iron Empire by James Dashner

Dak, Sera, and Riq have traveled up and down the timeline of history and have finally ended up in Ancient Greece, the site of the Prime Break. If they can fix this break, they will have defeated the SQ and prevented the Cataclysm that ends the world, but in order to do it, they'll need the help of Aristotle, the founding father of the Hystorians. They must stop the assassination of Alexander, heir to the throne and Aristotle's favorite former pupil, and they only have three weeks to stop it; however, as the group is talking with Aristotle, a messenger arrives to announce that Alexander has just been killed by a woman that the time travelers identify as Tilda. Now the kids and Aristotle must travel even farther back in time to try to stop Tilda and the original assassin and save Alexander so that they can prevent the great Cataclysm from destroying the future. Can they fix the Prime Break, and will it really save the future?


Much like Margaret Peterson Haddix's Missing Series all the books in the Infinity Ring series take place around actual historical events, but one of the things I miss in this series that Haddix includes in her series is an author's note giving some factual information about the time period, event, or people. When reading both of these two books, I found myself pulling out my phone to look up details to see if they were factual or fictional. While the factual note isn't necessary to understanding the story, I think it would enhance the reader's experience with the historical side of the historical fiction.

Breaking Down the Doors of Death

If you like a good cliff-hanger, then Rick Riordan is the author for you. In fact, the dedication of The House of Hades reads, "To my wonderful readers: Sorry about that last cliff-hanger. Well, no, not really. HAHAHAHA. But seriously, I love you guys." The House of Hades, the fourth book in The Heroes of Olympus series, picks up right where the third book, The Mark of Athena, leaves us hanging, with Percy and Annabeth stuck in Tartarus trying to get to the Doors of Death while Jason, Leo, Nico, Hazel, and Frank sail the Argo II to Epirus to find the other side of the Doors of Death. If you have no idea what I am talking about, stop reading this blog right now and go read all the books leading up to this one because this is definitely a series that has to be read in order beginning with with the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and continuing with the Heroes of Olympus series.

If you're still reading I assume you have read all the preceding books and know the gist of what is going on: Gaea is waking and seven demigods from Camp Halfblood and Camp Jupiter are on a quest to find and seal the doors of death and stop Gaea from waking. In the last book, shortly after finding and rescuing the Athena Parthenos, Annabeth and Percy fall into Tartarus, the place where Titans, giants, and monsters go after being killed to regenerate. House of Hades finds the two trying to make their way through Tartarus to find the Doors of Death while avoiding being killed by empousi, giants, telkines, Titans, and various other Gaea supporters who would relish the opportunity to kill the great Percy Jackson (who, by the way, is the very one who sent many of them to Tartarus in the first place). As Percy and Annabeth fight their way through Tartarus, their friends above in the mortal world are facing their own battles including poisonous cow monsters, mischievous dwarves, and a few Titans, gods, and goddesses who have their own agendas in mind. All of them are in a race against time to find and permanently destroy the Doors of Death that have been allowing the slain monsters to regenerate and return to the mortal world to wreak havoc. Will the group be able to find the doors before Gaea wakes?

Riordan is a master at tongue-in-cheek humor. His outlandish descriptions of the characters spark vivid images in the reader's imagination and puts a new, modern twist of Greek mythology (my favorite of this book are of the two wildly dressed thieving dwarves, Passalos and Akmon). As in all the previous books, chapters are told from different characters' points of view so you get to see the story from all angles and all perspectives. Many of the demigods have individual experiences during this voyage that cause them to grow into themselves and their abilities. Just as Mark of Athena left readers desperately counting down the days until the release of the next installment in the series, House of Hades does the same thing.Part of the quest has been completed, but there are still two wars to stop; one between the two demigod camps and one between the gods of Olympus and Gaea and her forces. Readers will have to wait until October of 2014 to read Blood of Olympus to see if Riordan brings us to a satisfying conclusion or keeps us hanging again. My hope is that he keeps us hanging for many more installments.

If you want to learn more about Rick Riordan and his books, check out his web site http://www.rickriordan.com/home.aspx.

Ill Come to Thee by Moonlight

Cynda's life seems to be falling apart. Her mom and stepfather are moving to Italy for three years. Cynda hates the idea, so her mother arranges an invitation for Cynda to move to Maine to stay with her dad for at least six months. The dad that left them ten years ago to marry one of his students. The dad who lives in an old inn and writes crime mysteries. The dad she has not seen in two years and who really knows nothing about her. It was obvious that her mom and Steve didn't want her, but what about her dad? He had a new family, a wife, a five year old son named Todd, and a baby on the way. Would he want her?

Life with her dad at Underhill Inn doesn't get a lot better. Dad spends most of his time writing, Susan spends her time sewing, and Todd spends his time whining for Cynda to play another game or read another book. When they are all together, Cynda still feels left out and alone. To make matters worse, Cynda learns that the inn is supposed to be haunted by the ghost of a young girl who was murdered sixty years earlier, possibly by one of the inn's male guests. Now she not only has to worry about trying to be part of this family, she also has to worry about running into a ghost.

Because it is winter the inn usually has no guests because of the harsh Maine climate, but a mysterious and handsome stranger, Vincent Morthanos, shows up at dinner wanting to rent a room for a month or more. Everyone is entranced by Vincent almost immediately, everyone except Todd who insists that Vincent is a bad man. Cynda is especially taken with Vincent, and he seems to be just as interested in her. Even though he is at least ten years her elder, he seems to understand and sympathize with every one of her fears and insecurities. During a game of Scrabble, Cynda's dad realizes that the words played on the board spell out a sentence, "Ill come to thee by moonlight". Cynda realizes that it doesn't say "Ill" but rather "I'll" and she knows it is a message to her from Vincent; he will meet her after dark, but was Cynda's dad's interpretation of the sentence the more accurate. Is Vincent really all that he seems to be, or is he hiding a dark and deadly secret? Will Cynda finally have someone who will love her unconditionally, or will her feelings for the handsome stranger put her life in danger?

Look For Me by Moonlight is a YA book by one of my favorite authors, Mary Downing Hahn. Ms. Hahn is a very sophisticated and sweet lady who looks like she should be baking cookies and knitting scarves instead of writing dark and intriguing paranormal fiction. Her books are among the most popular titles in my library, and she is my go-to author when I have a student who comes in looking for a "scary book". While my elementary students love Ms. Hahn's books, Look For Me by Moonlight is for a slightly older audience. There is a strong romantic element that would not be appealing to most elementary aged students. A forte of Ms. Hahn's writing, however, is that they do not only appeal to a certain age group. The very books that my elementary students love, are also loved by many of my teachers as well. Her stories are so well written that their enjoyment is not confined to a single age demographic.

I will admit that I had the antagonist figured out pretty quickly. The main character, Cynda, is the narrator of this story, so the reader sees the events unfold through her point of view. With that said, this is one of those novels that makes the reader want to shout at the narrator and ask, "Are you stupid??? Can you not see what this guy is????", but you know that she is so infatuated with the villain that she can't see what is right in front of her face. Even though I had the antagonist and main conflict figured out pretty quickly (which may turn off some readers), I couldn't stop reading because I couldn't figure out how Cynda was going to get herself out of the mess she had gotten wrapped up in. As with all of the other Hahn books I have read, Ms. Hahn worked her magic and brought the whole thing to a satisfying conclusion even though I had my doubts that there was any way to rescue Cynda. Guess it's a good thing Ms. Hahn was writing this book and not me :-)

(Mary Downing Hahn photo credit: http://www.grimmensteinbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/mary_88171-244x300.jpg)

The Select Are Surprised

I finished January with my fifth book of the year, Lost in Babylon, the second book in the Seven Wonders series by Peter Lerangis. The series follows the Select, four 13-year-olds who have the G7W gene that means they are descendants of the royalty of the lost city of Atlantis, but that also means that they will die when they turn 14, unless they find the seven Loculi, orbs that hold the power of Atlantis, that were hidden in the Seven Wonders of the World right before the city of Atlantis sank into the sea. What makes their search even more difficult is that six of the seven Wonders have long since been destroyed.

Lost in Babylon begins with Selects Jack, Aly, and Cass searching for Marco who disappeared with the first Loculus shortly after they recovered it from the Colossus at Rhodes. Each of the Select have an implanted tracking device, but the signal from Marco's device has disappeared, which could mean that he is dead, but when his signal returns and shows that he is somewhere in Iraq, the kids, as well as Professor Beghed, Torquin, and some others from the KI Institute, head to Iraq to find Marco and the Loculus. When they find Marco, they discover that he has found the location of another Loculus, the one that was hidden in the Hanging Gardens in ancient Babylon. The kids travel through a portal at the bottom of the Euphrates river and end up in Ancient Babylon, but they discover that this Babylon is caught in a time rift where time travels 90 times slower than time in the modern world. As the kids work to find and retrieve the Loculus, they meet Daria, a Babylonian slave who has a unique ability to learn languages. They also save the King's son, hunt an ancient sacred beast, the mushushu, join a rebel group, and set off an earthquake that could destroy them all. On top of all this, loyalties are called into question and sacrifices are made.

I started this series because it was billed as part Percy Jackson, part 39 clues. The characters are typical teens (despite their extraordinary abilities): the tech wiz, the nerd, the sports star, and the kid who really doesn't know who he is or what is special about him. Lerangis is very good at keeping the reader pulled into the action and wanting to find out what is going to happen next. This book definitely had some unexpected twists and turns, especially in the final pages, that have me anxiously awaiting the release of book three (Tomb of Shadows set to be released in May of 2014). You can find out more about the books and access lots of extras on the series website http://www.sevenwondersbooks.com/.

Never trust a fairy, especially if you dumped her.

I first met Jacob Reckless in the Mirrorworld created by German author Cornelia Funke's novel, Reckless. In the first novel of the Mirrorworld series, Jacob, a treasure hunter, was desperately seeking a cure for his brother Will who was being turned into a Goyl, a stone-skinned creature. Jacob seeks assistance from the Red Fairy which is probably not the best idea since she had loved him and he had dumped her. She does help, but the "cure" she gives comes with a great price, Jacob's life.

Fearless opens with Jacob desperately seeking a magical object that will cure him, or at least postpone his death. After trying everything he can think of, Jacob and his constant companion, Fox, set out in search of a legend that may not even exist, Guismond the Witch Slayer's crossbow. The crossbow is said to have the power to kill entire armies when used on the army's leader, but there is also a rumor that says that the crossbow can heal when shot through a person's heart by one who loves that person best. To make the search even more difficult a treasure hunting Goyl is also seeking the crossbow and is willing to do whatever necessary to beat Jacob to the treasure. Will Jacob find the crossbow before the Fairy's revenge takes his life? Will the crossbow be his salvation, or will it just kill him faster than the curse?

I was introduced to Cornelia Funke when I discovered her Inkheart series (one of my favorites), so I was super excited a few years ago when I found Reckless. I quickly devoured it and excitedly recommended it to teachers and students who were fantasy fans. Then, while working on a book order, I found a blurb for the follow-up, Fearless. I was thrilled when it came in, so, naturally, it was one of the first titles I took home to read. I will admit that it took me a while to get into it because it had been so long since I had read Reckless. In fact, I finally got online to read a summary of Reckless so that I could refresh my memory about what had happened in Reckless. The refresher helped, and it wasn't long until I had become completely absorbed in the story. 

One of the things that I love about the fantasy genre is that it is unpredictable. You can never "know" what is going to happen because the writer creates his/her own world and anything is possible in that world. I kept telling myself, "She (Funke) can't let Jacob die, can she?" knowing the whole time that main characters die all the time (have you read the Divergent series?). The story was full of twists and turns that kept me hooked until the satisfying end of the story. Several of the plot twists remain unresolved (Who is Earlking and what is his price for helping Jacob? Where is Jacob's dad? Will Jacob tell Fox how he feels?), but the final chapter convinces us that we have not seen the end of the Mirrorworld, and  can't wait to see it again. (For more on the Mirrorworld you can check out http://mirrorworldnovels.com/).

I Risked It This Week

This series grabbed me several years ago when I added the first title in the series, Found, to my library's collection, so I was super excited when I saw that the sixth installment in The Missing series by Margaret Peterson Haddix was out. I quickly added it to a book order, and, of course, it was the first title from the order I grabbed to read.

Risked begins with Jonah Skidmore and his sister Katherine doing some computer research trying to figure out which of history's missing children Jonah may be (If this doesn't make sense to you, stop reading this blog immediately and go read the first five books of the series). As they are learning about the Anastasia and Alexei Romonov, children of the last Tsar of Russia, Chip, Jonah's friend and Katherine's kind-of boyfriend, shows up with Daniella, the only one of the missing that was not present in the time cave when Jonah, Chip, and the other 33 Missing learned that they were actually famous children from history who had been kidnapped by Gary and Hodge, two rouge time agents wishing to make a fortune from families in future wishing to adopt these famous children. Unbeknownst to Jonah, Katherine, and Chip (and actually unbeknownst to herself as well) Daniella is working with Gavin, a surly Missing child who has plotted with Gary and Hodge to kidnap the group and take them to the future, but as bad guys often do, they mislead Gavin into actually taking the group back to the very day in 1918 when the whole Romonov family, Daniella's and Gavin's real historical family, were executed. How are Jonah, Katherine, and Chip going to rescue Daniella and Gavin with a dumbed down Elucidator that can only take them to 1918 or make them invisible. To make matters even more difficult, after being rejoined with her tracer and getting all of Anastasia's memories and feelings, Daniella refuses to be rescued without rescuing the rest of the Romonov family.

As with all the books in The Missing Series, Haddix skillfully blends the fictional story of the time travelers with the historical events of the time and family described using the real names of people and places as much as possible. This story kept me guessing the whole time. Being only slightly familiar with the true story of the Romonovs, I knew that most of the Romonov family were killed, so how was Haddix going to complete the story she had woven and still stay true to the historical facts that she always details in the Author's Note at the end of each book. In the end, I was not disappointed. While Haddix did take a bit of poetic license with some of the surviving characters, her fictional account still fit in with the beliefs about the fates of the Romonovs at the time she began writing the story. As always, I loved the story of the books, and I learned a few things about history that I didn't know.

The worst thing about reading a book series that has not been completed is that you have to wait for what seems like an eternity for the next volume to be published (Redeemed is not due out until September 2015), but the good thing about the proliferation of electronic reading devices is the current trend of these series authors releasing electronic short stories to accompany their series. Haddix has thankfully joined this trend with the publication of Sought, a short story that delves more fully into the character Daniella (at least according to the description on Amazon ). I only learned about Sought when looking for the Amazon listing of Risked for this blog. Now I think I'll go download a short story to read.

Not your average kittypet!

Rusty is living the good life. He's a young house cat with a bowl full of food and owners who let him snuggle down in their bed at night. So why is he having recurring dreams of hunting mice, and why do these dreams leave him so restless? One day his curiosity drives him into the woods near his home where he is attacked by a young wild cat. this young cat and two others who join him are part of the ThunderClan. The Clan's leader, Bluestar, invites Rusty to leave his life of comfort and join the clan, so Rusty, who is renamed Firepaw, joins the ThunderClan to train to be a warrior, but will he live to regret that decision? ShadowClan is trying to take over the territory of the other three clans, and ThunderClan is weaker than ever following the deaths of some of their fiercest warriors. Is there a traitor in the ThunderClan? Will Firepaw survive his apprenticeship and become a ThunderClan warrior proving to Tigerclaw that he isn't just a kittypet? And what of Spottedleaf's message from the StarClan that fire will save ThunderClan?

This is the first book in Erin Hunter's Warriors series. I purchased it for my library several years ago, and then ended up getting a free Kindle download of the title about a year ago, still it just sat there unread.  I finally decided to read it this weekend because I figured it would at least be a quick read (290 pages), and I didn't want to be in the middle of a longer book when school started back after the holidays since I have a bunch of new books being delivered and wanted to be able to start reading them. Well, I was not disappointed. The story is well written (if you can get your mind wrapped around the clan lingo, twolegs = humans, kittypet = house cat, dirt = poop, etc.), and is definitely action packed. The immediate story of the book reaches a conclusion, but the overall story of the warrior cats is far from over. It won't take me nearly as long to read others in this series as it did for me to read the first. If you want to know more about the series, checkout the Warrior Cats website http://www.warriorcats.com/ or visit our library and check out the book.

The 1st Book is The 5th Wave

My first book of the new year was The 5th Wave by Rick Yancy. I had seen a pretty amazing book trailer for the book on the Penguin Young Readers channel on YouTube (check out the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKkEAIs4pJc), and thought it would be an interesting read. If I had paid closer attention to the trailer, I probably wouldn't have wanted to read it. My dad was a big Sci-Fi fan, so I grew up with Star Trek, Star Wars, Lost In Space (the original series), and all those kinds of movies and shows. My dad even said he was once abducted by aliens once and had a scar on his neck to prove it. My dad was a big kidder, but he told the story with such a serious tone that I was never sure if he was playing around with me or if he actually believed it. Despite all of this, I am not a huge Sci-Fi fan, at least no in my reading, so when the aliens first showed up in the story (the first sentence of chapter one), I almost put it down, but the story quickly drew me in and I had to finish.

The book is narrated by several of the book's characters beginning with Cassie ("Not Cassie for Cassandra. Or Cassie for Cassidy. Cassie for Cassiopeia the constellation..."). Earth has come under attack by the Others. Cassie is on her own after surviving the first four waves. Her mother died during the 3rd wave ("We had different names for it. The Red Death or the Blood Plague. The Pestilence. The Red Tsunami. The Fourth Horseman. Whatever you wanted to call it, after three months, ninety-seven out of every hundred people were dead.") Her brother Sammy was taken away by some soldiers shortly before her father was killed by those same soldiers. Now Cassie's one mission in life is to survive and find Sammy, but that mission is put in jeopardy when she is shot by a Silencer (Cassie's new name for the Others). Cassie is found and nursed back to health by Evan Walker, but can she trust him? Is he human, or is he other?

Other sections of the book are narrated by Zombie, formerly know as Ben Parrish, Cassie's former crush who has been rescued by soldiers, taken to Camp Haven, and been trained as a soldier to fight in the war to hunt down and kill the Teds, those whose brains have been infested by the aliens. Ben, who ran when his little sister was attacked and killed, is determined to never run away again but to hunt down and rid the Earth of as many Teds as possible; however, an incident on his very first mission as a real soldier makes him question who he's really hunting. How do you know who the bad guy is when the bad guy looks and acts just like you?

The changing narrators allow the book to have several different plot lines going on at all at once, but all the plot lines converge as the book draws towards its conclusion. Characters' beliefs are challenged, bonds are formed, and sacrifices are made, but the book ends long before the story does. I was reading away on my Kindle and flipped the page after a crucial point in the story only to find that it was actually the last page, and I said out loud to my Kindle, "Seriously?!?" I (and other readers like me) will have to wait until September 2014 to find out what happens to Cassie, Sammy, Ben and Evan.

This book is definitely a YA title written for high school aged reader. There is a good bit of profanity, including some of the heavyweight curse words, and a lot of violence. As I said at the beginning, I'm not a Sci-Fi reader, but this is a very intriguing story about trust and bravery and survival and, ultimately, what it means to be human. I will definitely be downloading the sequel, The Infinite Sea, when it is released in the fall.

Repentance and Resolutions

First of all, let's just accept the fact that I am a HORRIBLE blogger. It has been almost three years since my last post to this blog. I am also pitiful at keeping in touch through correspondence (snail mail and email), and we won't even begin to mention keeping up with household chores. About the only thing I seem to be able to keep up with is reading (which should lend itself well with maintaining a blog about reading). Okay, that is it for the repentance part of this post. Now on to the resolutions.

At our school, the teachers work with their students to set reading goals for each grading period, and I work with our students to help them choose books that they will enjoy that will also help them meet their goals. While awaiting the arrival of the new year, I decided to practice what I preach at school and set a reading goal for myself. I always tell my teachers to encourage their students to set goals that they know they will be able to obtain, but that will require effort to meet. With that in mind, I set for myself a goal of reading 50 books which is a little less than a book a week. I am a dedicated reader, but I'm not the fastest reader, so I thought 50 is a manageable number that can be raised if I reach it. So, my New Year's Resolution was to set a reading goal and meet that goal. Then I said to myself, "I have a reading blog, so why not up the resolution to include the blog." So, my new New Year's Resolution is to read and blog about 50 books. Most of them will be from my school's library, but I'll throw some YA and Adult fiction in along the way. Hopefully there will be at least a post a week, and posts will mostly be short summaries with my review of the books with the thought that some of my students (or other readers) will find reading inspiration from my posts.

Okay, now that I have my resolution established, I best get off this computer and get back to reading so I will have something to write about.