Shelly's Book Blog

Princess Ben, by Catherine Murdock, is yet another on the School Library Journal's Best Books 2008 list. This is a quick read with lots of action and I enjoyed it, but I found the ending somewhat abrupt. This story reminded me of all those romantic comedies (think "You've Got Mail") where the two leads start out hating each other but fall madly in love by the end of the story, except in Princess Ben I wasn't quite sure what had changed their minds. In Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, this conceit works beautifully, I think because Austen gives the characters so many opportunities to meet, both in the company of others and, by happenstance, alone. I suppose most stories will suffer if they are compared to Pride and Prejudice, though. I just wanted a bit more from this story. Even so, I would not hesitate to recommend it because Benevolence (Ben) is a great, flawed heroine. I enjoyed sharing her adventures and watching her grow.

I am still working through the books on School Library Journal's Best Books 2008 list. I can definitely see Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow, showing up on next year's most challenged books list. This is a left-leaning, heavily political book. It seems to be set sometime in the near future, and the main character is 17-year-old Marcus, known in cyberspace as "w1n5t0n" (say, "Winston"), who lives in San Francisco. Marcus is a super-smart techno geek who is not averse to a little light-hearted hacking. He's not a bad kid, but he is a lot smarter than most of his teachers and enjoys getting away with what he can.

Enter the terrorists: one day while Marcus and some of his friends are ditching school, terrorists blow up the Bay Bridge, and Marcus is arrested by the Department of Homeland Security. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, so he is considered a suspect in the bombing. Here is where it gets really political and controversial. Marcus is taken to a secret prison (that Marcus later calls Gitmo-by-the Bay), interrogated, tortured, and held without charges, all in the name of "national security." He is finally released, but then the rest of the story tells of Marcus's unconventional political activism. He is so incensed by what happened to him that he is determined to fight the DHS in order to win back his, and every other American's, civil rights. The debates that raged just after 9/11 come back in full force in this book: how do we balance privacy and security? Do we have to throw the Constitution out the window in order to feel safe from terrorists? Or is compromising our civil rights tantamount to letting the terrorists win? I read this one aloud to my boys, and I'm glad I did because it gave us the opportunity to discuss these issues together.

I read Impossible, by Nancy Werlin, in just two days. Wow! I really liked this book. This one reminds me of Tithe, by Holly Black, and Wicked Lovely, by Melissa Marr, because the faerie folk cause trouble for the heroine in this story, too. In Impossible, Lucy Scarborough is a 17-year-old woman who grew up living with foster parents because her mother was mad. She soon learns that an evil Elvin Knight has been playing games with the women of her family for many generations, forcing them to have a female child when they are 18 years old and then possessing them (literally taking ownership of them) just after they give birth. It sounds kind of out there, but the author bases the story of the old folk song, "Scarborough Fair", and she makes it work, partly because so many people try to look at the situation rationally and are reluctant to believe that Lucy is cursed. This is another that is on the School Library Journal's Best Books 2008 list.

Rumors, by Anna Godbersen, is the sequel to The Luxe, and, like the first book, it is set in the year 1899. This second book in the series continues the story of Diana and Elizabeth Holland, two young women who are part of the elite social set of turn-of-the-century New York City. I liked this book just fine -- until the ending, that is, which made me sad and angry. There is a third book, Envy, due out next month, but right now I don't think I'll bother to pick it up because I was so disappointed with the events in Rumors.

The Night Tourist, by Katherine Marsh, is about a 14-year-old boy named Jack Perdu who unwittingly follows a girl named Euri to the New York underworld. In this book, people who died in New York are sent to this underworld and allowed above ground at night. Jack's mother died several years before, so he tries to find her among the thousands of ghosts who inhabit this world. This book is like the Percy Jackson series in that it encorporates Greek mythology into the story. For example, "Euri" is short for "Eurydice." Orpheus, Eurydice's husband, visits the underworld after her death and tries to bring her back to the land of the living. A sequel to this book, The Twilight Prisoner, is due out in April, and I am looking forward to reading more about these characters.

Swift Rivers, by Cornelia Meigs, was a Newbery Honor book in the 1930's. The author writes about Native Americans using dated, insulting stereotypes, but I don't think this fault should keep kids from reading the book because this is a great adventure story. Chris, the teen protagonist, decides to transport by river a load of logs he and his grandfather chopped down on thier property in Minnesota. His destination is about 100 miles downstream to St. Louis. Along the way he suffers setbacks and has adventures that kept the pages turning so quickly for me that I finished the book in one day. I bought this for my son and I feel confident that he will enjoy this well-written, exciting book.

My One Hundred Adventures, by Polly Horvath, is another of those on School Library Journal's Best Books 2008 list. 12-year-old Jane tells the story of her summer adventures, which include meeting several of her mother's old boyfriends, delivering Bibles with her eccentric pastor, and babysitting the Gourd children. Jane and her family live at the beach and often eat off the land -- fishing and gathering muscles from the ocean and gathering wild berries that grow near their home. It seems as though Jane would lead a peaceful life, but her neighbors have other plans for her, at least for this summer. My favorite scene is where Nellie, the pastor with whom Jane devilers Bibles, steals a hot air balloon and sends Jane off in it by herself, instructing her to drop the Bibles out of the balloon as she travels. Another funny scene is where Mrs. Parks, who is convinced she is very ill with thrombisis, becomes huffy because the local doctor decided to put another woman in the hospital instead of her. This is a touching story of a girl coming of age, and I enjoyed it very much.

School Library Journal's Best Books 2008 list also includes John Green's Paper Towns. This is a mystery/detective story where Margo Roth Spiegelman, a high school senior, disappears after taking her neighbor and fellow senior, Quentin Jacobsen, on a nighttime adventure. Margo has disappeared before, more than once, so her parents are so fed up that they decide to lock her out of the house and forget about her. Quentin (also known as Q) cannot let go of the mystery of Margo's disappearance, though, partly because he has secretly admired her from afar for years, and partly because he feels that she has left clues meant just for him to find. His friends are occupied with traditional end-of-the-year activities such as prom and graduation, but Q keeps thinking about Margo. His investigation leads him to Walt Whitman's poem, "Leaves of Grass," and to a series of "paper towns," or places that are on maps but do not really exist.

I found this book fascinating. The usual teen lit standards seem to be kind of knocked about in this story. Green makes sure that his readers see all the kids -- nerds, jocks, cool kids -- as just people in the end, people who are not always who or what they seem to be. This is a suspenseful mystery but also a philosophical, thought-provoking novel. I liked it a lot.

School Library Journal's Best Books 2008 list includes The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. I really liked this story. It's a dark tale of a future civilization where each year two "tributes," one boy and one girl from each of 12 districts, are chosen to compete in the Hunger Games. These games are sort of a cross between the Olympics and gladiator battles. The twelve kids are placed in an enclosed arena and have to fight to the death. The Gamemakers manipulate the weather and generally create brutal challenges for the players, all in an effort to make the show more entertaining for the viewing audience. I found myself wondering why the kids didn't just refuse to participate, but the author makes it clear that this civilization is ruled by a brutal regime that would not hesitate to punish the kids' loved ones for their disobedience. This is a fast-paced thriller, with a little romance thrown in for good measure. I can't wait for the next book in the series!

School Library Journal's Best Books 2008 includes Siobhan Dowd's The London Eye Mystery, so I decided to read it. My interest in autism and Asperger's syndrome usually leads me to books in which this disorder plays some kind of role in the characters' lives, but I was surprised to find that one of the two main characters in this book is an aspie. Ted, who has Asperger's, and his sister, Kat, decide to solve the mystery of why their cousin, Salim, disappeared during a ride on the London Eye, which is a ride built like a giant bicycle wheel in which passengers ride to the top in pods in order to take in the view. One of the characteristics of Asperger's is an intense interest in one subject, and Ted's interest is weather. In the story, Ted's talking about weather sometimes annoys his family because he discusses it so often and in such detail, but his ability to focus so intensely plays an important role in the story. He describes having Asperger's this way:

" 'It's like the brain is a computer,' I said. 'But mine works on a different operating system from other people's. And my wiring's different, too' " (p. 37).

I really liked this description of Asperger's, not just because it seems accurate but also because it stresses that Asperger's is a difference, not a defect. I also like how the author portrays the the positive side of Asperger's: Ted's brain gives him important insights into the mystery of his cousin's disappearance that other people miss. Ted narrates the story, so we also hear about his struggles with social situations, his difficulty understanding idioms, and his tendency to flap his hands when he is stressed, but since it is his voice and his point of view, we are able to sympathize. I am always happy to see books that portray autism and Asperger's syndrome accurately and sympathetically, so of course I liked this book very much for that reason.

There is much more to like here, though. The clues that Ted and Kat discover kept the pages turning and I was eager to finish the book to discover what had happened to Salim. This is a darned good mystery!

Other books about autism that I like include Al Capone Does My Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenko, Rules, by Cynthia Lord, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon.

I finally read the fourth book of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan, The Battle of the Labyrinth. I just love this series. The stories are full of adventure and suspense, and they are very funny. What's more, kids will learn about Greek mythology as they read. It seems clear that Riordan plans a fifth book, so I'm happy to have another in this series to look forward to.

My friend Bekki recommended Avalon High, by Meg Cabot, and I'm glad she did. In this book the main characters are Avalon High School students Will, Lance, Jennifer, and Elaine, all of whom may be characters from the King Arthur legend reincarnated. Each chapter begins with a few lines from Tennyson's poem, "The Lady of Shalott," the idea being that Elaine, the book's narrator, is this lady reincarnated, doomed to look at the world only through a mirror and to weave what she sees into a tapestry. The story is actually very similar to the other Meg Cabot book I read, Jinx, because the main character falls in love with a young man who is unavailable to her, but I liked this story a lot better, probably because I find the Arthurian legend much more interesting than the witchcraft in Jinx. I liked that Cabot based her story on the legend but did not go overboard with it. Perhaps it's time now to re-read The Once and Future King!

In Jake Wizner's Spanking Shakespeare, 17-year-old Shakespeare Shapiro is writing his memoir. All seniors at his high school are required to do so as a senior project, but not all of them are the talented humorist that Shakespeare is. Shakespeare has a brother named Gandhi, so it seems clear that their parents were not into conventional, boring names for their children. Shakespeare suffers from the usual teen boy angst, the difference here being that he knows how to write about it in a very amusing, if coarse, style. This is not one to recommend to kids under, say, 16, but for older teens and young adults who don't mind Wizner's irreverence, this is a really funny book.

I finished Unwind, by Neal Shusterman, yesterday and now I'm reading it aloud to my boys. They never want me to stop reading! It's hard to find a place to stop because this is a really high energy book -- very exciting and fast moving. The story is set in the not-too-distant future (ipods and plasma screen televisions are from the characters' grandparents' time). In this dystopian world, kids are subject to being "unwound" when they are between the ages of 13 and 18. Once they reach age 18 they are safe, but if their parents or guardians decide to sign the order, they will be killed and all of their body parts will be harvested and given to other people who need them. The story follows three kids who are supposed to be Unwinds but who manage to escape. It's a pretty bizarre premise but it works well in this story. I really like that the author explores the issue of the value of human life from several perspectives. For example, in this world people who have unwanted babies are allowed to "stork" them -- that is, to leave them on someone's doorstep and just leave. If they are caught doing this, they must keep the baby afterall, but if they are not, the people who live in the house have to take care of the child. This was an imaginative, exciting book and I really enjoyed it!

I had never read the original Peter Pan, by J. M. Barrie, before this week. I was surprised to find that the Disney movie follows the original story pretty closely. There is a cold-blooded battle at the end of the book, though, that Disney (understandably) changed to a light-hearted contest between just Hook and Peter. In the book, the battle pits Peter and the lost boys against Hook and his pirates, and the children kill about 15 pirates. Barrie does not dwell on the violence but I was still rather shocked.
I found Barrie's prose remarkable not only in its imagination but also in its sophistication. Renaissance Learning gives this book a 7th grade reading level, and I found that the book earns this through its advanced vocabulary. Sadly, though, Barrie's view of girls and women was typical for his time, as evidenced by Wendy's limited options. For example, she takes no part in the story's final battle, and her role of "mother" to Peter and the boys pretty much dooms her to a life of cooking, cleaning, and looking after the needs of others, with no time for her own interests or pursuits.

I started reading The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin, many months ago but never finished it. At that time, I just could not get interested in the story. I think I read the first few chapers and then gave up.
Since it is a Newbery Medal winner, I decided to try again. Once I got into the book I did enjoy reading it. Keeping all the names and relationships straight is certainly a challenge, though. The mystery the various characters must solve is who murdered Sam Westing. The strange thing about it is that Mr. Westing seems to have predicted his own demise and set up the game beforehand. What keeps the 16 potential heirs playing is the promise of a whopping $200 million inheritance.

This book is written at a 5th-grade reading level, but I would hesitate to recommend it to kids that young because it really is complex. In my copy of the book there is an introduction written by Raskin's publisher, Ann Durrell. Here, I discovered that Raskin never read children's books before she wrote The Westing Game. Durrell notes that she "never even tried to edit her 'for children,'" saying she was "too wise, too funny, too ingenious--and therefore unique--to tamper with in that way." I agree that the book is very clever and funny. For some reason, though, it just didn't catch my interest the way other children's books have.

A movie version of The City of Ember was evidently released last month, but I don't remember ever seeing it in theaters. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention. Anyway, I thought I had already read this book a few years ago, but rereading it this week, the plot was not familiar.
The story is about an underground city that "the builders" created to last 200 years, presumably because something terrible had happened to make life above ground impossible (radiation?). The builders left instructions for how to leave the city and get above ground again, but they have been lost, and it has now been over 240 years and supplies are running out. Two 12-year-olds, Doon and Lina, try to find a way out of the city before it is too late and the citizens are left to die in total darkness.
I enjoyed the book and would like to read the sequel because the end is a cliffhanger. I went on a walk outside after finishing the book and greatly appreciated the fresh air and sunshine. Nothing like reading about this kind of dystopian society to appreciate what we have!

I finished Speeding Bullet, another Neal Shusterman novel, in one day because I found it so hard to put down. This is the story of Nick Herrera, a New York City teen who is not rich, does not get terrific grades, and does not get the popular girls. Then one day he saves a little girl from being hit by a subway train and begins to think he has some kind of special gift. He starts looking for other people to rescue, believing that he cannot lose. Then he meets Linda Lanko, the daughter of one of the biggest developers in the city, and they begin to spend time together. Linda's father is very rich, and she is used to always getting exactly what she wants. So is this relationship going to be good or bad for Nick? The ending of the book surprised me, and I'm always happy when that happens! I highly recommend this book for tweens and teens, especially reluctant readers.

I had never read anything by prolific teen author Meg Cabot, so when I saw Jinx on the 2008 teens’ top 10 nominations list, I decided to read it. The heroine's real name is not Jinx but Jean, and she goes to live with her aunt, uncle, and cousins in New York City because of a mysterious stalker back home in Iowa. She believes bad luck has plagued her life and that she is unlikely to escape her grim fate any time soon. She also believes that she is a witch.
I can see why this book is so popular; I think that I would have just loved it when I was in high school. To the reader, the heroine's low self-esteem seems just silly, considering all that she has going for her. Jean is beautiful, smart, and gifted. She meets Zack, who lives next door, and convinces herself that he just wants to be friends with her, even though it is obvious to the reader that he really likes her. I think this idea that a young woman's negative perceptions about her own life are drastically mistaken -- and that she is really someone to be admired -- will resonate with a lot of teen girls.
Even so, as an adult reader I found the story rather predictable and shallow. I don't think I'll be picking up another Meg Cabot book any time soon.

The Red Pony, by John Steinbeck, appears on the Battle of the Books list for 6th to 8th graders this year, and I had never read it before. The book is short (around 100 pages) and is divided into 3 sections, all very downbeat and depressing, as I've found is typical of Steinbeck's fiction. I can't honestly say that I enjoyed this book at all, but I recognize that it is considered a classic, with its themes of family relationships, coming-of-age, etc. When I was in school I was not bothered by this type of story, but maybe now with the state of the economy and so much sadness and worry in real life, I'm just in the mood for more escapist fiction. Let's just say I'm not eager right now to re-read The Grapes of Wrath!

Neal Shusterman strikes me as an original, thoughtful author. I read The Eyes of Kid Midas hoping it would be as good as Full Tilt and I was not disappointed. In this story, 7th-graders Kevin and Josh climb a mountain while on a school camping trip. At the top they find a very unusual pair of glasses, and when Kevin puts them on he realizes that they give him the power to make things magically appear. When they get home, Kevin and Josh go shopping, using the glasses' power to conjure up a whole houseful of cool stuff. Then things start to go wrong, like when the storm that Kevin created back in the mountains starts advancing toward town. This book is funny but also exciting and thought provoking. It's a good one to recommend to reluctant readers.

One of my favorite children's authors, Eva Ibbotson, wrote The Dragonfly Pool, so I of course wanted to read it. World War II serves as a backdrop to the story, but I would hesitate to give this book the "historical fiction" label because most of the story takes place in 1939, as the war is just beginning. Tally, the main character, travels to the countryside from her home in London to attend a rather unusual boarding school called Delderton, where children are not required to attend class and are encouraged to express themselves. At first she doesn't want to go because she is happy at home with her father and two aunts, but a school trip to participate in a folk dancing festival in Bergania soon changes Tally's attitude. Here she meets Karil, Bergania's prince, and they become friends, but events conspire to keep Karil isolated from his new friends. Then Karil's father is assassinated and the Delderton students must try to rescue Karil from suffering the same fate.
I didn't enjoy this book as much as I have her others, perhaps because it was not written to be funny, as the others were. It's an absorbing and touching story, though, and I would certainly recommend it to young teens looking for something with adventure and a happy ending.

The Dragon of Never-Was, by Ann Downer, is the sequel to Hatching Magic. In this story, Theodora and her father visit the Scottish island of Scornsay, where her father is to study a mysterious scale that a young boy found. Is it a dragon scale? Or is it just some strange animal that humans have not yet discovered? While they are there, Theodora begins to grow into her magical powers. She also meets two new friends, Colin and Catriona, who help her explore the island and discover some of its ancient mysteries. I liked this story a lot. I especially liked William, Theodora's ghostly puppy familiar, and the funny domestic scenes of Merlin taking care of Vyrna, the dragon hatchling who was left behind in the previous book.

Marguerite de Angeli's The Door in the Wall was the Newbery Medal winner in 1950. Set in medieval England, this short book tells the story of Robin, the 10-year-old son of Sir John de Bureford. Robin, as the son of a nobleman, is supposed to become a knight, but he becomes ill and loses the use of his legs. To make matters worse, this happens when both his mother and father are away and unable to care for him. At first, Robin feels sorry for himself and behves badly toward those charged with caring for him. He soon finds himself utterly alone, unable to even get out of bed, let alone care for himself.
Fortunately, a kind monk named Brother Luke takes Robin to the monastery where he lives and takes him under his wing. Brother Luke encourages Robin to have a positive attitude and work on improving his skills. Robin learns to read, write, and carve. He also exercises to strengthen his arms so that he can make his way around on crutches.
This is a very positive story about accepting and making the best of our lot in life and our individual gifts. I liked the story's historical setting, its simplicity, and its exciting plot.

Peter Pan in Scarlet, by Geraldine McCaughrean, is "the first-ever authorized sequel to J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan." The set-up is this: something has gone wrong and Neverland is in trouble. Wendy, John, and the Lost Boys, who are now grown up and living in London, begin to have terrible dreams. They decide to return to Peter Pan's home to see if they can help. Of course, they must become children again so they can fly, so they borrow some of their own children's clothes and magically shrink to fit them. While in Neverland they go on a great quest to Neverpeak to find Hook's treasure chest, and they experience many dangerous adventures along the way.
I found this book rather odd and disjointed, and I had to force myself to keep reading. The last third or so of the story flowed nicely, but getting to that point was slow. Perhaps it was all the trouble in Neverland that bothered me. In this book, fairies are nothing short of malevolent, the lagoon has been poisoned, the forest burns down, and Peter becomes ill and almost dies. This is not the happy, carefree place that I remembered, and it's not that much fun to visit. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone but the most die-hard Peter Pan fans.

Neal Shusterman's latest book, Unwind, is on YALSA's 2008 Teens’ Top Ten Nominees list, so I wanted to read it. Since it was checked out, I decided to try another of Shusterman's books, Full Tilt. Wow! This book is powerful. A group of three teens go in the middle of the night to what they think is a private, invitation-only amusement park.
It turns into their worst nightmare. I'm not usually a horror fan, but this book is different, because the rides at this park are custom made from the psychological landscape of those riding them -- tapping into their worst fears and the demons from their past that they have have never been able to shake. The rides are all extremely dangerous, and the main character, Blake, soon sees that many previous riders never made it out. He discovers that he has to make it through seven rides before the park will let him go.
The reason he and his friends, Maggie and Russ, went to the partk, though, is that they want to save Blake's brother, Quinn. The story explores not only the lingering guilt Blake feels for having survived a school bus crash when he was seven years old, but also the complex relationship he has with his crazy, risk-taking brother.
I had a little trouble getting into this book, because the seven ride set-up seemed a bit too pat, but their were plenty of surprises later on to make it well worth the effort.

In Suddenly Supernatural: School Spirit, by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel, 13-year-old Kat has just begun seeing spirits, just like her mother, who is a medium. She at first is not at all happy about this turn of events, but she learns to first accept her lot in life and later to embrace it. That is, she learns to see her strange ability as a gift, rather than a curse. I like Kat, her mother, and Kat’s best friend, Jac, a lot. They are people whose gifts set them apart from “normal” run-of-the-mill people. It’s definitely not always easy for them, but they seem to know that being different isn’t always a bad thing. That in itself makes this book worth reading for me.

Once I finished H.I.V.E.: The Higher Institute of Villainous Education, by Mark Walden, there was simply no question that I would immediately and rapidly read its sequel, The Overlord Protocol. Now I impatiently await the third book in the series. I haven’t had so much fun reading since I first discovered Harry Potter.
In fact, H.I.V.E. shares many characteristics with Hogwarts. It is a secret private school with very selective entrance requirements. Instead of magical ability, though, students at H.I.V.E. are required to have extraordinary potential to become evil geniuses. For example, 13-year-old Otto Malpense (notice that the characters’ names are suggestive, like those in Harry Potter) who is one of the new recruits as the first book opens, has spent the last several years of his short life running the orphanage where he has lived all his life, and recently caused the British prime minister to totally embarrass himself on television, effectively ending his political career. The students take classes such as “Stealth and Evasion” and “Villainy Studies.” They are even sorted into different streams: Alphas, Henchmen, Technical, and Political/Financial.
There is plenty of breathtaking action to keep the pages turning, along with quite of bit of James Bond-type gadgetry, finesse, and humor. This series is a definite winner!

The Luxe, by Anna Godbersen, is set in 1899 New York, and follows the lives of several upper-class young women. Readers learn on the first page that one of these women, 18-year-old Elizabeth Holland, fell into the Hudson River and died. The author uses Elizabeth’s funeral to introduce her readers to turn-of-the-century high society New York, where the rich attend balls given at each others’ mansions and rely on servants to cook their meals, clean their houses, tend to their horses, and even help them into their fine clothing. The main story explains what happened in the month prior to Elizabeth’s premature and tragic demise.
This book is another that appears on the 2008 teens’ top 10 nominations list. I enjoyed the story but I found it predictable and rather shallow. Many of the characters seemed like cardboard cutouts rather than real people. I understand that the author is working on a sequel, and I have to admit that despite my criticisms, I will be eager to read the new book as soon as it comes out! This is one of those guilty pleasure books, I suppose – hardly “quality” literature, but fun to read just the same. 2008 teens’ top 10 nominations

Into the Wild is the first book in Erin Hutner's Warriors series. Rusty, who is a pet cat, decides to join ThunderClan, a group of wild cats. Rusty is re-named Firepaw, and he begins training to become a ThunderClan warrior so that he can help defend against rival clans in the area. Firepaw also has to worry about treachery from within his own clan, though. There is plenty of adventure here, and the series promises plenty more.
I liked this book, but I did have a difficult time keeping all the names straight, because so many of them end with -paw! It was also strange thinking of housecats as warriors. Once I got past those two problems, I enjoyed the suspenseful story, as well as the complex relationships among the cat characters. This seems like a great series for kids who like both animals and adventure -- very similar to Brian Jacques' Redwall series.

Genesis Alpha, by Rune Michaels, appears on YALSA's 2008 Teens’ Top Ten Nominees list. This book is a thriller/murder mystery with a very unusual twist: the accused murderer has a brother whose stem cells saved his life. Josh, the younger brother, is the main character, and he goes through a terrible, life-changing ordeal, having to face questions not only about his brother's guilt or innocence, but also about his parents' and his own. At the center of the story is an online World of Warcraft- or Runescape-like game called Genesis Alpha. Both Josh and his brother Max play the game obsessively, and the information in the book about this type of online gaming is probably a draw for many teen reluctant readers. The book is also about genetic engineering, though, and the story helps readers to think through very realistic consequences of this controversial science. I thought it was a fascinating and compelling read, and I will be surprised if this book is not chosen as one of YALSA's top ten this year.

I just loved Elsewhere, by Gabrielle Zevin, so when I saw another of her books on the shelf the other day I decided to read it.
Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac is narrated by 16-year-old Naomi, who falls down a flight of steps and hits her head. Afterward, she cannot remember anything from the last four years of her life. This selective amnesia conceit seemed a bit of a stretch to me, but it did make for a very interesting story. Imagine being 16 but only having 12 years of memories? Turns out, a lot had happened in Naomi's life during those four years, and readers slowly discover the details along with her as the story progresses. Zevin is a terrific writer, and I will be on the lookout for more of her work.

Sherman Alexie's novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, is on YALSA's 2008 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults list. The story is told by a 14-year-old Native American boy named Arnold Spirit, who goes by the name of Junior on the reservation where he lives. He decides that life on "the rez" is a dead end, so he asks his parents if he can transfer to the high school in a nearby small town. His parents agree, but they are so poor that Junior often has to walk at least part of the 22 miles to and from school. Junior does well at Reardon High, though. He makes friends and joins that basketball team. The trouble is that many people back on the reservation feel that he is a traitor for choosing to attend an all-white school.

This book reminded me of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, except that the mature content marks it for kids who are in high school, rather than those in elementary school. It's a page-turner, and I enjoyed it very much!

The Capture, by Kathryn Lasky, is the first book in the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series. This is a series I have been wanting to read for some time, and I'm very glad I finally did. The "About the Author" blurb says, "Kathryn Lasky has long had a fascination with owls," and this certainly comes through in the story. She includes details about the characteristics and habits of many different owl species, while weaving an exciting adventure story.

Soren is just a 3-week-old owlet when his big brother shoves him out of the nest. Soren is then owl-napped and taken to an "orphanage" where Soren and other young captured owls are forced to march for hours and where questions are forbidden. Soren makes a friend, an elf owl named Gylfie, and together they decide they must try to escape. Before they were taken from their families, these two owlets had heard their parents tell the legends of Ga'Hoole, and they use these stories to escape the terrible "moon blinking" that makes zombies of the other captured owls. I enjoyed reading about these characters and this world and look forward to reading book 2, The Journey.

Book One of Scott Emerson's The Adventures of Samuel Blackthorne, a Sherlock Holmes-style detective who just happens to be a dog, is called The Case of the Cat with the Missing Ear: From the Notebooks of Edward R. Smithfield, D.V.M. Of course, Dr. Smithfield is Blackthorne's Dr. Watson. This is a rather odd book, because the dogs are so thoroughly anthropomorphized that the occasional references to their dog-like characteristics seem out of place. They don't even have any dog-like habits that I can remember -- no scratching, sniffing, whining, or growling, so the whole dog motif seems kind of silly and unnecessary.

The mystery of this story, the whereabouts of an accountant named Patrick Kirkpatrick who has mysteriously disappeared, is actually solved quickly. Even after Kirkpatrick has been found and restored to his home, though, Blackthorne still needs to figure out the reasons behind his disappearance. This is when the story gets more serious, as readers learn about the various misdeeds of mobsters and corrupt politicians.

Poor Dr. Smithfield cannot seem to make up his mind about the wisdom of associating with Blackthorne. At times he complains that Blackthorne hides too much from him and gets him in too much trouble (getting arrested, for example); at other times he praises Blackthorne for restoring the joie de vivre to his previously dull life. I'm similarly conflicted about this story. It's great that Blackthorne is so like Sherlock Holmes: noticing telling details that others overlook, and using simple, deductive logic to solve his cases. I felt let down by this story's ending, though. Perhaps this was because there were not enough surprises or twists and turns in the plot to suit me. I guess I'll try book 2 when it comes out and make up my mind about this series then!

Gay-Neck: the Story of a Pigeon, by Dhan Gopal Mukerji, won the Newbery Medal in 1928. The story is set in India, and is told by a young boy who keeps carrier pigeons as pets. Gay-Neck is so named because of the bird's beautifully colored feathers. I found the author's style dated but also eloquent, even poetic at times. I'm afraid, though, that many kids will find this style strange and difficult to understand, so this book may not be a good choice for many kids. Those who are strong, patient readers, however, will be rewarded with a suspenseful adventure tale about survival, both in nature and in war.

Kids seem to ask for scary books often, so I was curious to see if The Doll in the Garden: a Ghost Story, by Mary Downing Hahn, fits the bill. The story is about Ashley and Kristi, ages 10 and 7, who discover an antique doll buried in the overgrown garden of Ashley's landlady. Ashley soon discovers that she does not want to share the beautiful doll with Kristi, so she hides it. Kristi guesses what has happened and tattles to Miss Cooper, the landlady, who is old and very grouchy. Meanwhile, Ashley discovers that when she follows a mysterious white cat through a hole in a hedge she goes back in time and visits with the girl, named Louisa, who once owned the doll. This ghostly girl is dying of consumption and is very sad because her friend had borrowed the doll and never returned it.

I didn't find the story very scary, but I did like it. Miss Cooper provides both the conflict and the satisfying resolution in the story, and this is surprising considering how much we are meant to dislike her. The characters seemed carefully drawn, and their struggles with emotions such as grief, jealousy, and regret, in my mind, give the story depth and meaning for kids and adults alike.

Since I am going to lead an adult book club meeting next week, I decided to read a novel written for adults for a change. I chose to re-read one I had at home: Anne Perry's The Hyde Park Headsman. This is one of a series of mystery novels Perry has written about Thomas and Charlotte Pitt and set in late 19th-century London. Thomas has just been promoted to police superintendent when he is faced with solving a series of murders in which the victims have been beheaded and left near Hyde Park. This comes shortly after the "Jack the Ripper" crimes which have already created an atmosphere of fear in the city. Confidence in the police is not running high, by any means.

What I like about this series is that Charlotte and her sister Emily help Thomas to solve his cases (over his objections, of course, because of the danger). In this particular story their involvement really doesn't amount to much until the very end, so that was a little disappointing. Still, the story provided plenty of intrigue and 19th-century atmosphere to keep me happy.

Tide of Terror is the second in Justin Somper's Vampirates trilogy. With this one I had a more difficult time suspending disbelief in regard to the whole "piracy is a legitimate career" thing. This story finds Grace and Connor spending a week at the Pirate Academy, an elite private school where children train from a very young age in pirate skills such as sword fighting, navigation, and EMS (Extreme Maritime Survival). The characters take the Academy very seriously, though, and the students are taught to respect and emulate the small group of former pirate captains who teach them. Once I accepted this strange premise, I was hooked. I guess it helped that the Academy reminded me of Starfleet Academy (from Star Trek). Attending such an elite school, so steeped in tradition, discipline, and honor, seems much more exciting than going to a regular old high school!

There are some mature themes here, so I'd say this is a series best left for the young adult crowd. For example, the 14-year-old twins spend time at a tavern, drink rum, and witness (and in Connor's case, participate in) violent battles at sea. Sidorio, the vampire who was banished from the Vampirate ship in the last book, joins with other Vampirate rebels to add to the body count, blood flow, and general mayhem in the story. It's a pretty bizarre story, really, but I enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to seeing how the twins fare in the third book.

I checked out a number of books for my son, all 6th-grade reading level, and among them was Lloyd Alexander's The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian. Since my son chose another book to read first, I decided to read this one myself, and I'm glad I did because I enjoyed it very much. Sebastian is a young fiddler who works for Baron Purn-Hessel. Because of an accidental slight against a powerful nobleman, Sebastian loses his place at the Baron's estate and is forced to find his own way in the world. Sebastian's journeys bring him in contact with many characters, both good and evil, but the most important is Princess Isabel, who has run away to escape marrying a man she does not love. The story offers plenty of humor and adventure, and even a touch of magic to keep things interesting.

In the beginning of Demons of the Ocean, by Justin Somper, 14-year-old twins Connor and Grace Tempest's father dies. Their mother has never been a part of their lives. Since they don't like the two options for a new home they are left with, they take their fatehr's boat and head out to sea, only to be caught in a storm and thrown into the ocean. Grace is rescued by vampirates (vampires who live at sea), and Connor is rescued by the regular, swashbuckling kind of pirates. The story is told in alternating chapters about Grace and Connor's adventures aboard the two ships, which works well for creating suspense. Both kids make friends and start to feel at home but also yearn to find each other again.

This is a story about vampires, but only just. The vampires on Grace's ship are like the Cullens in Twilight. They are civilized and want no harm to come to her. Well, most of them, anyway. And the pirates on Connor's ship are not so much bloodthirsty as greedy for treasure. Still, this is one of those books you just don't want to put down, and I'm looking forward to reading the next two in the series.

I've always loved books about pirates and the ocean, and I've always been a mystery fan, so Ghost Ship, by German author Dietlof Reiche, was a lucky find for me. The story revolves around an 18th-century ship called the Storm Goddess that was lost at sea. One day the water disappears in the bay that used to be the Storm Goddess's home port. Shortly after that, the ship herself appears in the middle of the dry bay and people begin to hear mysterious sounds that seem to be coming from the ship.

Vicky, a 12-year-old girl who lives near the bay, is determined to discover the truth about the events of 230 years ago. Of course, since there is treasure involved, Vicky is not the only one who interested, and the plot thickens.

The 2003 Newbery Medal winner was Crispin Cross of Lead, by Avi. This is exactly the kind of adventure book that my boys love. Set in the 14th century, the story is about a 13-year-old orphaned boy who is falsely accused of murder and other crimes and forced to leave his village in order to survive. He is lucky enough to meet a man named Bear who is a traveling juggler/entertainer. There is plenty of intrigue here to keep the pages turning. I enjoyed this story and am looking forward to reading the sequel, Crispin at the Edge of the World.

Picture Perfect, by D. Anne Love, is narrated by 14-year-old Phoebe Trask, who is just starting high school. Her mother has taken a job with a beauty supply company, which would be fine if Mrs. Trask had not pretty much abandoned her family in favor of her job. Phoebe's mom is not just so busy that she seems never to be home; Mrs. Trask actually leaves home for months at a time pursuing her career, leaving her husband and kids to fend for themselves. Phoebe and her brother Zane are not at all happy about this state of affairs.

Then a beautiful and accomplished widow moves in next door and immediately hits it off with Mr. Trask. Phoebe and Zane suspect the worst, but of course the whole situation turns out to be more complicated than it seems.

This story interested me, but I don't know if I would recommend it. Some of the dialogue and events in the story struck me as unrealistic -- just a bit too scripted. I guess I just was never able to forget that I was reading a made-up story. Maybe I'll try reading another of this author's books and see if I like it any better.

Olive's Ocean, by Kevin Henkes (of Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse fame), was a 2004 Newbery Honor book. This is the story of 12-year-old Martha Boyle, who is coping with the recent death of a classmate, Olive Barstow. Olive had been a shy, lonely girl, and Martha feels guilty for not having made friends with her before she died. Martha's family goes to the seashore to visit her grandmother, and during the trip Martha struggles through problems with boys, family members, and self-image that many other 12-year-old girls will recognize as similar to their own. I really enjoyed this short but very sweet story.

Jacob Have I Loved, by Katherine Patterson, won the Newbery Medal in 1981. The title of the book is taken from a verse from the Bible in which God says, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated" (Romans 9:13). Sara Louise, the main character, feels overshadowed all her life by her twin sister, Caroline. In her narrative, Sara Louise tells readers about the many ways in which she lost out to Caroline throughout her life.

I found this book depressing. Sara Louise does seem to find a place for herself near the end of the novel, but even then she doesn't really seem happy. While I read I kept expecting something positive to finally happen, but she just never gets a break when it comes to her sister. Caroline even marries Call, the boy who was Sara Louise's best friend! This is one of those books where I found myself wondering if it was really written for children, because Sara Louise seems so bitter and without hope. The heartache Sara Louise endures was just so unrelenting, the story wore me out. For me, there was just too little sunshine here.

Jeremy Cabbage and the Living Museum of Human Oddballs and Quadruped Delights , by David Elliott, was simply a delightful read. This book, like D. L. Garfinkle's Fowl Language series and Kevin Bolger's Sir Fartsalot Hunts the Booger, was recommended by Michael Sullivan.

Jeremy Cabbage is an orphan (yes, it's another orphan story!) who lives at Harpwitch's Home for Mean Dogs, Ugly Cats, and Strey Children, owned and operated by a horrible woman named Hulda Harpwitch. He lives in a town in which the Baron Ignatius von Strompié III, a careless and stupid man, makes up silly laws and seems not to care that the people are poor and overworked.

Jeremy eventually is adopted by a family of cloons, who are a minority race of people living in the city who look very much like clowns -- big red noses, big feet, etc. The cloons love Jeremy very much and provide a good home for him, but the Baron and his henchmen seem to have other plans.

This story reminded me of Jean Ferris's wonderful books, Once Upon a Marigold and Twice Upon a Marigold, which are also full of warm, good-hearted characters and comically nasty villains. Jeremy Cabbage is a clever and very funny book. I enjoyed it very much!

I am one of the many fans of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, so of course I eagerly anticipated the publication of the fourth and final novel. While I was waiting for Aug. 2 to arrive, I re-read Eclipse, the third volume. I found that there was much that seemed new or unfamiliar. I think I just read it so quickly the first time that I did not really take it all in. This second read was actually more enjoyable, I think.

I finished Breaking Dawn yesterday, and I'm happy to report that it did not disappoint. I was very happy with the way Meyer wrapped up this series. Now I can look forward to the movie coming out in December!