Teen/YA Review: Thin Space

In the midst of reading several very large adult novels for my book groups, I was looking for a quick and engaging read (a palate cleanser!), and I found it in Thin Space by Jody Casella. This compelling teen/YA novel mixes realistic teen portrayals with a touch of the supernatural, in a short thriller that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Marshall is grieving the loss of his twin in a horrible car accident that happened several months ago. His family and old friends give him a wide berth, figuring he just needs space to mourn and recover, but there is more going on with Marshall than meets the eye. For starters, he goes everywhere barefoot, even as winter begins in western NY.  His parents and teachers think it has something to do with his grieving process, but Marsh has a secret: he is searching for a thin space, a barrier between this world and the next where people can move between the two worlds…and from what he’s read, you can only enter cross over a thin space in bare feet.

The entire novel is told from Marsh’s perspective, so the story of exactly what happened on the day of the accident emerges only gradually. Marsh thinks there could be a thin space in a house on his street, where an elderly neighbor recently died, and he sees his chance to get into the house again and explore when a new girl, Maddie, moves into the house with her mother and brother. Maddie joins Marsh in his supernatural search. Although she has her own reasons for wanting to find a thin space, it is clear that the two of them actually like each other as well. The question is, can any kind of relationship grow here, in the midst of so much pain and with Marsh’s all-encompassing obsession with the dead?

Thin Space has a unique premise and a convoluted plot that slowly becomes clearer as the story evolves. It was just as compelling as I’d hoped, and I finished the novel in a few short days. The characters all felt real, and although the novel has an underlying supernatural premise, most of the book takes place in the real world, reading like good realistic teen/YA fiction. This is one of those novels with so many twists and surprises that when I finished, I wanted to immediately go back and re-read it! Thin Space is Casella’s first novel, and I am definitely looking forward to reading more from her.

243 pages, Simon Pulse



Thin Space

 

Teen/YA Review: The Raven Boys

Much to my surprise, I loved Maggie Stiefvater’s Wolves of Mercy Falls series (Shiver, Linger, and Forever). For someone who normally doesn’t enjoy paranormal romance much, I devoured those three books one after the other, and loved every moment. So, I was excited when her next novels were published, but I had trouble finding time to read them. I finally read The Raven Boys recently and loved it!

Sixteen-year old Blue lives a fairly unusual life, living with her clairvoyant mother in a house with several other psychics. Blue herself doesn’t have any psychic powers, though she has an unusual ability to amplify others’ powers when they are near her. She attends the local high school in her town but is seen as something of an outcast there, a status she sort of enjoys.

This year, though, everything changes. Each year, on a particular night, Blue and her mother go to an abandoned church, and her mother sees the ghostly figures of those who will die in the coming year. Blue has never seen them herself, but this year, she sees a boy who speaks to her and says his name is Gansey. To make matters worse, Blue has been told – by every psychic she’s ever met – that she will cause her true love to die with a kiss.

When Blue meets Gansey in person in town, she gets pulled into his group of friends, against her better judgment. Gansey and his friends attend an exclusive private school, Aglionby, and everyone knows that Raven Boys from Aglionby are nothing but trouble. Besides, Blue knows that Gansey will die in the next year, and that secret weighs heavily on her. But Blue likes this group of misfit boys, especially Adam who attends Aglionby on a scholarship. In addition, they are involved in a quest related to the town’s unusual paranormal phenomena that intrigues Blue.

It’s a somewhat complex plot, revolving around the Raven Boys, Blue, her mother and the other psychics, and especially the boys’ quest. Eventually, all the disparate pieces come together, in a story that is creative and unusual. I was really pulled into this story by its characters. Blue, Gansey, and Adam are especially likable, so much so that, like in the Wolves of Mercy Falls books, I found myself absorbed in their story and rooting for them – and completely believing in the odd paranormal elements of the book. There are lots of plot twists here and plenty of surprises. As soon as I finished the book, I combed through the carton of new releases waiting for review here and was thrilled to find the second book in the series, The Dream Thieves. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

408 pages, Scholastic

 

Teen/YA Review: Everfound

Happy Halloween (one day late)!  I have been preparing for Halloween by reading some spooky books this month (see my review of Magisterium), and what is spookier than ghosts?  Everfound by Neal Schusterman, the third and final book in his Skinjacking trilogy that started with Everlost, was a satisfying conclusion to an excellent series.

This is going to be tricky (get it?  tricky on Halloween?), but I’m going to try to tell you about the third book without giving away what happens in the first two books because if you haven’t read this series yet, you are really missing out….and you need to start at the beginning.

Everlost is the world that exists in between the living world and the dead world.  It is populated only by children and teens who are not yet ready to head into the light and “get where they are going.”  There, kids can see the real world but can not interact with it or change it.  The exception are skinjackers, a certain minority of the kids in Everlost who can temporarily take over a living body and thereby interact with the living world.

Many of the same main characters from earlier books play key roles in Everfound:  Allie the Outcast, Nick the Chocolate Ogre, Mary Hightower, and Mikey the McGill.  They are joined in this third and final book by two new characters.  Jix is a furjacker – a skinjacker who likes to take over big cats – sent by the Mayan King of Everlost to find out more about Mary.  Mary, as before, is intent on controlling all of Everlost, though her plans have become more sinister than before. Some of the skinjackers, led by Milos, have figured out how to bring more children into Everlost to increase the size and strength of Mary’s growing army.  All of the kids are terrified by the appearance of a scar wraith, the most feared type of being in all of Everlost, a person who is half in the living world and half in Everlost and whose touch is said to be capable of extinguishing the Everlost child he touches forever.

As Mary’s power grows and her army of skinjackers becomes more powerful, Allie, Nick, Mikey, Jix, and the others realize they must set aside their differences in order to save Everlost – and the living world – from Mary’s evil plans.  As with the first two books, Everfound is fast-paced and full of suspense, with plenty of likeable characters to root for.  I loved it, and my husband and son can’t wait to read it next!

500 pages, Simon & Schuster

Simon & Schuster Audio

 

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

 
  

Teen/YA Review: Magisterium

I wanted to read some spooky books during the month of October, and Magisterium by Jeff Hirsch kicked off my creepy reading perfectly!  This new novel from the author of The Eleventh Plague starts out as your typical post-apocalyptic/dystopian novel, but it also has a hefty dose of (dark) magic and lots of surprises.

Sixteen-year old Glenn Morgan lives a quiet life.  Her mother left when she was six, and her scientist father is immersed in his project out in his workshop, leaving Glenn on her own most of the time.  She goes to school, hangs out with her mohawked friend, Kevin Kapoor, and dreams of the day when she can apply to a space academy and escape her lonely life.  They live in a world based on technology and science, but Kevin has heard rumors of a different world, filled with magic and monsters, just beyond the Rift that borders their backyards.  Glenn insists that there is nothing beyond the Rift but a barren wasteland, as they’ve been taught in their history classes.

One day, their quiet, dull lives are upended when Glenn’s dad finally finishes the project he’s been obsessed with, a metal bracelet, and the Authority, their police force, come to arrest him.  Glenn and Kevin grab the bracelet and escape to the only place they can – across the border.  What they find there, on the run from the government, is crazy and confusing and hard to believe, but Glenn must continue her quest to save her father.

I don’t want to say much more about the rest of the novel because it is filled with suspense and lots of twists and turns.  It is an imaginative and action-packed adventure story about a dystopian world much different than others I have read about (and I have read a lot of dystopian novels this year!).  Glenn and Kevin are both strong, admirable characters whom I was rooting for.  I devoured the book quickly, and now my 18-year old son wants to read it!

310 pages, Scholastic

 

Teen/YA Review: 1NF1N1TY

--> I have enjoyed each book in the paranormal thriller trilogy Num8ers by Rachel Ward (book 1 was Num8ers and book 2 was The Cha0s, and book three, 1NF1N1TY, provides an exciting and satisfying conclusion that kept me glued to the page. I will try to tell you a bit about it without giving away too much for those of you who haven’t read the first two books.

INF1N1TY deals with the third generation of Adam’s family who have special gifts. Adam sees the date of a person’s death when he looks into their eyes and feels what they will feel when they die. Sarah, Adam’s girlfriend, dreamed about the Chaos, the apocalypse that destroyed modern civilization two years ago, and drew what she saw before it happened.  She hasn’t drawn anything since.  The two of them have been living a vagabond existence with Sarah’s little brothers, and her two –year old daughter, Mia.  Mia has her own gift – she sees colored auras when she looks at a person – though she is too young to explain that to anyone.

Their little family is just struggling to survive, like thousands of other people in England, left behind in the aftermath of the Chaos.  But Adam’s and Sarah’s attempts to warn people of the coming disaster attracted attention from some dangerous people who are now hunting them.

I have loved this entire series.  The characters are realistic and likable – so much so that it is easy to suspend belief and accept their gifts.  In some ways, this is classic post-apocalyptic fiction, though their special talents add another layer of interest.  The exciting conclusion to the trilogy is fast-paced and suspenseful, keeping you guessing right until the climactic final scene.

249 pages, Chicken House (a division of Scholastic)

Middle-Grade Review: Liesl and Po

I’ve heard great things about Lauren Oliver’s novels, but I’d never read one, so I was glad for the opportunity to listen to the middle-grade audio book Liesl and Po.  This unique tale of a girl who befriends a ghost was full of fun and adventure.

Young Liesl lives in her attic bedroom, locked there by her stepmother (the quintessential evil stepmother) since her beloved father died.  One night, a ghost named Po appears in her room, and the two lonely souls find comfort in each other and become friends.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city, a young orphan named Will, who is apprenticed to a cruel alchemist, mixes up two wooden boxes and delivers them to the wrong recipients, with dire consequences. The two desperate children each set out on their own quests to right wrongs, and their destinies eventually intertwine in a magical story about friendship and family.

I really enjoyed this engaging adventure story, with surprises around every corner.  It reminded me a bit, in tone and subject matter, of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, though Liesl and Po has a wholly unique plot.  Po is a gentle, kind sort of ghost, but the bad guys in this story are truly evil, in fairy tale style.  In the end, good triumphs over evil, and every character gets what he or she deserves in a satisfying conclusion. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the audio book, performed by the very talented Jim Dale (narrator of the Harry Potter audios and many other excellent audio books).  However, I just saw on Amazon that the paper book is illustrated with beautiful pencil drawings, so I think that either format would be an excellent choice for middle-grade readers and their families.  You can listen to a sample of the audio here.

HarperChildren’s Audio

This video provides a peek at the beautiful illustrations:
Video Trailer for Liesl and Po

And here is a wonderful video interview with Lauren Oliver about the writing of Liesl and Po:
Interview with Lauren Oliver

Teen/YA Reviews: Linger and Forever

 Let’s be clear about this from the outset: I am not a big fan of the trendy paranormal romance genre.  I have nothing against it; it’s just not really my thing.  So, it took me a long time to finally break down and read Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater because I heard it was about werewolves, and I had no interest in it at all.  All the fabulous reviews, though, finally wore me down, and, like everyone else, I loved it.  I have just finished tearing through the last two books of the trilogy, Linger and Forever, and I thoroughly enjoyed those as well. 

This is a series that transcends its genre, with well-written prose, an engaging and creative plot, and in-depth likeable characters that captured my heart.  In case you’ve been living in a cave for the past few years and haven’t read Shiver yet (not that I’m judging – I had to be convinced, too!), the trilogy is basically a love story, with elements of suspense and adventure. 

At the start of the trilogy, Grace is an older teen living in northern Minnesota who has been obsessed with wolves since she was a child.  She watches the pack that live in the Boundary Woods behind her house with fascination and longing, and she is particularly captivated by one wolf with yellow eyes who once saved her life.  During the warmer months (which isn’t many in northern Minnesota), that wolf with the yellow eyes is actually a quiet teenage boy named Sam who works in her favorite bookstore.

I don’t want to say much more about the plot in case you haven’t read Shiver yet because it is so much fun to discover for yourself.  Linger and Forever follow the story of Grace and Sam through many ups and downs to a final tense but satisfying conclusion.  The amazing thing about this trilogy is that somehow the author makes it all so believable and so real.  I had no trouble suspending my skepticism as teens and young adults changed from wolves to humans and back again.  There is nothing stale or trite about these books, and I don’t even like calling it a werewolf story because it is so much more.  In fact, I keep wanting to say, “These books aren’t about werewolves; they’re about people who turn into wolves.”

The reader gains insight into the real lives of these characters – their pains, their joys, their hopes and their dreams – as we are pulled into the story.  Sam’s love of music and poetry help us to understand his deepest feelings.  Stiefvater is a wonderful writer; she made me care about Sam and Grace and their friends.  There is plenty of suspense and tension in all three books, as the people and wolves battle not only their uncontrollable transformations but also a town of angry parents who want to hunt the entire pack after a teen is killed by wolves.  Just take my word for it – read it and you won’t be sorry!

Linger, 362 pages and Forever, 386 pages; Scholastic 

P.S. Just a brief word about the books themselves.  I was disappointed in the production quality of my paperback copy of Linger.  The text is printed in green ink, which would have been OK except that some pages were dark and some were so light they were hard to read.   The pages of the paperback were also bound roughly so it was hard to open all the way.  In contrast, the hardcover copies I read of both Shiver and Forever were very high quality and readable, even though the ink in Forever is a dark reddish-brown.

       

Teen/YA Review: Bruiser

I love Neal Schusterman’s creepy and creative novels (especially Unwind and the Everlost trilogy), so as soon as I saw Bruiser, a Schusterman audio on the library’s Teen New Releases shelf, I scooped it up. It was different from the others I’ve read but still very compelling.

Bruiser is the nickname of a teen loner named Brewster who was named “Most Likely to Get the Death Penalty” by his fellow classmates. Rumors abound about Brewster’s background and life because no one really knows him. That changes when a girl named Brontë talks to him in the library and begins dating him. Brontë’s twin brother, Tennyson (their parents are English teachers!), is not too happy to find out his sister is dating “the Bruiser.” But as both Brontë and Tennyson get to know Brewster better, they discover there is far more to him than their classmates know, and they even begin to learn some of the secrets that he has worked so hard to keep from the outside world.

Different chapters are told from the perspective of different characters, providing multiple points of view throughout the story. The audio production is excellent, read by multiple narrators in a very effective way. But it’s more than just different voices. Schusterman has written the different character’s perspectives in totally different styles. Brewster’s chapters, for instance, have a darker, intense quality, with short, alliterative sentences and an almost poetic tone (Brewster enjoys poetry).

There are some disturbing scenes in the novel, including violence and abuse; it is definitely darker than his other novels and more appropriate for older teens. And, of course, there is Schusterman’s typical supernatural twist to the story, though the rest of the elements of the story are firmly based in reality. This is a darker and more thoughtful novel than his others, with a focus on the intricacies of family and love. I found it completely engrossing.

Quill Tree Books

Brilliance Audio

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

Teen/YA Review: Cryer’s Cross

I really loved Lisa McMann’s Wake trilogy, so I was thrilled to hear she had a new teen/YA supernatural thriller out, Cryer’s Cross.  This novel succeeds on two levels: as a creepy ghost story and as a sensitive real-life portrait of a young girl with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

Kendall has lived all of her seventeen years in Cryer’s Cross, Montana, a small farming community of only about 200 people.  The quiet town was rocked the previous spring when a young high school student disappeared and was never found.  The tragedy also disturbed Kendall’s OCD, but now she is struggling to get it back under control for the new school year.  Two new students join the tiny high school, with just six students in each grade, when they move to their grandfather’s farm. 

When another student disappears, the town erupts in chaos and heartbreak once again.  Kendall begins to hear strange voices and find mysterious graffiti on the desk of one of the missing students that she finds strangely compelling.  The creep factor multiples from there.

My 17-year old son and I listened to Cryer’s Cross on audio and absolutely loved it; the narrator, Julia Whelan, an actress and award-winning audio reader, does a great job.  In fact, my son enjoyed it so much that he didn’t wait for me to finish it.  When we got back from our car trip partway through the audio, he immediately picked up the hardcover book and finished reading the story that same afternoon!   He enjoyed the suspense but also the many soccer passages.

It certainly is a spooky supernatural story, but I was most impressed with the novel’s character development, especially the way it deals with Kendall’s OCD.  The author’s acknowledgements say that she based the character of Kendall on her own daughter with OCD “…in the hopes that others might understand or find some comfort,” and I think she succeeds at that goal.  In fact, the supernatural elements are almost beside the point.  We both thoroughly enjoyed this multi-faceted teen novel.

233 pages, Simon Pulse

 

Teen Fiction Review: The Black (Morpheus Road)

 If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know that D.J. MacHale’s Pendragon series is one of my all-time favorites for middle-grade and teen readers.  He’s following up that 10-book success with a new series for teens called Morpheus Road.  Last summer, my son and I read the first book, The Light, and a few weeks ago we both read Book 2, The Black.  It’s a scary, suspenseful story sure to please fans of supernatural thrillers.

Interestingly, Book 2 tells the same story as Book 1, but from a different character’s perspective.  That may sound repetitive, but it isn’t: it worked for Orson Scott Card with Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow, and it works here for D.J. MacHale.  Book 1, The Light, was written from Marshall Seaver’s perspective, about how his best friend, Cooper Foley, had mysteriously disappeared.  At the end of the book, Marshall found out what happened to Coop (and no, I’m not going to tell you!).

The Black takes place during the same timeline, but it is Coop’s own story of what was happening to him, as Marshall and Coop’s family searched for him.  It reminded me in some ways of Pendragon, with an ordinary teen boy at its center who suddenly finds himself responsible for the fate of the universe.  It is exciting and fast-paced like Pendragon, too, with plenty of plot twists.  The Morpheus Road series, though, deals with ghost stories, something D.J. MacHale knows well from his TV writing career.  I really don’t want to say much more about it because I don’t want to give away its many secrets and surprises, but if you like action-packed supernatural adventures, you’ll love Morpheus Road.

405 pages, Aladdin

Teen/YA Review: Num8ers - The Chaos

Our house is filled with stacks of brand-new books for kids, teens, and young adults, as there are always more review books than I can possibly get to, but I knew exactly which book I wanted to read next.  I had been waiting for the sequel to Rachel Ward’s unique teen/YA thriller, Num8ers, and The Chaos had finally been released.  I read the book in record time, devouring it as I had the first book in the trilogy.

I’m going to try to walk a thin line here, telling you enough about the book to intrigue you, without giving away any surprises because the suspense is one of its best qualities and I don’t want to ruin the first book for you.

Num8ers was about a teen girl named Jem who could see the date a person would die when she looked into his or her eyes.  The Chaos is about Jem’s son, Adam, now a teen himself, who has inherited his mother’s gift (or curse) but with an added twist: Adam also senses or feels how the person will die.  Adam and his grandmother (his “Nan”) move to London when the rising seas flood their seaside hometown.  Like Jem, Adam is a loner because it’s too painful to constantly see people’s demises.  After a short time in London, however, he starts to realize that a lot of people have the same death date: January 1, 2027, the upcoming New Year’s Day.

Alarmed by what appears to be some sort of looming disaster, Adam doesn’t know what to do.  Should he try to warn people?  Who would believe him?  All he knows for sure is that he wants to get himself and his Nan out of the city.

Meanwhile, at his new school, Adam meets a girl who has a unique talent of her own, though he doesn’t know about it yet, and she doesn’t understand it.  A misfit herself, her path and Adam’s keep crossing.  What catastrophe is coming with the new year and how can two struggling teens do anything about it?

Like its predecessor, The Chaos takes a unique concept and weaves a fast-paced, believable, and suspenseful story around it in a not-so-distant future.  You’ll find yourself rooting for the main characters and turning the pages way past bedtime.  I can’t wait for the third book, 1NF1N1TY, which follows the story into a third generation.

339 pages, Chicken House, an imprint of Scholastic

NOTE:  This trilogy is definitely intended for older teens and young adults, with references to violence, incest, rape (not graphic), and drug use.

WHERE ARE YOU READING 2011:  I added a pin to London, England, where The Chaos takes place. 

Teen/YA Fiction: Shiver

Let me just say upfront that I am not a big fan of that newest and hottest of YA genres, paranormal romance.  I really have no interest in reading about vampires and werewolves; I haven’t even read the Twilight books.  So, I was in no hurry to read Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver, a novel about a teen girl who has a special relationship with one of the wolves who lives in the woods near her home and who is sometimes in the form of a teen boy.  The plot just didn’t appeal to me, but I kept reading reviews, from people whose opinions I respect, who said it was an excellent, well-written, engaging book.  So, I gave it a try (finally)…and I’m so glad that I did!

I was pleasantly surprised by Shiver.  I had no problem suspending belief in this group of teens and young adults who spend part of their lives as wolves, and I immediately liked Grace, the girl who feels such a connection to the wolves.  Grace was only eleven years old when the pack of starving wolves pulled her off the tire swing in her backyard and dragged her into the woods:

One wolf prodded his nose into my hand and against my cheek, casting a shadow across my face.  His yellow eyes looked into mine while the other wolves jerked me this way and that.

I held onto those eyes for as long as I could.  Yellow.  And, up close, flecked brilliantly with every shade of gold and hazel.  I didn’t want him to look away, and he didn’t.  I wanted to reach out and grab a hold of his ruff, but my hands stayed curled on my chest, my hands frozen to my body

I couldn’t remember what it felt like to be warm.

Then he was gone, and without him, the other wolves closed in, too close, suffocating.  Something seemed to flutter in my chest.

There was no sun; there was no light.  I was dying.  I couldn’t remember what the sky looked like.

But I didn’t die.  I was lost to a sea of cold, and then I was reborn into a world of warmth.

I remember this: his yellow eyes.

I thought I’d never see them again.

The wolf with the yellow eyes is Sam, and he feels that same undeniable connection to Grace that she feels to him.  Sam spends part of every year as a teen boy and the rest as a wolf, among a pack of similarly afflicted humans/wolves.  Sam and Grace fall in love, and Sam wants desperately to find a way to remain human so that he can be with Grace forever, but that seems impossible.  At the same time, events in their town put the entire wolf pack at risk.

Despite my initial reluctance, I was pulled into Shiver right from the first chapter and found it hard to put down.  It is a romance at its heart, but it also contains elements of suspense and adventure that kept me turning the pages. This is one of those books with such wide appeal it that transcends its genre.  I can’t wait to read the sequel, Linger, and find out what happens next in Grace and Sam’s lives.

390 pages, Scholastic Press

Where Are You Reading 2011:  Shiver takes place in the fictional town of Mercy Falls, in northern Minnesota, north of Duluth and near the Boundary Waters National Recreation Area.

If you want to learn more about the Wolves of Mercy Falls series - or just  can't get enough of it! -  check out Maggie Stiefvater's website and blog, where I just learned that the film rights have been purchased.

(You can also read my reviews of Linger and Forever, the second and third books in the trilogy.)

Teen/YA Review: Gone

I really enjoyed Wake and Fade, the first two books in Lisa McMann's unique paranormal trilogy, so I was excited to read the final book in the series, Gone.

Janie, the main character introduced in Wake, has an unusual talent that is also a curse: she gets pulled into other people's dreams.  The process is involuntary and leaves her exhausted and drained.  In the first two books, Jamie used her strange power to help the police solve two horrific crimes, all the while becoming closer to another loner, a boy named Cabel.  She also learned that her talent comes at a terrible price.

Gone is a different kind of book.  There is no crime to solve here, no suspenseful race to the finish.  The suspense here is to find out what Janie will do with the rest of her life.  She has graduated from high school with a scholarship to college, but she has also discovered that the negative effects of being a "dream catcher" are accelerating.  She loves Cabel but worries about what effect her worsening condition will have on him as time goes on.

She feels that she has two equally awful choices: continue to use her abilities and continue to deteriorate or isolate herself away from other people's dreams and live a life of solitude.  The novel focuses on this no-win choice, but the decision is further complicated by a mysterious stranger who enters Janie's life. 

If you enjoyed Wake and Fade, you'll want to read Gone to find out what happens next and what Janie decides.

214 pages, Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster)

NOTE:  This exciting series is definitely for older teens and young adults (and grown-ups!) because it deals in part with violent crimes and sexual assault.

Top Ten Books for Halloween

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  Today's seasonal topic is Top Ten Books To Read for Halloween.  This was fun!  My 16-year old son, Jamie, helped me with this list:

1. Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett (I read this as a kid, then read it aloud to my sons each Halloween when they were younger - it's the perfect Halloween book for younger kids)
2. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (first one that came to mind!)
3. Ruined by Paula Morris (awesome teen ghost story)
4. Wake and Fade by Lisa McMann (nothing spookier than haunted dreams!)
5. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick (I don't normally read paranormal romance but I liked this one)
6. The Light (Morpheus Road #1) by D.J. MacHale (a fast-paced ghost story)
7. Num8ers by Rachel Ward (loved this spooky paranormal thriller)
8. Everlost by Neal Shusterman (what's better for Halloween than a book about the afterlife?)
9. The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney (Jamie's top pick)
10. Skin Hunger and Sacred Scars by Kathleen Duey

 
What are your favorite books for Halloween?


(To read my list of favorite grown-up books for Halloween, check out Book By Book.)

Middle-Grade Review: The Graveyard Book

Neil Gaiman won the Newberry Medal for his unusual novel, The Graveyard Book.   I read it recently (am I the last person on earth to do so?) based on a recommendation from my older son.  Though the book is officially targeted toward middle-grade readers, I think it is equally enjoyable for teens (my son was 15 when he read it)…and, of course, adults!

The book begins with a rather gruesome double murder by a sinister man named Jack.  The two victims happen to be the parents of a little boy toddler, who manages to slip out of the house unnoticed while Jack is busy with his parents.  The baby walks up the hill to a nearby cemetery and slips between the bars bypassing the locked gates.

From there, things get a little strange.  When implored by the brand-new ghosts of the boy’s parents, a married couple in the cemetery, dead for hundreds of years, decides to adopt the little boy to keep him safe.  For reasons that aren’t immediately clear, Jack still wants to kill the boy, and the only place he is safe is within the confines of the cemetery, explains Silas, a mysterious character who is neither alive nor dead and stays in the cemetery’s ancient chapel.  Here, he addresses the varied inhabitants of the graveyard, representing a wide range of time periods:

“…For good or for evil – and I firmly believe that it is for good – Mrs. Owens and her husband have taken this child under their protection.  It is going to take more than a couple of good-hearted souls to raise this child.  It will,” said Silas, “take a graveyard.”

And that should give you some hint of the wonderful sense of humor in this odd book that is both sweet and spooky, filled with supernatural adventures and tender coming-of-age moments.  The graveyard inhabitants name the boy Nobody – Nobody Owens, Bod for short – and he grows up there, among all the ghosts.  Silas brings him food and books from the real world outside their gates, he is tutored in various subjects by cemetery residents who were teachers in a former life, and he generally has a very happy childhood.

It’s not all sweetness, though, as the likable Bod discovers some of the darker secrets of the dead and encounters evil through some scary supernatural experiences (plus, Jack is still out there looking for him).  As he gets older, he occasionally meets some real people and becomes more curious about what is outside the gates.  The whole book is a wonderfully odd, witty mix of magic, adventure, and growing up.  It’s all thoroughly delightful.

307 pages, HarperCollins Children’s Books

Younger kids will enjoy Gaiman’s enchanting Norse folk tale, Odd and the Frost Giants, with his trademark wit and whimsy but less fright.

Read more about Neil Gaiman and his books at his website. 

Teen/YA Review: Ruined

I thoroughly enjoyed the teen ghost story, Ruined by Paula Morris, partly because it is set in New Orleans, one of my favorite cities (we used to live there) and partly because it’s a good mystery with plenty of unexpected twists.

Fifteen-year old Rebecca lives with her Dad in New York City and can’t imagine living anywhere else.  When her Dad has to travel to China for an extended business trip, he sends her to stay in New Orleans for six months with an old family friend who Rebecca refers to as Aunt Claudia.  Being yanked out of her familiar surroundings in the middle of the school year and sent far from her friends is bad enough, but Rebecca finds that New Orleans is like a whole different world (as anyone discovers when they travel there!).  Aunt Claudia picks her up at the airport:

“You work in the French Quarter, right?” asked Rebecca.  Her father had given her a few pieces of information, in his usual scattered way.  He’d been completely distracted for the past two weeks, ever since he announced that he was pulling her out of school and sending her to the Deep, Deep South for months on end.

“In Jackson Square.” Aunt Claudia nodded, breathless with the exertion of walking to the one baggage carousel surrounded by waiting passengers.  “I read tarot cards.  It was a quiet summer, but things are starting to pick up again.  Tourists and conventions and all that.”

“Oh,” said Rebecca.  Suddenly her aunt’s outfit was making sense: It was her office wear, in a way.  Though why her decidedly nonsuperstitious dad thought Aunt Claudia would be an ideal guardian was even more of a mystery.

That’s not the only mystery Rebecca encounters in her new city.  In the midst of adjusting to strange foods, unfamiliar customs, and a new private school filled with snooty rich kids, Rebecca finally meets a friend late one night in Lafayette Cemetery, down the street from her aunt’s house.  Her new friend, Lisette, is a ghost. 

As Rebecca’s new classmates keep her in the role of the outcast, she is drawn deeper into the secrets surrounding both them and Lisette and feels that there really is no live person that she can trust, with the possible exception of Anton Grey.  But isn’t he just another stuck-up rich kid?

The unpredictable twists and turns of this story incorporate real history into tales of ghosts and ancient curses.  Although I found some of the plot elements came together a bit too neatly, I mostly enjoyed the story and its setting.  As is often the case, New Orleans itself is like an extra character in this novel, with rich details of its customs, foods, and idiosyncrasies that made me homesick!  I was especially fascinated with the descriptions of the age-old customs surrounding the Mardi Gras balls and parades that are such a big part of Rebecca’s classmates’ lives.   Teens are sure to enjoy this unique novel that combines history, romance, suspense, and the supernatural in an exotic setting.

If you enjoyed this book as much as I did, you might want to visit the author’s blog, where she has unfortunately recently announced that she will soon be leaving New Orleans.

309 pages, Point (an imprint of Scholastic)

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

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This book is available in hardcover, paperback, and Kindle.

Teen/YA Review: Num8ers

I devoured Num8ers by Rachel Ward this weekend.  This new teen/YA paranormal thriller was one of those books that completely captivated me  – I carried it around with me all weekend, reading a page here and there whenever I had a spare moment.  I’m not a huge fan of the recent flood of paranormal teen romances involving vampires, werewolves, and angels, but I love this kind of paranormal book, where a character has some sort of unusual power or insight.  It reminded me somewhat of Wake and Fade, which I also loved.

Fifteen-year old Jem has had a rough life.  Her mother died of a drug overdose when she was six, and since then, she’s been shuttled from one foster home to the next.  She’s developed something of a tough-girl exterior along the way.  But Jem is different from other disadvantaged teens on the streets of London because she has a unique power: when she looks into someone’s eyes, she sees their date of death.

Everyone’s got one, but I think I’m the only one who sees them.  Well, I don’t exactly “see” them, like something hanging in the air; they kind of appear in my head.  I feel them, somewhere behind my eyes.  But they’re real.  I don’t care if you don’t believe me – suit yourself, I know they’re real.  And I know what they mean.  The light went on the day my mum went.

I’d always seen the numbers, for as long as I could remember.  I thought everyone did.  Walking down the street, if my eyes met someone else’s, there it would be, their number.  I used to tell my mum people’s numbers as she pushed me along in my buggy.  I thought she’d be pleased.  She’d think I was clever.  Yeah, right.

Jem is struggling with school, trying to get by and avoiding people’s eyes as much as possible, when Spider comes into her life.  She knows him vaguely from school and, as usual, doesn’t want to get to know him better, but he’s very persistent.  Soon they become friends, two outsiders who feel a connection to each other, although Jem is very disturbed to see that his number is coming up soon.

Playing hooky from school one day with Spider, Jem foresees a terrible tragedy in downtown London and runs away in fear.  That sets off a chain of events over which she and Spider have no control.  It’s them against the world, as time is running out.

I found this fast-paced thriller to be so compelling that I had trouble sleeping after staying up too late reading it!  It’s a unique concept that is carried out well, with lots of London street slang in the dialogue, well-drawn characters that you come to care about, loads of suspense, and even a touch of romance.

325 pages, Chicken House (Scholastic)

Middle-Grade Review: When You Reach Me

When I read a review written by Heather at Tales of a Capricious Reader of the middle-grade novel, When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, I knew I had to read this book. I immediately requested it at the library. I finished it last night and couldn’t wait to tell you about it! You don’t have to just take my word and Heather’s, though. When You Reach Me recently won the 2010 Newberry Medal and has been at the top of many Best Of 2009 lists.

Miranda, a twelve-year old girl living in New York City in 1978, is pretty happy with her life and her best friend, Sal, until one day in October when everything begins to change. Sal gets punched in the stomach on their way home from school by a boy they don’t even know then suddenly cuts Miranda out of his life. A few days later, Miranda receives the first of several mysterious notes:

This is hard. Harder than I expected, even with your help. But I have been practicing, and my preparations go well. I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own.

I ask two favors.

First, you must write me a letter.

Second, please remember to mention the location of your house key.

The trip is a difficult one. I may not be myself when I reach you.

Miranda tries to unravel this strange puzzle, while helping her mother prepare for her appearance on the game show The 20,000 Pyramid. One of my favorite aspects of this book, though, is that Miranda is obsessed with the book A Wrinkle in Time, which just happened to be my favorite book when I was her age!

“Still reading that same book?” Belle asked, once I had settled into my folding chair next to the cash register to read. “It’s looking pretty beat-up.”

“I’m not still reading it,” I told her. “I’m reading it again.” I had probably read it a hundred times, which was why it looked so beat up.

“Okay,” Belle said, “so let’s hear something about this book. What’s the first line? I never judge a book by the cover, “she said. “I judge by the first line.”

I knew the first line of my book without even looking. “It was a dark and stormy night.” I said.

She nodded. “Classic. I like that. What’s the story about?”

I thought for a second. “It’s about a girl named Meg – her dad is missing, and she goes on this trip to another planet to save him.”

Just like Miranda, I read and re-read A Wrinkle in Time when I was a kid, along with the rest of that wonderful series by Madeleine L’Engle. I even played Meg in our class play of the book! I love that Stead used that wonderful, classic novel as the jumping off point for a whole new mystery. And it is a good mystery, one that kept me guessing right up until the last chapter, with a very satisfying conclusion. Stead’s writing kept me interested from the first pages, with characters I came to care about and clever plot twists. Whether you’re a fan of A Wrinkle in Time like I am or just looking for a good story, you’ll love When You Reach Me.

197 pages, Wendy Lamb Books (Random House)