Exciting debut

Wow...I am so excited by this series' debut: The Testing by Joelle Charbonmeau, which will be published June, 4th. The writing was compelling, and the suspense level was quite high. I was honestly nervous at various points.

While many dystopian novels are compared to The Hunger Games, I think in the future, they will be compared to The Testing.

I have read many of these series, and often feel they could have been better written if they had just remained a stand alone novel...that too many writers are creating trilogies where only one book is needed. Cinder and Divergent being the recent exceptions.

I don't feel that way about The Testing. I am so looking forward to reading the next book, and will re-read this one when I share it with my book club, colleagues and students.

The plot sounds trite, in a way...a young girl waits to see if she is chosen for...in this case, higher education in a bleak, war destroyed, future. However, Charbonneau ratchets up the tension via her writing style and plot points.

If you would like to read a prequel, here it is: http://www.hmhbooks.com/thetestingtrilogy/prequel.html

Exciting ( gory at times)

I just finished reading Rising, a sequel to Department 19. This series deals with vampires in a manner Twilight couldn't come close to..all due to the excellent writing by author Will Hill.

I finished Department 19 almost 2 years ago, (April, 2011) purchasing the book as soon as it was published. I had a bit of difficulty starting this one, as I had to remember a few characters and what had happened to them. Hill doesn't do the traditional recap that many series' authors do, and I am actually glad about that. I just hope the third isn't published a full year and half after this one.

Jamie Carpenter is the main character, and he is thrust into the role of a covert, vampire hunter suddenly in the first book. It was an exciting read, with great characterization, and there was a great deal of fun as Hill lays out that Bram Stoker was detailing actual history in his novel, Dracula.

Dracula is the focus of this second book, The Rising...it is Dracula's rising that the group, Department 19 that Jamie works for, is trying to prevent. Jamie has many friends in the Department, but both books feature traitors, and Jamie's distrust and fear of losing people, are compelling character traits that the author develops very nicely.

The second book, is a tad gorier than the first, so some middle school students might not be ready for it, if they tend to have nightmares.

I highly recommend this series.

Red Heart Tattoo

I have loved all of the McDaniel books I have read. As I was reading Red Heart Tattoo I became quite anxious, fearing a central character would be found guilty. At times it seemed more a very well developed outline, the characters seemed a bit sketched out versus fully developed, but in the long run, it all made sense, and perhaps not much more will be edited prior to publication on July 24th. The story is set in a typical high school. Initially a prank comes under fire, and then a horrific bombing takes place. As we and one of the victims discover more and more about the plot, and who is responsible, McDaniel successfully builds suspense, while at the same time creating empathy for numerous characters. A good read; perfect for the YA community, and adults who enjoy this genre.