A haunting narrative

I absolutely loved The Tyrant's Daughter.  This haunting narrative sticks with you; it should be required reading in all MS and HS history classes. She is the daughter of an assassinated leader, from a non stated country.  Her family fled there and are now in the US. She is trying to fit in, to figure out if her father was good or the dictator/tyrant the news says he is.  Loads to discuss, ponder, question, sympathize with and worry about. 
Very well written from a young girl's perspective. The other characters were well drawn out as well.  All too believable.  Kudos to J.C Carleson.

Realistic YA novel that deals with bullying.

I enjoyed Picture Me by Lori Weber very much. Initially I was worried that distinguishing the characters might be difficult, as the voices were somewhat similar, but whether due to their circumstances, or the subtle differences between the characters' voices, I got over that.

I liked the foreshadowing, and think it will be a  perfect book for MS students. The book is told in alternating chapters from the views of Tessa, Krista and Chelsea.  Chelsea is the bully in the book and Krista is the primary victim.  I felt it was realistic and though I could easily predict how things would turn out, I think most 6th and 7th graders would enjoy predicting and seeing if they were correct.  I think as well the book portrays bullying in a realistic manner.

I enjoyed the cliffhanger ending as well, as it is particularly realistic.

I recommend this for MS students, particularly for girls, but I think boys would enjoy it as well.

Look for it March 1st.

Dystopian thriller

I know it might seem odd that once again I am writing about a dystopian novel that I love, but it is the trend these days.

The funniest aspect of all of this to me is, the one that started the ball rolling so to speak, Hunger Games is my least favorite of all of the ones I have read. 

The novel Pawn is right up there with my favorite, Cinder (the countdown for the third book in this series, Cress, is featured prominently on my blog, as you can see).  I will soon write about Independent Study, which is the second in another series I enjoyed more than Hunger Games.

But onto Pawn.  The novel takes place in an America where meritocracy rules.  At age 17 students take a test to see what path their lives will lead.  The rankings are essentially a caste system, and our hero, Kitty, ends up ranking quite low.  She has dyslexia which is an interesting premise to deal with in a society like this.

She ends up being the double for a member of the ruling family, and I can't even begin to describe all the plot points and twists and turns this novel takes.  It was all handled well, and kept me riveted.

I am looking forward to the second book in this series.

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

I truly enjoyed this book, despite initially having a hard time jumping into it.  The premise was interesting, but the first couple of chapters didn't draw me in as quickly as most thrillers do, and I almost didn't continue.  I am glad I did.
The characters are well developed and drawn out. I cared for all of them, and as details were developed and added to the plot, my appreciation of the writer's ability to write a mystery rose.
I do hope this develops into a series.

The Naturals is centered on a group of teens with natural abilities (like discerning if someone is telling the truth) that the FBI finds, and essentially tries to groom into profilers. 

The teens have stories of their own, that complicate matters.  The tension throughout was well developed and realistic. A bit of romance is thrown in as well, that I feared would become somewhat routine/boring/expected, but it was all handled well.

If you enjoy psychological thrillers, you should read this book.

Bookfair

I purchased 4 books from our December school book fair, and received two others from a very nice anonymous donor.
I have read two of the books so far, and enjoyed both.
Prior to starting the next, I am posting reviews.

The first one is In a Heartbeat by Loretta Ellsworth. I enjoyed the plot very much, and the writing style was engaging.  Essentially the narrative is written from the perspective of two young girls, one of whom is dying and needs a heart transplant. The other dies in an accident, and of course ends up donating her heart.
While it may seem smarmy, it is handled fairly well, with lots of information regarding transplants and a realistic portrayal of what someone receiving a heart might feel.

The second book, Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer by Katie Alender, is a fun mystery.  A great ghost story involving Marie Antoinette as a vengeful ghost seeking out the families of those she feels betrayed her.  Somewhat obvious at times, it nonetheless was an engaging story to pass a couple of hours with. 

MS and HS students will enjoy both of these books, one light and one a tad heavier, they are both great additions to the YA genre.

New Thriller

Runner by Patrick Lee was an exciting read. The plot is wonderful and intriguing.  I enjoyed the main characters, Rachel and Sam a great deal. The author does an excellent job with character development and the build-up of the mystery regarding who Rachel is.
While it may seem like the typical trouble via the military industrial complex type of thriller, it goes beyond that basic concept, to create a plausible scenario, with characters you will care about.

This book will be published in February 2014. 

Three great titles

The first book I am reviewing is a new version of a  picture book that will be published in March.  A Kissing Hand for Chester Raccoon will finally be published in board book form, so younger children can enjoy this story.  This is a story that has been used for kindergartners for about 20 years...and it developed into a number of other stories featuring Chester.  I love the story, and think toddlers will enjoy the pictures, and hearing the story too.

The second book is by an author I have enjoyed.  Patrick Ness wrote A Monster Calls, which received rave reviews from me in a previous post.  His latest, More Than This, is pretty incredible.  A young man drowns, and ends up in a world that he tries to make sense of.  The beauty of this story is threefold.  It draws you in during the drowning scene..incredibly vivid....it then keeps you going as you try to figure out what is going on.  It ends in an interesting way, that some readers might object to, but I found particularly wonderful.  The writing is just wonderful. There wasn't any section that wasn't beautifully developed. Throughout various philosophical points are raised, in an interesting manner, about life, love, family, tragedy, and how we all handle our own life stories. It will be hard to stop reading, once you start this incredible book.

The third book is also by an author I have enjoyed. This is her second book, and it was amazing. She has some incredible tie ins, that make you think the characters are truly real.  The book is Night Film by Marisha Pessi.  A young woman commits suicide; she is the daughter of an infamous director, and a former journalist investigates the suicide.  He encounters two enjoyable side-kicks who help him for varied reasons.  I enjoyed the interactions between the main characters, and the suspense throughout was pretty tight.  The ending in this book received some complaints from other readers, but once again, I found the ending satisfying.  There were a couple of weak plot lines, where it isn't merely being led one way to find out something different occurred, but where I felt the path to the new conclusion didn't quite add up...but overall, it was a nicely developed story, that was truly presented in a very original manner.

Barclay does it again

It is often hard to read Linwood Barclay's books, because his characters are so universal. The dad you know, the brother you have, the son you worry about, the mom you are, the neighbor who you wonder about...all of his books center on very human characters.

Sometimes the grief and issues the characters are dealing with are so intense, so real, you have to put the book down for a bit.  For the most part his resolutions are realistic, and worthwhile. Sometimes they are heartbreaking, like life is.  So...you can't truly be dealing with whatever aspect the character is dealing with, when you read his books, or it would be in my opinion too overwhelming.

His latest, A Tap on the Window, is quite good.  I liked the characters, the plot was interesting, the dad in this case was trying to find out who gave his late son drugs.  He discovers there is more to the story than he thought, and in the process encounters a few other mysteries. 

The pacing was fine, the character development was believable, and all in all I was very satisfied.  I did have a couple of quibbles with the main bad characters, in terms of their logic and decisions, but putting that aside, all was very believable.

Utter Joy

I have always loved Stephen King, from the moment I picked up Carrie as a teenager, I was hooked on his stories. There have been a few duds, but for the most part his stories keep me enthralled, and usually quite scared.

The books I haven't read were the Dark Tower series, and perhaps I should give those a chance. One novel I loved was The Eyes of the Dragon, which falls into the YA category, but is a wonderful story if you haven't read it.

I just finished Joyland, and I have to say it was a true joy to read. I loved the characters; the protagonist, Jonesy, is a great lead, utterly believable, and his narration leads the story at the perfect pace. Bits of foreshadowing, expertly done, mark it as a novel by King.

It didn't scare me, nor is it meant to. It is a coming of age story...of a 21 year old, a love story, a ghost story, a human story. There are life lessons here, and some wonderful quotes about life as well.

They sell fun at Joyland, and sometimes fun is what is needed, particularly if you spend too much time immersed in the news, politics, tragedies, you need a bit of fun. Read Joyland, enjoy it, take a breath and revel in what many would say is a simple story, but it is one that leaves me feeling hopeful, and there are too many times when that concept is hard to hold on to.

Possible new venture

I have always wanted to own a bookstore. I have chatted about this for years, and soon I might just embark on this adventure. I plan on attending a weeklong workshop, in either Jan or May, 2014 to learn how to start an Indie YA bookstore, that I plan on calling YA Java :-)

I already have business cards, and changed the name of this blog to kind of jump start the process.

I will keep you apprised of my progress, as this daydream takes off.

Great new (for me) series.

I had downloaded a sample chapter of The Stranger You Seek, by Amanda Kyle Williams sometime ago, but never got around to reading it. I finally read it, and had to read the novel. At that point I was lucky because there was a special running, and I bought it for 99 cents...

Keye Street is the detective in this series, and she is a unique character who is well drawn out by Williams. The supporting cast is also nicely developed.

The crimes in this first novel, are a gruesome series of killings. I was guessing throughout who the killer might be, and was surprised when the identitiy was revealed. Keye's insights are interesting, her friendships are believable, and her experiences are all too real.

I will soon download the second book in the series, Stranger in the Room. I know Ms. Williams is working on the third novel, Don't Talk to Strangers, (due in Feb., 2014) because I follow her on Facebook.

If you enjoy Lescroart, for his engaging characters and friendhips, mixed with interesting cases, you should check out this series.

Great mystery and wonderful story

I admit I probably wouldn't have come across The Cuckoo's Calling on my own; another mystery writer whom I follow on Facebook mentioned she had heard about Rowling being the author at a thriller writer's convention in NYC, and I promptly bought it off of Amazon. Apparently I didn't hit buy soon enough, so with the huge rise in sales it took a bit longer than typical to arrive. Interesting that the cover now states Gabraith is a pseudonym. I thought that aspect might take a bit longer. So, enough of that, onto the review.

I truly loved it. The writing, the character development, the plot lines, the exposition, the resolution....all of it are simply excellent. I loved both Strike and Robin, as well as their budding friendship.

Just as in the Harry Potter series, I am looking forward to the next in this.

I happen to think Rowling is immeasurably talented...she writes extremely well, whether it is Harry Potter, this mystery, or the sadder, truly realistic portrayal, she created in The Casual Vacancy.

Too Long

I loved the premise of Ripped, by Shelley Dickson Carr, and I enjoyed all of the characters (though it was easy to guess who Jack The Ripper was in this novel).

It was fun to learn a bit about Cockney Slang, and to learn more about the Victorian age.
I also enjoyed picturing conversations between Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker.
Katie, Toby and Collin were interesting in both the Victorian era, and in the present day. Katie's desire to change the past, and perhaps to solve the Ripper murders is, again, an interesting premise.

I fear though the novel was much too long. The resolution could have drawn to a close at about 3/4 of the length of this novel or perhaps even half. Even my most avid YA readers would probably give up on this, due to its' length. Not because they don't enjoy long novels, but this one just doesn't develop...the middle of the book goes on and on and on, without truly adding to the issues of time-travel, the solution to the Ripper murders, or Katie learning more about how to fit in, in the Victorian era.

At times I also thought there were either some gaps, or some editing glitches with continuity...perhaps this was due to the novel's length and my despair at wanting the resolution to appear sooner than it did.

All of this being said, the author does have some talent, and I will give a second story a chance.