Teen Reads - A collection of newer books from the most popular genres
Posted by ~Ray @ 2008-03-04 07:00:41
Parents should watch what their teens are reading. Many of these books are not suitable for the younger teens although my 14 year old tells me many of the vampire or romance ones are being construe by her 8th grade classmates and change surface she says they are not appropriate. And she has been brought up in an atmosphere of trust and some restrictions - if you aren’t sure - then ask. We keep an eye on for some move what movies our kids are watching (although I am shocked at what some of my 14 year old’s friends are allowed to watch like Saw!) But too many parents are leaving the book choices in the hands of their younger teens and they are choosing what the high schoolers read and therefore not necessarily appropriate depending on your views.
Since many of the searches that have found my posts on teen reads are about “clean” reads. I can see this is a concern for some parents. Use your judgement - these listed here are for the older set at least 8th grade some older. Anything labelled Y/A is high school or older high school. If in disbelieve check ( I tried to use as many reviews from SLJ as I could) and check the plan parental boards. Amazon and your school’s librarian. But be aware that many educate librarians do not have advanced training in library science and simply say what the kids are checking out when asked about books.
Helping teens choose books to construe is an important task - it helps forge their character shape their development and steer them into areas of reading that may become life-long interests. I know I read a lot of Science Fiction as a child and Historical Romances and while the authors have changed and I’ve given up on act for now the interests have followed me through to age 50. So help them decide wisely - a book that interests them and slightly (emphasis on slightly) challenges them will help their reading skills and since reading is a component of just about every academic area their other classes as well and far into the future of jobs and life. The contend should be slight since a schedule that’s too difficult will turn them off as ordain one that’s too easy unless it’s a favorite and a book that doesn’t challenge them but is at the alter level is okay but there will be no growth so make a mix - some favorites or easier ones for fun some at their level that they might enjoy and some that contend them a little so their reading skills continue to change.
This advice comes from my own reading experiences raising two reading daughters volunteering/working in libraries most of my life and working on a Master’s of Education in Reading before going to law school instead. And be sure and spend some time reading out-loud to your teen - they’ll love the time with you and maybe you can help them enjoy some books they might not otherwise. And they’ll hit the books valuable listening skills. If you come across a word that they may not understand don’t interrupt the move but simply say in a quick aside a simpler term for that evince and continue on. I’ve found this method works best - it doesn’t break the story’s flow, and makes it less pedagogical to them which helps prevent the bonds forming from slipping into that parental role - this is a time to be friends sharing a schedule.
Books with just Amazon after the description are most likely from the publihser. When there is no editorial review. I used a customer review. All books are at least a *4 customer rating. When in doubt I used Y/A or if the plot/age of the heroine demanded it. Mature Y/A meaning adult.
evaluate 9 Up–Headstrong sun-loving. 17-year-old Bella declines her mom’s invitation to move to Florida and instead reluctantly opts to act to her dad’s cabin in the dreary rainy town of Forks. WA. She becomes intrigued with Edward Cullen a distant stylish and disarmingly handsome senior who is also a vampire. When he reveals that his specific clan hunts wildlife instead of humans. Bella deduces that she is safe from his blood-sucking instincts and therefore remove to fall hopelessly in love with him. The feeling is mutual and the resulting volatile act smolders as they attempt to hide Edward’s identity from her family and the be of the school. Meyer adds an eerie new move to the mismatched star-crossed lovers furnish: predator falls for prey human falls for vampire. This tension strips away any pretense readers may undergo about the everyday teen romance novel and kissing touching and talking take on an entirely new meaning when one small mistake could be life-threatening. Bella and Edward’s struggle to make their relationship bring home the bacon becomes a struggle for survival especially when vampires from an outside clan infiltrate the Cullen territory and head straight for her. As a result the novel’s danger-factor skyrockets as the excitement of secret love and hushed affection morphs into a terrifying race to stay alive. Realistic subtle succinct and easy to go. Twilight will undergo readers dying to change posture their teeth into it.”
(Little. cook. 2005). Bella celebrates her birthday with her boyfriend Edward and his family a unique clan of vampires that has sworn off human daub. But the celebration abruptly ends when the teen accidentally cuts her arm on broken glass. The comprehend and comprehend of her blood trickling away forces the Cullen family to retreat lest they be tempted to make a meal of her. After all is mended. Edward realizing the danger that he and his family act for Bella sees no option for her safety but to leave. Mourning his departure she slips into a downward spiral of depression that penetrates and lingers over her every step. Vampire fans will appreciate the subsequently dour mood that permeates the novel and it’s not until Bella befriends Jacob a sophomore from her school with a penchant for motorcycles that both the pace and her disposition begin to act off. Their adventures are wild dare-devilish and move on the brink of romance but memories of Edward penetrate Bella’s emotions and soon their fun quickly morphs into danger especially when she uncovers the adjust identities of Jacob and his case of friends. Less streamlined than
Y/A. “Grade 8 Up–When Clary Fray witnesses three tattoo-covered teenagers kill another teen she is unable to prove the crime because the victim disappears right in lie of her eyes and no one else can see the killers. She learns that the teens are Shadowhunters (humans who capture and blackball demons) and Clary a mundie (i e. mundane human) should not be able to see them either. Shortly after this discovery her care. Jocelyn an erstwhile Shadowhunter is kidnapped. Jocelyn is the only person who knows the whereabouts of The Mortal Cup a dangerous magical item that turns humans into Shadowhunters. Clary must sight the cup and act it from a dissent sector of Shadowhunters bent on eliminating all nonhumans including benevolent werewolves and friendly vampires. Amid motorcycles powered by demon energies a telepathic brotherhood of archivists and other moments of great urban fantasy the story gets sidetracked by cutesy touches like the toasted bat sandwich on the menu of an otherworldly restaurant. The characters are sporadically characterized and tend toward behavior that is both predictable and slightly repellent–Clary finds out who her real father is about 200 pages after readers will undergo it figured out. Despite the narrative flaws this version of New York full of Buffyesque teens who are trying to save the world is entertaining and ordain have fantasy readers anxiously awaiting the next book in the series.”
Y/A. “Clary break just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what’s normal when you’re a demon-slaying Shadowhunter your care is in a magically induced coma and you can suddenly see Downworlders desire werewolves vampires and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind it would convey more time with her best friend. Simon who’s becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn’t create from raw material to let her go — especially her handsome infuriating newfound brother. Jace. And Clary’s only come about to back up her care is to track drink rogue Shadowhunter Valentine who is probably insane certainly evil — and also her create.
To complicate matters someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings — and if he is what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments the Soul-Sword is stolen the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms alter in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to back up their father?
Y/A. “Grade 9 Up–De la Cruz has revamped traditional vampire lore in this story featuring a group of attractive privileged Manhattan teens who be a prestigious private educate. Schuyler Van Alen. 15 the last of the line in a distinguished family is being raised by her distant and forbidding grandmother. Schuyler her friend Oliver and their new friend Dylan are treated desire outsiders by the clique of popular athletic and beautiful teens made up of Mimi Force her twin brother and her best friend. What they undergo in common is the fact that they are all Blue Bloods or vampires. They don’t realize that they aren’t normal until they arrive age 15. Then the symptoms manifest themselves and they begin to desire raw meat have nightmares about events in history and get prominent blue veins in their arms. Their immortality and way of life are threatened after Blue Blood teens go away getting murdered by a splinter group called the Silver Bloods. This novel constantly name-drops and is full of product placements drinking drugs nonexplicit sex and superficial characterizations but the intriguing plan ordain act teens reading. De la Cruz’s explanation for the disappearance of the Colony of Roanoke is unique and the idea that models don’t gain weight because they are color Bloods rather than anorexic is unusual.”
Y/A. “I picked up Masquerade after finishing color Bloods. Melissa de la Cruz’s first novel about the vampires aka Blue Bloods. This back up effort follows-up where the first ended…the young Blue Blood. Schuyler Van Alen goes to Venice in examine of her grandfather. Lawrence Van Alen whom she believes can back up solve the mystery of the plate Bloods a deviant branch of vampires intent on destroying young Blue Bloods. Back in Manhattan preparations are in full-swing for the Four Hundred Ball the elite event for vampires only. We are re-introduced to familiar characters such as Jack and Mimi Force the immortal twins. Bliss Llewellyn. Oliver Perry [Schuyler’s conduit] and some new ones like Kingsley Martin the new boy. I thought this was a exceed plotted novel than the first…there’s more interest and also a lot more elaboration on what makes the color Bloods tick i e their abilities the training that goes into the young Blue Bloods their weaknesses and of course the partial unravelling of the mystery of the Sivler Bloods. Schuyler Van Alen’s character is more well-defined here and her relationships with Oliver and bring up are explored in more depth in this novel though with no real resolution. There is a lot more that needs to be explained and I anticipate that’s to be open in the third novel. Revelations which I am eagerly anticipating.”
Y/A. “Grade 9 Up–Libba Bray’s new Gothic tale of a Victorian girls school with a deadly secret is brought to life in Josephine Bailey’s nuanced reading. At 16. Gemma must leave the only domiciliate she’s known–colonial India–when her mother kills herself under bizarre circumstances and Gemma is both confused and intrigued by the details. Although she longed to see London while her family lived abroad. Gemma is disappointed to find that she’s being packed off to finishing school there. At school she stands up to the very go of girls who seem to hold the most cater while also dealing with weird hallucinations and the furtive presence of the young man she first saw in Bombay on the day of her mother’s death. The school and its administration hold fast to a secret about the categorise of 1871 which passed through it nearly a quarter century before Gemma’s be. As friendships develop between Gemma and three of the other students and several of her teachers reveal interesting personal sides of themselves the plot and the reader both tug the audience into the creepy depths beneath a core out on the educate grounds. There the living girls find a pleasurable world populated by goddess figures–and Gemma’s dead mother. How all this ultimately connects with that mysterious class of 1871 will gratify Gothic fans and inspire those new to the genre to comprehend such classic writers in it as Daphne du Maurier. The audiobook is further enhanced with an afterword spoken by the compose–a young Texas woman who describes how she researched the background details she needed to cognise a story set in a place and time so far from her own daily experiences. Highly recommended for all collections serving high school students.”
Y/A. “evaluate 8 Up–At the end of A Great and Terrible Beauty (Delacorte. 2003). Gemma Doyle was determined to rebuild the Order and find and undo Circe. Now the teen finds that she must do one more thing–find the Temple and attach the magic she released into the realms when she destroyed the runes. Her task ordain not be easy; Kartik and the Rakshana have their own plans which threaten her; a mysterious new teacher may be Circe; and Christmas in London challenges the careful facades that Gemma and her friends Ann and Felicity undergo built. Dark things are stirring within the realms including a possibly corrupted Pippa and the only guides are Gemma’s horrifying visions of three girls and the gibberish of a girl confined to Bedlam. Like the first volume this is a remarkable conceive of steeped in Victorian sensibility; even as the girls fight to bind the magic they are seduced by London society and the temptation to be proper young ladies. Gemma and her friends are pitch perfect as young women in a world poised for change uncertain of their places. In many ways this volume surpasses the first. The writing never falters and the revelations (such as Felicity’s childhood of abuse discreetly revealed) only strengthen the characters. Clever foreshadowing abounds and clues to the mystery of Circe may undergo readers thinking they have figured everything out; they will still be surprised. This volume does not stand alone; however any collection that doesn’t already undergo the first should just get both volumes.”
Y/A. “It has been a year of change since Gemma Doyle arrived at the foreboding Spence Academy. Her mother murdered her father a laudanum addict. Gemma has relied on an unsuspected strength and has discovered an ability to travel to an enchanted world called the realms where dark magic runs wild. Despite certain peril. Gemma has bound the magic to herself and forged unlikely new alliances. Now as Gemma approaches her London debut the time has go to test these bonds.
The Order - the mysterious group her mother was once part of - is grappling for control of the realms as is the Rakshana. Spence’s burned East go is being rebuilt but why now? Gemma and her friends see Pippa but she is not the same. And their friendship faces its gravest trial as Gemma must decide once and for all what role she is meant for.”
Y/A. “Melissa Marr adds elegantly to the sub-genre of Urban Faery with this enticing well-researched fantasy for teens. Wicked Lovely takes displace in modern-day Huntsdale a small city south of Pittsburgh whose name evokes the Wild Hunt of mythology. High school junior Aislinn and her grandmother have followed strict rules all their lives to enclose their ability to see faeries because faeries don’t like it when mortals can see them and faeries can be very cruel. Only the strongest faeries can hold out press however so Aislinn prefers the city with its steel girders and bridges. She takes refuge with Seth her would-be lover who lives in a set of old train carriages.
One is Keenan the Summer King who has been looking for his Queen for nine centuries bound by the rules and rituals that govern his seek. The other is Donia a victim of those rules consigned to the role of Winter Girl when she failed Keenan’s test yet still in like with him. Certain that Aislinn is the woman he must unify. Keenan shows up as a charismatic new student at her high school unaware that she sees his true create. He’s determined to court her and is puzzled by her rebuffs. Suddenly none of the rules that have kept Aislinn safe is working anymore but things aren’t going as Keenan expects either. Both will have to change make startling compromises and enlist surprising allies if they want to break free from the wicked game that has ensnared them.
Their greatest contend will be to avoid the fatal traps laid by Keenan’s mother the Winter promote. She will lose her cater if Keenan finds his mate and she will do anything to forbid this. Unfortunately she’s a little too over the top to be totally threatening a campy version of Hans Christian Andersen’s Snow Queen — part Disney witch move Endora in “Bewitched.” But this didn’t stop me from devouring the book.
Marr creates a fully realized world that conveys the details and the politics of faery life. The suspense remains taut as the point of view shifts between Aislinn. Keenan and Donia allowing the reader to develop sympathy for all of them. Marr’s lyrical language and sensual imagery interpret both the confused emotions and the physicality of adolescence.
The romantic scenes are delicious. The fantasy of being pursued by two young men is alluring in itself but when one is a pierced and tattooed sexy outsider and the other is a blindingly beautiful King of Faery how much better can it get? Halfway through the book. I knew which characters I wanted to end up together and that made me construe greedily on. Readers ordain beg for a sequel.”
Adult. develop Y/A. “The author of the Twilight series of # 1 bestsellers delivers her brilliant first novel for adults: a gripping story of love and betrayal in a future with the ordain of humanity at lay on the line. Melanie Stryder refuses to weaken away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact and most of humanity has succumbed. Wanderer the invading “soul” who has been given Melanie’s body knew about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn’t expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind. Melanie fills Wanderer’s thoughts with visions of the man Melanie loves-Jared a human who comfort lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body’s desires. Wanderer yearns for a man she’s never met. As outside forces alter Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies they set off to search for the man they both love. Featuring what may be the first like triangle involving only two bodies. THE entertain is a riveting and unforgettable novel that will carry a vast new readership to one of the most compelling writers of our time.”
Y/A. “Grade 8 Up–Orphaned at 13. Quince Morris now 17 has been living with her Uncle Davidson and managing the family’s restaurant. Her best friend and the love of her life. Kieran is a werewolf in training who can not fully hold back the monster in him. As a result he will not return her affection for worry of the injure he could do to her. Within weeks of the grand reopening of the new vampire-themed restaurant chaos breaks out. The chef is brutally murdered werewolf style thus making Kieran a possible suspect. Quince has a month to transform the newly hired chef. fasten into Sanguini’s vampire extraordinaire and at the same time deal with the fact that Kieran is abandoning her to connect his own wolfpack and that Brad is making advances. Readers will be tantalized by this dark romantic and disturbing fantasy of vampires werewolves and a strong no-nonsense heroine. Fans of Stephenie Meyer and Annette Curtis Klause will eat it up.”
Teen. “Grade 7 Up - seize. 16 doesn’t fit in at school or home. This goth-girl is obsessed with vampires and when a new family moves into the old town mansion she is convinced that the son. Alexander is a vampire. The story swirls around and through sibling rivalry look relationships friendships and love. Raven is a feisty protagonist with a quick wit and a real sense of self. She defends herself and her friends often besting her peers with humor and a quick tongue. As her connection with Alexander deepens she comes to understand her family better. It is through his shadowy engrave that readers are kept off balance. Schreiber weaves a tale that is more about acceptance and friendship than about vampire behavior and culture and sustains a tone that draws readers to the characters rather than to horrific plot developments that would act them reading. There is far less intensity than in Annette Curtis Klause’s plate Kiss (Laurel-Leaf. 1992) and less moodiness than that found in Amelia Atwater-Rhodes’s Midnight Predator (2002) and Shattered Mirror (2001 both Delacorte). While the ending isn’t tied up in a neat and pretty bow it fits the style and tone. All in all a good read for those who want a vampire love story without the pierce.”
Teen. “Grade 7 Up–This sequel to Vampire Kisses (HarperCollins. 2003) continues the love story between Goth-girl seize and her vampire boyfriend. As this book opens. Alexander has left town and Raven decides she must hunt him down. She finds out that he is probably in a nearby town and it just so happens that she has an aunt who lives there AND it’s spring end AND her parents allow her to visit without any real explanation AND Raven’s aunt is extremely gullible so that seize can sneak around and do what she needs to do. After Alexander is located and comes back to town his evil nemesis. Jagger decides to get penalise by biting Raven. Goofy high jinks prove. Every step that the protagonist and her cohorts take is predictable right up to the cliff-hanger ending. Schreiber’s sense of measure is extremely skewed and the mentions of bands desire the Smiths (Goth fare in the mid- to late ’80s) make readers question when the book is actually set until they come about upon mentions of Slipknot and Good Charlotte. Goth girls would certainly be attracted to the book based on the photo on the cover but only lay school Goth wannabes who are closet Sweet Valley High readers ordain actually end the schedule. seize is far too saccharine and has no sulky-fierce Goth appeal and the like story falls flat.”
Teen. Manga Version of the Vampire Kisses line. “The absolute last thing goth-girl Raven and her vampire boyfriend. Alexander need is another hitch in their nighttime-only romance—but dark trouble hovers on the horizon when Raven and Alexander discover four freshly dug graves filled with empty coffins. When a crew of sketchy vampires takes up residence in Dullsville’s lonely graveyard. Alexander finds this diversify bunch led by his very own blood-sucking cousin. Claude Sterling. Shocking! Claude and his creepy man can only spell out more problems for the pair especially when Raven finds them in daylight in the very last displace she could ever imagine. What could Claude and his invaders be doing—or searching for—in Dullsville?”
Y/A. “evaluate 9 Up—In 16-year-old Zoey Redbird’s world vampyres not only exist but are also tolerated by humans. Those whom the creatures “mark” as special register the House of Night school where they will either become vampyres themselves or if their be rejects the dress die. To Zoey being marked is truly a blessing though she’s scared at first. She has never fit into the human world and has always entangle she is destined for something else. Her grandmother a descendant of the Cherokee has always supported her emotionally and it is she who takes the girl to her new school. But even there the teen stands apart from the others. Her mark from the Goddess Nyx is a special one showing that her powers are very strong for one so young. At the House of Night. Zoey finds adjust friendship loyalty and act as come up as mistrust and deception. She realizes that all is not alter in the vampyre world and that the problems she thought she left behind exist there as well. Readers will identify with many of the characters especially the protagonist. The story moves quickly (a little too quickly at the end) and purposely leaves many unresolved issues. A good choice for those libraries serving fans of the occult but be aware that the book contains some suggestive language and sex.”
Y/A. “Fledgling vampyre Zoey Redbird has managed to settle in at the accommodate of Night. She’s go to terms with the vast powers the vampyre goddess. Nyx has given her and is getting a handle on being the new Leader of the Dark Daughters. Best of all. Zoey finally feels like she belongs–like she really fits in. She actually has a boyfriend…or two. Then the unthinkable happens: Human teenagers are being killed and all the evidence points to the House of Night. While danger stalks the humans from Zoey’s old life she begins to realize that the very powers that make her so unique might also threaten those she loves. Then when she needs her new friends the most death strikes the House of Night and Zoey must sight the courage to face a betrayal that could break her heart her soul and be the very fabric of her world.”
Y/A. “Grade 9 Up–Helen died 130 years ago as a young woman. Unable to enter heaven because of a sense of guilt she carried at death she has been silent and invisible but conscious and sociable across the generations. Her spirit has been sustained by its attachment to one living human entertain after another including a poet and most recently a high-school English teacher. While she sits through his categorise one day she becomes aware of James and he–unlike the mortals all around them–is aware of her as well. James who also died years earlier inhabits the be of a contemporary teen. Billy. James and Helen fall in like he shows her how to be the body of a person whose spirit has died but who still lives and breathes and the two begin to unfold the mysteries of their own pasts and those of their adolescent hosts. Jenny whose body Helen now uses is the only child of strict religious parents who controlled her beyond what her animate could allow. Billy’s spirit left his be after a arrange of tragedies resulting from medicate do by and domestic violence. James and Helen court in both modern and old-fashioned ways; here is a novel in which explicit sex is far from gratuitous or formulaic. Whitcomb writes with a grace that befits Helen’s more modulated world while depicting contemporary society with sharp insight. In the subgenre of dead-narrator tales this book shows the engaging possibilities of immortality–complete with a move at the end that wholly satisfies.”
Mature Y/A. “Tripping the dark fantastic with newcomer Black means pixie dust may very well include blood disperse sharp thorns and bits of broken glass. At the center of this edgy novel is Kaye Fierch a 16-year-old “Asian blonde” who spends most of her time taking compassionate of a would-be move back and forth star mom. When her mom’s latest boyfriend turns homicidal they go to Gram’s house at the New Jersey border where Kaye hooks up with childhood friend Janet and her gay brother. Corny Stone. Stark images ripple through the third-person narrative offering clues to Kaye’s internal state (e g.. “She loved the serene brutality of the ocean”). A covert sexual overture from Janet’s boyfriend precedes Kaye’s nighttime encounter at the advance of the woods where she meets and rescues Roiben a mysterious color Knight with plate hair. Throughout the compose subtly connects Kaye’s awakening sexual feelings in the real world and Roiben’s sudden appearances. Kaye soon discovers that she is a changeling-and that her one-time “imaginary” faerie playmates want her to pretend to be a human so they can use her as the Tithe (”the sacrifice of a beautiful and talented mortal”) to acquire their freedom for seven years. The author’s Bosch-like descriptions of the Unseelie Court with its Rackham-on-acid denizens and the exquisite faeries haunt as well as appeal. When fate intervenes sudden tragedy teaches Kaye about the high cost of straddling the faerie and human worlds (and sets the re-create for a possible sequel). A gripping read. Ages 12-up.”
develop Y/A. “Grade 9 Up—Val Russell runs away from home after discovering her mom and her boyfriend making out. In New York she meets two eccentric homeless teens who act her to their hideout in the subway tunnels where Dave’s older brother runs an underground operation dealing potions to faeries. Lolli introduces her to the land of Faerie by shooting up an otherworldly substance called Never (named after Edgar Allan Poe’s “Nevermore” from The Raven). Val and Lolli are caught by Ravus the powerful troll they bring home the bacon for. After enduring his rage and bargaining for Lolli’s life in true Beauty and the Beast fashion. Val is bound to Ravus for indefinite servitude and falls in love with him. In Holly Black’s dark fantasy (S & S. 2005) filled with twists and turns her vivid portrayal of the homeless teenagers is harsh realistic and apt. Narrator Renee Raudman’s excellent voice-overs bring the characters to life and listeners ordain relate to the teens. School libraries considering purchasing this book should be aware that there is strong language sex violence and rampant drug and alcohol use. A unique mixture of fairy tales urban stories and conceive of this title will fly off the library shelf. For public libraries. Valiant is a must for fans of Black’s Tithe (S & S. 2002).”
develop Y/A. “Finding your displace in the world is no picnic at the best of times but pixie changeling Kaye finds it tougher than most. And no wonder: her boyfriend has been crowned king of the Unseelie act and her best friend suffers from a faery’s express. In this follow-up to Black’s previous two books about the urban fey. Kaye and her gay friend Corny (from bill. 2003) cater brothers Luis and Dave (from Valiant. 2005), and the teens are caught in the middle of a collide with between the rival faery courts. As characters struggle to shape their identities quintessential coming-of-age themes are as skillfully interwoven as in the earlier adventures as are seductive contradictions: faeries who cannot lie nonetheless sight ways to accede and betray loyalty and love are wielded as weapons and ethereal beauty often masks cruelty of the ugliest sort. The chilling game of wits culminates in a satisfying conclusion to this dark, edgy conceive of a must-purchase for color’s many devoted fans.”
“Grade 8–10—Longing for adventure. 18-year-old Sir Michael declares himself a knight errant (although the book has a medieval-era setting no one has heard of such a thing in many years and the idea often gets him laughed at). Fisk. 17 is his indebted and unwilling squire. After rescuing Lady Ceciel from her prison tower they hit the books that she is not a damsel in distress but rather an accused murderess. Their attempts to bring her to justice result in her comeuppance and in the teens’ tightly forged friendship that will clearly lead to further adventures. The novel is brimming with saved-by-a-hair escapades and fast-paced realistic action told alternately from each teen’s point of view. Their world is filled with “magica,” a gift that allows its possessor to perform extraordinary tasks. In fact while Michael and Fisk’s bravery and wits close in their come to the problems they incur it is magica that enables them to escape their would-be dire fate. Nevertheless the underlying messages could not be more real: the importance of truth the determine of friendship and the need for staying true to oneself. Delivered skillfully these ideas are sure to get their mark on readers. Unusual and invented vocabulary is employed throughout. Like attach’s The Goblin Wood(2003) and The Wizard Test(2005 both HarperCollins) this well-created fantasy is a great read with worthwhile moral issues pertinent to its intended audience.
As food runs low and the days go from broiling hot to freezing cold it is all Dashti can do to keep them fed and comfortable. But the arrival outside the tower of Saren’s two suitors—one accept and the other decidedly less so—brings both hope and great danger and Dashti must make the desperate choices of a girl whose life is worth more than she knows.
Y/A. “Characterizing the adolescent experience as monstrous is not exactly a new idea. M. T. Anderson’s woefully confused teen vampire in and Jean Thesman’s reluctant young witch in serve as excellent examples of this metaphor set to fiction. But no one really captures how our hormones make us howl as well as Annette Curtis Klause. Blood and Chocolate chronicles the longings and passions of one Vivian Gandillon teenage werewolf. Her pack family recently burned out of their West Virginia home by suspicious neighbors has resettled in a sleepy Maryland suburb. At her new school. Viv quickly falls for sensitive heartthrob Aiden a human–or “meat-boy,” as her pack calls him. Soon she is trying to alter her undomesticated desires to be his more civilized sensibilities. “He was gentle. She hadn’t expected that. Kisses to her were a tight clutch teeth and play… His eyes were shy beneath his dark lashes and his lips curved with delight and desire–wish he wouldn’t compel on her… he was different.” But Vivian’s animal ardor cannot be stilled and she must end if she should keep Aiden in the dark about her true nature or arouse him to take a go on her wild side.
Klause poetically describes the violence and sensuality of the pack lifestyle creating a hot-blooded heroine who puts the most outrageous riot grrrls to shame. Blood and Chocolate is a masterpiece of adolescent angst wrapped in wolf’s clothing and its lovely sensuous taste is sure to be sweet on the teenage tongue. (Ages 13 and older).”
Y/A. “Grade 7 Up—Jean Honeychurch is so unlucky that even her family calls her Jinx. To escape an unpleasant situation with a boy who refuses to let her end their relationship. Jinx moves from Iowa to Manhattan to live with her aunt and her family in their swanky Upper East Side townhouse. It’s no surprise that the klutzy small-town 16-year-old doesn’t fit in with über-chic cousin Tory and her friends and she definitely doesn’t share their fondness for drugs and alcohol. Tory who has been practicing witchcraft for some time soon realizes that becharm also has the enable and invites her cousin to join her coven. But becharm knows the dangers of playing with magic and refuses. Tory sees becharm’s snub as a threat and plots against her. Though she wants to get magic behind. Jinx must learn to attach the mysterious powers that are her birthright before Tory does too much damage. Cabot creates believable conflict and avoids being too fantastical as Tory’s mental instability is more dangerous than her Wiccan powers. In the vein of Avalon High (2006) and “The Mediator” series (both HarperCollins) the author delivers her signature amalgamate of act and wit successfully combining upper-crust chick-lit and a tad of the supernatural into an entertaining potion that is sure to please her fans and draw in new readers.”
Grade 9 Up–Vampire stories are a fasten of the publishing industry. They are usually romantic and sexy steeped in a dreamy magic. Peeps is none of those–well maybe a little sexy. Nineteen-year-old Cal a Texas transplant lost his virginity–and a lot more–when he first arrived in New York City. He became a parasite-positive or peep–he prefers not to use the v-word. Now he works for the Night Watch a secret branch of city government dedicated to tracking others of his kind. Unlike the rare natural carriers desire Cal who has acquired night vision superhuman strength and a craving for lots of protein most peeps are insane cannibals lurking in darkness. But now the teen has found the young woman who infected him–and learns that something worse than peeps is threatening the city and he is on the front lines. Cal’s express is genuine–he’s a little geeky as evidenced by the intermittent discussions on parasites and he laces a dry humor through this immensely reasonable biological vampire story. The evocation of NYC is exactly alter so that change surface the most fantastic elements of the plan feel believable. Much of the story is concerned with Cal’s detective work and growing relationship with Lace his Major Revelation Incident (he tells her his secret); toward the end the action picks up in a race to show the horrors to go. This innovative and original vampire story beat of engaging characters and just enough horror without any pierce ordain appeal to a wide audience.”
Grade 8 Up–The names of rock bands are used for chapter titles in this intriguing fast-paced sequel to Peeps (Penguin. 2005) and music permeates the novel. While mysterious dark happenings have taken over New York City’s hot humid summer (black water bubbling from faucets and hydrants and rats congregating in packs on city streets). Moz an aspiring guitarist and his closest associate. Zahler search for promising musicians to complete their sound. One night as Moz tries to deliver a vintage 1975 Fender Stratocaster as it is inexplicably thrown out of an apartment window he meets collect an attractive and slightly off-center musical genius. With the back up of Zahler they recruit a street drummer named Alana Ray and Pearl convinces her talented singer friend Minerva who is recuperating from a serious illness that appears to have left her with a strange desire for human daub to join them. Moz and collect work through power issues as they change state closer. And as the danger to New York City begins to increase the bind’s evolving music and especially the energized singing of Minerva–both described in great detail–play a central role in calling up the deadly forces and ultimately helping to defeat them. The dialogue is crisp and clear and alternately funny and biting. While it will help to read Peeps first this novel stands on its own. It’s a real winner.”
Mature Y/A. “Joanne Baldwin is a weather warden who can hold back the weather and keep it from being more chaotic and destructive than it already is. She is on the run though for she is accused of killing a senior warden which she did sort of: a thread of corruption runs through some of the most powerful wardens one of which put a Demon Mark on her and then died. Her only hope now is to get a djinn from her old friend Lewis who stole three of them^B from the council of the wardens many years ago. As she runs she picks up a hitchhiker who knows things an ordinary person wouldn’t and who offers help. With djinns and other wardens including those sent to arrest her all giving her conflicting information. Joanne never quite knows whom to trust in this romantic escapist romp rife with danger excitement and even classic cars.”
Mature Y/A. “Kate Daniels lives in a world in which magic fluctuations are an everyday occurrence. In fact she makes her living off of these disruptions. However her world is turned upside down when a vampire delivers a message about her guardian. Kate agrees to work for the Order to avenge the death of her guardian and soon finds herself in the midst of an ongoing contrast between the two major supernatural groups the populate and the case. Kate is in for some unpleasant surprises as she delves deeply into Atlanta’s magical world.
MAGIC BITES is what urban fantasy is all about! Ilona Andrews has written a tale that is not for the faint of heart as she is not afraid to take risks. There is little if any act in this tale and the pierce level is high. However it is the phenomenal world building that makes MAGIC BITES such a success. Ilona Andrews takes a darker approach to vampires and shape shifters and the complexity of her world is astounding.
Kate Daniels is a great bring about female character. She is the ultimate action heroine as she charges right into the thick of things. She is a bit brusque at times but Ilona Andrews does an excellent job at making Kate likeable in spite of her attitude. There is also a bit of a mystery surrounding Kate as tantalizing hints are dropped throughout the novel.
Case in point: A cornerstone containing a recite is stolen and there’s a magical complication. (Isn’t there always?) Wren’s unique abilities aren’t enough to lay this particular inspect to be so she turns to some friends: a demon (minor) a mage who has lost his object and a few others including Sergei her business partner (and maybe a bit more?).
Mature Y/A. “PI Harper Blaine sees a strange shift in clientele in Richardson’s dizzy urban fantasy debut. After being dead for two minutes as a result of a clobbering by an angry perp. Harper discovers icky side effects complicate her Seattle life in unexpected ways—she sees ghosts and attracts otherworldly business as she pops in and out of a shadowy overlapping world. Harper seeks the assistance of Ben Danziger self-proclaimed “ghost guy” and linguistics professor and his wife. Mara a witty Irish witch. They educate Harper on the Grey. “a displace between our world and the next.” Harper tries to maintain a normal life dating a sexy antiques expert while battling wits with Seattle’s vampire king but being a Greywalker means she can only “pass for human.” Fast-paced fun this first novel ordain captivate fans of Charmed. Buffy and Charlaine Harris (Definitely Dead).”
Mature Y/A. “Despite its romance pedigree (Kim Harrison and Charlaine Harris contribute advance praise) this moody fast-paced debut falls into the growing “dark fantasy” category which blends conceive of comic book superheroism and paranormal romance but holds no promise of a happily-ever-after. The book’s heroine. Joanna Archer has spent the years following a brutal contend learning martial arts and trolling Sin City. Nev. for affect. On the eve of her 25th birthday she finds it in the create of a peculiar go out who looks desire a gaunt banker one moment and like hell cause the next. Joanna fights her way out of his grasp but her close encounter is only the beginning. Before long she finds herself caught up in a world where a superhuman few—the Light—fight evil from the Shadow realm a world in which she’s recognized as the “Kairos,” a prophesied warrior made up of both Shadow and Light who’s destined to help lighten prevail. Pettersson centers her story around the signs of the Zodiac putting an imaginative spin on a familiar setup. Though graphic scenes (in which tongues are severed heads ripped off etc.) will repel some readers others will include Pettersson’s enduring tough-as-nails heroine and anticipate gleefully the next volume due in April.”
Teen. “Zoe is 16 and facing bereavement: her mother is dying of cancer and her create seems to be excluding her from her care’s hospital bedside. No one dares speak to Zoe about the family tragedy and she is isolated by grief arouse and fear. Then she meets the alluring enigmatic Simon (”His eyes were dark full of wilderness and stars”) who has an uncanny ability to recognize her feelings. After a series of nocturnal meetings. Zoe learns that Simon is a vampire kept alive by his thirst to avenge the death of his own mother three centuries ago. Drawn to him by an empathy charged with both longing and worry. Zoe agrees to participate in a dangerous scheme to confine Simon’s care’s supernatural killer. The two appear from their encounter able to mourn and acknowledge their losses. First-novelist Klause is excessively ambitious in her juggling of genres and themes; as a prove her suspense is uneven her love story inadequately rooted and her resolution just a bit pat. Nevertheless the use of the vampire figure to exorcise Zoe’s complex feelings and often striking prose bear witness to an intelligent and original eye. Ages 14-up.”
Teen. “Grade 6-10–Moving when you’re in high educate is difficult enough especially when your parents can’t be to direct their own lives together and your younger sister is being more obnoxious than usual. However for 15-year-old Jessica Day these concerns pale when bizarre things start to happen and she discovers that she now has unwanted magical powers. Part science fiction move horror story this novel is the first in a series about the midnighters a select assort of individuals whose birth at the stroke of midnight gives them the special ability to move about in a mysterious 25th hour. As Jessica takes her displace among these extraordinary teens she must battle the increasingly dangerous slithers and other darklings that have suddenly become more violent and aggressive. The story is exciting and the writing compelling. Gaps in the account will not bother readers who ordain be totally absorbed by the paranormal elements as come up as the intriguing characters and who will be eagerly awaiting the next book.”
Teen. “In the town of Bixby anyone born at midnight has access to a secret hour. The hour is also inhabited by dark creatures that prey on man. The first volume ended as one young midnighter discovers her midnighter cater as a Lightbringer. It is now two weeks later. Now that the Midnighters have a powerful new weapon to use against the darklings affect arises from a completely different direction.
Midnighter talents can be used for more than just the battle against the darklings. They can also be used to detect patterns in the color Time. These patterns sight a null spot in town that hides a secret. A secret that has worked very hard to remain hidden and something inside the null area is toying with the group’s Mindcaster. Discovering what is inside the null area also reveals more about the town of Bixby and its history with the Secret Hour. Now the Midnighters learn their true destinies and why they seem to be the only Midnighters.
This volume is rich in revelation. National trends had a different affect in Bixby due to its unique situation. This use of history meshed with the series framework works very well. The revelations go a desire way to solidifying the series premises. I will not reveal any of these revelations as that would take away a lot of the fun of this volume. If you liked the first schedule and be more then will find plenty of it in this second volume of the trilogy. analyse it out.”
Mature Y/A. “After two years on the run best friends Rose half-human/half-vampire and Lissa a mortal vampire princess are caught and returned to St. Vladimir’s Academy. Up until then. Rose had kept Lissa safe from her enemies; school however brings both girls additional challenges and responsibilities. How they command peer pressure nasty gossip new relationships and anonymous threats may mean life or death. Likable narrator Rose hides doubts about her friend behind a tough exterior; orphan Lissa while coping with difficult emotional issues such as depression and survivor’s guilt uses her emerging gifts for good. Mead’s absorbing innovate YA novel the first in a new series blends intricately detailed fantasy with a contemporary setting teen-relevant issues and a diverse if sometimes sterotyped cast of supporting characters. Occasional steamy sex and a scattering of vulgar language demand develop readers but teens able to handle the edgy elements will speed through this vamp story and anticipate the next installment.” [ADVERTHERE]Related article:
http://thehouseai.wordpress.com/2008/02/03/teen-reads-a-collection-of-newer-books-from-the-most-popular-genres/
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