Fiction Addict

Genre: Young Adult/Science Fiction

Publisher: Zondervan

Publication Date: December 2011

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

Abby Goyer doesn’t know what her dad was thinking when he decided to move the two of them to Alaska. It seemed crazy – so remote, so out of the way. But that has Abby’s mind overworking: why would her dad move out here? When strange circumstances begin to circle her life in Alaska, Abby becomes convinced something evil is happening in the town, something her dad might just be involved in. And when a strange bald boy calling himself Martyr ends up with her, all Abby can do is piece together the strange facts and boil it down to the truth. The only problem is that when the truth is more horrible than a lie, how can anyone face it?

Jill Williamson has created something otherworldly all right with Replication: The Jason Experiment. She immediately captures the reader within the first few pages and never lets go. I found myself staying up late nights reading until my eyes couldn’t stay open any longer. I loved the characters, the plot, and pretty much everything else Williamson has done here. Taking a break from the fantasy worlds she built in her Blood of Kings trilogy, Williamson takes a definite turn into a realistic sci-fi world. No space ships or aliens, but plenty of creepy science to fill the pages.

The strongest thing going with Replication is definitely the characters: Martyr, who is so innocent and naïve, is written extremely well. The parts of the book told from his point of view are amazing. Williamson never deviates from describing the world Abby lives in with those innocent lenses over Martyr’s eyes. A parking brake becomes a strange stick with a button. Anything green is always related in shades relative to peas. It’s perfect. Martyr feels new and fresh even as he learns more about the strange world he’s arrived in.

And Abby Goyer comes across as a well-rounded female lead – going through the motions of a new high school, but retaining a very fresh voice and style in the writing and her actions and dialogue. Abby goes through some subtle character growth by the end of the novel, and it feels just right.

The plot twists around well enough. Sometimes it was a little easy to see where things were going to end up, but then Williamson surprises. The epic finale felt like something right out of Fringe or the X-Files. There’s a creepy tone in some places, and once a few parts of the story are revealed, it’s easy to be slightly put off by the implications. But by the time the book was finished, I kept thinking there had to be a way to continue the story in a sequel. Things do wrap up by the end, but it’s the characters I wanted to spend more time with.

Christianity comes up quite a bit in the novel, and at a couple of moments, it did feel like there was a lot of it. But that’s Abby’s character. She’s trying to work through her father’s issues with science vs. belief, and without her conversations with different characters, she couldn’t have had that growth. And that leads in to the large ethics questions Williamson raises throughout the book: how far is too far with science? Can there be places it can go that cross over a line? In the end, Williamson answers these questions through Abby and Martyr’s journey.

Replication is definitely a must-read. It’s got all the right things going for it: a creepy sci-fi plot, raw characters, and a great ending. Don’t miss this one. I know I’m now eager to go back and read Williamson’s other books, because one thing is certain: she has a very unique voice. And that makes for very unique books.

Genre: Children’s / Young Adult

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers

Publication Date: September 2011

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

It has been such a long time since I found a book I truly could not put down — a book that made me want to skip sleep because I had to finish. And finally, I’ve found it: RETURN TO EXILE by E.J. Patten. Rarely can a book keep surprising me, keep me flipping pages faster and faster, and genuinely thrill me as a reader. But Patten has succeeded on so many levels.

Sky Weathers is a loner. He’s always been a loner, and probably always will be. Especially since his family moves all the time. Just as soon as the Weathers settle in somewhere, they pick it all up and leave. But at least Sky’s Uncle Phineas is usually around. Uncle Phineas always has a new puzzle for Sky to solve, another riddle to figure out, or some strategy game to play. And then the family makes the final move. To the town of Exile. And that’s when everything goes haywire. Uncle Phineas is missing, something terribly strange is going on in the creepy manor across the road, and Sky cannot figure out why oversize crows seem to be following him everywhere. But that’s just the beginning. Because Sky has landed right in the middle of a massive battle — between evil monsters and sinister hunters. But what’s even worse: all of them are out to kill one person: Sky Weathers.

Patten’s debut is exactly what middle grade fiction needs: a high action, thrilling mystery, with enough original monsters to fill up the pages. And top all of that off with some great characters — including the lead, Sky. While he is a loner, he never comes across as a cliché: he has a complicated history, and a very complicated personality. In many respects, his attitudes felt very real to life, and his conflicts unfold naturally throughout the story. The surrounding cast is fun and quirky, and the villains are equally complicated and highly surprising.

There is a high amount of fantasy that sneaks into this novel, and it is some downright fun stuff. Just when I thought Patten couldn’t top the last monster, he introduces another one just as frightening. One chapter later on introduces a pretty scary monster and delivers an epic action sequence that just does not let up. Throughout the entire book, whenever there is action it never drags. It keeps moving the reader along nonstop and straight to the end. The last third of the story is one epic final battle that really reminded me of Rick Riordan’s THE LAST OLYMPIAN. It’s one of the best climaxes I’ve read in a novel in a long time. It felt like this could be the last book in a series, not the first. I cannot wait to see what happens next in book two.

The plot twists around well, and if a reader isn’t following super closely, they might miss what’s happening. Patten often brings back small details from the beginning that have great meaning later on. In some ways, Patten uses some very J.K. Rowling-esque writing in his use of distraction. Rowling often had a reader looking off to the left when everything was actually happening on the right. Patten does this often as well, and it’s brilliant.

There isn’t much more to say. In some ways it’s astounding that RETURN TO EXILE is Patten’s first novel. He executes it so well that it makes anything else coming next that much more exciting. Time cannot pass soon enough until book two.

Review copy provided by the Amazon Vine Program.

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publication Date: January 2012

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

Colt McAlister thought they had beaten back the evil alien race, the Thule. After shutting down a plot to mine earth’s resources, Colt hopes he can now return to regular life. You know, that thing where you can just go to school, hang out with friends, maybe get a part-time job at the local pizza place? But that’s where Colt is very wrong. Because the Thule are already plotting a new way to destroy humans and take the planet. Word has spread of a deadly virus appearing throughout the globe. The virus is incurable. People are dying. The government is hiding. And now, to top everything off, Colt and his friends Oz and Danielle are about to head out to the C.H.A.O.S. Academy to train. But before he can get there, someone is trying to kill him. Someone who looks very familiar. Someone he thought he could trust. Because it looks more and more like everyone he knows might just be in on it. Colt will have to trust in God more than ever before if he’s even to survive another day.

Jon S. Lewis introduced us to the world of Colt McAlister in book one of THE C.H.A.O.S. TRILOGY, INVASION. And now, about a year later, we finally get to see what happens next. INVASION was a great first book, filled with action, suspense, and some pretty good twists to the plot. Picking up ALIENATION, book two, I was really hoping for more of the same. And to a degree, that is what Lewis delivers again. The first half of the book seemed to wander a little bit. It did have some great action sequences, and even right up front there is a pretty startling revelation about Colt, but it wasn’t until Colt and his friends arrive at the C.H.A.O.S. Academy that things really get rolling. In the last half, Lewis really returned to what made INVASION so great, and topped it off with two great climatic battles, all leading up to the final few pages, and a very exciting cliffhanger for book three.

Colt in some ways suffers from what seems to plague all “chosen ones” in books such as this. Colt is expected to lead C.H.A.O.S. against the Thule invasion, and he whines about it for a good chunk of the book. While not too excessive, and while it is the emotions Colt is feeling as his world is swept from beneath him, I couldn’t help but be reminded of other such heroes in YA fiction. Colt does go through some character growth as he battles these feelings, and that does make for a stronger ending to the book.

Lewis once again shines highly in his action scenes, and these are some of the best moments of the book — as Colt flies through the air on a hoverboard, facing down alien creatures and robots. The chapters move swiftly, and it’s not long before you realize quite a few pages have gone by.

ALIENATION definitely took a more futuristic approach in its setting and gadgets. Not that INVASION didn’t have a futuristic feel to it with aliens and planets and such, but INVASION had such a great throwback feel to it as well — with the idea of jet packs and the many World War II nuances. ALIENATION begins to move in a new direction as Colt moves on to the Academy, where future tools and ideas abound.

This volume also has some great bonus material, such as a graphic novel opening, and essays from Lewis on writing comics. He also provides a script for the comic pages, showing what goes into creating panels. Some drawings from different artists, rendering characters such as Oz, Danielle, and even Grandpa McAlister, are also included in the back.

All said, Lewis has delivered another great entry into this trilogy. And although it does suffer a bit from being the middle book of a series, it definitely promises good stuff to come for the finale. For fans of good YA science fiction, ALIENATION is worth a read.

Book purchased by reviewer.

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Lucas Lane Publishers

Publication Date: December 2011

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

Travis Thrasher hit his stride when he began releasing The Solitary Tales a year ago. With both Solitary and Gravestone, Thrasher set up a complex and multi-layered world for Chris Buckley to enter and explore, while dealing with his own heartaches. So many mysteries surround the small town of Solitary, North Carolina, and many of them have yet to be solved in the first two books of the series.

So, keeping readers happy while waiting for the next installment in this astounding series, Thrasher has released this “b-sides,” Something I Can Never Have. If you have not read both Solitary and Gravestone, stop now and go back to read those first. I promise you won’t be disappointed. But for those who have finished those dark and creepy tales, read on.

Something I Can Never Have is a collection of letters written by Pastor Jeremiah Marsh, who is introduced in Solitary and continues to scare throughout Gravestone. Some dark mysteries circle around the pastor, and here, we have a glimpse into his life before coming to pastor the large church just outside the main town of Solitary. What follows is definitely a frightening collection, and truly begins to show Marsh’s slip toward madness and suddenly chilling recovery. There are definitely a few surprises lurking here, and while not solving the greater mysteries of Solitary, this short novella does give us a few bits of information about Pastor Marsh.

Since Jeremiah Marsh is penning the letters comprising each chapter, the writing style differs from the main books. It doesn’t come across as choppy, but instead flows in the unsettling manner you’d expect from Marsh. Parts of this one reminded me more of Thrasher’s Isolation, and the letters definitely dive into some deeper topics and very disturbing scenes.

In some ways, reading this short book was cruel: it truly reminded me why I loved The Solitary Tales, and it also reminded me of how much I couldn’t wait before Temptation, book number three, is released. It would be great if Thrasher released more “b-sides” – more short tales of various characters from the series. Fans will definitely eat it up. I know I did. And maybe, Pastor Marsh did too…

Book purchased by reviewer.

Genre: Children’s / Young Adult

Publisher: HarperCollins

Publication Date: February 2010

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

It all began with a package. A package sent by Jake Ransom’s dead parents. When Jake and his older sister Kady both took out the last thing their archaeologist parents had left them, they didn’t know what to do with it. And then — the letter comes. Inviting both of them to be at the unveiling of a new exhibit featuring the last artifacts dug up by the Ransoms. But when Jake and Kady arrive, something strange and powerful is about to happen. Soon, Jake is sucked into another world: a place filled with lost civilizations and ancient secrets. And a brewing threat: the evil Skull King is waiting for his chance to strike against the peaceful land. Jake knows he has come for a reason. But it can’t be to defeat the most powerful man alive… Can it?

The premise of Jake Ransom and the Skull King’s Shadow was exciting: an Indiana Jones style adventure filled with fantasy reminiscent of Brandon Mull’s Beyonders. And James Rollins definitely delivers an adventure sprawling over worlds and through many different mysteries. Even by the end of the book, some things are left untouched — sure to be answered in further installments. Jake battles his way from one danger to the next, and Rollins provides a rollicking good story to match.

Jake Ransom himself comes across as slightly bland. He’s a somewhat typical hero for a middle grade fantasy novel: kind of an outcast kid in school who has a love for archeology, and an insatiable curiosity. And his curiosity ends up getting him into the most trouble. His friends, Pindor and Marika, round out the principal cast and keep things fun and lively. But one place where Rollins truly shines is in the dark creations he has stuffed into this fantasy world. There are a few truly terrifying creatures he’s described here, and some he’s pulled from ancient mythologies. The only problem I had was with his main villain, who seemed to be a direct knock-off from Lloyd Alexander’s Horned King in The Book of Three.

The story takes a slowdown in the middle as Jake and his sister explore their new world and try to figure out exactly where they are and what has happened to them both. Rollins definitely takes his time building up this world and describes the scenery — sometimes to excess. But every few chapters, he drops a key plot twist that ends up keeping the reader wanting to find answers. It all climaxes with a huge battle and Rollins does a very decent job of giving the last section of the book a very epic feel. I kept thinking the scenes would play out in a great movie sequence.

Fans of books like J & P Voegel’s Middleworld or other archeology stories filled with puzzles to solve will have some fun with Jake Ransom and the Skull King’s Shadow. With the heavy fantasy element, Rollins has delivered a story with a lot of fun — and worth a rainy day to read.

Book purchased by reviewer.

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Publication Date: August 2010

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

I knew going in that Mockingjay wasn’t necessarily a happy-go-lucky ending to an action-packed and highly controversial series about teenagers killing each other. The Hunger Games and Catching Fire were both equally bleak, and painted a world seemingly devoid of any sort of moral compass. Things ended badly in Catching Fire and with some major twists. And now, Katniss Everdeen returns to face her biggest challenges yet. The question remains: will the forces against a young girl from District 12 make her stronger? Or will they break her completely?

Suzanne Collins picks Mockingjay up right where Catching Fire left off – with Katniss flying in a hovercraft to the mysterious District 13 – a place where a revolt against the evil Capitol has been brewing for some time now. The new society is stark and organized, and offers much more to people like Katniss and her family, but the question keeps egging at the back of her mind: where exactly is her freedom? Sure, she has food to eat now. She has quarters assigned to her family in a hospital-like environment. But still there are those in authority even in 13 that would control her. That would seek to use her. And now she has to decide which path she will take: Revolt against everything, or join a revolution that merely views her as a pawn? With her friend Peeta captured in the Capitol, and a war looming on the horizon, death is only right around the next corner.

I will say this up front: I highly dislike Collins’ first chapters. They seem to take too much time setting things back up and often seem highly over-written. But once this book takes off in the second and third chapters, things just don’t let up. Katniss is faced with one terrifying decision after the next, and as every bulwark in her life is torn down, she has to learn to rely on herself to make it. Her character evolution is very interesting. In The Hunger Games, she begins as an idealistic and brave girl who will save her sister’s life. As she grows in Catching Fire, she begins to seek independence, but comes to see everything requires dependence – her dependence on others, on the Capitol, on the hope of a resistance, on Peeta. On Gale. But in Mockingjay, those things are slowly stripped away, until all she has left is herself. With Peeta captured and Gale caught up in the resistance, Katniss doesn’t know where her place is. And this book is her struggle to find that place.

Collins, as always, shines in the action. I couldn’t help turning pages faster and faster as Katniss and Gale enter wartime situations to battle the Capitol. The writing was charged with excitement, and with some of the plot twists right up to the very last few chapters, it really did leave me breathless. Panic overcame me many times as I wondered: Who is going to possibly survive any of this? I began to dread the ending, wondering if Collins would finish painting her depiction of society in a bleak way or not. While I refuse to spoil the end, I will say that I was satisfied with it. Collins does wrap things up in a beautiful way, the perfect ending that she could have chosen for such a trilogy.

Readers who enjoyed the actual Hunger Games in both books one and two, will probably come to Mockingjay expecting more of the same. What is here is very different. The whole series had to change positions and switch over to this sort of a finale. Collins has been building her viewpoints on what war and an oppressed society does. In so many ways, the Capitol reflects Western Civilization – a place that has everything and wastes everything, while the Districts mirrors places the West relies on for food and exports. It’s a fascinating look at the way societies interact and work with each other, and it definitely is sobering to the reader to consider the possibilities of such a society in the real world.

Dystopian fiction can’t find a better series than The Hunger Games. It truly is an epic trilogy that will be around for ages to come. And while Mockingjay slips a little with momentum, the end of Katniss Everdeen’s story is one that must be read. For when the end comes, then a new beginning can truly start to grow.

Book purchased by reviewer.

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Brilliance Audio, unabridged CDs
Publication Date: June 21, 2011/CD  July 17, 2007/paperback
Reviewed by P.J. Coldren

In this continuation of the Dragon Keepers series, Kale has grown up some and is now married to Bardon.  They have been blissfully ignoring the world around them for a while as they celebrate their marriage and get to know each other better.  It has been a wonderful time for them and now they have to come back into their real world, which isn’t going as well as they’d like.

Amara is threatened by an evil couple, married to each other and not the happiest couple to come down the pike.  Paladin is very ill, perhaps dying.  Amara, as many countries have done in bad times, hopes that if they ignore the evil threatening them, it will just go away all by itself.  Paladin gives Kale and Bardon their missions.  Already Kale is upset; she doesn’t want to be separated from Bardon.  Their connection is deep, and she is afraid that being apart will change that.  She is also unhappy about having to work with her father, a man she barely knows and is not at all sure she trusts completely.

Bardon has his mission, too.  He is also working with people he doesn’t know well, and misses his wife.  He’s not sure her father knows how to handle her, and Bardon thinks he has a lock on that skill.  He does trust Paladin, however, and is sure that good will triumph.  At least he really hopes so.

Paul has, as in previous books, a definite message to send.  Those looking for Christian concepts won’t have to look very hard to find them.  Paul has the grace not to beat the reader over the head, always a pleasant surprise.  Grafton does an excellent job reading this story, as she did with the previous book I listened to on CD.

Caveat Emptor: Obviously fantasy, but nothing else.

Review copy purchased by reviewer.

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Publisher: Baen Books
Publication Date: October 2011
Reviewed by P.J. Coldren

Stephanie Harrington is a very bright eleven-year-old, an only child.  She and her parents are recent (as these things go) settlers on Planet Sphinx in the Manticore Binary Star System.  Her parents are scientists and allow her considerable freedom, but not nearly as much as she’d like.  Something to do with hexapumas and peak bears.  She’s tired of being indoors, or of having to deal with months and months and months of snow.  She just wants to have a little freedom.

Her parents suggest, in an off-hand kind of way, that she try to find out what has been sneaking into the greenhouse and stealing all the celery.  Celery, of all things!  Still, it’s something to do, and Stephanie is convinced that she’s seen the creature – and it’s not something she’s seen before.  She’s right.  It is, at least in human terms, a treecat.  A sentient being.  The first anyone on Sphinx has encountered; the first anyone on any settled planet has encountered.  This presents Stephanie and her family, as well as the treecats, with a great many problems.

David Weber, if his list of prior publications has any bearing on it, has been writing for a while.  It shows.  His ability to build a character is quite good.  The setting is given to the reader a little at a time, so that by the end of A Beautiful Friendship readers have a good idea of what makes up Sphinx.  The story is believable, as is the plot.  Involved parents can find many sources for discussion.  Peer pressure?  Got it.  Gifted children dealing with a world not always accepting of their gifts?   Got it.  The ramifications of xenophobia?  Got it.  Negative and positive ways to deal with new things?  So got it.  The possibility of more books to come?  One can only hope.

Caveat Emptor: Some violence, mostly off-screen (as it were)

Review Copy provided by The Amazon Vine program

Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy

Publisher: Backlit Fiction

Publication Date: November 2011

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

Zoe Calder just wants to survive high school. To make it past the snobby girls who constantly laugh behind her back, or perhaps to find at least one guy worth dating. But so far, it’s been rough going, and she’s just looking forward to the end of her junior year. Because then she’ll join her aunt and uncle in Greece on an archaeological dig. But there is something much more dangerous waiting for Zoe than a few petty high school jerks. Destiny is calling, and it has terrible things in store for her. When Zoe is sent back in time to ancient Greece, she discovers the Greek gods are real. And some of them are just as petty as high schoolers. The only problem is, when a powerful Greek goddess is bent on Zoe’s destruction, the only thing to hope for is a quick and painless death.

Audrey Hart’s The Dig: Zoe and Zeus is the first installment in a three part series, and it definitely starts off perfectly. Hart brings us the most original and probably most fun look at Greek mythology in a long time. I would say her interpretation of the Greek gods and goddesses is better even than Rick Riordan’s take in the Percy Jackson books. She takes the whole cast of them, Zeus, Athena, Hera, and nine others, and turns them into teenagers with emotions, fears, and hormones.

The story is told from Zoe’s perspective, and she has become one of my favorite female characters in a fantasy novel. She’s funny and highly relatable – someone who’s always on the fringes of the group and an underdog. But then she finds herself on a crazy journey back in time. At first she only wants to get home, but later begins to appreciate the adventure she’s on. Most characters put in similar situations only whine about wanting to get home, but Zoe is tough and wants to try and figure things out. It’s a lot of fun to root for her as she battles monsters, outwits crazed goddesses and begins to fall in love.

The chapters are short and quick, and the whole book is pretty easily read. Hart keeps things light, but doesn’t shy away from some darker moments that really shine. Hart has a wonderful grasp of Greek mythology, and uses and twists it in good ways to suit the story. Frequently, she introduces things like the Minotaur, or nymphs, or other creatures, and they play their parts in the story in a natural way. It never felt like a Percy Jackson adventure with random encounters with vicious monsters. Each encounter plays a part to unfold the plot.

Some of the best moments are Zoe explaining life to the reader. Often, she’ll use her time at boarding school as ways to explain what’s happening to her. Some were downright funny, and others were sobering. The story ends up being a blend of fantasy adventure with touches of teenage drama. The mix is good, and the drama never overloads the story or becomes obnoxious.

Readers who enjoy a good Greek mythology story will definitely have some of the best fun they’ve had on Mount Olympus with The Dig: Zoe and Zeus. Others who enjoy coming-of-age tales will have something to like as well. Overall, I can’t imagine Hart giving us a better first entry. And that said, be warned: the ending escalates and leaves the reader waiting for the next installment. It can’t come too soon.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Publication Date: January 2009

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

Angela Cardenas is one of the worst. She’s been kicked out of school after school and gotten into more trouble than she’s worth. At least that’s how her parents think of her. So with nothing else to do, they decide to send Angela to Hidden Oak, a school tucked away in the snowy Colorado mountains. The staff is ready to be tough and make Angela into a model citizen. No matter what it takes. Only as Angela goes from her classes to strange group therapy to breeding, she’s beginning to wonder if it’s not the students who are dangerous, but the staff. Something is going on at Hidden Oak, and now, with the few friends she can find, Angela vows to find out what is going on behind all the closed doors. The only thing is, how long will she be able to survive? Because the closer she noses to the truth, the closer she is to being hidden away. Forever.

Eliot Schrefer has put together a highly intriguing novel in The School For Dangerous Girls. All the students at the school have either been in trouble with the law, or just never rose to their parents expectations, or have some inner demon chasing them down. And so they have been sent to Hidden Oak in a last ditch effort to rehabilitate them. The mystery begins from the first pages, as Angela arrives in Colorado. Things don’t seem to go well for her as she tries to rebel against the set-up authorities in her new life. It’s apparent something very dangerous is happening throughout the school: like what happened to all the abandoned buildings? Where are people disappearing to? What is this school really all about? And who is the mysterious headmistress no one ever sees?

Questions swirl around throughout the book, and just as some things are solved, others are introduced, creating new levels of paranoia for the main characters. Angela leads off the cast as the questioning rebel, who just wants to figure out what is really going on. She really drives the novel, and everything centers around her. She’s brazen, but funny, and definitely fits the mold of dangerous. A lot of her actions near the beginning of the book go beyond simple angry rebellion. But she grows, and doesn’t even realize as she begins to turn her life around and use her bravery for something other than sticking it to the authorities. Some typical characters bleed into the novel, with wallflower Carmen and leader-punk Juin, but they revolve around Angela so well it ends up working.

There isn’t necessarily a lot of action in the plot. The story weaves in and out and sets up more scenes where the reader is wondering if the girls will get caught or escape. There is some gang-type violence near the end of the book, and some of the violent moments are somewhat gory. But it fits the tone and the atmosphere as Schrefer approaches some very dark subject matter. This is definitely a YA book with some language littered throughout, and heavy themes of abuse in various forms come up often.

Fans of mystery novels with an edgy twist will definitely enjoy The School For Dangerous Girls. It kept me up, wondering exactly what would happen next, and even delivered a couple of pretty frightening revelation moments. Near the end, things go a little sideways, but Schrefer manages to bring it back around. Almost a grittier Tower Prep, this book is one you’ll want to finish for that book report. Because you never know what your teacher might do if you don’t…

Review copy provided by Amazon Vine Program.

Genre: Young Adult / Children’s

Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks

Publication Date: May 2011

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

The War is all any adult will talk about. How the War has changed everything: ID bracelets must be worn by everyone. No longer do miles of shopping centers line the highways busy with traffic. Places once thought safe aren’t anymore. And now Louisa’s parents feel they have one choice left: Send their daughter to Country Manor School — where she will be safe. At first, Louisa loves the new school – she even manages to set aside her new friend Evelyn’s crazy conspiracy theories about the place. But then, strange things are happening. And now, Louisa begins to wonder… if Country Manor is so good… can it really be true? But no matter what question she asks, all she hears is: “It’s for your safety.” Soon Louisa’s only question becomes: exactly how safe is she?

Behind The Gates, book one in Eva Gray’s new series, Tomorrow Girls, opens things out slowly. Most of the novel read like a contemporary high-school type drama. There’s the preppy girls looking down on everyone else, there’s the more nerdy types, and there are those just trying to blend in with the wallpaper. What really changes things up is the underlying intrigue Gray lays down. Throughout the book, it appears something strange is going on as Louisa and her friends go through classes, some normal, and others teaching the girls basic survival skills. And while Louisa doesn’t buy into all these conspiracy theories about the school’s sinister motives, there’s enough to keep the reader wondering.

Louisa is a fairly typical character: she has fears, questions, and worries just like anybody else. What does make her interesting though is how Louisa isn’t the girl worrying about the school. She’s just trying to forget the terrible things happening in the world while trying to stay afloat with classes and friends and popularity. Most books like this would have been written from the paranoid character’s perspective, making this one a bit refreshing.

The story moves along swiftly, and by the end, there are a few good plot twists that leave the series wide open for book two to pick things up. Gray has definitely created a fascinating future world where resources are scarce, and people can’t really be trusted. More secrets will be unveiled as time unravels in the series.

Behind The Gates is a quick read perfect for fans of shows like Cartoon Network’s Tower Prep or books about boarding schools. This story ends up as an interesting take on the dystopian fad running strong in YA literature. And it’s definitely a worthy addition.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Genre: Young Adult / Children’s

Publisher: Shadow Mountain

Publication Date: February 2009

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

Alex Taylor didn’t think much of the strange looking bookshop. But then there was the blinking sign. The wooden, hand-painted blinking sign. The sign that kept telling him to come inside. As soon as Alex walks through the door, his life changes forever. Questions he’s always had will be answered: who is he? Why does the “real” world feel so strange? Who are his parents? Alex discovers another world: a place where he can travel with elves and dwarfs, and face countless danger and adventure. And now Alex has his first quest: Find an evil dragon’s lair and rescue the hoard of gold. The only problem is: no one has ever come back alive from a quest to the dragon’s rotting domain. On all accounts, this adventure is a not much more than a death sentence.

Mark Forman’s debut book, Adventurers Wanted: Slathbog’s Gold, is a pretty fun, adventure story, with some heavy borrows from The Hobbit and RPG-esque ideas. The story world is firmly rooted in high fantasy with trolls, goblins, wizards, dwarfs, elves, and quests. I wondered about this book for a while: would I be inwardly groaning over the obvious similarities to other fantasy titles of the past? Or would Forman manage to pull his own weight and give us something fun and exciting to follow? As I read, many of the plot devices and elements reminded me heavily of The Hobbit, but the writing drew me in. Forman keeps things moving along at a steady pace, and there are mysteries and questions to be answered unique to the world he’s created.

Alex is a fairly typical and straightforward character – he doesn’t know who his parents are, or who he really is. And as he begins to discover the secrets surrounding his life, he humbly embraces them. This aspect of Alex’s character won me over. A lot of characters traveling from the “real world” to a fantasy world end up whining their entire way through their journeys. Those characters question things in a very grating way and just want to get home. Alex, however, is different. He starts out wondering what is happening around him, but not in a whiny-sort of way. And slowly we can see his wide-eyed wonder at the magical world he’s stumbled into.

Forman doesn’t drag us into long and drawn-out descriptions either, which was definitely a plus. It didn’t take long to get to the action or the mystery. And by the novel’s end, he delivers a couple of interesting twists that made me excited for the second book. There’s also the interesting dose of RPG elements into the book from the use of inventory-holding magic bags to the dividing of gold based on a character’s adventurer level.

All this said, the book did feel like a more modern-day telling of The Hobbit, and die-hard fans of Tolkien will definitely turn up their noses here. Being a fan of The Hobbit myself, I wondered if by the end I was going to be annoyed or not, but I was surprised to have really enjoyed the book as a fun epic fantasy that didn’t feel dragged through the mud in description or utter clichés.

Fans of Brandon Mull’s Beyonders series would do well to pick up Slathbog’s Gold and check it out in between books. Light-hearted readers of fantasy will definitely enjoy this adventurous romp through magical worlds and into the very mouth of danger.

Book purchased by reviewer.

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Entangled

Publication Date: November 2011

Reviewed by Elizabeth Olmedo 

Adrenaline junkie, Deznee Cross has one goal in life, to make her father as angry as possible. So when she stumbles across a boy near the river embankment, she takes him home. However, Kale isn’t a normal teenager. The simplest things fascinate him and he avoids contact acting like his touch is lethal. When her father returns home pointing a gun in their direction, Deznee realizes that there is more to this strange boy and to her “lawyer” father than she ever imagined.

Now on the run with Kale, Deznee’s life goes from worrying about where she’ll find her next adrenaline high or wild party to how she can stay alive. In the process, her strength and courage will be tested as her life is turned upside down and everything Deznee thought she knew will be taken from her.

X-Men meets Twilight (minus the vampires and werewolves!) in Jus Accardo’s debut novel, “Touch,” the first book in the Denazen Series. Deznee is the typical ignored daughter acting up to get daddy’s attention. Kale is the tortured, naïve boy that gives her a new outlook on life.

“Touch” is a fast-paced thriller that keeps the adrenaline pumping and the pages turning. This is a book that will appeal to readers who enjoy stories with mutants and villains. That being said, while it is clearly written for a younger audience, mature content keeps me from recommending this book especially to those on the lower end of the young adult spectrum. Readers should be aware of some vulgar language, underage drinking, and sex before picking up this novel. Though all of them may be part of many teenagers’ daily lives, I cannot, with a clear conscious, recommend a book that contains these to a young audience. They were not necessary for the plot and the lack of vulgar language, drinking, and sex would have made the novel both YA adult friendly and more about romance than lust.

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Publication Date: November 2011

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

Malcolm is a loser. At least according to all the others: the jocks, the cheerleaders, the perfect people who surround him every day. He’s gliding through life, just trying to make it through. The past haunts him in many ways, and until now he’s never shared the truth with another living soul. For three days, Malcolm disappeared completely. Most people think he just lost it and wandered into the middle of the desert on purpose. But Malcolm knows: he was left there. After being taken by aliens. He never thought anyone would believe him: until he met Hooper, a strange man with strange secrets. Soon, Malcolm and the only people he would ever call friends, head out deep into the desert to discover the truth about Malcolm and Hooper.

Cecil Castellucci has crafted a very intriguing, yet strange, coming-of-age novel in First Day On Earth. Parts of the writing reminded me of Travis Thrasher’s The Solitary Tales – with sudden and deep introspection, coupled with strange events that at first seem to have no meaning. But Castellucci weaves everything together deftly, and by the end of this short novel, Malcolm discovers himself and the truth about who he is.

This isn’t a mystery or a thriller. And most action is relegated to flat tires and typical high school bullying. A definite sci-fi thread winds its way throughout, however. Some parts of Malcolm’s story are truly depressing, and at moments, I found myself really hurting for him. Other moments are so raw and honest, I put the book down just to sit and think about everything Castellucci had written. And the entire time, I kept wondering, was Malcolm really abducted by aliens? Or not? It drove me through the book – wondering if Malcolm was truly crazy. Or was he really the sane one?

The surrounding characters seem fairly typical at first: there’s the nerdy kid who just wants to fit in, brown-nosing to everyone. There’s the picture perfect girl who seems to have the perfect life, and then Malcolm: the loser kid who is just barely surviving day to day. But as the book moves along, Castellucci opens them all up and truly makes them complicated in a good way. Their stories became so interesting, I kept stopping to read parts aloud to people around me. And some of the book’s hardest moments come when Malcolm describes his relationship with his father: staring up at the stars together, memorizing constellations… and then the morning Malcolm heard the soft click of the door shutting, and the footsteps of his father leaving for good.

There is a fair bit of language and some eyebrow-raising content throughout, definitely putting this book on the edgy side of YA. Readers should be aware there are a couple of graphically-described physical traumas. But even through the heavy issues, Malcolm’s journey is truly one that ends with hope.

This is not a book I’d come back to again and again, but it is one that will weigh on me. Fans of coming-of-age novels will enjoy First Day On Earth. Castellucci has done a fine job here, relating raw emotions and the true pain of living in a world where you feel truly alone.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Harcourt Children’s Books

Publication Date: September 2010

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

Sara’s life seems anything but exciting: long, boring days sitting in a Turkish hotel waiting for her father to return from the hydroelectric plant. But then she discovers the carpet – a magical flying carpet. And everything changes for her and a Turkish friend, Amesh, when they board the carpet under the light of the stars. They sail out over the ocean and find themselves on the Island of the Djinn, who will grant wishes – for a price. And now they’re both in over their heads as their very souls are in danger. But then the real question looms: who will Sara be able to save? And at what price? Because in the end, she must learn to be very careful what she wishes for.

Best-selling author Christopher Pike dabbles into Middle Eastern mythology in The Secret of Ka. He carefully unfolds the story and the djinn legends as the book progresses, steadily gaining speed until the very last pages. It’s been quite a while since an author has truly surprised me, but Pike did so multiple times. At first things seem so simple and straightforward, and I believed I was settling into what might end up being a long, drawn-out book. But I was glad Pike proved me wrong. He strings the reader along with just enough mystery to keep us going. And the plot is fairly tight and interesting. Pike has said this is one book he didn’t really sit down and plan, but the little pieces come together near perfectly by the end – creating a tapestry almost as impelling as the flying Carpet of Ka.

There is a heavy romance throughout the book, and it drives much of the narrative along. Sara and Amesh’s relationship is highly strange – especially as the more fantasy-esque elements of the story emerge – and sometimes I didn’t always believe it. Near the end, they both make a few choices that left me baffled. I didn’t think the direction their romance headed in the end always felt right. And this was the one downfall of the book. If Pike had led the romance in a slightly different direction, I think it would have worked very well.

The beginning is firmly rooted in a very real, young adult world, with Sara first encountering Amesh. But things really pick up just a couple chapters in, and the payoff for what some might consider a slow start is worth it. Pike definitely aims at a slightly higher audience with some light language and a higher romantic tension throughout.

Not much more can be said about The Secret of Ka. To say more would ruin the surprises to come. And there are surprises. I love when a good book really picks me up and twists around near the end. And that’s exactly what Pike has accomplished here. I’m eager to try a few of his other novels now.

Readers who have grown past books like P.B. Kerr’s fantastic Children of the Lamp series would do well to find Pike’s The Secret of Ka. Wrapped up in this delightful book is a great blend of magic, mystery, and a dose of romance. The Secret of Ka leaves the reader wishing for their own flying carpet to float on under the stars.

Review copy provided by the Amazon Vine program.

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Publication Date: November 2011

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

Deep in the middle of the forest, way beyond any normal highways, is a place called Fort Eden. It’s a place where those with deep fears – who have come to the very end of themselves and can’t live another day – can go to find peace. But only seven are allowed. And Will Besting has been chosen. His psychiatrist believes that if Will can just get through the treatment, he can be cured of the fears stopping him from living a normal, teenage life. But Will soon discovers that the treatments seem to be harming each of them. And then Will discovers a place where he can hide. But how long can he go before the caretakers of Fort Eden find him? And what dark secrets will he discover? His only hope is to escape before his turn to be “cured” can come.

Patrick Carman has really hit the sweet spot. Dark Eden is a top-notch under-the-skin sort of thriller. Carman isn’t a stranger to writing scary stories – his Skeleton Creek books, as well as 3:15 Season One: Things That Go Bump In The Night, show that Carman can crank out stuff that will make your skin crawl. But Dark Eden takes it to another level:  a subtle, yet disturbing story about what truly makes us afraid.

Will Besting is a very interesting, underdog sort who has a deathly fear along with the other six teens sent to Fort Eden. Only he manages to escape from the Fort and is frantically trying to unravel the mystery of the place, along with dealing with the fear that keeps trying to eat him alive. Will’s odd conversations with others and himself really are unnerving and leave the reader in one sense deeply disturbed, and yet wanting Will to survive Fort Eden and figure it out.

The storyline is superb, and Carman takes us on his typical twisting ride, leaving the reader gasping near the end. He really manages to quietly weave the characters and plot together in a way that keeps us moving, and yet reflecting on the ideas of fear. A quiet sort of action persists throughout as Will continually tries to stay hidden and merely survive. The story moves pretty quickly, up to the final few moments. There are only a couple of minor, unanswered questions by the end, but nothing that will leave the reader hurting for the answers.

There is some violence and truly disturbing moments – one of them forcing me to put the book down because I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep afterwards. The different fears of the teens are things that many people face in their lives, and it was a definite mystery to discover which teen feared what.

Along with the book, there’s a downloadable app that can take readers deeper into the story with videos, audio segments, and maps. The audio and video are typical of Carman’s high-quality videos done for Skeleton Creek or the Trackers series. Teens who are more reluctant readers will love this different way of interacting with the story.

Fans of more complicated psychological-type thrillers will love Dark Eden, and the strange, twisting route it takes to the very end. It’s the sort of book to read on a dark night, when fear is at its highest. Maybe you’ll beat Fort Eden and make it through to the morning… or maybe you won’t.

Review copy provided by the Amazon Vine Program.

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Publication Date: September 2011

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

Scary stories can be a lot of fun – especially when they’re coming from the mind of Patrick Carman, author of the wildly popular Skeleton Creek books. And with 3:15 Season One, Carman delivers another spooky, multimedia piece of work that will leave readers gasping and pulling the covers up and over their heads.

Containing nine stand-alone stories and one tie-in to the Skeleton Creek books, Things That Go Bump in the Night boasts a good variety of scares. Each story begins with a passcode to enter on the 3:15 website, where readers can first hear an audio introduction to each story. The introductions are told by a man known as Paul Chandler, who has mysterious secrets of his own to hide away. After each intro, readers dive into the book to find out more of the story. And finally, as they finish reading, they log back onto the website and enter a second passcode that will unlock a video to finish the story.

The creepy introductions do well to set up the mood and perhaps a burning question, and then the written parts add to the general feel. But the scariest part of these stories is definitely the videos, which had me jumping multiple times and checking over my shoulder. I was wondering how the acting and production of each video would be, and I was pleasantly surprised. The actors and actresses do a good job portraying their characters, and even the small spattering of special effects are well done. A couple of times, it seemed like little details from the videos and the book didn’t always match up – such as a certain piece of clothing Carman described characters wearing. But otherwise, the videos fit very well with the format and leave things pretty chilling.

The ten stories are pretty varied, some taking place in the past such as “Buried Treasure” – the story of a boy living in the 1940′s, who ends up letting his greed get the better of him. Some of the stories were downright frightening, and ending up being my favorites, such as “The Lift” – a story about a teen who goes snowboarding and never comes back from the mountain. The atmosphere created in the audio introduction and throughout the written part definitely left me jumping out of my skin during the final moments of the video. Other tales don’t come off quite as well, and I found myself shrugging through them as just being slightly disturbing. One of the best payoffs and frights is in the final story “Night on the Dredge,” which is related to the Skeleton Creek books. The final film is very frightening, and had me reaching over to turn on the lights before I did anything else.

Carman’s writing is top notch as usual, and he uses the written parts of each story to set up fairly creepy tales. One of his best here is in the story “Heart of Stone,” in which Carman writes about a young girl who builds a strange obsession over checking to see if the gargoyle on her family’s high rise building is still there each night. The slow build up of the girl’s obsessive behavior added to the overall tone.

Fans of horror type-story collections such as Anthony Horowitz’s Bloody Horowitz or The Complete Horowitz Horror will have a lot of fun with these slightly lighter tales. The multimedia format works well to engage reluctant readers, who can work well with the video, audio and written parts of each story. Hopefully, 3:15 Season Two will be along shortly to give more scares and make all of us wonder just what those bumps in the night really are.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Genre: Children’s / Young Adult

Publisher: Aladdin

Publication Date: March 2011

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

I love discovering new authors. Ones who write well and keep me highly entertained are a huge plus. And Brandon Mull definitely delivers with his newest book, Beyonders: A World Without Heroes. There’s plenty of action. Plenty of humor. And some genuinely great villains and plot twists that make reading Mull’s work downright enjoyable.

Jason Walker thought life was pretty boring. Just going from school to home to baseball and back. But then he falls through a portal inside the mouth of a hippo and ends up in another world: Lyrian. It’s a place filled with danger and mysterious creatures – but that doesn’t even begin to describe Jason’s problems. When he accidentally stumbles onto the biggest secret in Lyrian, it’s up to him to band together with a handful of characters to stop the last and most evil wizard, Maldor, who rules over the land. And now Maldor is after Jason. But in order to defeat the Emperor, sacrifices must be made, friends might be lost, and everything Jason ever believed will be challenged until he can answer the question: will he choose to be a hero?

This was my first Mull book, and I must say I was very excited with it. A World Without Heroes sounded extremely interesting to me, and I’m glad I picked it up and started reading. The beginning does move a little more slowly than a typical middle-grade / YA novel might, but once this book gets rolling around chapter two, Mull gives us a ride that just does not stop. His action scenes run through very smoothly and Mull has dreamed up great solutions to get his characters out of danger’s way — at least for a little while. It was definitely hard to guess what might happen, and that made reading this first volume of the Beyonders series even better.

One of my favorite things about A World Without Heroes is just how dire and horrible things go for Jason and his friend Rachel, who face endless danger from nearly the beginning pages. And Mull has given us an utterly evil villain in Maldor, the Emperor of Lyrian – who always seems to be one step ahead, always anticipating their moves, always within killing reach through a spy or a loyal servant. I love when characters are constantly thrown into hopelessness and there really seems to be no way out. Mull delivers multiple dark moments, but saves the darkest for the end of the book putting an incredible twist onto the whole story. From giant crabs to devious puzzles and traps, Jason and Rachel must face it all. Mull manages to weave things together so well that small moments from early on become important later. There is a bit of gore splattered throughout, but nothing too outrageous or out of place.

Jason’s personal journey is interesting as well. His entire life has been utter boredom up until this point. And as he grows throughout the novel he has to choose: will he end up being a hero? Or will he succumb to the easier ways out? Soon he has to question what he really wants out of life: possible death at the hands of Maldor or living to see his family again. The side characters also make this novel downright fun: Ferrin — the loyal guide, Jasher — the noble warrior, Malar — the talking head, and many others. Mull uses these characters to bring in humor — and a lot of great plot twists.

Nothing is ever as it seems in the world of Lyrian – and nothing can surprise quite so much as Mull’s Beyonders. He stays away from many fantasy-novel cliches, or manages to twist them enough to make them his own. Fans of epic fantasy stories with humor, danger, and the unexpected will definitely enjoy A World Without Heroes.

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: StoneGate Ink

Publication Date: September 2011

Reviewed by Josh Olds

Ancient mythologies spoke of a bird called the phoenix that, upon death, resurrected itself from the ashes of its former life. Emery Phoenix has been burned several times in her life—the scars on her face leave the physical scars but it’s the scars on her heart that brings her real pain. She thought healing might begin, ironically, when she met a boy named Arson, but that only caused her life to spiral to the point it’s at now.

Arson Gable always knew he was a special kid, a freak, an outcast who could create fire. Nobody truly understood him. Until Emery came along, that is. Together the two outcasts worked together to discover the meaning of their existence, to hope amidst the brokenness, and to find love amidst hate. But all that led them to a place of utter despair.

Estevan Vega begins Ashes where he left off in Arson. Arson and Emery have been abducted after Arson’s powers manifested itself on a major scale. Now they find themselves a part of an underground experimental facility, human lab rats on which power-hungry scientists can feast. As Vega’s tale twists and ties itself together, the reader learns the true purpose of the facility, all while learning more about the nature of Arson’s past.

Emery’s parents—their relationship broken and nearly destroyed before the abduction—struggle to pull things together and find hope in a doubly hopeless situation. Joel takes off on a whim to find his daughter. He’s not sure why, but something seems to be calling to him. Maybe he just wants to escape from the wife he neither likes nor loves.

Everything builds to a resounding crescendo as the full purpose of the underground facility known as the Sanctuary is made known. In the end, Vega leaves readers with a breathtaking ending that leaves reading hoping it’s only the beginning for more of the story. Like Arson, Ashes takes a little while to build the context of the story. So much new is thrown in that must be tied to book one, that—just like Arson and Emery—the reader is left with his head spinning, trying to figure out what’s going down. But once the story latches hold, it rockets toward a pulse-pounding finish, full of twists and turns and unexpected events.

Vega is setting himself up to be a vanguard in the realm of speculative fiction. His stories are bizarre, out of the box, and brilliant. Ashes is a strong testament to Vega’s ability as a Storyteller—he keeps getting better, which means I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Review copy provided by author.

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Zondervan

Publication Date: August 2011

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

Erynn Mangum has been one of my favorite authors ever since a friend recommended Miss Match to me a couple years ago. Sketchy Behavior continues to deliver the quirky humor and drama of life while moving into some new territory.

Kate Carter loves art. Even though her dad wants to see her follow in the Carter family name and become some kind of engineer, that doesn’t set too well with Kate. But now she’s rethinking her passions. When a simple class assignment in sketching criminals leads to the arrest of a major serial killer, Kate doesn’t know what to do. News reporters cover her front lawn. The police applaud. The world seems grateful and relieved. But the killer wants revenge. And now he’s sending his friends after Kate. The question is: how long can Kate keep up her “I’m fine” excuse before everything crumbles? And how long will it take before the killer finds his next target: Kate Carter?

Sketchy Behavior aims to please a slightly different crowd than her previous two series did. Mangum leaves behind the twenty-something world of romance and life and enters a more suspense-driven young adult realm. Coming in less than 250 pages, this is definitely for a younger crowd, and older fans might not go for the more high-school-esque feel. The book is much more plot-driven than any of Mangum’s previous titles, and she pulls off the smattering of action scenes fairly well. There’s even a couple of interesting twists near the end that will leave readers flipping pages faster and faster to see what happens next. Romance doesn’t make it’s way into this novel, and fans of Cool Beans or Rematch might miss these elements.

Mangum’s strong suits are always in characters, and she definitely delivers here. Kate is fun to follow around, and just as spunky as Maya Davis or Lauren Holbrook. Some of my favorite moments take place in Kate’s first interactions with church — trying to understand the different quirks and nuances of the service. And as usual, I found myself laughing out loud at Kate and her antics. The surrounding cast is just as fun — from a psychiatrist mother to a logical and over-protective father — Mangum gives us plenty to laugh along with. Her villain is pretty terrifying, and definitely sounds like something stepping right out of the news and into Kate’s backyard.

This book felt like a step in a good direction, keeping a complicated and realistic main character, while giving us a little action and suspense. Teen fans of light-hearted suspense will enjoy this latest Mangum outing and be left hoping for more.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: YA

Publisher: Harcourt

Publication Date: September 2011

Reviewed by Jaci Miller

The story of Theseus and the Minotaur has come down through the ages relatively untouched. Now, Dark of the Moon by Tracy Barrett turns this myth on its head by relating the tale as if it was actually lived by the humans of that time—the real story, if you will. Much like the film Ever After puts a realistic spin on the tale of Cinderella; Dark of the Moon does the same for this myth.

Ariadne embraces her destiny as future goddess of the moon, but she longs to learn more about the world outside her home of Krete. When a shipment of slaves arrives as a tribute fromAthens, she sneaks down to the ship to see what she can learn of other lands. Instead, she meets Theseus, the son of the king ofAthens, a young man destined to die at the hands of a monster beneath the palace. If he is to live he must kill the beast. In a twist, this monster, Asterion, is Ariadne’s brother and not a monster at all, but a freakishly strong, mentally childlike human—not a bull-human creature. Ariadne is caught in the middle of a budding friendship, her religious responsibilities and her brother.

At first glance, this book sounds intriguing and action-packed, but honestly, the story languishes a bit as it expounds on the religious underpinnings that inform Ariadne’s daily life. Dumps of information and complicated theology make this an unlikely read for adventure seekers as the book is less concerned with Theseus’s adventures and more with Ariadne’s internal struggles. Indeed, the book is a coming-of-age story with a young would-be goddess learning to find her place as goddess. Read the rest of this entry »

Genre: Children’s / Young Adult

Publisher: Scholastic

Publication Date: August 2011

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

The Cahills are back in the new 39 Clues series, Cahills vs. Vespers. And this time the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been before. The team of authors behind this ground-breaking, multi-media book series have really outdone themselves in kicking things off with The Medusa Plot. With six new cards, more hidden puzzles, and danger behind every turn, Gordon Korman brings us the latest, and perhaps best, entry yet.

Amy and Dan Cahill thought they could return to their normal lives after the massive globe-trotting clue hunt. And two quiet years have gone by. Years filled with training for Amy… and a sinking depression for Dan. Then the Vespers strike – kidnapping various members of the Cahill family. Every moment Dan and Amy waste could cost them one of their family members. The clue hunt never prepared them for this. Not even Grace Cahill – the family mastermind – prepared them. For the first time, they are truly alone. And unless they follow the Vespers’ instructions to the letter, people will die.

Nothing could have prepared me for The Medusa Plot. Each chapter and page held new secrets. New surprises. Korman is at the absolute top of his form, and this easily bests any of his previous entries in the series. In fact – this new set of books promises to be worlds better than the first eleven. After a couple books, it wasn’t too hard to guess what the 39 clues might be for. But this time around – things are much more mysterious. And the hidden codes in the book make things even more intriguing. As usual, pieces of history are intertwined with the plot, taking Amy and Dan on some wild excursions and into some very deadly places.

Korman has amped up the action – with some great sequences, and also some rather frightening ones as well. The tone of this new series is definitely a bit darker than before, with issues between Amy and Dan, as well as a few unnerving plot developments. While there’s no explicit gore, there are a few scenes that might make younger readers squirm. Read the rest of this entry »

Genre: YA, Mystery

Publisher: Random House 

Publication Date: August 2011

Reviewed by P.J. Coldren

The Black Heart Crypt holds the bodies, and ghosts, of generations of Ickleby men – not a one of them a decent person.  Virginia, Sophie, and Hannah Jennings have sealed the ghosts in the crypt; the only way they can get out is if someone undoes the black stone heart puzzle used to seal the spell.  Zach Jennings is the nephew of the Jennings sisters; he can see ghosts, as could his father George before him, until the sisters helped George lose that particular gift.  They are ready to help Zack, if he wants them to.  Of course, the Ickleby’s may have something to say about all of this.

Zack’s friend Malik undoes the puzzle, thereby releasing the Ickleby’s.  He does this not knowing what solving the puzzle will do, although he and Azalea, Zach’s other good friend, soon find out.  Halloween is not a good time to be releasing ghosts; the veil between the natural world and the supernatural world is very thin at Halloween, and the Ickleby’s know this.  They try their best to continue their evil ways, although the Jennings sisters are fighting them at every turn.

Grabenstein has written mysteries for adults as well as the Zach Jennings series.  While his plots are pretty straightforward in the Zack books, his characters are just as well developed and subject to growth as those in his other series.  The series gives young male readers something that isn’t all that different from the world they know, and still it challenges their imaginations and reasoning abilities.  Readers can see, over the three books that Zach gets through things by thinking them through, by doing the right thing, and by enlisting help from his friends and family.  Zach grows up a little bit in each book.

Caveat Emptor: Minimal language issues, minor violence, definite references and acceptance of the supernatural world.

Review copy provided by the author.

Genre: Steam Punk, YA

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Publication Date: May 2011

Reviewed by P.J. Coldren

Finley Jayne knows she is different, but not how she got that way or what the extent of her differences might be.  When she is in the grip of strong emotions, a dark side to her nature is released and she can do a lot of damage.  Felix August-Rayne is the son of her employer, and he puts the moves on her with disastrous results for both of them.  Maids are not supposed to argue with any member of their employer’s family and they are supposed to be chaste and pure.  Felix relies on the first to ensure that the second is not possible.  Either way, Finley knows she will be out of a job.  And she is, but not until she beats the crap out of Felix.

As she flees the house in the middle of the night, she literally runs into Griffin, Duke of Greythorne, on his velocycle.  Neither she nor the velocycle should have been able to move as fast as they both were which leads to a certain level of injury.  Griff takes her back to Greythorne House and his own personal band of misfits.  They are working on a series of unusual crimes, crimes in which robots have turned on humans and caused injury.  Finley seems like she’ll fit right in, once she sorts out all the relationships and crosscurrents.

Cross held my interest from page one.  Steampunk is a fairly new sub-genre in young adult fiction.  It is to the Victorians/Industrial Revolution/Steam Age what the Society for Creative Anachronisms is to the Middle Ages/Medieval Era.  Read the rest of this entry »

Genre: YA, Mystery, Suspense

Publisher: David C. Cook

Publication Date: June 2011

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

If you’re reading Gravestone, it’s likely that you will have read the book that comes before it, Solitary. If not, stop now, go the library or your closest store and get a copy. Gravestone is not the book with which you want to start. Now that said, there be spoilers for Solitary in this review, so if you haven’t read that one yet, you might want to wait on this review as well.

Now that all of the housekeeping is out of the way, let me start by saying this. Chris Buckley is in trouble. If he didn’t realize it before, he knows it now. Everyone in the town believes that his girlfriend, Jocelyn, broke up with him and moved away. They’ve even gotten emails to prove that she’s there and she wants nothing to do with him. But Chris knows different. Jocelyn was killed by a group of people right in front of his eyes. He watched her die. But no one believes him and now, he’s on their radar.

So as Chris tries to keep his head down at the same time that he tries to figure out how to get himself and his mother out of this mess. Oh and speaking of his mother, she’s in the mess too. She’s been having nightmares at night about a man coming into her room. Or are they nightmares? And what’s up with that creepy pastor of that weird church with the upside down crosses?? Why’s he suddenly hanging around so much?

As Travis Thrasher’s Solitary series presses on toward what we can only imagine is a cataclysmic battle of good and evil, this second installment to the series leaves no thrills or chills behind. Unfolding like an old fashioned Hitchcockian adventure, this book is guaranteed to leave you with goose bumps and perhaps, a desire to check all the cabinetry in your home to be sure it’s really what it’s supposed to be. Read the rest of this entry »

Genre: Steam Punk, YA

Publisher: Night Shade Books and Brilliance Audio

Publication Date: January 2011

Reviewed by P.J. Coldren

Agatha Clay lives in Beetleburg with her parents, Adam and Lilith.  She is a student at the Transylvania Polygnostic University, working as a minor lab assistant and getting very frustrated with her inability to make anything that works.  One day Baron Klaus Wulfenbach overthrows the University and the town.  The Baron has done this to most of Europa, maintaining some kind of peace.  He looks for Sparks, the brilliant and frequently mad inventors who have the capability to create all kinds of machines.  Most of them are not practical, but the Baron is far more interested in the minds of the Sparks than in what they create.  He is training his son Gilgamesh to rule his empire.

Agatha finds herself a prisoner on the Baron’s airship, Castle Wulfenbach.  She goes through a bit of culture shock, finds that she CAN make things that work, and ends up being Gilgamesh’s assistant.  There are romantic sparks between the two, although they both resist the inevitable.

This is obviously an alternate world universe, one in which steam, gears, and the like have become the mainstay of machines.  It’s as if the Industrial Revolution never made it to electricity or nuclear power.   The absent heroes are the Heterodyne Boys, adventurers and inventors who have been missing for a decade and a half.  Their exploits are the stuff of story and legend; non-Sparks pray they return to battle Baron Wulfenbach and the other Sparks.

This novel is based, as I understand it, on the graphic novels about the Girl Genius (Agatha Clay).  The novel is full of adventure, a bit of romance, and tons of mad science . . . And for a change, the Girl is the hero!  Some of the characters are larger than life, histrionic, a bit out there.  It works in the context of the story.

The book was read by Angela Dawe.  She did a fine job.  If there are more coming in this series, and one hopes there are, one also hopes that Angela Dawe gets to read them all.  There are numerous characters of all ages and backgrounds; Dawe is able to keep them all separate in the listener’s head.  She does this through accent, intonation, pitch, and various other means necessary to a good storyteller.

Warning: Minimal language issues, minor violence, some discussion of Agatha’s tendency (not on purpose) to appear in her undergarments.

Book purchased by reviewer.

Genre: Young Adult / Children

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Publication Date: May 2011

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

Excitement cannot begin to describe Rick Riordan’s newest powerhouse The Throne of Fire. Blazing with action, humor, surprises, and a very blatant theme — the newest book in The Kane Chronicles really sets a standard in YA fiction. Riordan brings back all the adventure from The Red Pyramid in his take on Egyptian mythology. And fans will not be disappointed.

Carter and Sadie Kane have fought gods, demons, and magicians from all over the world before — and now they have to do it again. Apophis — the evil Lord of Chaos is rising, and everyone is panicked: who in their right mind would ever be able to stand against such a force? Even just being near the prison of Apophis is enough to disintegrate a mortal. But the Kanes know that they have to do something — anything — to unite the House of Life and all its magicians in the coming battle. And the only way to do that is on a risky gamble: bring back the king of the gods: Ra. But wakening Ra might not be as easy as Carter and Sadie think — and there are rumors that have them both nervous: Ra left for a reason. And he might not want to come back. With the clock ticking down to doomsday, evil villains and insane gods out to kill them, and secrets and lies everywhere, how can the Kanes even expect to survive? Read the rest of this entry »

Genre: YA, Mystery

Publisher: Tommy Nelson

Publication Dates: May 2011

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

Griffin Sharpe isn’t quite sure what to think of his uncle. Never having met him before, he’s only heard a few things from his mother about what life was like growing up with her brother. So when she sends Griffin off to stay with him for the summer, he’s certain there will be lots of adventure and fun. And with his uncle’s very famous address of 221 Baker Street in London? Griffin’s absolutely certain that he knows precisely who his mysterious uncle is. After all, Griffin has an incredible eye for detail and a photographic memory. His mother and father don’t, so he must have gotten it somewhere in the family. A detective at 221 Baker Street? His uncle MUST be Sherlock Holmes!

Imagine his deep disappointment when he discovers that Mr. Holmes resides at 221 B Baker Street. His uncle is, instead, a beaten down, dirty, crude and rude man named Rupert Snodgrass. And Uncle Rupert is not happy at all about having a little boy he doesn’t know on his doorstep.

Instantly, the two of them get along like oil and water. Though Griffin does his best to do every single thing he can to keep his uncle happy, it doesn’t seem to matter. Griffin prays and seeks God’s will at every turn for how he can reach his uncle and at the same time, he tries to survive this trip to London without starving to death or getting himself in trouble. Read the rest of this entry »

Genre: YA

Publisher: Poppy

Publication Dates: April 2011

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

Louise Lambert is a teen with issues. Well, not really big issues. They’re your standard ordinary issues that most teenagers deal with on a regular basis. Things like wishing she looked different, loving fashion and some odd, albeit caring and considerate parents.

When Louise gets an invitation to an exclusive vintage clothing sale, she’s over the moon. Perhaps she can find a really fantastic stand out dress for the upcoming dance that she’s been stressed over. Upon arrival in the little shop, she does find the perfect dress – but it’s amazing how perfect the dress actually is. Vintage, and dating back to 1912, when Louise puts the dress on, she ends up in 1912. (I’m such a sucker for time travel books!) Not only is she in 1912, but everyone else sees her as a gorgeous 17 year old actress known all over the world. As much as she’d like to get back to her normal life, family and friends, being catered to and living the high society life inside a gorgeous teenager isn’t that bad. Or is it? Read the rest of this entry »

Genre: Children’s

Publisher: Scholastic

Publication Date: April 2011

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

To all Cahills:

Warning! This review is for your eyes only. If you fear Vespers are tracking you, immediately shut off your laptop, mobile, or other wireless device. Once you’ve gone a safe distance be sure to delete your browsing history. The Vespers are everywhere, and they’re now beginning to make their final moves. And I don’t think I need to warn you just what is at stake if the Vesper family gets their hands on all 39 Clues and Gideon Cahill’s mysterious ring. The world is in your hands, Cahill agent.

Rick Riordan, Peter Lerangis, Gordon Korman, and Jude Watson team up to bring the latest installment in The 39 Clues saga with book eleven: Vespers Rising. Meant to be a transition between the first ten books and the upcoming series, Cahills Vs. Vespers, this volume offers four stories by the authors. There are no chapters exactly, but instead long “short stories” about four different Cahill family members. Newcomers to the series should really go back to book one, The Maze of Bones, instead of trying to tackle the subtle references and mysteries that would not make much sense otherwise. Read the rest of this entry »

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Science Fiction

Publisher: Living Ink Books

Publication Date: July 2010

Reviewed by Kaci Hill

Fifteen years have passed since the events of The Bones of Makaidos (book four of the Oracles of Fire series), where our four heroes, Billy, Bonnie, Walter, and Ashley entered adulthood and a period of peace. Now, Mr. Davis brings us the beginnings of a new series, Children of the Bard. Book one, Song of the Ovulum, opens up with Bonnie, Ashley, and Billy in prison, dying dragons, and a pair of siblings named Joran and Selah.

There’s two timelines to follow for a good portion of the book:  Joran and Selah, whose story begins the day before Noah’s Flood, and the 2020s A.D. Chapter one begins with Joran and Selah, who have a gift. They fight demons with a lyre and two sonic rods and use song to capture and destroy them. They’re charged with the task of protecting the ark, but they will not themselves be on the ark. But through a series of events, they are themselves preserved another way. . . for centuries. In the present, Bonnie sees their story unfold while she’s unconscious, and events finally bring the siblings into the present.  Meanwhile, Walter and a pair of teenagers, a boy and girl, carry the action.

I admittedly wasn’t sure, initially, what I thought about a third series. The story felt complete on its own. But Mr. Davis didn’t just drag out a complete story; he started afresh with the twin children of legacy and five-thousand year-old teenagers from Genesis six. Most of Joran and Selah’s arc is from Joran’s perspective, and he’s very well-developed and carries his end of the plot well. He’s hurting and angry, but beneath all that he’s a good kid who matures as the story progresses. His arc is one of redemption, a theme Davis develops beautifully. Read the rest of this entry »

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Audiobook

Publisher: Brilliance Audio & Random House Press

Publication Date:  2004, Random House  2009, Brilliance Audio

Reviewed by P.J. Coldren

Kale, an orphan slave from Orant (all names are a guess, because I listened to this in audio form) is a Dragonkeeper and drawn to the eggs of dragons.  She is sent by her village to be a servant of Paladin.  On her way to the city, she is abducted and escapes.  She is found by other servants of Paladin, and informed that she is now on a quest.  She is to find the Meech egg and bring it to Paladin.  The evil Risto has the Meech egg in his castle, and his minions guard it well.

Kale is accompanied on her quest by the Wizard Fenworth, a Daneel named Dar (that’s the short version), and her mentor LeeTwo.  Along the way this core group acquires some other servants of Paladin, all there to help Kale find and keep the Meech egg.  As with all quests, there are adventures, mysterious happenings, set-backs.  Kale finds out that she knows nothing (as her village mayor told her), and that she has powers she must learn to control.   Her companions help her learn what she must know, as best they can, and work with her on how to control her powers.

This is the first book in a series.  While listening to it, I was reminded of C. S. Lewis’s CHRONICLES OF NARNIA.  Both are fantasies, both are allegories dealing with faith and the pursuit of faith, both can speak to both adults and children old enough to read the books.  ON Kale’s world, Waldur is the supreme authority and Paladin knows what Waldur knows – he is a physical connection to Waldur.  One can communicate with Waldur without knowing Paladin, and Waldur can protect one even if Paladin is not there.  DRAGONSPELL can be enjoyed even if one doesn’t make any connection to the faith aspects of the book; Paul is a very good writer.

Ellen Grafton does a good job reading this unabridged version.  Her voice brings a young girl to mind, although she has no difficulty making Paladin and some of the other older characters seem their age.  I think having someone with a “young” voice makes the story more accessible to young listeners.

Audiobook purchased by reviewer.

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Philomel

Publication Date: March 2011

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

Anthony Horowitz has led readers on incredible journeys — across continents, through city streets and beneath them, from the stale halls of MI6 headquarters to the greasy oil rigs of the Pacific. And now, he brings us to the final chapter in Alex Rider’s story: Scorpia Rising.

Twice before Alex has foiled the criminal organization known as Scorpia. And now they want revenge. They want to take Alex Rider down and make sure he never has another chance to spy for MI6 again. And this time, they will stop at absolutely nothing to make sure Rider comes back to England in a body bag. And Alex has no idea the incredible amount of evil that has joined forces with Scorpia to make sure it happens — enemies from the past join with new ones. Old friends come to help, but will it be enough to keep Alex alive?

From the very beginning, Scorpia Rising felt like the end. Horowitz pulls out a style that ends up being very final in every sense. Read the rest of this entry »

Genre: Fantasy, YA

Publisher: Marcher Lord Press

Publication Date: April 2011

Reviewed by Jake Chism

Achan Cham has fully embraced Arman’s will and is ready to take the throne once and for all. As war stirs around him he faces an enemy that is as mysterious as he is dark. To make matters worse, rumors abound that Esek has survived and is still planning to steal the crown. Amidst the turmoil Achan is broken hearted and tossed and turned by his emotions. Even though he is engaged to Lady Averella of Carmine, his heart still lies with Vrell Sparrow. While he questions Arman’s will in regards to his heart, he still has no idea that Lady Averella and Vrell Sparrow are one in the same.

Vrell wants to give her heart to Achan and reveal her true identity, but she refuses to fall in love with a man who does not follow Arman. Seeking to both distance herself from her complicated love life and find a way to serve Arman, Vrell sneaks away to serve as a healer in the upcoming war. Things quickly spin out of control and Vrell finds herself lost in the Veil.

Now Achan and Vrell find themselves in over their heads as darkness is spreading and threatens to overtake all of Er’Rets. They’ve always known that without Arman all would be hopeless, but the sacrifices are greater than they ever imagined and the odds are seemingly stacked against them. Can they find the strength to submit fully to Arman’s will and put an end to the reign of darkness?

From Darkness Won is exactly what I wanted it to be. Throughout this trilogy Jill Williamson has kept us churning the pages with anticipation that answers and closure were coming. Fans of the series get a huge payoff here and not only that, but Williamson also saved the best story for last. Read the rest of this entry »

Genre: Fantasy, YA

Publisher: Living Ink Books

Publication Date: April 2011

Jake Chism’s Review:

Kr’Nunos has suffered a devastating blow from brothers Hadyn and Ewan Barlow, who have foiled his plans to ruin the youth of Karac Tor. However, Kr’Nunos has his sights set on an even darker plan. Once and for all he will destroy Corus, the great champion of the land that Kr’Nunos keeps imprisoned in Hel. With Corus out of the way, he can finally lead his evil army out to take control of Karac Tor. Unfortunately for Kr’Nunos, Hadyn and Ewan will continue to fight along with their brothers Garrett and Gabe, who have also been called to this mysterious land for a greater purpose. Together they must unite a divided people and confront the one who seeks to destroy them all.

In 2008, D. Barkley Briggs released The Book of Names (Book 1 of The Legends of Karac Tor), only to find out shortly after that his publisher had dissolved their entire fiction line. Fans of the series were shocked and Briggs was left without a publishing home. Four years later fans are rejoicing with the news that Living Ink Books is now publishing the entire series, and has even committed to the five books that Briggs originally intended. It has been a long wait, but faithful fans will be glad to know that it was certainly worth it. Read the rest of this entry »

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Aladdin

Publication Date: February 2011

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

The end of a book series is always bittersweet. There’s the excitement of finally seeing what happens, but also the sadness of leaving a world behind. And now P.W. Catanese brings readers to the finale of The Books of Umber trilogy with the last installment, The End of Time. I wondered if the ending would live up to the previous two books, Happenstance Found and Dragon Games. But I have to say: The End of Time is the best one yet.

Umber has sunk deep into another depression, and things in the kingdom are grim with Prince Loden looking to claim the throne. Happenstance, Umber’s ward, dreads the moment when he will be faced with the challenge of saving an entire world – all while old enemies are drawing close. And that’s when the whispers begin: something powerful and unknown is coming across the ocean from the mysterious Far Continent. To make things even worse, deep beneath the Aerie, an evil is growing, biding its time before striking. Everything is coming to the pivotal moment when Happenstance must face his true fears and powers: can he save his friends? Or will he led them all to a fate worse than death? Read the rest of this entry »

Genre: Fantasy, YA

Publisher: Living Ink Books

Publication Date: April 2011

Reviewed by Jake Chism

Hadyn Barlow and his brother, Ewan, have never wanted to live in the middle of nowhere Missouri, but after the tragic loss of their mother that is just where life has brought them. Making the best of the situation they set out to help their father with some chores while on Thanksgiving break. Amidst their work they discover a mysterious stone formation hidden on their land. The discovery is highlighted by a frightening encounter with four large birds that seem to be delivering them a message. It seems the formation they have uncovered is an ancient rune stone that serves as a portal to another world. As the brothers explore this fascinating new land they soon discover that their arrival is anything but coincidence. Darkness threatens to destroy the ancient world of Karac Tor and Hadyn and Ewan have been called to fight it.

The Book of Names is everything you could want in an epic fantasy adventure: Good vs. evil, wondrous landscapes and settings, intriguing characters, mysterious magic, and action scenes galore. D. Barkley Briggs works his own brilliant magic as he weaves all of these elements together into a dazzling journey that leaps off the pages as each new chapter unfolds.

Briggs will no doubt be lauded for his clever writing and delectable prose, but his strength is his ability to tell a story. We are given characters that we care about and clear cut heroes and villains that we love to cheer and loathe. Themes of faith and redemption ring loud and true without seeming manufactured or irrelevant to the story. In the end Briggs gives us a delightful taste of what is to come with a brilliant twist that will surely send this series in an altogether exciting new direction.

Young and old alike will be charmed and captivated by D. Barkley Briggs and his exceptional storytelling prowess. The Book of Names is certainly worthy of your attention and the perfect first installment to what is sure to be a groundbreaking new series.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publication Date: January 2011

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

Thomas Nelson has been hitting YA gold lately. With their wildly good Dreamhouse Kings by Robert Liparulo, The Homelanders by Andrew Klavan, The Lost Books by Ted Dekker & Kaci Hill, the publisher has been a real powerhouse in putting out solid fiction with solid stories and characters. And now, Jon S. Lewis enters the fray with his equally great Invasion, book one in the C.H.A.O.S. series.

Colt McAlister’s parents are dead. And he doesn’t understand what’s happening. Especially when he has to move in with his grandfather in Arizona. Things aren’t quite what they seem to be, and soon more questions are flying around than Colt has answers for. And then things get really crazy as Colt learns the truth: this planet isn’t alone. And there are evil forces threatening to invade. And now it all falls to Colt — can he save the world and keep his friends alive at the same time?

Lewis isn’t a stranger to the YA world. With his popular Grey Griffins books, he definitely knows what he’s doing. And he creates a fun universe filled with all kinds of strange stuff from shape-shifting aliens to flying motorcycles and jet packs. The writing moves along swiftly, and Lewis balances character and plot well. The chapters are fairly short, but don’t feel too stunted or quick. Some of the action scenes are top-notch, often reminiscent of Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider books. Things leave off well at the end of the story, but not so much that Lewis has nowhere to go next time around. A sketchbook of sorts is included detailing different characters and highlighting possible future mysteries to be solved.

But this isn’t just a straight-up, non-stop action extravaganza. Lewis takes some time to dive into the emotions behind Colt losing his parents, and issues of revenge and being open to others. Colt’s character is well explored and given enough depth to keep things interesting. A couple of side characters do tend to seem similar, but overall, Lewis does a good job with his supporting cast.

At times Invasion almost reads like a fun nostalgic throwback — mixing elements of stories like The Rocketeer, Captain America, and 1940′s action-adventure serials into something new and fun. Lewis will definitely gain many new fans through this series. I know I’m one.

Book purchased by reviewer.

Genre: Religious, YA

Publisher: Risen Books

Publication Dates: March 2011

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

Robyn is a typical Christian teenager. She loves her friends, her youth group, and she’s generally happy with her life. One day, when she arrives at school, she sees one of her friends in the middle of a very large group of people and realizes she’s being interviewed by a local news reporter. Her friend isn’t in a good place and Robyn can tell she’s very uncomfortable. Without even a thought for herself, Robyn wades into the fray to help her friend and consequently, into the middle of a very dangerous spiritual battle.

The news reporter turns all of Robyn’s words upside down, the new boy at school is suddenly very interested in who she is, and her little show of courage has caused her Bible study to vote her as their new leader. Now she’s in the sights of the Principal, the caustic reporter, and forces that are far more dangerous than she realizes.

I’ve been reading a lot of YA books lately and some of them have really hit the mark. Others, unfortunately, have not. I had mixed feelings about this book right away. I liked where she was going, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about the tone of the book. It took me a little bit of time to get into it and really enjoy the story. Once I did, I devoured the rest of the book very quickly. (One evening actually.)

When I got to the end I realized I’d liked the mystery, the characters, and the way that she built the story. The plot moved quickly, kept you guessing and threw a few twists into the middle. The characters seemed spot on for teenagers and the situations were realistic.

I thought to myself though that this is a book that really should be ready WITH a parent or a spiritual leader as a mentor. That way some of the situations and more tense scenes can be discussed and talked through so they’re understood.

These situations are serious and could be heavy for a young person. This could be especially so with one who has just become a Christian or who is young in their walk. Don’t get me wrong. This is a good book. Shellie Neumeier pulls no punches in what spiritual warfare is about and she writes some really good creepy scenes. Some of her situations gave me goose bumps and I was reading during the daylight hours surrounded by people. It was GOOD stuff. But because of the subject matter, I’d recommend parents realize that this could open some heavy topics of conversation and in some cases, might open up some fears in young people.

If you decide to read it or gift it to a young person – get two copies so you can have one for yourself. It’s well worth the read and everything she addresses needs to be discussed. But it’s not for younger readers (under 15/16) and it needs follow up from a good adult mentor/parent/role model that can help answer any questions that may pop up.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Romance, Religious, YA, Supernatural

Publisher: David C. Cook

Publication Dates: February 2011

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

Gabriella Bettarini is a typical seventeen year old who is trying to find her way through life since her father passed away. For her and her younger sister, Lia, the struggle has been to figure out where they fit in their mother’s life since her father’s death. An archaeologist who devoted herself to her husband and her work, Gabi’s mother has spent more of her life studying the past than connecting with her present.

When Gabi, her mother and her sister go on another trip to Italy to explore Etruscan remains, Gabi’s bored and trying to figure out how to have some fun. When she wanders into an ancient tomb that her mother discovers and puts her hand on a really interesting handprint, she and her sister are suddenly transported to sixteenth century Italy. Seriously.

A 17 year old girl in skinny jeans, cami top and thin cardigan lands in the middle (literally) of a battle between two separate groups of knights. Oh and one of the knights? Total hottie. Yup. She’s 17 – what are we supposed to expect?

So Gabi, rescued by aforementioned hottie, now has to figure out not only how she got into 14^th century Italy, but if Lia, her sister came with her and how they can get back. In many instances, this becomes a fight for her life as she struggles with new customs, clothes and the daily grind of violence and death that many romanticize out of medieval romances.

I’m going to cut to the chase. I loved this book. In fact, I loved it with a deep abiding passion. When I finished it (in less than 2 days) I slammed the cover shut and pronounced to my whole family that I loved the book. If you’ve read any of my previous reviews you know that I’m a little vocal when reading books that I enjoy. I was frantic to try and get my hands on the next book. I immediately went online and began searching for more information. Lest you miss what I’m saying here, I LOVED THIS BOOK.

The characters were fabulous. Spot on teenagers for the modern day girls mixed with what I can only assume are wonderful characterizations of teenagers in medieval times. (Hey- I grew up in the 80’s… I’m not that old!) I loved the parallels between 17 year old girls of the time mixed with modern day girls. The differences in the way that they see themselves, their futures and handle their daily lives are wonderfully described by Bergren. What I loved the most was that she also showed how teenage girls aren’t that different. As anyone who has been a teenage girl can attest, they aren’t always all sunshine and roses. In fact, in some instances, they can be scheming, manipulative and very much not nice. Bergren hits on this pretty quickly as Gabi begins to work her way through her time travel dilemma.

Where she could have created clear cut enemies and friends, she didn’t though. All is not black and white with Lady Rossi, the potential enemy of Gabi. She’s obviously calculating (the hottie mentioned above is her betrothed) but she also doesn’t hesitate to give credit where it’s due and reach out the olive branch when needed.

Full of action and adventure that keep the plot moving forward at a good clip, Bergren’s tale of romance out of time delights, enthralls, and leaves the reader yearning to find out what happens to these beloved characters. Oh and did I mention ROMANCE? Seriously. Lots of romance. Good, clean, romantic, heart rending romance. Bergren filled this book with so much goodness that I can’t highly recommend it enough.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Fantasy, YA

Publisher: Marcher Lord Press

Publication Date: April 2010

Reviewed by Jake Chism

Having discovered his true identity, Achan Cham flees to Darkness from those who would destroy him. By his side are Vrell Sparrow, Sir Gavin, and his fellow Kingsguard Knights. Their mission is to break into the Ice Island prison to free their imprisoned comrades. Esek is hot on their trail and they will need an army if Achan is to successfully claim his throne.

All the while Achan and Vrell grow closer, which makes it more difficult for Vrell to hide her true identity. She must balance her emotions if she is to help Achan embrace his destiny. Arman’s path has never been easy, but this leg of the journey will test her faith more than anything that has come before.

Jill Williamson is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors and this brilliant second offering further proves why. As much as I loved the first book in this series (By Darkness Hid), I found myself even more captivated this time around. Much of this story takes place in the Darkness side of Er’Rets, taking us on a pulse pounding journey filled with new locations, eerie villains, and even more adventure. Indeed, this book is much darker than the first allowing Williams to showcase her uncanny ability to plunge her characters (and readers) into despair without losing sight of the light that is always within reach.

Having Achan and Vrell together for the majority of this story really pays off for fans who want more interaction between the two.  Vrell’s struggle to keep her identity brings just the right amount of humor to the story, balanced with the emotional and spiritual turmoil she finds herself in. In the end, we are left with an intriguing glimpse of what is to come, all but ensuring that the “tension” between Achan and Vrell is only just beginning.

Even though this series is full of lovable characters, grand adventure, and surprising twists it all only works together to display the powerful spiritual messages Williamson has carefully woven throughout. Never preachy, yet always relevant and stirring, this is the kind of faith based fiction I love. The final book in the series, From Darkness Won, is just around the corner and you can be sure that I will fight my way to the front of the line.

Review copy provided by author.

Don’t miss our review of By Darkness Hid and our podcast interview with Jill Williamson.

Genre: Fantasy, YA

Publisher: Marcher Lord Press

Publication Date: April 2009

Reviewed by Jake Chism

Achan Cham has been held captive his entire life, but his heart has always longed to be free. Day after day his master heaps abuse on him, maiming his pride, but never quenching his spirit. When an aged Kingsguard Knight offers to take him as his squire, Achan begins to believe that things are indeed turning around. As Achan takes up the sword to train he also discovers he has the unique gift known as bloodvoicing that allows him to communicate with his mind. Achan’s life is indeed changing, but nothing can prepare him for the journey ahead.

Vrell Sparrow is on the run and has disguised herself as a boy to escape an arranged marriage to an evil tyrant. A strong follower of Arman, the Creator, Vrell longs to serve Him at all cost, even if it means giving up her life of privilege. Vrell also has the ability to bloodvoice and recently she has heard the thoughts of Achan as he tries to master his newfound ability. Even though she doesn’t know him, she can tell he is far more powerful than he realizes. As Vrell sets out on her own journey she begins to sense that Arman has great plans for Achan, and she may be the only one who can help him become who he was born to be.

As a kid I cut my teeth on epic fantasy. Terry Brooks, Tolkien, Terry Goodkind, even a dash of Piers Anthony here and there. I love sweeping adventure, with complex plots, deep characters, and grand battles of good VS evil. I had high hopes for this series going into book one, but I never expected to enjoy it as much as my childhood favs. Jill Williamson has just pulled the rug out from under me with this highly impressive debut.

Solid characters are the backbone for any great story, and Achan and Vrell more than fit the bill. Williamson effortlessly alternates between their story lines throughout the book giving us a balanced approach that never lags or wanders too far off the map.

The pacing of this story is a wonder to behold. Williamson manages to balance the action, humor, suspense, and emotion in such a way that the reader forgets about the massive page count. Indeed, anyone reading this book on an e-reader will be shocked to know that the hard copy is 500 plus pages.

What I love most about this story is how the spiritual message shines through without seeming forced or manufactured. You will find no squeaky clean characters or glossed over violence in this book. However, the portrayal of darkness only makes the light shine brighter, and Jill Williamson does this with a style and grace that is wondrous.

By Darkness Hid does everything the first book in a series should, giving us heroes to love, villains to loathe, and the promise of great story to come. I can’t recommend this one enough.

Review copy provided by author.

Don’t miss our review of To Darkness Fled and our podcast interview with Jill Williamson.

Genre: Fantasy, YA

Publisher: Scholastic

Publication Dates: September 2010

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

Jacob Reckless never planned to enter another world. Even though this one seemed to be crumbling around him with the disappearance of his father and the subsequent decline of his mother’s health, he still didn’t expect to actually leave the life he’d always known. But when the mirror beckoned to him, the pull was too strong for him to resist.

So now Jacob spends his time as a treasure hunter. Renowned in the other world for his abilities, he now knows that all the fairy tales and children’s stories that he’d heard growing up weren’t just stories. He’s experienced the reality of sleeping beauty and seen the home of Hansel and Gretel’s witch.  Through all that danger, he has learned how to take care of himself. What he hasn’t learned is how to keep his brother, Will, safe. And Will is in a miserable situation right now. He’s turning into a Goyl. That’s a person made of stone for those of us who live on ‘this side.’ Each day Jacob can see more and more of the stone taking over his brother’s body.  Legend says that there’s no way to halt the change, but Jacob also knows that legends aren’t always fact. This is why he sets out to reverse the course of his brother’s existence.

Jacob, known as a famous treasure hunter in this world, relies on some of the contacts he’s made over the years to get information that may help his brother. In the meantime, he’s got to fight off people who want to kill his brother for turning into a Goyl, keep his brother’s girlfriend safe, and work with Fox, a beautiful young woman who can change, at will, into a fox. (Actually she prefers this form over her human form.)

Once again, Cornelia Funke has allowed us a glimpse into a new world. As with previous books, it’s a world that is delightful and frightening all at once. As readers, we can sit comfortably in our homes and experience a world that is populated with familiar fairy tales and stories from our childhoods but isn’t quite as bright and cheery as our big picture books might have led us to believe. There are some dark moments that could be scary in these books. For the appropriate age though, they are perfect.

Cornelia Funke has a talent for creating vividly beautiful settings and worlds that are also exceptionally dangerous. Full of intrigue, adventure and a lot of action, this book is certain to kidnap the imagination of the reader and take it on a journey that won’t soon be forgotten.

Funke’s writing seems to live and breathe on its own. With words that wrap around you and tease you deeper and deeper into the story like a butterfly in flight, this is a definite must read for fans of Funke’s work. And if you’re not already a fan, you have no idea what you’re missing.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Children’s/YA

Publisher: Farrar, Straus, Giroux

Publication date: May 2008

Reviewed by Anne Barnhill

In her debut children’s novel, Hummingbird, Kimberly Angel explores unexpected territory in a book meant for young people–death, loss, friendship and grief–subjects most adults find disturbing.  However, in Angel’s capable hands, these dark themes do not overwhelm the reader; rather, the reader finds comfort and hope as the story of March Anne Tanner, a 12-year-old girl living on her grandparents’ watermelon farm, unfolds.

March Anne lost her mother when her little brother, Kevin, was born.  Since then, she and Kevin, along with their daddy, have lived on the family farm.  Her grandmother, Grenna, is the matriarch and caretaker.  From Grenna, March Anne learns how the world works and what is expected of her.  She learns to appreciate the world around her, especially the cardinals and hummingbirds.  Her two best friends, Meg and Laverne, provide further support.  Their secret club, the Pseudonymphs, is rich in ritual and tradition–and allows them to change their names with each changing season.  Of course, they keep their new names to themselves, but take great joy in picking and choosing whatever name grabs them.

When Grenna has a heart attack, things change on the Tanner Watermelon Farm.  March Anne must take over Grenna’s chores, including cooking.  The results are often less than mouth-watering.  However, as March Anne keeps trying, we see how hard it is to lose not one, but two mothers and how March Anne must cope with what are often devastating circumstances.  When Grenna passes away, March Anne’s grief is real and not maudlin or sentimental.  Angel does a good job steering the course away from any sort of easy answers.

I cuddled beside her but I didn’t want to look (at Zipp, the hummingbird who was

wintering in their barn).

“I can’t take this, Grenna.  I can’t take this.”

“I know, child.  It’s the hardest thing to say goodbye, but we all must do it.”

“I don’t know how.”

“Oh, fiddlehead ferns, March Anne.  None of us know how.  It’s just something

we’ve got to endure.  We never get to know.  We simply get to choose.”

“Choose?  Choose what?”

“Choose life, of course,” Grenna said, as if it were the clearest thing in the world.

“That’s what the Good Book tells us, and near the beginning, too.  The Lord says

‘Choose life.’  It doesn’t mean bad things won’t happen, it just means that there’s

enough good mixed up with the bad to make life worth living.”

As the book moves to its end, the reader is heartened to believe that even the worst sorrows can be healed, and the choices we make when we are dealt a bad hand are more important than the hand itself.  This lovely book has been nominated for two awards, the Georgia Children’s Book Award (2010-2011) and the Children’s Crown Award (2010-1011).  A well-deserved accolade for an impressive debut.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Young Adult

Publisher: WaterBrook Press

Publication Date: September 2010

Reviewed by Kaci Hill

Dragons of the Valley is the sequel to Donita Paul’s new series. Book one, The Vanishing Sculptor, introduced readers to the continent of Chiril, a place which, unlike Amara (for those familiar with the DragonKeeper books), knows little to nothing of Wulder. In the Vanishing Sculptor, we followed Tipper Schope as she and a team of questers (including a bog wizard, an artist, and a giant parrot) set out to save both her father and all of Chiril by way of fixing a broken gateway.

Now, the existence of the statues and their nature is, unfortunately, known, and now Chiril’s enemies are invading. Our heroes are forced to once again separate the statues, but they must reunite them quickly in a hidden place to prevent the world—and Tipper’s father—from coming apart again. The invading king, Oddidodex, is a cruel tyrant from Baardack, but the foe we see the most of is a strange, amoral creature with a gray past simply known as The Grawl.

I suggest reading The Vanishing Sculptor first, or you might not understand why it’s so imperative three statues that make up the foundation of Chiril and serve as a gateway are so important, among other things. Dragons of the Valley follows a wider cast but is largely about the young tumanhofer artist Bealomondore turned swordsman. While all Chiril has fallen into gloom and despair, war and oppression and a land ruled by fools who shun wise counsel, Bealomondore works to remind himself that, ultimately, a sword can preserve life as well as a paintbrush.

As I couldn’t help comparing Tipper and Kale (from the Dragonkeeper series) a little, so I couldn’t help comparing Bardon (especially from DragonKnight) to Bealomondore to some extent. But, again, they aren’t the same people, and each is a strong character in his own right. She’s added a few characters, too: I think I saw more kimens in this book than all of the previous books. At least, I’ve gotten to know them better.

Paul retains her prowess with the pen and her subtle blend of wisdom and fantasy. For me, reading her books is always a bit daunting because I could probably read them twenty times and still pick up a thread of symbolism or theology and wisdom I missed the first nineteen. Her characters can be funny and witty, aware of the seriousness of the situation but using humor the way they would a sword.  And, in all, Paul doesn’t disappoint me. Just to reiterate: While her primary audience is young adult, this really is an author I say writes for all ages.

And again, while you won’t be too lost, I don’t think, if you read out of order, I very much recommend reading The Vanishing Sculptor first.

I look very much forward to reading her next book.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Publisher: Multnomah Books

Publication Dates: October 2010

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

Sir Quinlan has one very good friend in the world. Tav. In fact, when his parents died, he went to live with Tav and his family. Known as Twitch (for the twitch in his cheek when his nerves took over) Quinlan was much loved, but never really respected. He simply did whatever Tav did and he was content with that.

One day, when Tav’s uncle, Sir Baylor, comes to visit with important information about a mission for the prince, Twitch feels something in his soul. He knows that he does not want to spend his life in the same place doing the same things all the time. He chooses to follow Sir Baylor. This is an unreasonable decision according to Tav and his family, so it’s with much difficulty that he leaves them behind. When he does, he leaves behind the name Twitch and takes on his given name, Quinlan.

On the road with Sir Baylor, Quinlan becomes a member of Baylor’s elite group of soldiers though he’s untried in battle and not nearly trained well enough for everyone’s tastes. When Baylor dies while on a mission, Quinlan accepts the man’s dying words, a trinket from him, and full responsibility for the death of his leader. This guilt weighs him down and drags at him from every angle until he’s unable to run away from it anymore.

A seemingly chance encounter with a brilliant soldier named Taras leads Quinlan in a direction he never expected. He trains with Taras until he takes over the leadership of the very team of soldiers from which he’d been running.

This book dealt heavily with guilt, the sin of your past and moving on into what God has planned for your life.  Everyone, at some point, has experienced the burden of guilt for something that hurt someone else. Everyone has to learn to give it to the King and then let Him guide your life. The book resonates on a much deeper level than just good storytelling. It’s a brilliant parable for life, sin, wisdom and the consequences of poor choices.

At this point in the series I had a hard time reading. Not because the books were getting more difficult to read. In fact, the books continued to improve with each successive sequel. Nope, the books were harder for me to read because I couldn’t find them! At this point in the series, I had an 11 year old daughter, an 8 year old daughter and my 40 year old husband all in possession of at least one or more of the books. When it came time to read this one, I had to track it down. Which of my family members had it and more importantly, would they be willing to give it up to mom for her to read and review? It’s safe to say that the readers in my house are huge fans of Chuck Black’s. I couldn’t wait to start the final book in the series, Sir Rowan & the Camerian Quest.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Publisher: Multnomah Books

Publication Dates: October 2010

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

Rowan knew from the time that he was a young man that he was destined to wield a sword. Though raised in the mean harsh streets and barely able to make enough money to feed himself, it remained his dream to become an amazing swordsman.  One day, he received a bit of money that he could pocket. Upon asking the soldier from whom he’d received the money if he could pay for the chance to merely hold the sword, he received more than he’d imagined. The chance not only to hold the sword became his, but to be trained under the sword’s owner, a Knight of the Prince.

Just as he knew that he would, Rowan grew in his sword abilities until he became one of the greatest swordsmen in the land. He took his talents to the tournaments and soon he was one of the most famous men in the world. He had crowds following him everywhere and he soon became lost in the praise and trappings of men. This is when things got really bad for Sir Rowan.
Taken hostage, beaten, and left to die, he came face to face with the reality that he’d let his Prince down. He’d taken the praises of men over the code of his King and Prince. He rededicated his life to the mission of His Prince and prayed for his deliverance. Soon, it came.

Rowan’s tale takes an interesting turn at this point when he is nursed back to health by a beautiful young woman, goes home to discover that not only his home, but also his town has been taken over by an egomaniac set out to destroy followers of the Prince.

As Rowan struggles with what to do next, he falls in love with the beautiful young woman and vows to become the man she deserves. He marries her and soon, they find themselves in search of the other Knights of the Prince. When they find the knights, everyone is thrilled to have the famous Sir Rowan set to fight for them. But who is that mysterious man who refuses to fight? Why does he watch everyone and what is it that he has to say to Rowan?

As the final book in Black’s Arrethtrae series, I couldn’t see how this story could possibly be better than the others that I’d already read. Yet with each book in the series, it seems that Black’s writing has taken off into a level of its own. The magnitude of Rowan’s tale seems so much bigger and more fulfilling than the 192 pages of the book. Though partway through, I figured out what Black was doing, I was still absolutely stunned at the ending. I finished this book with tears in my eyes, nearly unable to tell my family how good it was. I was overcome with emotion and I think that Black could have honestly written an entire series just based on the story of Rowan.

The Knights of Arrethtrae is a stunning series. It’s beautiful, entertaining and enjoyable for the whole family. My children are fighting over who gets to read the next book next and my husband has several of them stuck in hidey spots around the house so they don’t get lost in the kids’ rooms before he has a chance to read them.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Publisher: Multnomah Books

Publication Date: March 2010

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

Lady Carliss has passion for her King and his Son. She has always stood strong for her faith and done whatever she needed to do for them. So when she develops feelings of more than friendship for Sir Dalton and she thinks those feelings aren’t returned, she takes a sojourn to a nearby haven to help with the training of their young students. When she’s supposed to be going back home to visit her brother and Sir Dalton, she takes a detour with a friend from school and suddenly finds herself in her own dangerous and life-threatening adventure.

Soon, when Dalton finds her, his life is in danger as well and only she can bring him the antidote that will keep him alive. Threatened with the death of the man she loves, Lady Carliss vows to do whatever she needs to do to save his life.

Along the way, she gets drawn into a dream world that is eerily reminiscent of escape through illicit drugs in our own. Trapped in a situation that becomes far more than just the life or death of Sir Dalton, Lady Carliss must struggle to defeat the evil growing in the region and threatening to take over control of the land.

This book deals in a big way with vices and the disaster that can occur when they take over the mind. Parallels to drugs, alcohol and even gambling and sex can be found in this book. The dangers are not glossed over. Clearly visible in the books is the corruption that comes when these things begin to take over people’s lives and visions.

Chuck Black’s use of Lady Carliss, a female heroine, to visualize the consequences of these vices is fantastic. Lady Carliss is a brilliant young woman who has many of the same thoughts that young girls today have. Am I good enough? Pretty enough? Will I be found lacking? Once again, Chuck Black boggled my mind with the depth and spiritual brilliance to this story. I was delighted with this venture into Arrethtrae and literally nearly devoured this book. Once finished, I couldn’t wait for my eleven year old daughter to dig in to this one. For young people today, I cannot highly enough recommend these books. Brilliantly handled Mr. Black!

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Publisher: Multnomah Books

Publication Dates: May 2009

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

Sir Dalton is a young knight in training. He’s got the world going for him. He has a beautiful maiden that he’s planning to marry and he’s the best in his class. Everyone at the haven where he learns would like to be like him. So why does he feel like he’s missing something important? And what exactly is going on with the new trainer at the haven? He seems to have some very specific ideas about life and they run counter to some of the things he’s previously been taught and believed.

When Sir Dalton is sent out on a mission, he begins to encounter a series of attacks. As he begins to doubt more and more and step further away from the Prince’s plans for his life, the attacks become more vicious until he ends up near death and in prison.

Unlike the previous books, Dalton doesn’t face an outside temptation or foe. He must battle and struggle with something far more dangerous. It’s within himself. What happens when you don’t really feel your vow to the King? Are you just going through the motions instead of doing that which you are called to do? These are the things Black tackles in this book and this is when I truly became a fan of this series. When I finished this book, I handed it directly to my husband and told him to read it. It was simply too good. The spiritual lessons, the impact, the powerful moments of this book were overwhelming as I was reading. I finished this book with a renewed passion for my own vow to the King and his Son and wondering what adventure God would lead me on next. In fact, after finishing this book, I placed it on the Christmas list for several friends of mine and their sons.  Chuck Black is a master of portraying the spiritual battles we all face and bringing them to a new level of understanding for us.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Publisher: Multnomah Books

Publication Date: Feb 2009

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

In the second book of Chuck Black’s Knights of Arrethtrae series, we meet Sir Bentley. He’s a young man with a passion for life and a compassionate heart for others.

Sir Bentley’s tale starts from the gripping perspective of a young man who has been raised to kill and destroy those who serve the King and his Son. His father lived through the death of the great imposter (the Son of the King) and has definite feelings about those who follow him. When Sir Bentley gets into a life and death situation the very men that he was sent to kill step up and defend him. This is when he knows that the life he’s been leading is wrong and he wants to change. In a dramatic twist, he becomes a follower of the prince and, in doing so, becomes an enemy of everything that his father has taught him.

He leaves his family’s fortune to follow the path that the Prince has set before him and soon becomes an invaluable help in a small farming community that’s being run by a tyrant. He learns to farm and sees firsthand how difficult the lives of these simple people are. When he comes before the ruler of the land, he does his best to try and change things for the people. He also meets a beautiful maiden whose heart seems as cold as ice. Is it?

Sir Bentley learns much in this book about appearances, wisdom and loyalty. Closely mirroring the life of Joseph, Bentley shows a brilliant example of what we, as Christians, should be when looking at the suffering around us.

Once again as we dive into Black’s world, we are transported with adventure, beautiful descriptions and most of all, fantastic life lessons. The characters we meet in this book are young, brave and smart, but faced with a lot of the same issues that we deal with today. Appearance, kindness, wisdom…these are lessons that all of us can benefit from as we go through each day. Black’s creation of this universe to share these lessons is spot on, brilliant and relevant.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Publisher: Multnomah Books

Publication Dates: June 2008

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

A long time ago there was a Kingdom that had lost its way. The King, able to see his people and see what they were doing, decided to send his son to the Kingdom to bring them the message of his love to his people. The people in the kingdom didn’t recognize the son. They believed that he was an imposter and they killed him. You would think that the story would end there, but the King, who was mighty in power, raised his son from the dead and promised that he would send his son once again in the future to redeem his people. Sound familiar? Indeed. This is the story of the Knights of Arrethtrae.

Pledged to the King and his Son, they travel the land, spreading the good news of his word and battling the evil forces who are determined to destroy all the King holds dear.  Each of the six books in Chuck Black’s series resounds with beautiful allegorical tales that are given new life and breath in the setting of a kingdom with knights and fair maiden poised in battle. And along with each tale is the chance to learn a valuable lesson about life as a member of the King’s family.

Sir Kendrick’s tale comes first in the series and he must take under his wing a young and impetuous new knight, Sir Duncan. The two take off on a mission to investigate Lord Ra and his mysterious festivals where young men and women disappear from neighboring villages.  When Sir Duncan disappears, Kendrick must try to save him. In order to do this, he tries to enlist the aid of a mysterious warrior that he meets not far from Ra’s castle. With this warrior, he learns the truth of Ra’s rise and what he does with the young people who stay with him. But more than that, he also must confront some of his own agonies and hurts from the past.

Kendrick’s battle with his own history, loyalty and faith is an epic one and is bound to enrapture readers with its climactic and stunning ending. This book teaches valuable lessons across the board and is packed with scriptural lessons that anyone of any age can use in their lives.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Children / Young Adult

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Publication Date: October 2010

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

Rick Riordan has not ceased to amaze me. Ever since I picked up a copy of The Lightning Thief in 2008 and read the Percy Jackson and the Olympians straight through, I have loved everything Riordan has put out. From his Egyptian offshoot, The Kane Chronicles, to even his entry in The 39 Clues, The Maze of Bones, I am always shocked and in awe of his story-telling. And the first outing in the new Heroes of Olympus series, The Lost Hero, is no exception.

I debated for quite a while as I read The Lost Hero whether a new-comer to Riordan could pick up this book and just start in, and I came to the conclusion that if someone hasn’t read anything by him, it would be best to go back to The Lightning Thief and start there. Otherwise, The Lost Hero would contain too many references to events and characters which wouldn’t make sense to someone who hasn’t read the books yet. So if you haven’t finished Riordan’s first series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, I would say stop reading this review now and go back to The Lightning Thief.

The story begins with a boy named Jason, who suddenly appears in a school bus in the middle of the desert sitting beside Piper and Leo, two classmates that he’s supposedly been friends with for the past few months at Wilderness School. But Jason can’t remember any of that. In fact, he can’t even remember his own name or how he got there. I really don’t want to say much more than that, because diving too deeply into the storyline will only ruin the experience.

Per usual, the story is action-packed, and coming in at a hefty 576 pages, The Lost Hero, starts and doesn’t slow down until the very last page. As I read, I couldn’t help myself from gasping out loud. There was a new plot twist to almost every page I turned. At first, I kept wondering what on earth can Riordan do with the whole concept of Greek gods and mythology that he didn’t accomplish in the first five books – and I will admit part of me was a bit afraid that The Lost Hero was going to fizzle out and not live up to my favorite, The Last Olympian. But Riordan pulls out some unexpected ideas that meld seamlessly with the mythology he’s crafted throughout the first series.

The book is told in third-person, which is a bit of a switch from either The Kane Chronicles or Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which were both written first-person. The Lost Hero switches off between Jason, Piper, and Leo, each getting two chapters and then switching to the next. This aids in the character development, which is stronger here than in other novels from Riordan. The things that Piper and especially Leo grow through in the book felt real and done in a way that made sense with the story. The author searched out a lot of the issues that face students today, including abandonment in its various forms. In a way, I think The Lost Hero is one of his more serious books, and while there was definitely humor to lighten things up here and there, this one definitely came across as a much weightier story, for the characters and the plot.

While the story does center around Jason, Piper, and Leo, there are plenty of familiar faces around to tie things back to the first series. Cameos from people such as Chiron, Clarisse, Annabeth and others definitely were fun and added an interesting dimension to the storyline. Riordan also mines some lesser known myths in the Greek works and gives us some exciting battles with old foes that are just as deadly as anything Percy, Grover, and Annabeth faced – and sometimes, much, much worse.

The Lost Hero ends up rising above and beyond anything I expected from Riordan, and will definitely get readers excited to revisit Camp Half-Blood and its demigods. And now, we only have to wait until Fall of 2011 for the next volume, The Son of Neptune.

Book purchased by reviewer.

Genre: Young Adult

Publishers: Tyndale House

Publication Date: April, 2010, October, 2010

Reviewed by Anne Barnhill

Sandra Byrd’s new series, London Confidential, started in April, 2010 with the first two books, Asking for Trouble and Through Thick and Thin, which chronicle the life of Savvy (short for Savannah) Smith as she navigates the treacherous path through early adolescence.  Savvy faces the usual teen dilemmas, but this series is different from many.  Savvy is not just any teenage girl; she is a Christian who takes her faith seriously.  This does not mean she is perfect or a ‘goody-two-shoes.’  It does mean that she considers most of her actions before she takes them and she says her prayers at night.

In Asking for Trouble, Savvy’s family (Mom, Dad, little sister Louanne, dog Giggle) has moved from Seattle, Washington to London, England–quite an adjustment for 15-year-old Savvy to make.  Like most teens, she is anxious to fit in and make new friends.  She tries a variety of clubs but nothing suits her until she sees an advertisement for the school newspaper.  The editor, Jack, is handsome and she’s always wanted to write so she gives it a go.  The position she lands is nothing as glamorous as reporter or photographer–Savvy delivers the papers.  Will she be able to make new friends and make a place for herself in Merry Old England?

In Through Thick and Thin, Savvy has completed her first term at Wexburg Academy but she has not yet found friends, nor has she proven herself on the newspaper.  She writes the advice column, “Asking for Trouble”, but her identity remains anonymous.  She wants to do a column where she can actually get credit where credit is due.  Then, Savvy notices an advertisement for a photo shoot in Vogue magazine.  She knows if she can somehow get into that shoot, she can write the column for the Wexburg Academy Times and make her name as a reporter.  But, what is she willing to sacrifice to succeed?

In Don’t Kiss Him Good-bye, Savvy is finishing up her first year living in England.  She is surprised by the British tradition of the May Day Ball.  It seems everyone has a date for the ball but Savvy.  Then, as she continues with her secret identity advice column, someone emails her, telling her that he knows her secret–he knows she writes the Asking for Trouble column.  Later, she gets a mysterious phone call also mentioning her part in the column.  She is afraid whoever is contacting her will blow her cover and her career at the school paper will be shorter than she’d intended.  To add to her problems, the one boy who seems interested in her is a notorious bad boy.  She needs a date; he’s interested.  What will Savvy do to get to the dance and save her newspaper career?

In the final installation, Flirting with Disaster, Savvy has to decide what to do with those irritating chain letter emails.  Is there such a thing as luck?  Can you bring good or bad luck on yourself?  Where is God in all this?  On a more casual level, will Savvy become the poster girl for the old saying, “Sweet Sixteen and never been kissed?”  She certainly hopes not, but there don’t seem to be very many boys who are interested in her.  She finds the Aristocat (her term for the wealthy, popular kids) Tommy very appealing but he would never be interested in her, would he?  In this last book of the four, Savvy grows up and also grows in her faith.

While these books seem a bit didactic for my taste, perhaps a young girl would not feel that way.  However, I think these books would suit my younger granddaughters (8 and 11) rather than the 13-year-old.  But I’m going to send them along anyway in the hopes that the themes of Godly living will have an impact.

Review copies provided by publisher.

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Zondervan

Publication Date: April 2010

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

When I first saw that Dawn Miller would be releasing a title to the YA world, The Prophecy, book one in The Watchers Chronicles, I was excited. It sounded interesting from the back of the book, and seemed like it could be just what the Christian YA market needed: a strong sci-fi / fantasy novel to really help jump-start the genre. And then I saw the angel wings on the cover. And I thought, “This is trying to cash in on the new angels trend in writing (following on the heels of the still-going vampire one).” But I still gave it a try, and after closing the last few pages of The Prophecy, I must say that I left it with mixed feelings.

Five friends. Separated by dark forces that would want to keep them as far apart as possible. An ancient prophecy. About Watchers who would help lead the battle against the darkness. And in the middle of everything: Jonah, a strung-out kid who just can’t figure out life or anything else for that matter. He doesn’t know what to do… until the nightmares start. Sending him back in time to when he and his friends were young. And it may be that the past holds the key to their very survival against the evil that is coming after them all.

The beginning slams into action and is riveting, really, as Miller slowly paints the first few chapters with just enough edge and mystery to keep things going. I told a couple of friends right at the outset that they should go get a copy and start reading because it was good. Insanely good. But then I hit the middle. And then it dragged all the way out to the very bitter end, and promised another installment at some point in the future.

The problem for me came in a couple things. First, after a few chapters, the characters started piling up. It was getting harder and harder to figure out who was who, and who had done what, and why. I kept just getting more and more confused as to who exactly the main character was. And then I figured it out: there were about six main characters, all having about equal time to tell their part of the story. And that was the first thing that started bugging me. It would have been a much stronger novel if Miller had just brought things down to one or two main characters, three at the very most, and eliminated the head hopping chapter after chapter. Things got even worse when random side characters also got stage time — and when the whole host of strange names show up, it’s difficult to really follow who’s who anymore.

Second, a lot of the novel is told in flashback, which normally I don’t really have a big problem with. I’ve read some books with more flashbacks than The Prophecy and still enjoyed them a lot. The problem here is that the flashbacks mush together with the present story, and it became confusing at times as to what exactly was happening. I found myself lost more than once and had to re-read sections to figure it out. The other problem with the flashbacks was the fact that since we had so many main characters, each one had to tell their version and give just a few more details about the event, which soon got old.

Another thing that seemed to be problematic was the writing style itself. At times, I found myself flipping pages so quickly through the scenes and action that I lost track of time. But for bulks of the novel, I found myself distracted, lost without real concrete settings and descriptions of what exactly was happening. If Miller had gone through the book one more time and siphoned out those last few bumps, it would have made things a lot easier to follow and digest.

But, all that said, there was still something about the book that was intriguing and well-done. I found myself surprised at quite a few plot twists, which were actually fairly decent, and there were moments of action sequences where Miller truly shined in her writing style and just made things flow along. The other thing that I appreciated was the true-to-life feel of the dialogue. Nothing sounded stilted or written down. It felt real as the characters talked with each other.

In some ways, The Prophecy suffers from first-book-syndrome. It takes its time setting things up, and in the process, loses out on what it could have been if Miller had just really dove in and made this thing shine. I think that her follow-up will start to fall into that category, because obviously she has the ability to write it. From those peeks into her really good stuff, I know it’s possible for her to put out something that really stuns the reader and pulls them in. It’s just going to take some tapping into that part of her story-telling.

All said, The Prophecy wasn’t a total waste of time. It was definitely intriguing, but it might be handy to make a little scorecard for yourself as you read — just to keep track of the people… and the flashbacks.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Publication Date: October 2010

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

War with Venezuela. Oil shortages. Global warming. Riots. And that’s just the beginning in Suzanne Weyn’s new novel Empty. Gwen Jones lives in rural Sage Valley, a small town near the Hudson River, and things are starting to get interesting. Gas prices have soared beyond most people’s budgets, and even worse, gas is in short supply everywhere. And as the oil crisis continues, people are only getting edgier. Soon they’re going to grow desperate – especially as the grocery store shelves look emptier and emptier. Can Gwen and her friends survive in this new and changing world? Or will they succumb to the panic and end up destroying themselves?

Weyn has crafted a truly frightening tale set in the near future, all based on the premise: what would happen if oil actually ran out? What would be the ramifications for regular people trying to live day to day? And she sets out to tell us a story centering around three high schoolers, Gwen, Tom, and Nikki, to challenge thinking and deal with a hard topic in a realistic way.

Going into the book, I knew what it was basically about, and that worried me in a way. I was afraid that this would turn into another environmental treatise, just trying to tell me a bunch of facts and that I should change the way I lived. Of course I don’t mind trying to live in a way that doesn’t affect nonrenewable resources, but it almost seems like media in the past few years can’t find another subject to beat to death. From movies and books to documentaries, the message of green living is always around. And while at times it did feel like Weyn was trying to give me a lesson or two on not wasting resources, most of these discussions were limited to a paragraph, and even then I only found about two sections in the whole book that really seemed preachy.

The characters are fairly well done, and their way of speaking felt true to life. Weyn also throws in some interesting plot twists that really made me gasp out loud and want to keep going. The book itself was fairly quick and easy to read, and the ending comes around in a good way. I was wondering how on earth she could end the novel – since things kept getting worse and worse as it went along. But the ending is realistic and well-brought together, without feeling like I had just read an article on green living.

Overall, while preachy at a couple quick spots (which were easy to get past), Weyn does a good job of crafting a solid story around a realistic and ominous idea. There was plenty of suspense and action to keep things moving, and Empty is definitely one that I would recommend for someone looking for a book that goes a little deeper than others.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Children’s

Publisher: Scholastic

Publication Date: August 2010

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

I was really excited to see that Margaret Peterson Haddix was going to be writing the final installment in The 39 Clues series. I had always been a backstage fan of Haddix’s books, and I knew she would be able to bring book ten, Into the Gauntlet, right where it needed to be to finish strong. And I definitely wasn’t disappointed — it took me just a few hours to devour the book, as I was insanely anxious to see how everything would finally end.
Things have not been easy for Dan and Amy. They’ve been close to death numerous times, betrayed by both close friends and evil relatives, and they’ve discovered one shocking secret about their family after another. And now, it’s coming down to the wire. Who will come away with all the clues and become the most powerful people in the world? To make things even worse, Isabel Kabra will stop at nothing — even if it means the death of her own children — to get her hands on the final clues. Can they stop her before it’s too late? Can Amy and Dan save the fate of the entire world? Or will everything crumble to pieces here at the very end?

The writing is just as strong as any other Haddix book. And she brings an extra something to the series that makes it really shine — the characters have become deeper than some of the early cardboard-cast relatives from the earlier books. And this one is the longest yet — coming in at a hefty 300+ pages, there’s plenty of action, humor, and heartache to keep things really going. More secret messages are hidden in the book, and the one at the very end will make readers really on edge. Because perhaps the race for The 39 Clues isn’t over…

** SPOILER WARNING **

One thing that did kind of bother me in a sense is the fact that the series doesn’t actually end. The story arch that is created here in these ten books does end, but things twist around at the very end and leave things hanging for another book or perhaps another whole series to come. I wasn’t ready for the series to end, but in some ways I wanted things to tie up nicely. To actually end. A lot of books in the children’s market aren’t quite ending anymore — making room for possible sequels, which is great sometimes, but it’s also nice to see something end. And end well.

** END SPOILER WARNING **

Overall, The 39 Clues series is worth the investment. It’s fun, it’s easy to read, and it’s challenging in some aspects as we travel with Amy and Dan and watch their character growth over the course of the books. Rick Riordan and Scholastic definitely came up with something well done and conceived, and it was nice to read something for the younger market that wasn’t just another book.

Book purchased by reviewer.

Genre: Young Adult / Children’s

Publisher: Dutton Children’s Books

Publication Date: May 2010

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

I had never read a John Grisham novel before Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer. But, since it seemed like everyone I knew had read at least one of his books and enjoyed it, I thought I’d give his first young adult novel a chance. I wish I hadn’t. I tried to enjoy the book, but in the end, Grisham really just let me down.
On the jacket, the story sounded great. Amazing even: a huge murder trial. And it seems as though the only person who knows the truth is Theodore Boone, a local kid who dreams of being a lawyer someday. But today his dreams might be happening because he has to show Honorable Judge Gantry that he really does know who committed the murder. But something’s holding him back — there are people who would love to see Theo silenced. Forever.

** SPOILER WARNING **

Based on what seemed like a good plot, I dived in. And I kept waiting for something to happen. Anything even. And it wasn’t even until page 109 when Theo actually becomes involved in the plot. It turns out that an acquaintance of Theo has a cousin who was at the golf course when the murder took place in the up-scale Waverly Creek neighborhood. And this cousin saw the murder go down. Only problem is that said cousin happens to be an illegal immigrant, and if he goes to the police with the truth, he might be deported. Theo soon becomes obsessed over whether to say anything about these facts to anyone. And it soon goes beyond overboard with his worry. There is never any physical danger to Theo, or this cousin, and by the time the book starts to wrap up, still nothing significant has really happened. The idea behind the plot is definitely a good one, but it had virtually no direct bearing on Theo’s life. There just wasn’t enough of a threat hanging over Theo to hang an entire story on.

Even with the ominous and ever-present villain Omar Cheepe hanging around, nothing happens. There is plenty of foreshadowing that Theo might get hurt — that this cousin might be found out — but nothing ever does happen. It almost felt like I spent the whole novel waiting and waiting, and by the time I reached the end, I couldn’t wait to be done.

** END SPOILER WARNING **

One other thing that really bothered me about the whole book were the characters themselves. It seemed like everyone had been cut out from cardboard — Theo was a goody-two shoes kid, who never did anything wrong. Mr. Mount was the typical mentor / teacher to Theo, who for some reason called all of the boys in his class, “Men.” The parents felt like they were barely there and barely involved at all, and of course there was the estranged Uncle Ike, gruff and off-putting at first, but willing to help later on. I never really felt like I connected with anybody, and to be honest, Theo never experienced any sort of character development. He’s pretty much the same kid we meet at the beginning and the same kid who exits the book.

The writing itself was not bad. Grisham definitely knows how to turn out good sentences and paragraphs and even describe the judicial system without being boring. But at times, I felt like I could have had more fun reading a text book on law written by Grisham instead of this poorly conceived young adult novel. I was half-curious if Grisham has been reading anything current in the young adult / children’s market. Because he sounds highly out of touch with this generation and the way they interact and think.

All said, I’m not ready to dismiss Grisham as an author. I would love to read one of his novels that have good plot twists and well-thought out characters. But Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer is definitely not, and never will be, that novel.

Book purchased by reviewer.

Genre: Children’s / Young Adult

Publisher: Egmont

Publication Date: April 2010

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

It’s hard to come across a new series that really leaves an impression and actually makes you want to keep reading. With great novels out there for the tween market right now (Percy Jackson, The 39 Clues, etc.) I’m always a little bit skeptical trying to find something new. What if I don’t end up enjoying the book? What if it’s just a waste of time? So when I picked up my copy of Middleworld, book one in The Jaguar Stones by J & P Voelkel, I had pretty low expectations. It looked like it would be a fun romp of some kind based on the back of the book, so I gave it a try. And I’m glad I did. Because now I can’t wait for book number two in December.

Max Murphy is pretty much a selfish kid who doesn’t want anything to do with the Mayans or his parents and their archeology craziness. He’d rather just stay home and video game it up. But when his parents disappear, and Max has to go to San Xavier to find them, suddenly, nothing is as it seems. Evil men are out for the sacred Jaguar Stones, and once they have all five can anyone stop the coming apocalypse? Traveling through dark temples, the jungle, and secret passages, can Max stop the end of the world before it’s too late?

The action never stopped in Middleworld. It felt like the authors kept ramping it up more and more throughout the entire book, and it went even up to the very end. There’s plenty of humor here too, and it’s pulled off in a good way. And the main character goes through one of the best character growth arcs that I’ve seen in a long time — making the book really feel like something more than just your basic action novel. Fantasy fills things up along the way, and readers will learn a lot about the Mayan myths — much like Rick Riordan pulled off with Percy Jackson or The Kane Chronicles in Greek and Egyptian mythology.

Tweens looking for a good fix until the next Riordan novel or just looking for a good fantasy/adventure story will definitely enjoy Middleworld. And the end of the book only promises more good things to come. I know I’ll be watching for book two, and hoping the Jaguar Stones are safe until then…

Review copy purchased by reviewer.

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Genre: Adventure/Fantasy, Young Adult

Publication Date: July 2010

Reviewed by Kaci Hill

Venom & Song picks up immediately where Curse of the Spider King left off. Our beloved Elves have returned to Allyra, but the immediate problem is getting seven disoriented middle schoolers to safety. (And don’t be fooled: These are some tough little teenagers.) The enemy is, of course, still on their heels (literally), and our band of heroes doesn’t know how to fight yet.

Book two keeps a steady pace, but it’s also paced differently from book one. I know a few people had a hard time with some elements, and a few caught some flaws I missed, but, really, I was pleased with this second installment. As I said, the book takes a natural progression in my estimation.

Whereas Curse dealt with themes of the intricate nature of the past and present, Venom is more concerned with loyalty and self-sacrifice, turning children into men and women, and trust: both in each other and in Ellos. Again, these themes develop naturally from the characters and situations themselves, continuing the same style as its predecessor. Venom & Song does come with its own twist at the end, and, I’ll admit, I can count on one hand the number of books that have struck me as emotionally as this one did.

As always, I’m going to stop before giving any spoilers. I look forward to book three (which, to my knowledge, is at least a year away and, I trust, will answer the questions left at the end of Venom & Song) and whatever Mr. Batson and Mr. Hopper bring next. A word of warning: Make sure you read these books in order…and be prepared.

Review copy provided by Thomas Nelson.

Genre: YA

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Publication Date: May 2010

Reviewed by Jaci Miller

The America we know lies in tatters; earthquakes have caused whole coasts to slide into the ocean, global warming has caused the oceans to flood the land and people live stacked practically on top of each other. But below the sea in Benthic Territory, life thrives and the resident farmers move, live and work freely there.

This Dark Life, far below the surface, is the only life teenager Ty has ever known. But outlaws threaten to destroy his family’s subsea existence with their marauding and pillaging. While his new Topside friend, Gemma, seeks her long-lost brother, the outlaws attack Ty’s home. As he tries to help Gemma and preserve his way of life, Ty confronts not only the outlaws, but secrets as deep and dark as the canyons that swallowed the States.
Kat Falls’ first novel, Dark Life, offers a mesmerizing account of a futuristic life on the ocean floor with a nod to the past—the Wild West and frontier life are clearly represented in the book. But the story is as much about survival in a harsh political climate as it is about life in an aquatic one. The new colony faces over-taxation and abuse from the Commonwealth, the governing system after the earthquake.

The book feels a little raw in some scenes—as though something deeply emotional is missing from its straightforward prose—but the fast-paced plotting and the wonder of the ocean engage readers so thoroughly that this sensation quickly passes. Abundant twists pepper this exciting tale, propelling the reader from one chapter to another.

Dark Life is an enjoyable read for teen and tween lovers of science fiction and adventure.

Review copy provided by Scholastic.

Genre: Horror, Young Adult, Mystery

Publication Date: August 2010

Publisher: David C. Cook

Jake Chism’s Review:

Chris Buckley never thought he’d end up in a place like Solitary, North Carolina. After his parents divorce he reluctantly moves with his Mom back to the strange little town she grew up in. Everything about Solitary feels off to Chris. The way the kids in his new high school look at him, the way everyone seems to know a secret except for him, even the feel of the town itself. Everything feels wrong, except for the way he feels about Jocelyn Evans. He finds himself hopelessly drawn to her, despite her efforts to push him away. As Chris falls deeper for the girl he has to have, he approaches a darkness that will shake him to his core.

Bold. Edgy. Beautiful. Terrifying. These are the words that ran through my mind after I closed the last page of Travis Thrasher’s latest. Solitary is Thrasher’s first attempt at a series and his first foray into the YA market. If you are going to make an entrance, why not stand up and demand some attention? That’s exactly what Thrasher and David C. Cook Publishers have done with this outstanding story that is as haunting as it is addicting.

The first person narrative of Chris Buckley is the shining element here. I loved being immersed into Chris’s world as he juggled the struggles of a new town, a mysterious love, and a broken home. Everything Chris feels and experiences masterfully flows off the page allowing the reader to dive in and look around this strange and scary place he finds himself in. The relationship of Chris and Jocelyn is especially handled well as Thrasher explores the emotional and physical struggles teens face in everyday life.

Solitary has such a creepy feel to it throughout, and I found myself flying through the pages desperately trying to make sense of the bizarre elements we are introduced to at just the right places. I was surprised at just how edgy this story was, and it was a pleasant discovery indeed. David C. Cook is known as a Sunday school curriculum publisher, so I expected something much lighter and well…”churchy”. Rest assured…”churchy” this is not, however Chris’s spiritual and family struggles make Solitary more relevant to so many teens who face similar circumstances in our culture.

Solitary is the kind of novel the Twilight (don’t worry..no vampires here) crowd will enjoy, and dare I say contains the depth and level of creativity that could have made Twilight a great series instead of a good one.   In the end, Thrasher leaves us with a twist that will have everyone talking and will no doubt be divisive amongst some readers. I’m blown away by what Thrasher and David C. Cook have just brought to us and I can’t wait to read more.

James Andrew Wilson’s Review:

Strange men wearing trench coats are staring at you, everyone in the school warns you to stay away from the girl you can’t help but be drawn to, you find a creepy, abandoned cabin out in the woods, and you can’t shake the sense that somebody or something is watching you, following you, staring in your window at night and probing your very thoughts.

Welcome to Solitary.

Travis Thrasher has already proven himself capable of writing page turners about things that go bump in the night, but with Solitary, he ups the ante. You get the sense very early on that something is not right about this town. There are deadly secrets, questions that nobody seems to want to answer. Thrasher does an admirable job of dropping in new mysteries all through out the book, so that by the time you finish, your mind is buzzing with theories and you are frantic for book two.

Thrasher is no stranger to first person narrative, and here he squeezes out all of its potential, thrusting us into the head of sixteen-year-old Chris Buckley. Chris is about as likeable a character as they come. He’s no wimp; we see him spouting off smart remarks to the face of the school bully, going out in the dead of night to explore the eerie woods alone, and expressing a general lack of disregard toward the threats to mind his own business and to just blend in like everyone else.

Chris isn’t the only character to like here. His attraction, Jocelyn Evans, is complex and elusive, and like Chris, we as readers are dying to know what she is hiding. Chris’s other friends, Poe, Rachel, Newt and Ray are all well drawn out characters that are each unique and enjoyable to read.

It is obvious that Thrasher is a fan of such TV shows as Lost and Twin Peaks, and that they played a role in the inspiration for this series. Fans of those types of stories will find plenty here to love.

People who don’t generally pick up young adult fiction shouldn’t shy away from Solitary. Not for one moment did I feel like this was any less engaging than Thrasher’s adult fiction. In fact, I’d rank it right up there with Ghostwriter as my favorite Thrasher novel to date. (Psst, fans of Ghostwriter, be on the lookout for the Dennis Shore reference.)

Solitary is creepy, fun, and impossible to put down. I can’t imagine a much better beginning to what is sure to be a mind-bending, stellar series. Put this one at the top of your list, and don’t be surprised if you’re picking it up a month later to read it again.

Genre: YA

Publisher: Zondervan

Publication Dates: April 2010

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

Bryn O’Connor loves theater and drama. She is really good at it too. Except that her boyfriend doesn’t like it. He’s one of the most popular guys in school and when he doesn’t like something, you should really not to like it either. When you don’t do what he likes, he might do something bad. Like hit you. A lot. He might even do it so much that you end up in the hospital. This is what happened to Bryn. A simple argument turned into a car accident. When she arrived at the hospital, they discovered injuries that were not consistent with a car accident. That’s where everything started on a downhill spiral. It’s when her father found out that Preston beat her up a lot. It’s when the police got involved. Charges were pressed.  And after that? Things really got bad.

Since her mother is in another country, this is where Bryn’s grandmother steps in and volunteers to come and stay with them for a while. Bryn is nonplussed. The memories she has of her grandmother are awkward. Her grandmother is a beautiful and famous surfer. Bryn feels she is the opposite of that. She’s expecting that when her grandmother arrives, it’s going to be all sorts of questions, interrogations, and pushing. She’s more than shocked when it doesn’t go that way at all. And what’s Preston saying about all of this? Why are there websites popping up online about Bryn and her ‘lying ways?’ Just how far will all of this go? Will someone else get hurt?

Once again, Nancy Rue has scored a direct hit on the mind of a teenage girl in the midst of horrifying situations. Last venture out, Motorcycles, Sushi & One Really Strange Book, she tackled the difficult topic of ADHD and emotionally unstable parents. This time, a teenager abused by her boyfriend and bullying pushed to the extreme are her hot button topics and she once again approaches them with tender style and respect. Inside the mind of a teenage girl is not always the easiest subject matter for an adult writer trying to reach a young adult audience. I, for one, remain impressed with Rue’s style and technique as she moves through this fast paced story.

Again we have an adult role model that seems nearly too good to be true. This time, instead of a parent, it’s a grandparent who understands everything with a keen perspective and seems to not make mistakes. And like last time, I’m more than willing to give grace for this ‘perfect’ character. As I was reading, I was tucking away lines and thoughts and ideas for when my girls venture into teen drama. Parts of this book frightened me with the vehemence, anger and vitriol spewed at Bryn’s character when she was doing the right thing. Then again, all one has to do to understand that Rue has captured the teenage mind well is watch the news. Stories like this one, where kids bully other kids (to death in some instances), have become all too commonplace in the news. Nancy Rue seems to have her finger firmly on the pulse of the troubled teenager. Once again, she’s brought us a story with drama, intelligence, a little bit of romance and a lot of insight into the teenage mind.

With this story, I’ve become a passionate Nancy Rue fan and would heartily recommend her to anyone who would like a little bit of advice, insight, or a new way to reach a troubled teen.

Review copy provided by Zondervan.

Genre: YA

Publisher: Zondervan

Publication Dates: April 2010

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

Jessie Hatcher is fifteen and she’s got what most people would consider a pretty tough life. Her mother has a variety of emotional issues, her dad is dead, and she has ADHD. Most of the time, she’s completely on her own while her mother is in her ‘in-bed’ phase. She makes all the decisions, gets herself to school and back, and figures out her own meals.  The couple of days at a time that her mother gets out of bed are tiring while she cleans the house with her toothbrush, but they’re few and far between, so Jessie has the system down.

That is until the day that her dad calls her on the phone. What? Her dad? The aforementioned parent who was dead? Yeah. That same one. Seems that Jessie’s mom told her that her dad was dead, but he really wasn’t. So now he wants to meet her and get to know her. Since she’s no longer flying under the radar, Jessie can’t figure out how things could get any worse. That is, until her mother attempts suicide. Yeah. That is worse. What could possibly happen next?

Nancy Rue stunned me with her portrayal of a teenage girl’s mind. Especially one wrapped up in such emotional turmoil and with ADHD to boot. I was so completely wrapped in this story; I couldn’t stop myself from reading portions of the book out loud to my family.  In the same way I was instantly drawn into the story, the few pages I shared with them brought them in just as quickly. It was love at first read with this book.

I think one of the things I enjoyed best was the “RL” book that Jessie discovered at the airport. When she picked it up off of the seat, she thought she was stealing it and this would force her father to send her back home. It didn’t. And she didn’t. It comes out later that the book was left there for someone else who might need it. Jessie needed it. “RL” you see, is a ‘real life’ version of the Bible, with language that modern day teenagers can understand.

The plot moves quickly. Written in the first person perspective from a girl whose mind bounces all over faster than you can say sushi, you have to expect that. The dialogue is brilliant, witty, and perfectly on par with what you would imagine a teenage girl might say in this situation.  The only point I’d make in characters is that Lou, Jessie’s father, seems perfect. Even his mistakes aren’t that colossal and he very quickly apologizes for them. I don’t know if I have a problem with this because he’s a really great example of what we should try to be, but don’t always accomplish. In sharp contrast, Jessie’s mom does pretty much nothing right whatsoever. Much like Jessie’s life, there’s no simple middle ground. Then again, with teenagers is there a lot of simple middle ground?

Motorcycles, Sushi & One Really Strange Book is the first in a new series from Nancy Rue. Called the Real Life series, it follows the ‘RL’ book and what happens with four different girls when they find the book. I’m more than intrigued. I can’t wait to see the new books in the series and see who Nancy Rue brings to the forefront next.

Review copy provided by Zondervan.

Genre: Children’s, Young Adult

Publisher: Aladdin

Publication Date: January 2010

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

I couldn’t wait to dive into P.W. Catanese’s second entry in The Books of Umber series, because I knew I would be spending more time with amazing characters, intriguing plots, and an overriding series arch that has to be one of my favorite twists in fiction in a long time. And Dragon Games does deliver much of this, but at times seems to steer a little bit to the side of its course, while maintaining the same level of action and mystery that made book one, Happenstance Found, so amazing.

Lord Umber of Kurahaven is invited to the land of Sarnica to witness the Dragon Games and the dragons captured and ready to star in the events. But along the way, Umber receives a message from Caspar, one of the only people who may know the truth about who and what Happenstance, Umber’s young ward, truly is. Along the way, they discover curses, islands filled with horrors unimaginable, and then the ugly truth about Sarnica. And Happenstance must come face to face with the person responsible for his very existence: the mysterious WN.

Dragon Games really is a rollicking good adventure – with some insanely creepy moments, such as a haunting run through the forests near Kurahaven at the beginning of the book. And there’s a point where Happenstance finds himself alone in perhaps one of the most disturbing places ever imagined in a book. I kept thinking the whole time that so many of the scenes would make such an amazing visual in a movie, and it really hit me: there is a cinematic quality to so much of Catanese’s writing – without overburdening the reader with unneeded descriptions. The suspense and action carries on to the very end, and the last page made me gasp out loud.

The only moment where things fell a little out of place were the scenes in Sarnica – and the side plot of a brutish kingdom abusing its citizens and creatures. It just didn’t seem to fit in with the overall plot for some reason. Most of it was still very interesting and good, but I kept wanting to go back to the overarching series plot line and find out more about it.

I must say though, Catanese has won a very enthusiastic fan. I really enjoy his writing, and it’s so nice to read a story that uses traditional fantasy elements, but combines them in new ways with such haunting imagery and fun adventure that it creates something completely new. Fans of any sort of fantasy would only be missing out not to read The Books of Umber. I know I will definitely be waiting in anticipation for the next book.

Review copy provided by Aladdin.

Genre: Young Adult, Adventure

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publication Dates: May 2008 – May 2010

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

The Dreamhouse Kings is a series of books by Robert Liparulo. It’s written for a young adult audience, but rather than pigeonholing the books into a smaller audience, I’d say that this series is good for anyone in the young adult and up age range.

The series begins with the King family moving to a new home in Pinedale, California, and buying their dream home. It’s out in the middle of nowhere and it appears that the family who lived there previously left in quite a hurry. Odd things start happening around the house right away. In fact, on the first visit, the two central characters of the series, Xander and David, discover that the house isn’t your normal ordinary house.  With a huge rambling Victorian style, closets everywhere and rooms galore, you’d think that would be enough to keep the King boys occupied. In truth, Xander and David might have been happy with exploring a house full of history with tons of space, but that’s not what happens. Instead, they find themselves fighting for their lives at every turn.

Though this is a series of six books, it’s just one story that’s been broken up into six parts. That might sound like the definition of a series, but it’s really not. Some series cover different angles of a story or different characters. This series is the story of a little over one week in the lives of the King family. While you’re reading, it feels like Liparulo penned the whole thing, beginning to end, and pitched it as a gargantuan novel and it was decided to break it up for easier reading. The end of one book literally blends straight into the beginning of the next as if going from chapter to chapter within a book.

Liparulo’s writing throughout the series remains tight, the pacing strong (so strong that in some instances it may not be for the faint of heart!), and the characters believable. The stories were engaging, fascinating, and, above all else, profoundly moving. These characters start out as a normal every day family that might love each other, but in some ways, take each other for granted. By the end of the series, they are a tightly knit cohesive unit that moves together as one and won’t ever take each other for granted again.

This series is a must read for anyone who has kids that love to read or if you’re a family that loves to read together. It’s packed with excitement and adventure that will appeal to older members of the young adult set while it’s been written in a manner that’s easy to follow and understand for the younger members. Parents, this is a brilliant series to read with your kids. Packed with history that will allow you to delve deeper into the research, the books beg questions about the events that the King family experiences during their travels. It’s also filled with a great number of situations that will help parents address questions to their kids about what to do when you’re in an emergency situation. (Although honestly, if your family ends up in a lot of the same situations that the King family did, you may want to consider moving to a new house.)

Moving, touching, exciting, adventurous, educational…you name it and the Dreamhouse Kings series has it all. Liparulo has crafted a world full of amazing adventure that’s sure to please even the pickiest reader. My only advice would be to make sure that you have the next book on hand whenever you start a new one. You’ll be glad you did.

Review copies provided by Thomas Nelson.

Genre: Young Adult, Adventure, Thriller

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publication Date: May 2010

Josh Olds’ Review:

It’s only been a little more than a week since the Kings moved to the Victorian mansion known as the old Koenig place, but in that week they’ve lived several lifetimes – nearly literally. The adventure began in House of Dark Shadows when the Kings discovered that the house contained portals to other places throughout time. The Kings’ adventure unfolds throughout the following books in the series. They, along with the reader, learn more about this mysterious house and its connection to their family. Each book ratchets up the tension, accelerates the pace, and sends the Kings into more and more dangerous scenarios. By the time you reach Frenzy, things are about to snap.

But Frenzy is the end. Well it’s not the end of the Kings’ story, more like the conclusion to this series. Unlike each of its predecessors, Frenzy does not begin where the previous book leaves of. In fact, here Liparulo does some time jumping of his own and sets the prologue in the near future. The events of the future show the reader just what is at stake and handcuffs us to the book, making it impossible to put down.

The weary and beaten down Kings, with help from Keal, determine to once and for all take hold of their destiny by defeating Taksidian, finding Mom, and fixing the future. Spanning past and present, from Atlantis to the set of the movie Predator, the battle rages on. And just when all hope is lost and the future seems too big to change, too inevitable to delay, too frightening to face, the Kings find themselves thrown into a portal that changes everything and prepares them for the finish.

In this stunning conclusion to the epic series, Robert Liparulo has crafted a can’t-put-down experience that sucks the reader into the story. For five books, he’s put the Kings through the wringer but with this conclusion draws out the themes of redemption and salvation that make the Kings’ journey through the valley of the shadow of death worth it all. And in the end, well it’s not an end. It’s a beginning.

Lori Twichell’s Review:

Frenzy. What else is there to say? It’s the final book in the Dreamhouse Kings series. Wow.

We’re starting out in a very familiar place for this series. Everyone’s in danger. Not just your normal average every day danger, but life threatening loss of limb danger.  And this time around Liparulo has ratcheted the danger up several notches with the idea that one of the major characters is going to die in this book. Right away, one of the first things we learn when reading this book is that Xander is mourning the death of his brother. (Hey, I warned you there’d be spoilers ahead!) It’s an agonizing way to begin the final chapter of the series with the reader knowing that one of his or her favorites is set to die.  As I’m sure Liparulo planned, it colors everything that the characters do throughout the course of the book and in many cases, leaves you gasping as you read.
In Frenzy, everything (and I mean everything!) is a life or death situation for some member of the King family. This is the other side of the hill on the roller coaster. There’s nothing to do at this point for the reader except to put your hands over your head and scream with delight, or hold on tight with your eyes closed. Admittedly that would make it hard to read, so you might want to consider keeping your eyes open.

Previously, I’d said that I wished there was some more spiritual content in the books. As a parent, I would have loved to see more prayers every now and then and perhaps some more leaning on God throughout. Liparulo covered that in this book with grace and creativity in spades. I was in tears throughout several areas of this book and so thankful that he took the opportunity to share that vitally important part of life with the readers in this tale.

For the most part, things get wrapped up in this book. Some things are left to wander around in our imaginations, but that’s not a bad thing. It leaves hope that maybe Liparulo will visit the Kings in their crazy house once more.  The major questions that have been asked throughout the series get answered and that’s a good thing. The King family finds out their mission and purpose in the house and that’s a good thing. Frenzy brings us full circle and that’s a good thing.

I loved this book. I enjoyed this series. My only questions are “Robert, what’s next?! Is there a door upstairs in my house that will get me to your next project sooner?”

Don’t miss our recent interview with Robert Liparulo.

Review copies provided by Thomas Nelson.

Genre: Suspense, Adventure, Young Adult

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publication Date: December 2009

Jake Chism’s Review:

Whirlwind is the fifth book in the Dreamhouse Kings series that follows the adventure of brothers Xander and David King as they travel through time via portals found in a secret hallway in their creepy, new house. And yes, that’s all I’m saying about the plot because the story is just too good to be described through any measly attempt on my part.

What I will divulge to Robert Liparulo’s salivating fans is this: When I read Timescape I was quick to crown it my favorite of the series so far. Of course that was before I read Whirlwind, and ladies and gentlemen we have a new favorite!!

I consistently find myself in awe of Liparulo’s ability to make each story better in this series, always ratcheting up the tension and mystery, giving us some answers here and there and more and more questions to keep us guessing.

As we’ve come to expect in previous installments, the time travel scenes are loads of fun brimming with wonder and possibility. What sets this book apart from the rest is the huge twist at the end that completely changes the course of this story. I never saw this coming, and I love the direction Liparulo is moving this story and the characters that I have fallen head over heels for.

Frenzy is the upcoming last book in this series, and if the events of Whirlwind are any indication, we are in for quite a ride. If you aren’t reading the Dreamhouse Kings novels you are truly missing out on top notch storytelling, dazzling adventure, and heroic characters worth cheering for. Young or old, it doesn’t matter. The Dreamhouse Kings series is a must read for any true fiction addict.

Lori Twichell’s Review:

The Kings are in trouble and this time it’s not like the previous adventures. This time, along with their trouble, they are also on their own. David’s stuck in some cave somewhere and has no idea if anyone will ever find him. He’s transported to this place from somewhere inside Taksidian’s house. That brings us to Xander. He’s still in Taksidian’s house and he’s currently facing the man himself. Where’s dad? Well, he’s stuck in a car that can barely drive and he knows that the boys are in mortal danger. If that’s not heart-wrenching drama and adventure, I don’t know what is. And that doesn’t even cover the King women!

I’ll be honest, during the reading of this book, I started getting really worried about the King boys. They’ve been through more in one week than most people will have gone through in a lifetime.  Physical ailments and pain aside, they’ve gone through some incredibly frightening situations. They’ve watched their mother being kidnapped. Their father’s been arrested. They have strangers in and out of their house while they have no adults in the house. This is some seriously scary stuff.

A lot of questions are answered in this book. We know that the King family has been searching for their mom since book one. We also know that there’s a longer history with the King family than their current crisis. What we discover in this book is what can happen when they interact directly with the historic periods that they visit. The general belief in time travel circles is that you shouldn’t mess with time. Don’t try to change it or you might end up changing your own existence. (Everyone remembers that iconic image of Marty McFly disappearing in the picture during Back to the Future?)  Liparulo doesn’t just disagree with this. He takes the theory and smashes it to pieces by making it the job of the King family to change time. Their interference, it seems changes things for the better when they do what is asked of them. Simple things like giving someone a message or picking up a hammer can change future history for the better.

Liparulo’s skills as a writer are highlighted in this outing as he gives us answers to the questions that have been plaguing us since the beginning of the series while he also gives us new questions and ups the stakes for the King family. Though this is book five, the pacing of the story has not slowed or faltered. It’s almost too much to keep up with when you’re reading and occasionally, you might want to stop and take a breather, although you may wish that Liparulo did this for the characters too.  Next up? Frenzy!

Review copies provided by Thomas Nelson.

Genre: Adventure, Young Adult

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publication Date: July 2009

Jake Chism’s Review:

Things just became a little more complicated for Xander and David King. Not only is their mother still missing, but a sobering look into the future reveals that much more is at stake. As Xander and David search for answers within the time portals they find an unexpected ally who sheds more light on the house and the greater mission they have been called to. With a renewed sense of purpose the King family decides to turn the tables and go after Taksidian to put a stop to the evil plans he has put into motion.

As this series unfolds I continually find myself in awe of Robert Liparulo’s ability to not just write amazing stories, but also his ability to get better with each offering. Timescape is easily the best novel of the Dreamhouse Kings series, showcasing the most intense action sequences and the most gut wrenching suspense we’ve seen. Two of the time portal scenes were actually crafted from ideas students entered into the Dream the Scene contest on Liparulo’s website. In masterful fashion, Liparulo pulls out all the stops making these scenes the most memorable of the series so far.

In a young adult market saturated by commercialism, mediocrity, and unoriginality it’s refreshing to find a series like this that is not only fun to read but also challenging and engaging. These are the kind of books families can love and share together, and no matter your age you will find yourself easily immersed into this marvelous world of adventure that Liparulo has crafted. Once again Robert Liparulo reminds me of the beauty of story and why I love to read.

Lori Twichell’s Review:

We’re back again. In the house that’s haunting the King family. Not really haunting maybe. It feels more like hunting. When we last left our favorite family, they were all in mortal danger. Again. Liparulo is really good at that and I still have two more books to go. I’ve got to wonder what could possibly come after this.

First I suppose I should start with the opening page of the book. STOP! Read House of the Dark Shadows, Watcher in the Woods and Gatekeepers before continuing!  There are going to be spoilers in this review as I wrap up the synopsis, so don’t read on if you don’t know what’s happening in the series.

So, as I was saying, when we last left our favorite family, they were all in mortal danger. They’d found Grandma in time and brought her back. The boys, dad and Keal were all in the future world where they discovered everything was not peaceful or quiet. And time (yes somewhere, somehow time became a character in and of itself) decided Grandma was not where she belonged and needed to go back into the house. When we ended the last book, Toria was sitting on top of Grandma trying to keep her ‘here.’ The world that Liparulo has created is so fantastic and mind-stretching that sometimes it’s hard to believe what you’re reading. But he handles it was such grace that he allows the characters to address the craziness of their situation. At one point in this book, David is mourning the loss of his favorite shoes in the Civil War. In the next thought he makes the observation that a sentence like that isn’t even strange anymore. It’s a perfect safety valve for the reader’s disbelief.  I love this. Just when I get to a point where I’m thinking that it’s stretched so far I’m not sure I can keep following, one of the characters says the exact same thing that I’m thinking. This helped me settle back into a balance where I could continue enjoying the adventures.

In this book, we learn a lot about how the house works, where it came from and how to deal with time, but there are still a lot of questions. How does the house work? How do you get back to specific worlds? And what’s Jesse got to do with the house? (Admittedly, reading and writing these reviews while experiencing the series finale of “Lost” may not have been a good idea….) Liparulo’s timing, technique, pacing and characters are all spot on. There are no missteps here. Questions are posed but answers are given. It’s a masterful balance that gives the readers enough satisfaction with what they’re learning at the same time it introduces just the right amount of curiosity to keep the reader engaged in the story.

We leave our favorite family in much the same element of danger with uniquely different circumstances. One thing I can say for Liparulo’s mind is that he seems to have endless ways to put your heart into your throat and leave you grasping for the next page.

Review copies provided by Thomas Nelson.

Genre: Young Adult, Adventure

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publication Date: January 2009

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

Stress. The King family has it in spades. (SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the previous books – stop and go do so before reading this review!) Okay. You’ve been sufficiently warned. Proceed at your own risk. (Funny, this is pretty similar to what Liparulo’s books feel like. Look at the front cover and read the blurbs and you’ve had enough warning…proceed at your own risk.)

At the end of Watcher in the Woods, Mom is still missing and now Dad’s under arrest. Xander says he’s found her, but David’s trying to protect himself and Toria from the gaggle of police officers trying to eject them from the property. What’s that you say? Drama? Yes. And as I mentioned, stress.

When Dad finally does get taken away, the kids are in hiding upstairs. It’s not good. They believe they know where Mom is but now that Dad’s gone, they’re on their own and know that they shouldn’t try to go and save her.

To make matters worse, they know that Taksidian is behind the eviction and their father’s arrest and that being in the house without their parents leaves them vulnerable to whatever he’s got planned. Oh and then there’s that bully at school who figured out how to get into their house without even being anywhere near it! (You have to read it to understand that.)

Liparulo is obviously on a roll. Written as one story that’s been broken up into several different books, Dreamhouse Kings is an amazing adventure that seems to climax again and again but the ride hasn’t even come close to an ending yet. At this point in the story, I wish that there was a little more emphasis on trust in God. I know it’s a fantasy but the King family has been raised as strong believers. There’s more room for insertion of a little faith in some of these situations without being overwhelming or heavy handed. I also (as a mom) keep thinking ahead to who is going to help the kids and how I’d feel if my kids were on their own. Once again it adds another layer of richness while reading the books. It’s something I’m sure that the intended audience (young adult) wouldn’t recognize but as an adult with experience in writing, I can appreciate it deeply. Liparulo has crafted the story to address all of these concerns and fears while also maintaining a fast paced (hold on tight!) storyline that at times, barely gives you a chance to catch your breath before you move on to the next chapter.

His cliffhangers alone are nearly breathtaking enough to be considered evil. If it weren’t for the reassuring “NOT the end” that is placed at the end of each book, I could get very annoyed. As it is, for some reason, books four and five didn’t make it to me in the same shipment that 1-3 and 6 did, so now I’m stuck tapping my fingers and waiting to see what happens in the next segment of the adventure. My poor mail carrier will probably need to seek counseling after experiencing me in ‘wait’ mode. Should I tell him he has Liparulo to thank for this?

Review copy provided by Thomas Nelson.

Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Adventure

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publication Date: May 2008

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

The King family is back in Robert Liparulo’s next adventure in his Dreamhouse Kings series. Well, not the whole family, but we’ll get to that in a few minutes. Right now what we know is that the house is still causing no end to chaos in their lives and that the connection to their family goes much further back than anyone suspected when they arrived.

Now, they’re facing a daunting task. Their mother has disappeared into the house and they have no idea how to find her. Xander is angry at his father for hiding their connection to the house and believes that he put them in undue danger. David’s just frightened and he wants to find their mother and leave. Toria is doing her best to hold the family together, much as Mom always did. It’s not easy and it gets even more frightening when a mysterious stranger named Taksidian shows up. He lets them know that he knows more about the house than they do and that they are not welcome. He leaves the family frightened, shaken, and unsure of where to turn. And who exactly is this Jesse character who has decided he needs to leave his nursing home and go to the house immediately? Hmmm.

For the second venture into this amazing series, Liparulo’s writing loses no pacing in his plot or his character development. As the house seems to grow and evolve for the characters, so the characters are growing and evolving for us. Seen from mostly David’s perspective this go around, we get to see Dad through eyes that are a little less judgmental, and experience Xander’s anger and antagonism from his little brother’s perspective. It gives a little softer edge to the storytelling, but this doesn’t, in any way, mean that the story loses its edge. The frightening scenes are just as heart pounding and in some cases the addition of David’s tender heart allows the reader to experience the fear from not only a detail oriented perspective, but with emotion tossed in as well. This gives us a richer and deeper experience and allows us to bond further with the King family through their trials.

As a parent, the things that happen to these kids are terrifying. Even so, this doesn’t come close to the fear inspired by the ‘outside’ world, beyond the house, believing that Dad is the perpetrator of all of the kids’ injuries. If it isn’t bad enough that they’re being shot at with arrows and guns while breaking limbs, then there’s a horrifyingly real thread throughout the story of accusations and assumptions of what exactly is causing these injuries. When one could get lost in the fantastical adventure Liparulo has created, he grounds us with the reality of life outside his world and it adds a new level of stress and fear as you follow the tale.

Once again, when I got to the end of the book, I was happy to have the next book (Gatekeeper) on hand so I could start reading immediately. I am fully and deeply entrenched in the King Family’s trials and am eager to see where Liparulo (shall I call him the Pied Piper?) takes me next.

Review copy provided by Thomas Nelson.

Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Adventure

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publication Date: May 2008

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

The King family is currently in a state of flux. Mr. King has just accepted a new job in another town, so the entire family has packed up and is moving from the home they’ve always known. When they arrive in Pinedale, California, they have to find a place to live. While house hunting, they come across a place in the middle of the woods that, for some reason, captures their imagination.  So Dad, Mom, Xander, David and Toria decide that this is the house for them.

The house, an old Victorian style, has a virtual litany of very unique things about it. First, there’s no street, driveway or even sidewalk. It’s simply a house stuck in the middle of the woods. And then there’s that noise thing. When someone’s in the kitchen, it sounds like they’re upstairs or in the living room. When Xander does his exploring of the house, he gets an odd creepy feeling about things shifting and moving. All in all, it’s like stepping into a Hitchcock movie. But this isn’t a movie. It’s the King Family’s life.

Later, when mysterious things are discovered in the house and tragedy strikes, everything in the King Family’s world flips upside down and they’re left shattered, frightened, and most of all, unable to move away from the house that now holds more than just their belongings.

Having heard a great deal of buzz about this series, I approached it with a lot of curiosity and some concern. Curiosity is obvious. So why the concern? Well, it’s like this. I tend to be a little bit of a wuss when it comes to scary books. I love thrillers though and since this was young adult, so I figured I’d be alright.

For a first venture into Liparulo’s work, I am extremely impressed. I love the characters and the dialogue. The descriptions are spot on. The plot has me completely hooked. I have told my husband on several different occasions that I am enjoying the tour through Liparulo’s brain. The world that he has created is fun, frightening and adventurous. I’ve been devouring the books since their arrival and I’ve finished three in about five days. I’m waiting for books 4 and 5 of the series before I get into the final book, Frenzy.  I can say without a doubt that if you have boys who enjoy adventure or girls who like reading thrillers, this is a fantastic series. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Review copy provided by Thomas Nelson.

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Drama, Supernatural

Publisher: Scholastic

Publication Date: July 2010

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

In Shiver, Grace and Sam discovered each other and learned a great deal about how to overcome adversity. Now, Sam’s not changing anymore and they think they’ve got everything under control. That is until Grace nearly non-existent parents decide to step in and begin parenting with a very heavy hand. And on top of it all, Grace is sick. Really sick. And no one can understand what’s happening to her except maybe Sam. He’s not allowed to see her or speak to her. It’s dire. It’s painful. And it’s beautiful.

The bond that develops between Grace and Sam in Shiver is stretched, tested, tried, and nearly snapped in the circumstances that develop in Linger. Yet the two of them press on together with sheer will and determination.

And then there’s Cole. A new wolf that’s just been turned, Cole is still trying to figure the whole changing thing out. He wasn’t a fan of being a human. He wanted to disappear. So when he starts making connections as a human, he’s not necessarily all that happy about it.

Stiefvater has created her own fantastical universe that’s populated with mythical creatures that are realistic enough for us to believe in their existence without much encouragement. Her descriptions are beautiful. As you’re reading, you may find yourself re-reading descriptions and wondering why you never thought of it that way before. Her characters have dialogue that reads so smoothly that you can easily imagine them speaking the words directly into your ear.

As I did with Shiver, I deeply enjoyed Linger. The journey was beautiful, heartbreaking, and in many places I held my breath to see what would happen next.  And once more, as I did with Shiver, I was annoyed beyond measure with the portrayal of Grace’s parents. Targeted to young readers, I have no doubt that this was an intentional move on Stiefvater’s part, but it still rankled me to see parents portrayed this way. Add to that the idea that there were no ‘good’ adult role models for kids going through some very serious situations and I feel like it’s an opportunity lost. It would have been nice if, after creating such a difficult situation for Grace, we could have experienced a good relationship between youth and their parents or another adult.

That said, I got to the end of this book and yelled out loud that I was going to have to wait to find out what happens next. Amongst bookshelves that are currently packed with supernatural thrillers and mythical creatures come to life, Stiefvater’s books stand out with exceptional writing and beautiful storylines that engage and entertain the audience.

Review copy provided by Scholastic.

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Drama, Supernatural

Publisher: Scholastic

Publication Date: August 2009

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

Grace has a deep connection to the woods behind her home. With self absorbed parents that rarely ever even know where their daughter is, let alone what she’s doing, Grace is much more comfortable in the open air. As she wanders through the woods she can hear sounds and taste elements in the air that most people cannot. She can’t explain this and really, it’s not something about which she’s concerned. It’s just a part of her.  Just like the wolf attack she experienced when she was a small child. Though she should have died, she didn’t. She was saved from death by a wolf with golden eyes.  Where most people would spend their lives concentrating on the horror of the attack, Grace spent her life concentrating on the act of grace that saved her life. It is this perspective that not only helps get Maggie through the difficult times of her life, but that also prepares her for the strange events that are about to take her life in a whole new direction.

Years later, Grace recognizes the same wolf that saved her life when she was a child. For some unknown reason, she sees the wolf outside her home often. He’s always watching her. Where she felt a connection before, she now begins to think of the wolf as her own. So when a boy from her high school class is attacked by the wolves, Grace virulently opposes the proposed wolf hunt. She’s worried for ‘her’ wolf. And her worries are completely justified.

She’s horrified one day when she discovers a boy with yellow eyes lying on her back porch bleeding. It’s the beginning of the rest of her life.

Stiefvater’s tale cannot escape comparisons to the other ‘supernatural teen romance’ series that’s on the market today. With several interesting similarities to Twilight, I was at first worried that I was just reading a knock off of the popular tale.  Imagine my surprise when I was drawn in to a world that actually had some explanations, made sense, and had beautiful writing to boot.  Where I was worried I’d find only teen angst and drama, I discovered a beautiful tale that drew me in and left me wanting more. I needed to know what would happen next.

One of my biggest issues with the story was that of Grace’s parents. Well, actually, all of the parents. They were, for all intents and purposes, non-existent. It would have been nice to see some good parental figures that stuck with the kids, listened, and helped them through trials and traumas. Instead we see parents so caught up in themselves that they have little to no impact whatsoever on the lives of their children. These are kids that are basically raising themselves without any adult input or supervision. In fact, when parents do get involved, they are more a nuisance and don’t understand. Teenagers are already of this frame of mind and it’s hard enough for adults to permeate this belief with real care and concern. I would have felt better if there had been at least one set of  understanding parents who didn’t just comply with everything the kids told them to, but really genuinely helped the kids through their situations.

Other than that, the story remained tight and solid, the characterizations were vivid and beautiful and the descriptions literally leaped off of the page.  This story gives you solid adventure in a supernatural universe where Stiefvater creates her own rules about life and how it happens and they actually make sense.
Shiver is a definite must read for those who like romance and teen drama with a little of the supernatural/fantasy world mixed in for good measure. If you’ve read that ‘other’ teen supernatural drama series, definitely give this a try. You may just like it better. I certainly did.

Review copy provided by Scholastic.

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Drama

Publisher: David C. Cook

Publication Date: March 2010

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

The story of Queen Esther is, perhaps, one of the most well known stories in the Bible. She’s a spectacular role model for young women on not only beauty, but grace and courage as well. A woman who could have it all, Esther was a simple girl who was taught how to exude beauty and grace but she was also wise beyond her years and had incredible faith. Quite simply, Esther is a voice for women through centuries.  This would explain why Esther’s story has been the subject of so many books, films and stories throughout the years.

For those who don’t know Esther’s story, she was an orphan who was raised by a cousin named Mordecai. When she grows into a young beautiful woman, her life takes a fascinating turn and she soon becomes Queen of Persia. Having hidden her Jewish heritage for the duration of her marriage, she ends up taking her life into her own hands by approaching her husband, sharing her heritage, and ultimately, saving her people from destruction. That’s a really watered down thumbnail version of the story, so if you don’t know it or want to know more, please check it out. The fact that it is such a fantastic story is probably the reason that it has spawned books and films for decades.

Chosen brings a completely new spin to the life of Queen Esther.  Imagine that Queen Esther kept a running diary of her story on scrolls and that, centuries later, these scrolls were found. This allows you to experience the hopes, dreams and fears of Esther from a first-hand perspective. Ginger Garrett does a brilliant job capturing the thoughts and the voice of the famous queen.  Even as a queen, the frightened young girl shows through just enough for the reader to remember where Esther’s story began, but also gives you insight into the mind of a Queen.

Taking such a well known story and giving it a new spin is always a gamble. This can be especially difficult when you’re putting words into the mouth of a Biblical character. This is how I approached Chosen: The Lost Diaries of Queen Esther. I grew up with Esther as that role model and, since she’s a favorite of mine, I approached this story with some trepidation. Thankfully, my worries and concerns over the possible downfalls of the story were not founded. Garrett managed to give this story a beautiful twist that allows faithful Esther devotees a new perspective on a beloved tale. Filled with beautiful description, amazing characters and, most importantly, the great queen’s voice, this is a story you don’t want to miss.

Review copy provided by David C. Cook.

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Drama

Publisher: Revell

Publication Date: January 2010

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

Sophie Ramsay has a problem. She’s the editor of the school newspaper. She’s an example of a ‘good kid’ to most of the other teenagers she knows. And, after a summer away from home being a counselor at a camp run by her church, she’s pregnant. She’s not a screw up. She’s not unintelligent. She’s simply a teenager who made a mistake and has no idea how to fix it. Can it even be fixed?

The story is simple, easy to understand and there aren’t any really big surprises as you’re reading. This does not, by any stretch of the imagination mean that the story isn’t enjoyable. The plot moves pretty quickly as Sophie’s teenage mind tries to absorb (in a first person perspective) what’s happening to her body, what’s about to happen, and what she really hopes happens. There are moments when you feel like yelling at Sophie (like when she doesn’t tell the truth) but more often than not, you just want to wrap your arms around her and give her a hug.

There is, throughout the course of the book, a raging debate. It is a chicken/egg concept that revolves around the very serious topic of teen pregnancy. What is the best way for a Christian to deal with a teen pregnancy? Is it by providing resources and loving the kids through their trials? Or will doing that provide an environment of acceptance that will create more and more teenage pregnancies? The heart of the debate is the central core of the story.

Melody Carlson brilliantly captures the mind of an intelligent, charismatic young girl caught up in a mistake of epic proportions. There’s no debate of what’s right or wrong. Sophie knows, without a doubt, that she should not have slept with Dylan. She understands this implicitly and it is very obvious throughout the course of the story.

Though the story delves brilliantly into the mind of a teenager in this situation, it feels empty in places. We meet Sophie after she’s already slept with Dylan and her view, in retrospect, is very obviously not one of a girl in love. The complete divorce from emotion or feeling and no description of the relationship that developed with Sophie and Dylan makes it a little more difficult to be empathetic to her situation. If we had been given more of a glimpse into the emotion of the moment, it might have been easier to have some sympathy. Although honestly, I’m not sure that Carlson intended for us to have that sort of sympathy for this main character. There’s an obvious tone of self-deprecation and guilty overtones throughout. Sophie knows she messed up and, as is often the case in reality, she has a harder time forgiving herself than other people have forgiving her.

The end of the book comes nearly crashing in on the reader. After following months of Sophie dealing with the ins and outs of pregnancy and trying to hide it from everyone, it feels as if things end anti-climactically. It’s almost as if the point of the book was not to really carry Sophie through her pregnancy, labor, and the difficult time after, but just to cover the debate mentioned above. The labor, delivery and adoption are all glossed over as well as a relationship that appears to be developing with another boy from school, despite her pregnancy. I would have liked to have seen what happens next, in the days and weeks afterward, and how Sophie is able to deal with the fall-out from her decisions. It also would have deepened the story to find out how Sophie moves on after such a traumatizing experience. What happens later at school? Church? With her parents? Perhaps this is something Carlson will look into exploring later. For now though, Anything But Normal was a fascinating glimpse into the mind of a teenager under immense pressure and life altering circumstances. I would recommend it for any teenage girl considering sex and any parent of a teenager or friends with someone who is pregnant. It definitely helps give a new perspective and one that might help minister to those dealing with this situation.

Review copy provided by Revell.

Genre: Children’s / Young Adult

Publisher: Walden Pond Press

Publication Date: May 2010

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

I must admit: I love Australian authors. Their books are usually charming, exciting, and have such a unique voice that it’s hard to stay away. And when I found new author Richard Newsome’s debut book, The Billionaire’s Curse, I was extremely excited to find a new series to follow along with. The first book in The Archer Legacy delivers on many levels, and will definitely find many fans following the end of The 39 Clues.

When Gerald Wilkins finds out that he has to skip snowboarding with his best friend Ox for school break and instead go to England for his great-aunt’s funeral, he’s devastated. What could be worse than going to a funeral for some old stiff that he’s never even met in his life? But then he gets the letter from beyond the grave and in his aunt’s handwriting: “…I expect you’ve figured out that I was murdered. I want you to find out who did it.” Gerald has no idea what to do. But soon he becomes caught up in murder, a missing diamond, and a mystery as old as the English countryside. Can Gerald and his new friends Ruby and Sam figure out who killed his great-aunt before the murderer comes after them next?

Newsome has created some fun and unique characters that follow along in the vein of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, and the villain is right in line with an Anthony Horowitz creation. It’s exciting to follow Gerald and share in his bafflement at the lifestyles of his rich family members, the secrets surrounding the Archer family, and his encounters with the shadowy figures out to find him.

The mystery and puzzles are done very well, and a few scenes are downright creepy in all the right ways. The set-up for the story does take a while, but there’s enough humor and fun to make up for the lack of plot progression. Some moments almost felt a little bit too silly for their own good, but then others became deathly serious. There’s also a smattering of offensive language that seemed a bit out of place when it appeared. By the end, there’s some very intriguing plot points developing, and everything wraps up with the promise of more to come.

Overall The Billionaire’s Curse is a fun, adventurous romp that, while a bit stiff at moments, will definitely be enjoyable for the tween market.

Review copy provided by the Amazon Vine Program.

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Publication Date: April 2009

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

Four years after the first Gatekeepers novel released, Anthony Horowitz returns to his sometimes fantasy, sometimes science fiction, sometimes horror series for young adults. It’s been a wait for fans of the books, but now Horowitz delivers the next chapter in this thrilling series with astounding pacing, plotting, and a finish that ranks among his absolute best.

The story continues during events that take place in Nightrise, book three. Things open up with Scarlett Adams, living in England and enjoying a relatively simple life until she stumbles through a doorway in St. Meredith’s Church. Transported far from home, Scarlett faces a nightmare: there are men after her and she doesn’t know why. All she does know is that they want her alive. Soon everything spins out of control: Scarlett’s family is breaking, her life is falling apart, the people around her are dying, and her own will is about to smashed to pieces. Unless Matthew Freeman and the other three gatekeepers can rescue her in time…

Necropolis was a huge undertaking, and it’s easy to see why Horowitz waited so long to piece things together for its release. From Peru to England to Hong Kong to Macao and Miami, the story flies the characters all over the map. Horowitz takes a few cues from his horror stories in this one, and really ratcheted up the gore level. A few scenes definitely made me squirm, and other places I was breathless, flipping page after page to see what would happen. His action scenes shine brightly here, and even rival some of his Alex Rider books. Horowitz also seemed to try and make the evil creatures a little more frightening than before. In books two and three when the Old Ones are revealed, they were more comical than terrifying. But in Necropolis, things take a dark, dark turn as the evil seems much more sinister than ever before.

Some sections did plod a bit, such as when Scarlett first arrives in Hong Kong. For about the first fifth of the book, Scarlett’s point of view takes over, but then things switch up and start bouncing between Scarlett and Matthew, the main character in two of the previous books (Raven’s Gate and Evil Star). And Horowitz even experiments with journal entries from Matthew’s perspective. The journal sections did jump from the flow of the story, but they worked to give us an inside view of Matthew’s thoughts about the things happening all around him. The suspense does build, sometimes too slowly, but the final climax blew away almost every other ending Horowitz has done so far. The final chapter is so perfectly executed and left on such a perfect cliff hanger that I couldn’t help but sit quietly in awe after I had turned the last page.

While this book might be just a bit too gory and violent for some readers, fans of Horowitz’ previous novels and of The Gatekeepers series will definitely enjoy this penultimate book before the final saga of Matthew Freeman and the Power of the Five.

Genre: Young Adult, Suspense, Thriller

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publication Date: February 2010

Reviewed by Jake Chism

Charlie West wakes up one day and a year of his life is gone. Mysterious thugs are after him and the police want him for the murder of his friend, Alex. As Charlie tries to makes sense of it all, he discovers he is in the middle of a major terrorist plot and he has no idea how he got involved. Reluctantly, Charlie decides to go to the only place where he might find some answers: home.

Andrew Klavan has more than left his mark on the adult thriller genre, but with this fresh new Young Adult series he is quickly proving what a multi-talented storyteller he is. While The Last Thing I Remember hooked me with it’s breakneck pace and tension, The Long Way Home has captured my imagination with the strong character development and themes of friendship and heroism that Klavan explores. The real heroes of this story are Charlie’s friends, who never doubted him and are ready to do whatever it takes to clear his name. I found much more character depth here than I anticipated and it made the book that much better. Never fear, though. Fans who are looking forward to the action and intrigue will find plenty here to cheer about.

With two more books to go in The Homelanders series, I find myself anxiously waiting what Klavan has up his sleeves. I’m buying everything Klavan is selling, from the excellent first person narrative, to the gut punching action; to the perfect doses of humor and wit…it’s all working for me.

With top notch series like The Dreamhouse Kings and The Homelanders, Thomas Nelson is blazing one heck of a trail in the Young Adult market. I can’t wait to see what’s next!

Don’t miss our interview with Andrew Klavan!

Review copy provided by Thomas Nelson.

Genre: Children’s, Young Adult

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Publication Date: September 2007

Reviewed by Jaci Miller

When Dashti’s mistress, Lady Saren, refuses to marry the man her father has chosen, both girls are thrown into a sealed tower to endure a seven-year punishment. Soon Khan Tegus, a kind suitor, calls upon them and Saren orders Dashti to impersonate her, a crime punishable with death. Reluctantly, Dashti obeys and finds herself anticipating this man’s visits. But food supplies grow scarce and an evil suitor, Khasar, taunts them. Dashti must find a way to protect her mistress and escape the tower’s confines.

Against a backdrop of war-torn and defeated lands, Dashti and Saren flee to Tegus’ homeland, still maintaining their switched identities. But Khasar’s lust for power leads him to conquer this country as well. As he approaches their new home, Dashti learns she must face Khasar if she and Saren hope to survive.

Something about Book of a Thousand Days by Newbery Honor-winner Shannon Hale entrances readers into propping their eyelids against the late hours. The magic of foreign lands and the thrill of adventure may have something to do with this. Or it could be poetic language and a truly heroic, yet humble protagonist. Readers will cheer for Dashti, a simple but intelligent girl, who can restore the human spirit with her healing songs. Ever hopeful and hardy, she tells the tale through her carefully kept journal.

Shannon Hale patterns the setting of this retold Grimm fairytale (“Maid Maleen”) after medieval Mongolia—a unique choice that lends a distinctive quality and tone to the book. Some elements of religion and eastern mysticism naturally creep into the book for this reason, as well as bits of magic.

A well-told, charming tale.

Review copy provided by Bloomsbury.

Genre: Children’s, Young Adult

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Publication Date: June 2008

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

In the aftermath of Harry Potter, numerous authors took up the mantle of writing stories of magic and wizardry. And Sarah Prineas offers up her debut novel, The Magic Thief, as just such an entry into the world of fantasy juvenile fiction.

Conn stumbles across a mysterious figure entering the Twilight side of the city of Wellmet, and the gutter boy picks his pockets and finds a strange stone. When Conn survives an attack from the stone, the mysterious man, Nevery Flinglas, takes the boy in. And thus begins their adventures, as Nevery tries to discover why the magic is draining out of the city and Conn just tries to figure out the mysteries surrounding his own life. Then they both discover the truth: if the magic disappears completely, all of Wellmet will be destroyed. And Conn may be the key to saving them all…

The premise seems promising, and there is mystery and magic enough to keep things interesting, but The Magic Thief just never quite caught me the way I thought it would. Things begin incredibly slowly, and for about a hundred pages, we follow the barely-speaking Conn around as he describes strange islands and the biscuits he has for breakfast every morning. The plot does pick up about halfway through, but by that time it’s fairly obvious what is really going on. And the major plot twist comes at a strange moment, and almost doesn’t feel true to the rest of the story.

But not all is lost. The setting, which is highly reminiscent of A Series of Unfortunate Events or one of Tom Becker’s Darkside novels, shines in a gothic, turn-of-the-century way. And some of the characters are highly entertaining as well. However, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Harry Potter on quite a few occasions, from the school where students learn magic to the snotty kid, Keeston, who is pretty much Draco Malfoy wearing different colored robes. But the setting itself is enough to switch up the rest of the Potter feel.

Prineas has included some fun extras as well. After most chapters, a journal entry or letter from Nevery slides in, complete with secret messages to decipher using a key in the back of the book. There’s also a map, character and location profiles, and even recipes for those biscuits that are mentioned non-stop throughout The Magic Thief.

Setting aside the plodding pace that will surely lose some readers along the way, The Magic Thief, does get some things right. And fans looking for a different sort of wizard and magic tale might just enjoy this one.

Genre: Children’s, Young Adult

Publisher: Aladdin

Publication Date: January 2009

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

I love picking up a book, blasting through to the end, and wishing I had read it sooner. And when that book starts off a series, it’s even better. P. W. Catanese has definitely delivered with Happenstance Found, book one in The Books of Umber.

When a young boy named Happenstance is found left alone in the ruins of an ancient city, Lord Umber takes him into his care, knowing that the boy has been left for him to find. But Happenstance doesn’t know who he is or where he comes from or even why he exists. And the mysteries start to build: why can the boy see in the dark? Why doesn’t he have to sleep? And why does everyone stare at his green eyes as if they’re a curse? Happenstance journeys with his questions into a new world: a world filled with barges strapped to the backs of leviathans, ancient evils, and a nasty creature that will hunt him down to the death.

Catanese has done things right: created strong characters that are easy to connect with and enjoy. The world of Happenstance and Umber is fleshed out nicely, without giving us huge explanations to plod through. When the back stories do emerge, they flow seamlessly with the rest of the novel.

He’s also crafted a strong plot that ducks around the edges of the typical fantasy genres, dishing out a nice bit of humor alongside the suspense of his story. In fact, some of the twists that he delivers are so startling that I found myself nearly breathless as I frantically flipped the pages. The beginning does start out a bit slowly, but there is definitely enough mystery up front to keep things flowing until some of the real twists about midway. And with some insanely creepy scenes thrown in, I couldn’t help checking over my shoulder as I read.

Fans of offbeat fantasy novels will definitely enjoy this one. And since this is the beginning of a series, Catanese doesn’t answer everything by the last page. But he does hand off an incredible twist by the end that will leave readers aching for the next volume.

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Publisher: Harper Collins

Publication Date: September 2009

Reviewed by James Andrew Wilson

In this charming little tale inspired by Norse mythology, Neil Gaiman tells the story of a boy named Odd and his quest to save Asgard, city of the gods. He is accompanied by a bear, a fox, and an eagle—three creatures who are more than their fur and feathers.

The book reads like a fireside story told by an old wise man known for adding a bit of color to his tales. It all seems quite silly, and yet, it is that silliness, that streak of oddness, that gives the book its wonderful charm.

The style is classic Gaiman, with dollops of wit and wonder and the occasional sprinkle of black humor. It is easy reading, and though it is a book designated for a younger audience, adults with an hour to spare will likely find themselves smiling at this fun little escape.

For all that it does right, Odd and the Frost Giants is missing something: more pages! Unlike Gaiman’s Newberry award winning novel The Graveyard Book, Odd and the Frost Giants is over faster than you can say, “The giants of Jotunheim have taken Mjollnir!” Still, the little bit of story that we do get is nearly perfect, and hopefully we will see more stories about Odd in the future.

With some wonderful illustrations by Brett Helquist, the storytelling knack of Mr. Gaiman, and a protagonist who may be a little odd but is completely loveable, Odd and the Frost Giants is an evening of reading well spent and a book that can easily be enjoyed time and time again.

Just make sure to read every page; some of the best laughs are hidden in the biography at the very end.

Genre: Children’s, Young Adult

Publisher: Disney Editions

Publication Date: March 2008

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

I love reading spy novels – anything with international intrigue or the FBI or the CIA – I just devour it. And when I found out that Ridley Pearson had written a kid-spy-type novel, I was definitely intrigued. I’ve been somewhat of a backseat fan of Pearson after reading his Peter and the Starcatchers novel, co-written with Dave Barry. So I thought I would give Steel Trapp: The Challenge a chance. And I’m glad I did.

Things start out with a fourteen-year old boy named Steel Trapp, who is traveling to Washington, D.C. with his mother for the National Science Challenge. But when a mysterious lady drops a briefcase off on the train and then disappears onto the platform, Steel can’t help but wonder what is going on. And soon, he finds himself swimming in a plot that could change the face of the United States of America forever – unless he can outsmart the people after him just long enough to figure things out. But with time sliding away and lives in danger, it’s going to take a miracle to save them all.

I had read Pearson’s Kingdom Keepers a while back, and I must say that book left me a little under-impressed. The writing had seemed to jump all over the place, never really sticking very solidly to the story. The plot of Keepers soon became so convoluted that it was very difficult to follow. I kind of expected something similar with The Challenge, but I was really surprised at the linear way that Pearson holds the story together. Things don’t jump around out of control and hard to follow. Instead the story keeps moving right along, pausing here and there at the right moment to develop an interesting side plot with Steel’s parents and their failing relationship.

The characters are fun too. There’s Steel, who’s not your typical Alex Rider hero. Instead, he’s a self-proclaimed science fair nerd, who just has a photographic memory. He’s not even that smart; he can just remember the things he’s seen. And then there’s his new friend Kaileigh, a girl who’s trying to outwit her governess, oust whoever stole her science project for the National Challenge, and just keep up with Steel’s antics.

With a ton of fun adventure/action, The Challenge is definitely one that will please readers who might like a more light-hearted Alex Rider book. And with a very decent surprise twist or two, Pearson has given us something good to read and enjoy.

Genre: Children’s, Young Adult

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Publication Date: September 2009

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

It’s always great to find a new book series that has it all: adventure, action, charm, humor. And when I first stumbled across The Seems by John Hulme and Michael Wexler, I knew that this was going to be something good. And it was. The first book, The Glitch in Sleep, was a good entry into the new world of the Seems – the world creating The World. While a bit cutesy at moments, it definitely was a fun fantasy/adventure title. And then book two, The Split Second, took everything that was great about the first book and made it even better. So nothing could have set my expectations higher than when I discovered the third volume, The Lost Train of Thought. And while it definitely promised a lot, it didn’t quite live up to it.

The plot starts straight out with Fixer Becker Drane’s court trial in the Seems. Becker has broken rules in the Seems, and now the Powers That Be have decided that he needs to be held accountable for his actions. But before the final verdict comes down, a Train of Thought bound for The World goes missing, as do four of the best Fixers known in all the Seems. Soon Becker finds himself on a mission to save The World once again, but this time, if he fails, the Seems may just come crumbling to its knees as well.

Hulme and Wexler include much of the same humor – striking puns of everyday phrases. They also have plenty of mystery going on: where is the lost train? Who is trying to overthrow the Seems? What really is The Most Amazing Thing of All? But where this book seemed to fail was the fact that it kept cutting away just as an action scene was about to begin. And instead of showing us, they just skipped ahead and explained in a paragraph or two what had happened. There was more than once I felt a little bit disappointed at not getting to see the epic battles play out between the heroes and villains.

The other thing that struck me was the tone shift in the book. The first fifty pages or so really started out in kind of a depressing spiral, but then the later two-thirds seemed just like previous books in the series: more light-hearted and fun and adventurous. But, the thing that really salvaged things for me was the ending. Hulme and Wexler leave off with a few startling revelations for the series that definitely promise to have a huge impact on the characters and The World itself.

The Lost Train of Thought ends up being a good entry in this fantasy adventure series, but misses the mark here and there, and definitely does not live up to its predecessor, The Split Second. Here’s hoping to a fourth book that gets things a bit more… on Track.

Genre: Children’s, Young Adult

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

Publication Date: April 2008

Reviewed by Jaci Miller

Stuck in a modern fallout shelter for six years, Eli Yanakakis grieves for his twin brother and grandmother who were left outside the shelter during a nuclear attack. Eli has escaped death, but has become introverted, self-focused and standoffish as he waits for the 15-year time period to expire and he can return to what is left of the world. But problems with the food supply threaten the family—that is, until his father presents an unthinkable solution to the problem. Horrified, Eli begins to doubt his father and his sanity. As his trust in his father dissolves, Eli discovers a link to the outside that upends all he knows about his world in the compound.

The Compound by S.A. Bodeen is slightly reminiscent of Flowers in the Attic, an entrapment novel simply told and a straightforward story that pushes the reader through the pages. Although the ending is somewhat predictable, readers race through the pages, curious to learn what new aspects of the shelter will be revealed, what new horrors hide in the massive compound.

Some plot points seem a little thin, like Eli’s discovery of the secret exit code, but the speedy pace helps gloss over this a bit. The Compound is clearly a first novel for Bodeen with more explanatory narrative than development through scenes, but again, Bodeen masterfully harnesses the curious nature of readers, forcing them along on a breathtaking ride of deceit, madness and fear.

With multiple social issues addressed within, this book provides ample opportunity for discussion in classrooms or among families. Youth will appreciate this book and will, most likely, easily overlook its flaws.

Review copy provided by Feiwel and Friends.

Genre: Children, Young Adult

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Publication Date: March 2010

Reviewed by Shaun Stevenson

I walked through the shelves of a local bookstore tonight and literally gasped out loud when I saw Lord Sunday sitting on the shelf. I quickly glanced up to make sure no one had heard me, and then I raced down to the checkout counter. It was all I could do to keep myself from speeding home to read the book, which I had not expected to release for a couple more weeks. And now, after two years of waiting, the final chapter in Garth Nix’s The Keys to the Kingdom series has finally arrived.

Since quite a bit of time had passed since I had read book six, Superior Saturday, I was a bit confused jumping into the storyline again. And Nix really does start blasting right into things. Arthur Penhaligon is still struggling against the forces massing against him and threatening to completely destroy everything he knows and loves. Waves of Nothing ravage the very foundations of the House, the other universe related directly to Earth, which is also crumbling under the throes of an epidemic that might just eat away at every living person left. And as the final battles culminate, it all falls to Arthur to save them all from dissolving into the black Nothingness.

The pacing here is quick and Nix almost leaves the reader breathless as they fly through one near death escape after another. Everything almost started to blend together as I kept waiting for the final mysteries of the series to be resolved. And Nix drags things out to the very bitter end before revealing the secrets behind all seven books in the last few pages. I don’t want to go too deeply into the plot here, as it would really spoil things, but after I closed the book I almost had the feeling that Nix needed a quick way to wrap things up. The rather nihilistic ending did draw things to a definite close, and there was definitely a tremendous climax leading up to the end, but somehow, it just all seemed suddenly over. In the end, I was satisfied with the way things turned out, but it just felt like he could have done a bit more .

All said, this fantasy series is definitely worth the investment. Some of the earlier titles are simply great storytelling. And Lord Sunday is necessary to the end of it all and for wrapping it up. Readers who have enjoyed the series thus far will enjoy the ending, but new-comers should definitely pick up the first book, Mister Monday, and start on through to the end. Fans of books like Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan, or The Seems by John Hulme and Michael Wexler, would definitely enjoy this fantasy romp through imaginative lands and epic battles. And, at least new readers won’t have to wait two years for the final volume.

Genre: Children, Young Adult

Publisher: HarperCollins

Publication Date: April 2008

Reviewed by Jaci Miller

As a freshman in high school, Will Tuppence has come to count on certain things in life:  the peskiness of his little sister, Tabby, steadfast friendships with Mi-Su and BT, the invincibility of protons. When he hears of a recent discovery—that protons can decay—Will’s neatly ordered world begins to unravel. Suddenly he sees Mi-Su as a female, rather than merely a friend. BT becomes competition. And the five-year-old neighbor boy who pines after Tabby plays psychiatrist to frustrated Will. But a terrifying accident leaves Will pondering what truly matters. Skateboarding, anchovy pizza and Friday night Monopoly take a backseat as he learns the meaning of real love.

Amidst many literary voices clamoring for attention, Jerry Spinelli’s Smiles to Go shushes many of them. A coming-of-age tale that feels effortlessly true, Smiles offers an authentic voice to which young people will relate (“Yeah, that’s me”) and with which adults will reminisce (“Yeah, I remember that”).

This is Spinelli’s playground—the arena where he enters the psyche of the young. He speaks to them on a personal level while simultaneously entertaining them. The book’s genuine perspective makes the reader wonder, “Surely Jerry Spinelli is, himself, still 15 years old!” Plenty of humor, honest characters and short chapters make this a friendly book for reluctant readers. But while these traits may draw readers, the book’s truthfulness will hold them. Indeed, it is the most honest book I’ve read in a long while.

Review copy provided by Harper Collins.

Genre: Adventure/Fantasy, Young Adult

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publication Date: November 2009

Reviewed by Kaci Hill

I have a confession. I picked up The Curse of the Spider King without knowing what it was supposed to be about or having read anything by either of its authors. My ARC copy has no back cover description, either. In fact, it includes a handwritten note letting me know it wasn’t the final version and errors were already in correction. But that title just sounds like it’s going to be amazing, so I requested it. Like several I’ve reviewed lately, both Hopper and Batson were suggested to me by other authors whose works I am familiar with. Besides, where in the world is the adventure if I know exactly what to expect?

At any rate, the story fixed its hooks in me from page one, with a group of Elven Sentinels (an elite class soldier) heading through a portal into Earth to retrieve several missing persons after, in Allyra time, eight hundred years of searching. The problem, I soon discover, is twofold: these seven missing thirteen year olds (Earth time) don’t know they’re missing, and the enemy assassins sent to kill them are also closing in.

Two dimensions, two basic storylines. The kids’ stories are simply about their lives, turning thirteen, discovering they’re from another world and have incredible power. They’re each given a book of their own history—a book that comes alive (literally) as they read it. And in their readings we learn how seven Elflings came to be lost on Earth. That is, they learned the story of the Elves. In some ways, however, I felt the story really belonged to the Sentinels searching for them, largely because the kids really don’t know what’s going on for so long, and they join the battle pretty deep into it. Moreover, despite the large cast, for the most part I had no trouble enjoying the characters and keeping up with plot. I confess a couple times I had to flip back, but this was only once or twice.

The themes largely involve the intricate nature of the past and present. I read one review (remember, I read reviews after I read the book) that suggested it was a coming-of-age story, but I must respectfully disagree, for the aforementioned reasons. The book has several strong themes and resists any temptation to beat the reader to death with them, and some of that I fully expect to cross over into book two, Venom and Song.

One small thing regarding a particular review: I read one from a woman  who said she thought a boy would enjoy it better due to the action sequences, and I read a couple who thought adults wouldn’t enjoy it as much or relate to the characters as well. Please note, I am a twenty-six year old female, and I find such assessments poppycock. The story and characters were both engaging. In fact, the only other thing I could find to comment on was, really, that the ending of the story snuck up on me: I wasn’t quite expecting it to end where it did, but, with the primary goal of the story accomplished, that was where it needed to end. It actually reinforced, in my mind, the idea that it’s really about the Sentinels bringing the children home, not simply the children learning they’re Elves in a ‘coming of age’ fashion. Suffice it to say, I’m looking forward to Venom and Song, a bit anxiously, at that.

Review copy provided by Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Genre: Adventure/Fantasy, Young Adult

Publisher: Creation House

Publication Date: May 2009

Reviewed by Kaci Hill

There’s a verse in the Psalm 137 that reads, “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill.” For some reason, that was the thought I had as three teenagers anxiously spent their summer longing for Aeliana.

Four hundred and fifty years have passed since the last time Ryann, Liddy, and Terell were in Aeliana. At least, Aeliana time. In Mount Dora, it’s been three months. Summer is ending, and they’ve been scattered abroad, wondering when they’ll next receive their call across time and space. Again, Reinhold doesn’t write precisely what we might expect.

First, the opening chapter or two is spent lying in wait. Waiting for answers, it turns out, isn’t passive, but active, and takes every bit as much strength as receiving them.  Second, it isn’t Ryann who first sees the portal back to Aeliana. This intrigued me because, obviously, Ryann is the main character. He’s the one charged with the three gifts and has a guardian archangel named Gabriel.

Third, the kids are not the only ones who must exhibit faith this time, which leads to my next observation. Their parents must also learn trust and obedience in the God who sends their children. As before, what happens in Mount Dora affects what happens in Aeliana and vice versa—something many stories that involve world-hopping don’t have.

Once back in Aeliana, Ryann and his friends find themselves in the middle of a long-brewing fight. They discover two unicorns and a group of cruel half-dragons (Hugons), and a growing, ominous understanding that they understand prophecies the rest of Aeliana can’t yet. Ryann, Terell, and Liddy have matured over three months, both in their thinking and in their behavior. They have new friends—many of whom don’t get along—and a whole new set of problems to deal with. Faith, it appears, involves so much more than simply jumping off a cliff (though cliff-jumping is included).

The Shield of Faith is different than The King’s Sword in that they do spend more time in Aeliana, understandably. It’s longer, and more complicated.  But as with book one, it’s about much more than the physical, literal shield. If book one is about paradise, then book two is about redemption—who to trust, who to distrust; where loyalties really lie, despite what comes out of the mouth. The shield of faith, then, is found in who you follow.

And once again I can’t say too much more without giving things away. Suffice it to say, Ryann Watters and the Shield of Faith was a satisfactory sequel to The King’s Sword, and I’ll be looking forward to book three, Ryann Watters and the Belt of Truth.

Genre: Adventure/Fantasy, Young Adult

Publisher: Creation House

Publication Date: May 2008

Reviewed by Kaci Hill

I heard of Eric Reinhold by way of Donita Paul, Bryan Davis, Jonathan Rogers, and several others engaged in a Motiv8 Tour. As a result, I requested both Ryann Watters and the King’s Sword and its sequel at the same time to read and review. Honestly, I didn’t quite know what to expect. For me, the YA genre is simply fun. And a middle-schooler from a Christian home who receives a visit by night from the angel Gabriel giving him a mission from God, well, is fun. The same night, one of said boy’s classmates also receives a night-visitation . . . from a fallen angel. Both boys receive a mission and three gifts. Thus begins a quest for a missing sword.

Most intriguing, though, is that what happens next isn’t what either boy or reader expects. Much of the journey takes place, not in the brilliant paradise of Aeliana, but in the every-day lives of four sixth graders and their families. Part of Ryann’s journey is to learn to use the Word—the Word of God. The use of Scripture in The King’s Sword is natural and thematic—I found myself as moved as the kids. Moreover, having grown up in a Christian home myself, I found Ryann’s life, aside from attending public school (I attended a private Christian school), quite reflective of my own. Their journey is as much spiritual as it is physical, and Reinhold has a unique way of pulling the two together.

As far as the characters go, Ryann and his three friends are busy, active twelve-year-olds, but they’re also well-read and thoughtful. Their maturity shows through (as well as Eric’s non-indulgence in dramatics, which is a plus) in their ability to deal with and get over an issue, so that when one offends another, the situation is either handled in a timely manner or deemed no longer important. Grudges simply don’t have place among friends—something a good deal of contemporary movies and TV shows don’t seem to comprehend. (Likely one reason this struck me is the stark contrast to one such movie, where the characters seem incapable of getting over themselves in stereotypical teenager melodrama.) At any rate, it was simply pleasant to see Ryann remember that his offender is still his best friend.

I could go on about all of them. I found Drake, despite being an antagonist, also somewhat sympathetic. Ekron is dark and cruel; Gabriel is firm and kind. Ryann’s father is a minor character, but fully developed and active in his son’s life.

Alright, I can’t stand spoilers, and possibly have already come too close to a few, so I won’t say much more. Ryann certainly didn’t expect his story to go the way it did; and I didn’t either. Reinhold provided an excellent introduction to Ryann, Mount Dora, and Aeliana—I most definitely am looking forward to Ryann Watters and the Shield of Faith.

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: HarperCollins

Publication Date: September 2008

Reviewed by Jaci Miller

As a toddler, Bod escapes the brutal murder of his family by wandering from his home into a nearby graveyard. There, the resident spooks protect him from the murderer who has targeted him. The ghostly Mr. and Mrs. Owens decide to raise him within the graveyard and name him Nobody (Bod) Owens. Bod explores his home and learns the ways of the spirit world from his “parents,” his immortal guardian, Silas, and a host of other eccentric creatures who protect and educate him. As he grows, Bod yearns to discover the world outside the graveyard—but in that world, a murderer waits for him.

Neil Gaiman offers a unique spin on Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book with this supernatural coming-of-age tale. The Graveyard Book won the Newbery Award, but the content of this book may be better suited to young teens than children, given the disturbing nature of some of the scenes.

While an interesting tale, occasional portions of it seem to wander unnecessarily and the antagonists lack clear motivation at the end. When Gaiman does supply this motivation, it feels too similar to, and less fully justified than, a certain other magical YA book. Indeed, a number of elements contain Potter references; perhaps this is deliberate, but it feels more like borrowing than demonstrating appreciation for a similar book.

Still, this is a well-written, engaging work that is rich in sensory detail. Gaiman’s flair for characterization and narrative transports readers directly into an eerie setting where they grow to feel nearly as at home as Bod himself.

Genre: Suspense, Mystery, Young Adult

Publisher: Zondervan

Publication Date: October 2009

Reviewed by Jake Chism

Shaley O’Connor has always longed for the father she never knew. Being the teenage daughter of a rock star certainly has its perks, but Shaley would gladly trade all the glamour and spotlight for a chance to meet her dad. However, two of her friends have recently been murdered and it seems like her father may be behind it all. Shaley and her mom, Rayne, delve into the past looking for answers unaware that someone is coming for them both.

Last Breath takes up right where Always Watching left off and immediately we’re pulled in by the tight suspense and mystery surrounding Shaley. We’re treated to a great storytelling device this time around that gives us a glimpse into the past and propels the story ahead. The suspense and mystery elements are strong throughout and Shaley’s spiritual journey never seems forced or manufactured.  Rather the questions and doubts come across as a natural reaction to the fear and turmoil she is facing.

Brandilyn and Amberly Collins continue to shine in a young adult market that so desperately needs quality stories laced with positive messages. Though geared towards teen girls, this series can be picked up and enjoyed by anyone who loves great suspense. Give the Rayne Tour a try and see for yourself. You’ll be glad you did.

Don’t miss our interview with Brandilyn and Amberly Collins.

Genre: Suspense, Mystery, Young Adult

Publisher: Zondervan

Publication Date: May 2009

Reviewed by Jake Chism

Shaley O’Connor has the kind of life most girls would do anything for: A rock star mom, limitless wealth, and the celebrity status to boot. What teenager wouldn’t want to tour with one of the world’s most famous bands? Unfortunately, the fame soon loses its power and appeal when one of Shaley’s closest friends is murdered back stage at the latest concert. As new evidence comes to light she soon realizes her own life is in danger. Not knowing who to trust, Shaley turns to the God who has always seemed so far to help her in her greatest time of need.

Mother and daughter team Brandilyn and Amberly Collins have stormed onto the YA scene in exhilarating style with this great new series. Always Watching is a fast paced whodunit set against the intriguing backdrop of rock star celebrity. From the opening lines, we are immersed into Shaley’s exciting life as a celebrity’s daughter. It doesn’t take long for us to see that fame is not all its cut out to be. Indeed Shaley’s struggle to balance her public status with her true identity is one of the most interesting aspects of this story.

When you read Brandilyn Collins you expect mystery and thrills, and once again she doesn’t disappoint. Her adult fans will find much to rave about here, while new teen readers will love the youthful voice and perspective that Amberly Collins brings to the table. Underlying the tension and dread is a strong spiritual message about trusting in the God who is always watching over us. In the end we are left with the closure we long for and a promise of even more mystery to come. The Rayne Tour is in full swing and you can guarantee that I won’t miss a show.

Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi, Thriller, Adventure

Publisher: Scholastic

Publication Date: September 1^st, 2009

Reviewed by Jake Chism

Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark set the hearts of Panem on fire when they found a way to both win The Hunger Games and defy the evil Capitol. As they return home they discover that an uprising among the districts has begun and President Snow is doing everything in his power to quench it. Katniss and Peeta are beginning to realize that winning the Hunger Games by no means assures them of safety. In a desperate move President Snow wipes out any hope of protection and security for the two champions and their loved ones. Can the hope of a nation be silenced before the nation fights back?

Suzanne Collins left me in utter and complete awe with her phenomenal debut, The Hunger Games. With reckless abandon I tore into this sequel with strong hopes that I would be enthralled yet again. Thankfully, Collins does not disappoint. Not even close!

What I loved about Catching Fire was that Collins didn’t try to top herself. Instead of attempting to write a better novel, she focused on giving us even more story. The Hunger Games brought us so much action, romance, adventure, and suspense and all of those elements are found in perfect doses here. We’re actually treated to more character development this time around, making the aforementioned elements work seamlessly together.

I’ll admit that I expected the story to head in a different direction and I was a bit surprised when I realized exactly where Collins was taking us. Some might suggest this is a somewhat gimmicky move for a sequel, but Collins’s strong writing sold me completely on the idea and I never looked back. In the end we are left with a gut wrenching longing for the finale, where it seems like things are heading towards an explosive ending.

I am totally hooked on this series and I can’t wait to put these novels into everyone’s hands. If you’re looking for sharp storytelling, characters to root for, villains to loathe, and relentless action then this is the series for you.

Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Young Adult

Publisher: The Chicken House

Publication Date: September 26, 2008

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

What happens when the author of a story loses control of it? Does the story run amok? Or does the author? Does the author control the story or does the story control the author? These are some of the ideas explored by Cornelia Funke in Inkdeath, the stunning conclusion to her much loved Inkheart Trilogy.

When Fenoglio created characters that were evil incarnate and nearly too dangerous to be described, he never expected to find himself living under their rule in their Kingdom.  He never imagined that his world of fiction and fantasy would become life threateningly real to him. Even after arriving in his created world, he still doesn’t understand what bows to his words and what doesn’t, leading to even more mayhem and chaos as the story unfolds.

In this third installment of the Inkheart series, we again become reacquainted with our beloved friends from previous books. Mo, Resa, Elinor, Meggie and Farid all make their appearances in this book and in a much changed manner from how we met them in the previous books.  Where Mo began his journey through this tale as a bookbinder who believed that stories lived and breathed, he now finds himself a very real character in Fenoglio’s tale with danger and death following every breath he and his family takes. In an effort to make sure that Resa and Meggie are safe, Mo goes on a journey that appears to have salvation for everyone but himself.

Just as in her previous books, Funke weaves a gorgeous tale with words that come alive on the page and beg you to read them again and again. Inkdeath holds to the high standard that she set in previous books and delivers an ending that could move you to tears. Not because the ending is so utterly perfect and satisfying (even though it is) but because the story of these amazing characters and this brilliantly created world has come to an end.  It’s nearly heartbreaking to imagine that we won’t hear from Mortimer or Meggie or Resa again, but as Funke reminds us again and again throughout the Inkheart trilogy, stories don’t ever end. We just don’t know what happens once the book closes.

Genre: Young Adult, Adventure, Thriller, Sci-Fi

Publisher: Scholastic

Publication Date: October 2008

Reviewed by Jake Chism

In the future North America has vanished and a new nation called Panem has risen. Twelve districts are ruled by the Capitol, a tyrant ruling council that uses a yearly competition to keep order among its despondent citizens. Every year one boy and one girl from each district are chosen to compete in the Hunger Games where they must fight to the death. The location is always different, and every year the nation watches with bated breath to see who will be the last one standing.

In District 12, Katniss Everdeen looks on in horror as her younger sister is chosen to compete in this year’s games. Before she knows it she finds herself volunteering in her sister’s place. Also chosen is the mysterious baker’s son, Peeta, who Katniss has always known from a distance. As the competition nears Katniss and Peeta grow closer making the imminent battle for survival all the more complicated. This year Katniss and Peeta will capture the hearts of a hopeless nation as they turn the tables on The Hunger Games and the evil Capitol that controls them.

I am always on the lookout for that one story. You know what I mean. The one that gets in your head and won’t go away. The kind of book you want to put in everyone’s hands.  A story that has the power to completely mesmerize and capture your imagination. The Hunger Games has done all of that for me and more.

Collins hooks us from line one with the engaging first person narrative of Katniss Everdeen. Through her eyes we learn about this world in the distant future and the turmoil within. This is the kind of character that most novelists only dream of creating. Every turn of the page reveals just a little more about what drives her unquenchable spirit. Katniss may be low on the social ladder, but her compassion and fight for justice lend a majestic quality to this lowly peasant.

If Katniss herself doesn’t hook you, no doubt the relentless pacing will. Once the Games begin it is almost impossible to put this story down. Collins perfectly balances action, suspense, and violence throughout the second half of this story. As I was reading I felt like I, too, was watching these Games unfold along with the citizens of Panem and several times I wanted to stand and cheer for Katniss and Peeta and their heroic actions. In the end we are given the perfect amount of closure with a promise of more to come.

The Hunger Games might just be the best novel I’ve read this year and I am simply blown away by the storytelling prowess of Suzanne Collins. The sequel, Catching Fire, is due out soon and if early reviews are any indication, round two is even better. I can’t wait to disappear once more into this fascinating world that has captured my imagination in a way I never anticipated.

Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Young Adult

Publisher: AMG Publishers

Publication Date: 12 March 2009

Reviewed by Kaci Hill

I read the first three of Bryan Davis’ Dragons in Our Midst series one immediately after the other, and didn’t have long to wait on the fourth installment. It was about a boy who could breathe fire and a girl with dragon wings, a vile slayer, and a sorceress.  I say this because it’s really the beginning. His follow-up series, Oracles of Fire, begins with a prequel that covers the first few thousand years of human (and dragon) existence all the way into the present, overlaps the Dragons in Our Midst series, and ends shortly after. The other three Oracles of Fire books pick up where the DIOM series left off. It’s a lot of ground and a long ride, but worth it. Davis began by taking King Arthur stories and turning them on their heels. Add a little technology, some evil sorceresses, and portals to every dimension from Heaven to Hell to a place called Second Eden, and, as you can imagine, it’s been a wild ride.

All of that to say, I’ve really enjoyed the ride, through all its twists and turns.  I’ve admittedly had reservations about some of the characters, as some don’t fully develop until later. Davis does allow us to watch the characters age and mature on all sides. I admittedly wasn’t sure about the four-year gap, but it was necessary to allow the characters to grow and mature. Our fourteen-year-old heroes from Raising Dragons (Dragons in Our Midst) have left their teens behind and taken their places as warriors, both physically and spiritually.  I think the best development is Elam, the steadfast rock who’s lived a thousand years undaunted and never shaken. In The Bones of Makaidos we really get to see his mettle, as well as the deeper parts of his heart that were touched before but never dwelt on.

Let’s face it; The Bones of Makaidos had the weight of the world riding on it. Fans of the dragon books have followed this series for four years, seven books, and thousands of pages. So, needless to say, the author’s readers were dying of suspense about as badly as his characters.

All that said, I did find myself a little slowed down during part of Bonnie’s (the female lead) story, mostly because she spends so much time in one place. The subplot, to be honest, felt as if it was only there so Bonnie could have one particular scene with another character, mostly for one speech. Her story arc seemed to lack culmination. My concern was, in one instance Bonnie puts pressure on Billy (the male lead) that I really didn’t think either fair, necessary, or truly in sync with who she is. (I leave out the details on purpose.)  Moreover, while she’s turning on Billy to some degree, she’s also offering total, unreserved forgiveness to an abusive father who, in all honesty, still does not deserve it. It didn’t seem fair to me to so easily forgive the father but accuse Billy—who has always defended her, always protected her, and always been there for her—of being presumptuous in their relationship. I felt awful for the poor guy.

On the other hand, however, I did appreciate her learning how to use a sword and fighting back to back with Billy. I think my reaction was “Finally!”

To counter, though, in Billy we see the emergence of a spiritual leader in his coming of age, which has been something of a journey itself.  And Walter and Ashley are always a good read. And I love Clefspeare in dragon form.

The other thing I really would have done different is to go easy on chatty combatants. This is a personal thing on my part, but it’s a little distracting to have two opponents fighting to the death and spending so much time stopping to insult each other. It’s a personal preference, I suppose.

Overall, The Bones of Makaidos wraps up most of the loose ends. I’ve seen a few reviews commenting on the way it ends, but, really, Davis can keep track of multiple plots, subplots, and characters, regardless of what I think about a few nuts and bolts, and pull it all together.

Again, this is book four of The Oracles of Fire Series, so make sure to start with either the Dragons in Our Midst series or with The Eye of the Oracle, which is book one of The Oracles of Fire.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Young Adult

Publisher: Scholastic

Publication Date: April 1, 2007

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

When we last left Mortimer Folchart, his wife had returned from Inkworld, his daughter was home safe and everyone had mostly been given a wonderful ending to a fantastic tale. The exception to this ending would be Dustfinger, the fire eater that Mo had read out of his story nearly ten years earlier.

Armed with the only copy of “Inkheart” still in existence, Dustfinger sets out to find someone to read him back into his beloved Inkworld. Thankfully, we get to join him there. It is a world overflowing with magical creatures. Fairies that flit about constantly and steal your dreams, glass men who eat sand and fire eaters who whisper to the flames and make them obey.

It’s a world full of astounding beauty and magic, but danger equal to the pleasure. This time we find our beloved characters pulled out of their own lives and lost in Fenoglio’s “Inkworld” with far more intrigue, danger and adventure than they experienced the first time. Mo, who already lost his wife to the Inkworld once, is beyond dismayed to discover his daughter’s journey into this fantastical world. As he and Resa follow close behind, he discovers that his presence in the Inkworld is not by accident or mistake. He’s already known there. What does a simple bookbinder have to do with Inkworld? He’s about to find out a larger and deeper destiny.

I didn’t imagine that Cornelia Funke could possibly delight me more than she had when I read Inkheart. Full of passion and adventure, I couldn’t believe that her story could be more intriguing or more fun to read but I am thrilled to report that in this instance, I was wrong. As enamored as Meggie and Farid become with Inkworld, I fell even more in love with the strange land and the characters created by Funke. More adventure, more excitement, more danger and incredible new villains that send the story to heights unrivaled meant that I had a very difficult time even putting this book down. I ended up reading through nearly 500 pages in the course of two days, even sobbing through some parts of it.

I can’t help but shake my head that this is considered young adult or juvenile literature. The storylines are exquisitely crafted, the descriptions are very nearly living breathing creations and the characters are beloved friends.  The final book, Inkdeath, is waiting for me to open the cover and be swallowed into its adventure. I admit that part of me is holding my breath, wondering where Funke will take me this time and the other part isn’t quite ready to start this final volume. I think I will savor this book and taste each word as I experience the end to this fantastical journey.

Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Young Adult

Publisher: Scholastic

Publication Date: June 1^st, 2005

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

Mortimer Folchart (Mo) isn’t your ordinary book binder or book doctor as his daughter, Meggie, refers to him. The title fits. He cares for books as gently as any doctor caring for a patient. But Mo has a talent that sets him apart from the ordinary. He can read books to life. Literally.

Years ago Mo discovered his talent for bringing the written word to life while reading the book “Inkheart” to his young daughter. One moment he was quietly reading in the peace of his living room and the next he was surrounded by Basta, Dustfinger, and the evil Capricorn, all pulled from the pages and standing before his family, very much alive. No longer trapped by ink and paper, they were now free to roam through Mo’s world. Horrified, Mo tried to read them back into the book, but it was to no avail. Mo had no control over who came out of the book and, far worse than that, much to Mo’s horror, he discovered that when something came out of the book, something else went back in to replace it. This is when Mo decided that he would never, ever read aloud again.

Now, nearly a decade later, Mo and his now teenaged daughter Meggie cross paths with Inkheart’s characters once more. Capricorn wants Mo to read more of his evil friends out of the book and Dustfinger wants desperately to go back home and both of them need Mo to do this.

The adventure that Cornelia Funke has woven in this tale is beautiful, brilliant and one that every book lover will enjoy without a doubt. (And every author will wish they’d created.) Funke’s reverence and love of the written word fills every page. I couldn’t help but be drawn in as I followed her on this journey. Her description flows around you and pulls you into her world much as Mo’s voice pulls characters from their own world and into his.

I was delighted as I read this book and though I don’t always have as much time for reading as I’d like, I had a very difficult time putting this book down. The adventure is harrowing in places, heart wrenching in others and makes you laugh out loud often. I love the fact that Funke created her own world but that it was grounded in our own geography and great works of literature. The story takes place in Italy and Funke reintroduces us to several major characters from classic works of art, allowing us to experience them in a whole new way. Inkheart is the first in a trilogy of books followed by Inkspell and Inkdeath and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publication Date: June 2nd, 2009

Reviewed by Jake Chism

Five years after Elyon’s waters have turned red The Circle is on the verge of extinction. The only ones who know of the plot are The Scabs who are behind it, Johnis, Silvie, and Darsal. Johnis and Silvie have been fighting a war they are ultimately losing, while a newly drowned Darsal has been sent on an impossible mission to love the unlovable. In the background a sinister evil lurks, pulling all the strings and devising a plan that will annihilate the Horde as well as The Circle. Hope can only be found at the bottom of Elyon’s red water, and it’s up to Darsal to convince those she loves to dive in and drown.

Ted Dekker and Kaci Hill have done just what we hoped they would: they’ve saved the best for last. Elyon is everything I wanted in a finale complete with relentless action, gut wrenching tension, and stirring emotion all leading up to a powerhouse conclusion. Dekker has long proven that he knows how to end a story and from the opening lines we know that we are in for another treat.

Again, I was captivated by Darsal in this story as she struggles with the overwhelming task of doing the unthinkable and figuring out a way to save her friends. The villains are nastier than ever here making the journey that much more riveting and wonderfully excruciating.  Pacing is everything in a series like this, and I challenge anyone to stop reading during the final act of Elyon.

Not only has Dekker solidified his standing as storyteller extraordinaire, but he has introduced his fans to the talented writing of Kaci Hill. Together they shine as they give hungry fans exactly what they wanted and more. In the end…well, let’s just say the end has Dekker written all over it. This one is sure to have long time fans foaming at the mouth in anticipation for the highly anticipated beginning and end to The Circle Series, Green.