Title: COLD FURY
Author: T.M. Goeglein
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons (a Penguin imprint)
Release Date: July 24, 2012
Number of Pages: 320
Source of Book: ARC from editor after IRA Convention

Jason Bourne meets The Sopranos in this breathtaking adventure

Sara
Jane Rispoli is a normal sixteen-year-old coping with school and a
budding romance–until her parents and brother are kidnapped and she
discovers her family is deeply embedded in the Chicago Outfit (aka the
mob).

Now on the run from a masked assassin, rogue cops and her
turncoat uncle, Sara Jane is chased and attacked at every turn, fighting
back with cold fury as she searches for her family. It’s a quest that
takes her through concealed doors and forgotten speakeasies–a city
hiding in plain sight. Though armed with a .45 and 96K in cash, an old
tattered notebook might be her best defense–hidden in its pages the
secret to “ultimate power.” It’s why she’s being pursued, why her family
was taken, and could be the key to saving all of their lives.

Action packed, with fresh, cinematic writing, Cold Fury is a riveting and imaginative adventure readers will devour.

COLD FURY is a non-stop action-packed thrill-ride of a novel with an intelligent heart. I wasn’t totally sure what to expect from this mob-based story, but it was more than I anticipated. At it’s heart is sixteen-year-old Sara Jane, who knows nothing about The Outfit and what her family really does at the beginning. She is just a private, introverted teenager who happens to have a talent for boxing. As we get to know her through the beginning of the book, we see a girl with some insecurities, but also a really likeable character who is highly intelligent. That is part of the strength of this book. If Sara Jane wasn’t so likeable, it wouldn’t have the appeal that it does as she finds her own strength. She’s also surrounded by a fantastic cast of secondary characters who are entertaining and loveable (sometimes) in their own right. The “Al” chapter is one of my favorites and had me laughing out loud.

I enjoyed the style in which this book is written. At the beginning, the chapters feel as if each one is a sort of vignette of something that has happened that has led to Sara Jane being the kind of person she has become. Each chapter provides a little bit of background, but is told as it’s own little story. The book then really starts to move once Sara Jane’s family goes missing and she starts to learn what her family has really been up to all this time. It moves toward more a traditional story arc at this point, but interspersed with entries and learning from “the notebook.” This is when the mobster-type of story gets going and as she is running for her life and trying to find a way to save her family, it becomes very hard to put the book down. T.M. Goeglein has created an intriguing version of the Chicago mafia’s evolving style and methods that seems well-researched and highly realistic. I found myself really enjoying some of the scenes and ways that Sara Jane uses her Outfit connections to try to put things back in order and find her place and way of keeping herself safe.

I would recommend this book to those looking for a strongly written character, mafia-type story with action-packed writing, and even though it has a female main character, I think it will have guy appeal (and especially those with ties to Chicago). With references to classic movies (especially mafia ones) and secret passages throughout Chicago, this is a book with lots of intelligence and action. Overall I enjoyed reading it; however, the ending felt a little bit abrupt to me because it seemed to leave it wide open for a sequel, which I wasn’t expecting. Going into it, I didn’t know it was the first in a trilogy-which would have been good to know so the ending wouldn’t have left me wanting a little more closure. I’ll definitely be getting the next two books to see how Sara Jane works out her balance and control of this world she’s fallen into.

*If you don’t want to wait until Tuesday to get started, you can read the first chapter for free right here from the author’s website!

Title: FROM WHAT I REMEMBER…
Author: Stacy Kramer & Valerie Thomas
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Release Date: May 15, 2012
Number of Pages: 462
Source of Book: Bought the hardcover on the recommendation of Jen (@mentortexts)

KYLIE: Tijuana WHAT? I
should be putting the finishing touches on my valedictorian speech.
Graduation is TODAY, and is this a wedding band on my finger.

MAX:
It all started with Kylie’s laptop and a truck full of stolen
electronics. Okay, it was kind of hot, the way she broke us out like
some chick in an action movie. But now we’re stranded in Tijuana. With
less than twenty-four hours before graduation. Awesome.

WILL:
Saving Kylie Flores from herself is kind of a full-time occupation.
Luckily, I, Will Bixby, was born for the job. And when I found out she
was stuck in Mexico with dreamy Max Langston, sure, I agreed to bring
their passports across the border — but there’s no reason to rush back
home right away. This party is just getting started.

LILY: I
just walked in on my boyfriend, Max Langston, canoodling with Kylie
Flores, freak of the century. Still, I can’t completely hold it against
him. He NEEDS me. It’s even clearer now. And I’m not giving him up
without a fight.

FROM WHAT I REMEMBER… is a mash-up of a John Hughes movie and The Hangover. I really enjoyed it, and I’m sure pretty much everyone of my generation that grew up with these types of high school drama movies will too; I’m just not sure how it will connect with this generation of teen readers.

I liked so much about this book, and really enjoyed reading the story told from multiple perspectives, but there one quirk that made it a little tough for me to get into right away was all the pop culture references which could date it too quickly, but after about 100 pages, that changed and then I was so hooked that I didn’t want to stop reading. The characters I was supposed to dislike, I did. The characters I was supposed to like, I did. The characters I was supposed to change my mind about, I did. The characters I was supposed to cheer on, I did. The characters who were supposed to surprise me…well, that’s where things didn’t go quite that way for me with all of them. I did feel that it was a little predictable in some ways, but in other ways was unpredictable. However, it could just be that I’m getting really good at reading those foreshadowing clues, or they were pretty obvious because of the idea and style of the story, but either way, it was still fun to read. Basically, FROM WHAT I REMEMBER… is pretty much a takeoff on teen movies, but it doesn’t take itself too seriously. I mean, any book that begins each chapter with a quote from a movie, which proceeds to be the lesson for that chapter, is pretty open about telling you that it’s going to follow a pretty standard movie-like story arc.

The multiple voices telling the story made it that much more interesting and entertaining, and for the most part, each voice was pretty distinct in its tone. Max and Kylie are the big stars of this book, though, and I felt for them and enjoyed their discoveries. Their one night in Mexico was so sweet with all of their conversations and opening up that it made me root for them to figure it all out and be there for each other. That being said, there were a few secondary storylines that I’ve not seen so often and were a pleasant surprise to me. Namely, Will as the out gay best friend, who is still working through some issues and actually trying to find himself (which may not be as he appears to show it in the beginning), and Jake, the little brother with Asperger’s. I actually felt that Jake’s few chapters, when we saw into his mind and thinking, were some of the strongest of the whole book.

I cheered for Kylie’s graduation speech at the end (and wanted to snag some takeaway quotes for my classroom walls), and rooted for everything to turn out as it did. FROM WHAT I REMEMBER… is an enjoyable ride of a story. It has some mature scenes that make it not so much a younger middle school book, but I’d be interested to hear what some older teen readers think of it. I would pair it with DITCHED: A LOVE STORY by Robin Mellom, which it, in fact, reminded me of quite a bit, and at the end found a sneak peek for in this book, so I’m not the only one thinking they’d be a good fit!

FROM WHAT I REMEMBER… would make a great beach/summer read. I’d love to hear your thoughts if you read/have read this one!

So I was one of the (lucky or unfortunate whichever way you look at it) ones who had to wait a full year in between each book in the series. And then the news of the movie came, and all I could do was hope they didn’t screw it up like the Twilight movies (come on, they’re not that good), but could make it good like the Harry Potter movies, but without having to leave so much out. The thing is, I think a really good book to movie adaptation has the power to make someone want to read the book – and that’s a great power to have. In fact, that’s what happened to me when I saw the first Harry Potter movie. I hadn’t read the books yet, but that movie made me go get them, see how good they were, and then I became a devoted fan of the series. And that’s what I really hope The Hunger Games movie will do for this generation of adolescents.

I’ve had the release date on my calendar since it was announced…I’ve had the original movie poster in my classroom since it was available…I’ve had my reserved seat movie ticket for over a month…I’ve been talking about it with my students for the last two weeks…and I finally got to see the movie today. My thought before it began? I really hope it lives up to the hype and anticipation I’ve built up for it. What was my thought when it was over? That was so good-I need to go see it again! I think I feel like this whenever I go to a movie based on a book that I’ve read. The first time I see it, I’m thinking so much about comparing it to the book. The second time, I can enjoy it more. BUT, the difference this time was that the movie was so incredibly well done, that I wasn’t in my head comparing it to the book the whole time, but I was falling in love with the story all over again. And wanting to go see it again was so I could enjoy it even more, and pay a little more attention to whether we could ever show it to our students or not.

The movie is darn good. Are there some small changes, of course, there have to be. My favorite though was getting a behind-the-scenes inside look at the gamemakers and how diabolical and strategic they were in making it all happen. Were there some questionable casting decisions-well, that depends on who you ask, but in my mind the casting was brilliant perfection (with the exception of Peeta-I’m still not sold). Jennifer Lawrence is Katniss. Haymitch and Cinna are delightful. I’m already going to call foul if it doesn’t win awards for makeup and costuming. This movie accomplished the task of bringing this book to life, and I never felt like there was anything that didn’t look right to me from how I had pictured it when I read the book. That is quite a feat as such a fan of the book.

I walked out of this movie with a clear thought prevailing in my head (after wow, they really ended that perfectly to set up for Catching Fire and I can’t wait for the next one!): I really want to read the book again. And for someone who has already read it three times, that’s saying something. I can only hope that it has the same effect on my students and all of the others who go to see it who haven’t read the books yet. This one was a winner.