Author: Daisy Whitney
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Release Date: September 3, 2013
Number of Pages: 288
Source of Book: eARC from publisher on NetGalley

Seventeen-year-old Julien is a romantic—he loves spending his free time at the museum poring over the great works of the Impressionists. But one night, a peach falls out of a Cezanne, Degas ballerinas dance across the floor, and Julien is not hallucinating.
          The art is reacting to a curse that trapped a beautiful girl, Clio, in a painting forever. Julien has a chance to free Clio and he can’t help but fall in love with her. But love is a curse in its own right. And soon paintings begin to bleed and disappear. Together Julien and Clio must save the world’s greatest art . . . at the expense of the greatest love they’ve ever known.
          Like a master painter herself, Daisy Whitney brings inordinate talent and ingenuity to this romantic, suspenseful, and sophisticated new novel. A beautifully decorated package makes it a must-own in print.

First Thought: I got to spend a little more time in Europe – the setting reigns in this book!

In STARRY NIGHTS Daisy Whitney has written an ode to artists and their famous artwork, to those who are well-loved and to those who just love to create. It instantly transports the readers to the streets of Paris, the museums housing the masters, and the heart of the pieces they lovingly created. It’s a touch of whimsy, a touch of romance, a touch of friendships, a touch of secret underground societies, a touch of travel guide, a touch of art history, a touch of unrequited love, a touch of kisses, a touch of mystery, a touch of art heists, a touch of a tour of the greatest art museums around the world. The twisty bits as we uncover what is really going on as Garnier races to figure out how to fix these most famous art pieces before they are destroyed adds an element to the plot that kept me turning the pages. Some of my most favorite parts of the story were the after-hours in the museum with the artwork coming to life elements along with how real the setting became for me. I love Paris and Daisy Whitney transported me right back there with this novel. STARRY NIGHTS is a fun read with a sweet romance and a mystery to figure out that will keep readers intrigued and looking up artwork from the Masters. It’s a bit Night at the Museum + Heist Society + some kind of romance story.

Final Thoughts: Daisy Whitney is one of my favorite authors, and STARRY NIGHTS doesn’t disappoint. Although very different from her previous books, it’s a whimsical read that I thoroughly enjoyed. 

Title: LET THE SKY FALL
Author: Shannon Messenger
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: March 5, 2013
Number of Pages: 416
Source of Book: ARC from publisher at NCTE

A broken past
and a divided future can’t stop the electric connection of two teens in
this “charged and romantic” (Becca Fitzpatrick), lush novel.

Seventeen-year-old
Vane Weston has no idea how he survived the category five tornado that
killed his parents. And he has no idea if the beautiful, dark-haired
girl who’s swept through his dreams every night since the storm is real.
But he hopes she is.

Seventeen-year-old Audra is a sylph, an air
elemental. She walks on the wind, can translate its alluring songs, and
can even coax it into a weapon with a simple string of commands. She’s
also a guardian—Vane’s guardian—and has sworn an oath to protect Vane at
all costs. Even if it means sacrificing her own life.

When a
hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both of
their families, Audra’s forced to help Vane remember who he is. He has a
power to claim—the secret language of the West Wind, which only he can
understand. But unlocking his heritage will also unlock the memory Audra
needs him to forget. And their greatest danger is not the warriors
coming to destroy them—but the forbidden romance that’s grown between
them.

You can see the just released book trailer here.

First thoughts:

Loved
this book! Action, romance, snark, caring, excitement, entertaining
writing, and a unique twist on mythological/paranormal add up to one awesome book.
– Love, love, love Shannon Messenger’s writing style and the attitude she brings to her characters. It’s like I’m talking to a friend.
– I so enjoy dual perspective POV books and this one is no different. Multiple perspectives are important for this story, and the guy voice is really well done. Vane brings sarcastic humor and Audra brings the kick-butt-ness.
– The mythological aspect of the sylphs who are Windwalkers is unique and intriguing and something I haven’t read about before. Fascinating how they can talk to the wind and have it do things for them.
– As the story goes on, it becomes more and more clear what Vane and Audra’s connection is and why it is inevitable. It was fun to follow along with their back-and-forth dynamic and learning their story along the way as Vane learned his history with Audra.
– Family is at the heart of this book and finding one’s own strength through connections with others.
– Characters were relateable in their situations and why they built the walls they did.
– The action scenes with the way Windwalkers battle and fight were exciting.
– Ending is where it needs to end, but leaves it open for the next book. The biggest battle is not yet through. They need to find their own strengths first before it can really come to a head with the villains. 
Final thoughts: I adore Shannon Messenger’s writing and her books and look forward to much more from her!

Title: THE VICIOUS DEEP
Author: Zoraida Cordova
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: May 1, 2012
Number of Pages: 384
Source of Book: Hardcover from publisher at IRA Convention

For Tristan Hart, everything changes with one crashing wave.

He was gone for three days. Sucked out to sea in a tidal wave and spit back ashore at Coney Island with no memory of what happened. Now his dreams are haunted by a terrifying silver mermaid with razor-sharp teeth.

His best friend Layla is convinced something is wrong. But how can he explain he can sense emotion like never before? How can he explain he’s heir to a kingdom he never knew existed? That he’s suddenly a pawn in a battle as ancient as the gods.

Something happened to him in those three days. He was claimed by the sea…and now it wants him back.

This was a fun book that I read in a day. It was a unique take on the “I didn’t know I was a special paranormal creature” type of story what with being told from a male point-of-view and the contemporary merfolk spin to it. THE VICIOUS DEEP has aspects of a best friend romance, a war for the sea, high school drama, fights with fantastical sea creatures, family support, newfound royalty, a championship battle for control of the throne, a deadly storm, fantastical creatures, mermaid lore, Coney Island, and a wittily sarcastic main character full of guy humor.

I actually really enjoyed reading this story from Tristan’s point-of-view. There were some literal laugh-out-loud one liners for me and I found myself caught up quite often in his character and come backs. Even if his character was a bit of an, self-admitted, um, let’s say “popular with the ladies” kind of guy. I’m not sure how completely accurate a portrayal it is of what a teen boy would be thinking, but it was definitely entertaining. I will be waiting to have some boys read it and hear what they think though. There are a few mature word choices throughout, so it definitely skews a little more teen, but he’s really funny and it’s not too graphic. I also liked the secondary cast of characters quite a bit on both the high school human side and the merfolk Sea Court side. I loved Tristan’s parents, too – they’re present and understanding and caring and supportive, which I’ve come to appreciate more and more in teen books.

I just really enjoyed THE VICIOUS DEEP. It was a fairly predictable structure for this type of story, but told with an entertaining voice and creative background lore, which made it stand out in the sea of books out there (pun intended!). There were a couple of things in the writing that were a little irksome for me: one was the jumping around in time-sometimes it was hard for me to figure out what had passed, and the second was the use of “go” and “goes” in place of said. Now, I know that is what people use in casual conversation, and it doesn’t bother me there, but reading it in writing was very jarring to me and it was used quite a bit – I could do without it for sure.

I will definitely be waiting for THE SAVAGE BLUE to come out to find out if Tristan will be successful on his mission and to find out if he gets the girl in the end and to learn what ultimate decision he will make on taking over as the Sea King. THE VICIOUS DEEP almost seemed to end in the middle of the story, not in a horribly cliffhangerish way, but just that there is definitely more to the hero’s journey and it would have been too long of a book if it had been included in this one.

Title: GODDESS INTERRUPTED (sequel to THE GODDESS TEST)
Author: Aimee Carter
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: March 27, 2012
Number of Pages: 304
Source of Book: NetGalley eARC

Kate Winters has won immortality.



But if she wants a life in the Underworld with Henry, she’ll have to fight for it.



Becoming immortal wasn’t supposed to be the easy part. Though Kate
is about to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, she’s as isolated as
ever. And despite her growing love for Henry, ruler of the Underworld,
he’s becoming ever more distant and secretive. Then, in the midst of
Kate’s coronation, Henry is abducted by the only being powerful enough
to kill him: the King of the Titans.



As the other gods prepare for a war that could end them all, it is
up to Kate to save Henry from the depths of Tartarus. But in order to
navigate the endless caverns of the Underworld, Kate must enlist the
help of the one person who is the greatest threat to her future.



Henry’s first wife, Persephone.

Emma and her friend
Chloe are spending vacation in Florida. When Emma (literally) runs into a
hot guy named Galen on the beach, little does she know he’s a prince of
the Syrena. Galen and Emma both feel something strange – is it
attraction? – and Galen suspects that Emma might well be the girl he’s
heard of – a human who can communicate with fish.

What follows is a deadly scene with a shark in which Galen witnesses
Emma’s gifts. He must know more about her, and follows her back to New
Jersey, and high school, to find out for sure if she’s the key to saving
his kingdom. Soon, Emma can’t deny her feelings for him, but can’t
explain them, either – and both she and Galen must learn more about
where she comes from and what her powers are before they can trust one
another and their feelings.

This book was not what I was expecting, but ohmysweetgoodness
I really enjoyed it. This might actually be the first mermaid story
I’ve read. I picked it up because I thought it might fit into the
mythology books I was pulling together, and it has slight references,
but was more about the world of the Syrena (mermaids/men). It pretty
much pulled me in from the beginning with one of those “girl meets
someone who she’s drawn to but doesn’t know why” kind of starts. But it
doesn’t end up continuing in quite that way because by chapter two,
we’re switched to the boy’s perspective and get a whole new view on who
he is. We also get a romance that builds on it’s own and it’s
insta-attraction, but not insta-love. I appreciated the alternating
perspectives with each chapter, although it did take me a little while
to get used to Emma’s chapters being in first person and Galen’s
chapters being in third person. Because it switched points-of-view so
often, I did feel like each time I started a new chapter it took me a
few sentences to readjust my mindset; however, I did like the way in
which it was written.

The
humorous moments in this book are plenty, and really add to the reader
being engaged with the story. Emma is innocent and has no idea what’s
going on with the world of Syrena in the beginning (and I do love a
feisty and snarky main character) who doesn’t take crap from anyone, and
Galen is flustered and confused and trying to figure it all out – both
the human world and the situation that’s going on. Galen is just such a
good, sweet guy too – the surprise date is one of the sweetest I’ve
read. There is also a little sense of political intrigue with the
backstory of the division between the Triton Syrena and the Poseidon
Syrena and how Emma fits into it all. But it’s the characters that
really make this book as fun and engaging as it is. They are written in a
way that makes me want to go hang out and laugh with them, but also in a
way that makes me totally feel for them as they try to work things out
with each other.

I
did have a couple of things that pulled me out of the story a little
bit, and I’m not sure if it’s because I was reading an advanced reader’s
edition (knowing changes can still be made in copyedits) or just some
terminology that this author uses, but there were a few wordings of
things that threw me off. When I come across something that takes me out
of the story for a minute to try to figure out what it means, it
interrupts the flow for me. My big complaint, though, is the ending. It
happened really fast and made the story feel incomplete to me. I
understand the use of cliffhangers at times, but the way this one was
done it just felt to me like the story stopped at a chapter ending
instead of a story ending. There is too much more to know and find out
and be said, so I’m sure there must be a sequel, but it will feel like a
really long wait for it because of how this one seems to end too
quickly and right in the middle of something.

Overall,
it was a keep-wanting-to-turn-pages to see what happens next kind of
book with engaging and endearing characters (Galen’s sister and best
friend are so entertaining), a touch of humor, a bit of
fantasy/supernatural world, and a sweet romance. These poor characters
are put through a lot in this story, but I enjoyed going through it with
them. I will definitely be reading the next book to find out what
happens next (thank goodness she’s writing a second book)!

Title: OH. MY. GODS.
Author: Tera Lynn Childs
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Release Date: May 1, 2008
Number of Pages: 224
Source of Book: Bought it awhile ago
Author’s Website: teralynnchilds.com

Goodreads Summary:

Title: WILDEFIRE
Author: Karsten Knight
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: July 26, 2011
Number of Pages: 400
Source of Book: Bought the hardcover on the release date
Author’s Website: www.karstenknight.com

Goodreads Summary:

Every flame begins with a spark. 

Ashline
Wilde is having a rough sophomore year. She’s struggling to find her
place as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated
on her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into
her life. When Eve’s violent behavior escalates and she does the
unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in
California’s redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her. But her
fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesn’t go as planned. Just as Ash is
beginning to enjoy the perks of her new school—being captain of the
tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot, local park ranger—Ash
discovers that a group of gods and goddesses have mysteriously enrolled
at Blackwood…and she’s one of them. To make matters worse, Eve has
resurfaced to haunt Ash, and she’s got some strange abilities of her
own. With a war between the gods looming over campus, Ash must master
the new fire smoldering within before she clashes with her sister one
more time… And when warm and cold fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to
be a storm.

I’m a little torn on this book, so this review will be a little different. I’m not sure if this was a situation of high expectations not being met, but I didn’t love it – I liked it though. This book definitely reads like a contemporary at the start, and then leads into some paranormal elements and adds in mythology from different cultures which makes it interesting and fresh. I felt like it read a little long because some parts seemed to have inconsequential details that didn’t need to be there in my mind, but in other parts I wanted more details. I definitely read it quickly because I kept turning pages wanting to know where it was going.

My Positives: 
– The beginning really hooked me. The scene develops in a way that I wasn’t expecting and I really wanted to keep reading.
– There is a unique mythology element taken from various cultures.
– Ashline is a sarcastic, whip-tongued main character who is doing all she can to protect herself.
– Good pacing of the reader getting information as needed to keep tension building.
– Each chapter was really long, but it represented one day in the week of these events occurring. Then there were a few interludes that captured my attention and led to a surprising reveal toward the end.
– The villain was created in such a way that I really did hate her, as I should have.
– I liked the group of friends (the other gods/goddesses) so much and how they all watched out for each other.
– I also liked the headmistress character and wanted to cheer for her a little bit.
– Unexpected ending, not exactly a cliffhanger, but more of a didn’t see that coming at all, now holy cow where are we going next.

My Negatives:
– I didn’t totally connect with Ashline as much as I wanted to.
– Parts were left unexplained and left open for the sequel, but where is it going?
– For some reason I was aware throughout the book that it was a guy author writing a teen girl character, so it didn’t feel totally authentic to me.
– Some parts I noticed the 3rd person point-of-view (which is a pet peeve of mine).
– There was an element of weird creepy-crawly creatures which always bugs me when it comes out of nowhere. I’m sure there’s more of a reason, but I didn’t totally get it.
– Some of the emotions seemed to develop too fast for me. I liked the romantic subplots, but I didn’t get the depth of the feelings developing.
– When I’m pulled out of the world of the story and notice the writing (instances of coarse language), that, to me, is not quite true to life. It’s there to be there, not because it feels totally natural I guess.

So, basically, I’ll read the next book in the series because I’m intrigued by the overall premise and want the explanations for the shocker ending and want to know what happens to Ashline next and hope I’ll connect with her more. But, I didn’t love the execution, so I’m hoping that will improve with the second book in the series, EMBERS & ECHOES coming in 2012, and the third book,  AFTERGLOW coming in 2013.

Title: ABANDON
Author: Meg Cabot
Publisher: Point
Release Date: April 26, 2011
Number of Pages: 304
Source of Book: Traded for ARC from another blogger
Author’s Website: www.megcabot.com

Goodreads Summary:

New from #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot, a dark, fantastical story about this world . . . and the underworld.

Though
she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce
can’t help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet
she’s never alone . . . because someone is always watching her. Escape
from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you
back.

But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld.

I have mixed thoughts about this book – I really liked some parts and felt let down at other parts. Most of the first half of the book, I was confused about what was actually going on (of course, I was probably supposed to be). It reads like a contemporary, which I like in a mythological retelling, and is a straight-forward, easy-to-read writing style; however, it uses flashbacks to help the reader get all of the background. It starts in the present and is told in Pierce’s voice and references events that we don’t know anything about. Then it will flashback to what happened before so we get more of the story, but never the whole entire thing it seemed. In
the last part of the book there is a big reveal conversation where
everything is explained. I don’t know if it’s because there’s been a lot
of the Hades/Persephone stories I’ve read lately or I just picked up on
lots of clues, but it wasn’t very shocking to me – I kind of had it all
figured out. But, there are unique pieces to it that are a twist on the classic story that intrigued me and felt fresh.

I was definitely into the book the entire time and I read it in one day because of a combination of it being written in a quick to read way and the building of the suspense and me wanting to know what was going to happen. I liked Pierce and her attitude toward things and her way of trying to get back from the depths she had been to. Her attitude was great as she stood up for herself and what she wanted. A few examples of Pierce’s attitude/outlook that exemplify why I liked her (from the ARC): “It’s only in fairy tales that princesses can afford to wait for the handsome prince to save them. In real life, they have to bust out of their own coffins and do the saving themselves.” and “Of course he’d seen right through me. My sarcasm was just a defense mechanism to hide how truly unnerved I was at my…reaction…” See, my kind of sarcastic, do what you need girl character. I really like the character of John too – to me he’s the most intriguing character in the book because he’s hard to figure out, but we see glimpses of deeper turmoil from him. I also felt that some of the secondary characters were there, but not really developed very much, and I wanted to know more about them.  I know there has to be a sequel, I just wish I had gotten a little bit more explanation in this one. Overall, it’s an enjoyable read albeit a little predictable, and I’ll definitely read the sequel, UNDERWORLD, but I was left a little bit wanting in this one. So, if it’s in your to-be-read pile, wait until the sequel and then you’ll be able to read them one right after the other and maybe not feel quite as cut off in the middle like I did.

Oh, how happy I am that Rick Riordan is back with some more Greek mythology stories. I’ve missed percy Jackson since he finished his quests, saved the gods on Mt. Olympus, and completed his prophecy. Although he is not in THE LOST HERO, other than just his name being mentioned, he still plays an integral role. I loved being taken back to Camp Half Blood, and some familiar characters, as we met three new demigods who we learn are incredibly important to the world as the gods have set it up now.  THE LOST HERO has it all: adventure, battles, comedy, friendship, family drama, mythology references, saving the world urgency, excitement, mystery, and a little teen romance thrown in for good measure all in a quick read book.


In THE LOST HERO we meet Jason who doesn’t remember who he is or where he’s from – he just pops up one day on a school field trip. He’s sitting next to Piper, who has her own issues because she keeps stealing things to get her famous father’s attention and also thinks Jason is her boyfriend. Sitting near them is Leo who brings most of the comic relief to the story. When the monsters attack, we come to find out that Jason can speak Latin and refers to the gods by their Roman names. When the three are rescued and taken to Camp Half Blood, we meet up with lots of familiar characters and hear a new prophecy, and find out the parentage of the three new characters and what their quest will be. Along the way we meet new minor gods and goddesses, lots of mythological animals and people, and go along on their journey to building the friendship of Jason, Piper, and Leo and saving a major goddess.


The thing I really love about Rick Riordan’s writing is that it’s pretty straight forward and written at a great middle grades level.  That means it will be easily accessible/readable to all of my eighth grade students; however, as Percy’s fans have grown, so has the size of the new series of books – this one tops out at 553 pages. The beauty is that because of the excitement and pacing of the story, I never wanted to stop reading it or put it down.  Another change that was made for this series, that I really enjoyed, is that it is actually told from three different character’s points-of-view.  The book is written in third person, but when we first meet the main characters, we’re reading from Jason’s perspective, then after two chapters we move to Piper’s, and then after another two chapters we get Leo’s.  I liked that the timing of the change was consistent throughout the book allowing me to know what was coming, but also each chapter was titled the character’s name from whose perspective it was written. 


This book nicely sets up the larger premise for this new series by Rick Riordan – but I won’t give that away here because I don’t want to spoil the story!  Luckily, we’ll be getting new Rick Riordan books every six months alternating between The Kane Chronicles series and The Heroes of Olympus series – with the next heroes book, THE SON OF NEPTUNE coming out in a year.


THE LOST HERO is a must-read book for everyone who loved the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series: The Lightning Thief, Sea of Monsters, The Titan’s Curse, Battle of the Labryinth, and The Last Olympian.  You won’t be disappointed and will be so happy to be back in this world again. And if you haven’t read the others yet, you need to!


5 STARS for THE LOST HERO

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie 
I love Sherman Alexie’s voice – I’ve loved his writing and movies for a long time, so I was excited to finally read this book.  It is a fabulous book – I can see why it won the awards it did – a must-read! Handles issues of race issues, adolescent boys, high-school, friendships, family, etc in a humorous and sensitive way. I will recommend this to all of my students to read with a caution of some mature concepts.  5 Stars


My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park  by Steve Kluger
For the more mature reader – great book told from multiple points-of-view with three high-school friends who are the main characters. They are almost seniors, and writing an English paper on their most excellent year – all three write about their freshman year and the flashback part of the story is told through their journal entries from freshman year English class.  I really like the voice and methods that the story was told in with letters and emails and instant message chats and journals. Deals with coming out of a gay character in a realistic and sensitive way. It’s a book about relationships and discovering who we really are. Made my top books list for the year.  5 Stars

Gone by Michael Grant
I expected this to be a dystopian along the lines of Lord of the Flies; however it threw me off with the supernatural parts of it that I wasn’t expecting. I enjoyed the basic storyline of a town where everyone over the age of 14 disappears one day, and how the kids survive, but didn’t like the supernatural parts of it so much – they distracted me from the main plot. I will probably read the sequel though because I did get drawn in by some of the main and secondary characters. 3 Stars

NUM8ERS by Rachel Ward
I really, really wanted to like this book about a girl who sees a string of numbers every time she looks at a person’s eyes. On the day her mother died, she learned that the numbers stand for the day that person is destined to die.  I knew going in that it was a book from England, so some of the words would be different. However, I wasn’t quite expecting it to be such an on-the-run story, and I wasn’t hooked into the love interest storyline, which became more of a focus at the story moved on.  Overall, I was disappointed in the twist at the end. Several times I wanted to abandon, but forced myself to finish it. Overall, it’s an OK book for me. 2 Stars

Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham
I’ve like John Grisham’s adult books, so I was really intrigued to read this one.  There’s just something about series books that are obviously intended to be a series from the start so the ending feels a little incomplete that throws me off sometimes, and this is one of those.  Overall, the story was cute with Theo and all of his knowledge of the law and his ability to be in with the judges and other court workers when a big trial is starting. There is quite a bit of law speak in this book, but it is explained pretty well. The plot kept moving fairly well and kept me interested. Overall, I think this is a book for those students who like to watch the procedural shows on TV and would be interested in trial stories and a new series. 4 Stars

Lament and Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater
I love, love, love Maggie Steifvater’s writing!  I first discovered her when I heard her speak at a conference and got an advance copy of Linger, so of course I had to go buy Shiver and read it right away (stories with werewolves). As soon as I read them, I knew she was one of my favorite authors, and I recommended the series to all of my students and coworkers.  So, this summer I wanted to go back and read her first books (stories with faeries), Lament and Ballad.  I really enjoyed both of these books: the writing drew me in, I was invested in the characters and what would happen to them, the suspense in the plot and wondering how these human characters would deal with the faeries kept me reading, and I was eager to read the second once I had finished the first.  All of these things are what I want in a book. i enjoy reading books with paranormal/fantasy romance aspects, especially ones by Maggie Steifvater, and these didn’t disappoint!  5 Stars


The Last Thing I Remember (The Homelanders) by Andrew Klavan
I picked this book up because I saw the cover in the bookstore and the back summary made me think this might be a good suspense/adventure series that would engage eighth grade boys. Mostly I think it will, but I was a little disappointed. I felt that the beginning, when Charlie wakes up in a room being held prisoner, all beat up, doesn’t know what is going on, and doesn’t remember how he got there was a great start especially as he’s trying to escape and figure out what’s happening. It flashes back to the last day he remembers in alternating chapters. The problem that I had was that after he escapes and is on the run it got very slow for me.  It wasn’t until almost the end that the plot picked up again and we started to get answers on who these terrorists were. By the end I was a little disappointed because I didn’t get as many answers as I would have like on how Charlie ended up there.  I will probably recommend it to boys looking for adventure books, but ask them to read the second one in the series and let me know how it is.  3 Stars

The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins 
Re-read these two for the second time in anticipation of Mockingjay‘s August release, and so glad I did.  It was nice to catch back up on the story of Katniss, Peeta, and Gale after one and two years since I read them, and reminded me of why this is one of my all-time favorite series! 


This series is one of the best dystopian stories I’ve read – a story taking a country similar to ours and putting it in a near future in which the world has changed in some way in which is is supposed to be better and is controlled by a different leading organization than our current governmental structure. 


In The Hunger Games, the country is run by The Capitol – the only area of the country in which they have enough money and food to live a good life. To remind the twelve districts of the failed rebellion from years ago and to make sure they don’t rebel again, they hold the annual Hunger Games, a televised event that everyone in the country watches, in which one boy and one girl, between the ages of 12-18, from each of the districts, enters the game world and fights to the death. The winner is set for life and gets food for his or her entire district. When Katniss goes to the games, things change not only for her, but for the entire country of Panem. If you’ve been waiting to read these books, now that the third one will be out, it’s time to read them all in a row.  5 Stars

Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles
I loved Perfect Chemistry so much that I definitely wanted to read the sequel and learn Carlos’ story. Overall I liked it, it’s a good romance escape novel, but was pretty similar in storyline to the first book. (See full review blog post)  4 Stars

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
Enjoyed the new series with Egyptian mythology from the author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. (See full review blog post)  4 Stars

THE RED PYRAMID is the first book in The Kane Chronicles, a great new series for anyone who liked Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, here is a new one to keep you going on epic quests. Just like Percy, Sadie and Carter Kane are on a journey of self-discovery and learning about a world they didn’t know existed hidden behind their own regular world, but this time it is the Egyptian gods and goddesses. As they didn’t spend much time together growing up, they are building their brother/sister relationship throughout the book. They somewhat remind me of Dan and Amy from The 39 Clues series – a great brother/sister team who look out for each other.

Although The Red Pyramid book is longer, and takes a little longer to read due to being mostly unfamiliar with Egyptian mythology (unlike the Greek gods and goddesses who were familiar in Percy Jackson), it is still well worth your time to read. It is written at a level that is appropriate for middle school students, and has enough excitement and action to keep one interested, although you have to pay attention to the explanations of the mythology to follow along with what’s happening in the story.


The story starts off when Carter and his dad, who have been traveling around the world for his dad’s work as an expert, come back to London for one of their visits to Sadie, who lives with their grandparents after their mom died.  Dad takes Carter and Sadie with him to the history museum, and when they witness him unleashing gods from the Rosetta Stone, and he disappears, they don’t know what to think. Luckily, the next day their Uncle Amos shows up to take them to the U.S. where they learn that they are actually descended from a line of pharaohs which makes them magicians. Along with this knowledge, and the dream visions they start having, they learn that some other magicians aren’t too happy with them and that’s when the attacks start.  Ultimately, they need to face Set, who is trying to unleash chaos, so they can bring the gods and magicians together to keep chaos from changing the whole world.

One thing that is important to note when reading this book is that it is told through the voices/points of view of both Carter and Sadie. Make sure to look at the chapter headings and the tops of each page to keep track of which character is the “I” in each chapter. Although, it is one of the things I like best about this book because you do get good insights into the whole story because you know things from both main characters, it can be confusing if you’re not paying attention.
4 Stars for THE RED PYRAMID