The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B

Adam really wants to get his OCD under control.  He tries to hide his counting compulsions and threshold issues, but he can't make them go away.  Once a week, he meets with his OCD support group.  There he feels a little more in control.  He can be concerned and supportive of the other other kids offering suggestions and keeping his criticism to himself.  The support group is also where he meets Robyn.

Robyn is a little older, a little taller, and the most beautiful girl he's ever seen.  Adam is in love.  Now his desire to improve his mental health is stronger than ever.  When their therapist suggests they all take the names of superheroes, the group readily agrees.  They have Thor, Ironman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Snookie.  Robyn chooses Robin, and Adam is elated and shocked at his boldness when he says Batman.  Now they are linked, and Batman wants to protect Robin.

But even as things start to go somewhere with Robyn, the rest of Adam's life is spinning out of control.  The conflict between his divorced parents intensifies, and his mother's hoarding is taking over every inch of the house.  To make matters worse, she has been receiving disturbing letters urging her to commit suicide.

Adam's little brother, Sweetie, has issues of his own, and Adam is often the only person who can calm him down which puts him in the position of having to choose between his mother and his half brother.

As the problems around him intensify, so does Adam's OCD, but he's trying so hard to keep it to himself, to be strong for Robyn and his mother.

Teresa Toten's book is charming and touching with a look inside the world of OCD.  While the romance story line might be a little unrealistic, the reader still roots for Adam who is a very likable character.  The plotting is excellent in this book, and readers will be hooked until the end.  Highly recommended!  Grades 8 and up.

Newt's Emerald

When the Newington Emerald, stone of immense magical power and source of the Newington luck, is stolen right from under Lady Truthful Newington's nose, there is only one possible solution.  She will go to London, dress as a young man, and investigate the crime herself.  It's Regency England after all, no lady would be allowed to investigate the emerald's disappearance let alone move about the city unescorted!

With the help of her feisty sorceress aunt and an ensorcelled mustache, Truthful clumsily begins her investigation.  When she encounters Major Harnett, a handsome but arrogant war hero, she finds an unexpected source of help.

But will it be enough to get the emerald and save England from the villain who would use its powers for evil?  Lady Truthful will not be pushed out of the investigation despite the growing danger to her person and to her heart.

I was excited to see this from Garth Nix, one of my favorite authors.  It is a perfect blend of adventure, fantasy, romance, and Regency manners.  This is truly a fun read!

Stitching Snow

Essie has been eking out an existence on the frozen mining colony of Thanda.  She survives among the rough miners by repairing and improving drones and other equipment for the mines, but even that is not enough to protect her.  She earns extra money by cage fighting, and it doesn't hurt that the skills she's learned in those fights helps her keep any men with ideas at a distance.  Her only friends are the seven drones she's upgraded to think and work independently and Petey, the soft hearted bar owner.

Her life changes when a shuttle crash lands near her home.  She saves the pilot, a handsome off-worlder who says is looking for treasure.  The damaged ship is a more challenging puzzle for Essie than anything in the mines, so she volunteers to help him repair his ship.

A chance moment reveals Essie's secret to Dane, and she soon realizes she is the treasure he is seeking.  Eight years ago, Princess Snow disappeared from her home on Windsong.  Everyone believed she was kidnapped, and unbeknownst to her, her disappearance sparked a war that has lasted these eight years.

But Essie has more secrets than just her identity.  She wasn't kidnapped; she ran away.  Now Dane has kidnapped her for real and they are hurtling through space and back to her deadly home on Windsong.

But this will not be a straight forward journey for Essie or Dane.  As secrets come to light, the two will grow closer, and there will be no easy decisions.

The time has finally come for Essie to face the truth about her past, her future, and the gentle awakening of her heart.

R.C. Lewis's book is a sci-fi version of Snow White that is fast paced and engrossing.  But be warned, the Evil Queen in Disney's version of the story has nothing on Essie's father and step-mother in this story.  Highly recommended!

Fire Wish

Zayele is happy in her remote village.  Even if she isn't particularly close to her parents, she loves her little brother and has some freedom to run and play without worrying about being proper.  Everything changes when the vizier shows up to choose a bride for the prince.

Now she is headed to Baghdad to marry a prince she's never met and likely never see her home again.  Her cousin Rahela is coming as her companion, and the two girls are locked in a tiny room in their river barge for their safety.  Zayele is desperate to escape, so when she sees something impossible outside her tiny window, she acts quickly.  No one has seen a jinni in years, not since the war started, but now Zayele has captured her own escape.

Najwa has spent her life in the cavern with the rest of the jinn learning to master her powers.  She is learning quickly and discovers by accident that she can do something no one else can do.  It's a talent that could turn the tide in the war with humans.

But a decision made in anger to leave the cavern could cost her everything.  Now she is trapped in Zayele's place pretending to be a human girl, a princess even, who is about to be married to a boy she's never met.

Will these two girls unravel the truth about their past, the war, and their hearts in time?  Read Amber Lough's book to find out!  I really enjoyed this book.  My only complaint is the romance feels a little rushed, but Lough has book two to develop things.

The Red Queen

Mare Barrow has spent her life in the Stilts.  It's a life of poverty and servitude for anyone who's Red.  Somehow part of the human race evolved to have special powers and silver blood.  The Silvers rule while the Reds are forced to enlist in endless bloody wars.

Mare knows her life will be no different until a chance encounter leads her to a job at the palace.  Now she is spared from mandatory military duty, and her family is getting a little more money.  Now, if her older brothers could just make it out of the war alive, her life might actually get better.

But the changes aren't over for Mare yet.  A horrible accident that should have killed her, reveals that she, too, has a gift.  How is it even possible for a Red to be gifted?

With rebellion stirring among the Reds, the king and queen see Mare as opportunity.  Now she lives in a world of lies.  Mare doesn't even feel like herself anymore, and she certainly doesn't know who to trust.  In this new world of vicious Silvers and revolutionary Reds, anyone can betray anyone.

Victoria Aveyard's new book is a great romantic thriller with plenty of twists and turns!  Highly recommended!

The Kiss of Deception

Princess Lia has no intention of marrying some fusty old prince she's never met.  She refuses to tie herself to a man who won't even meet her before the wedding in a kingdom far from everyone she knows and loves.  That's why she and her maid Pauline run away just before her wedding.

The two young women flee to a picturesque seaside village where they get jobs as maids at an inn.  Lia adapts to her new life fairly quickly and enjoys the freedom of anonymity in her new simple life.

But not everyone is happy with Princess Lia's decision.  Two men are on her trail.  One is her fiance who's come to find out just who this girl is who would defy two kingdoms.  The other is an assassin.

When two handsome strangers arrive at the inn, Lia is interested, but she has no inkling of who they really are, and neither Kaden nor Rafe recognizes the other for who he is.

In a crazy love triangle complicated by political ramifications, will Lia discover the truth in time to save herself and her kingdom?

This is Mary E. Pearson's first book in the Remnant Chronicles, and if you're a fan of fantasy love triangles, you've just met your new match!

A Mad, Wicked, Folly

Victoria Darling wants nothing more than to become an artist and make decisions about her own life.  Unfortunately, she lives in England in 1909 where women have almost no rights.

After being sent home in disgrace from her boarding school in France, Vicky's parents are strict about how she will be spending her time, and it doesn't include art.  Her mother is only concerned with rebuilding her tattered reputation and getting Vicky married before she does anything else.  She even has the man picked out.  Her father is only concerned with the disgrace she has brought to her family and to his business.

When Vicky finally meets her fiance, she thinks she sees a way out of her father's stranglehold on her life.  She will marry Edmund and be free to live her own life.  It doesn't really matter that she doesn't love him; she barely knows him.  He's handsome, and he seems to enjoy her personality quirks.

In secret, Vicky begins working on a portfolio to submit to the Royal College of Art.  If she can just get proper training, the art world will take her seriously.  It doesn't matter that the RCA accepts very few women.  Vicky believes she can get in if she can show her best work.  This brings us to her other problem.  Her father has taken all her art supplies, so she'll have to be creative there as well.

In her quest to create new art, she crosses paths with the suffragettes, a group of women who are protesting to demand the vote for women.  At first, she just sees the movement as fertile ground for drawing, but the more time she spends with these women, the more she begins to question her place in society and if she will ever have any freedom.

She also begins spending time with a handsome police officer named Will.  Vicky says it's all about art, but could there be more to it than that?

I really enjoyed Sharon Biggs Waller's book about the suffragette movement in Great Britain.  This is one of my favorite time periods and one I wish it got more attention  People just aren't aware of the struggles those early women's rights activists faced.  This book is a great introduction because the reader can learn along with Vicky as she has her own personal awakening.  Highly recommended.

A Time to Dance

Veda has loved dance for as long as she can remember.  Her earliest memory is feeling the rhythm of dance while gazing at an image of the god Shiva in a temple.  She is the best Bharantanatyam dancer in her city in India.  Just when she reaches a high point in her career, winning first place in a classical dance competition, she is involved in a terrible accident.

When she wakes in the hospital, one leg has been amputated below the knee.  This would be a tragedy for anyone, but it is especially painful for a dancer.  She is lucky to meet an American doctor determined to create a prosthesis she can use to dance, and Veda slowly begins to return to herself.

This does not mean her life goes back to normal.  She still has many struggles to overcome and more loss to experience.  When she returns to formal dance training she meets Govinda, a gentle boy with beautiful eyes who helps Veda see the beauty in herself and the sacred nature of the dance she is performing.

Through her new training, Veda learns to feel to connection to God she experienced as a child and to see beyond herself to those who are also struggling.

I really enjoyed Padma Venkatraman's new book about spirituality and strength.  Highly recommended.

Beware the Wild

When Sterling Saucier's brother walked into the swamp, she knew nothing good would come of it.  Everyone is Sticks, Louisiana, knows swamps are dangerous.  There are all kinds of predators lurking in all swamps, but the Sticks swamp is different.  There are stories about the people it's taken and the supernatural creatures who live there.  There's is even a fence to keep the swamp back and the people out.

This is why Sterling knows Phin was past angry when he strode off into the murky swamp.  He was gone for an entire day, and then someone came out--someone not Phin.  This new creature, a beautiful girl named Lenora May, eases into Phin's life like it is nothing, and Sterling is the only one who even remembers she has a brother.  Everyone else, including her mother, only remembers her sister, Lenora May.

Sterling is determined to find out the truth and get her brother back.  She finds an unlikely ally in the handsome but reckless loner Heath.  He has his own reasons to distrust the swamp, and he seems to be the only one who believes her.

As Sterling and Heath dig into the past, they discover the history of the swamp is much more complicated than either of them could have imagined.  And saving may come at a price that is dear to them both.

Read Natalie C. Parker's southern Gothic ghost story for thrills, suspense, and a touch of romance. This was a dark, moody, and thoroughly enjoyable read.

Forget Me

Since the night Morgan saw her boyfriend die in a hit and run accident, she hasn't been able to let go.  She may have only known Flynn for a few months, but he still has a hold on her.

But there are other reasons she's stuck.  Like everyone else in River's End, she is suffering from the downfall of Stell Pharmaceuticals.  When the news came out that a popular drug was actually killing some people, the company folded, and may people, like Morgan's parents, lost their jobs.  The closing rolled out into the rest of River's End with restaurants, stores, and pretty much everything else going out of business.  Everyone who's left is stuck.  They can't even sell their homes to move away.

When Morgan's best friend, Toni, encourages her to try to find closure by posting a picture of Flynn to a social networking site with a farewell message, things start to get strange.  The site wants to tag Flynn as someone else, Evan Murphy.  To make things weirder, Evan Murphy is identical to the mysterious Flynn.
This can't be a coincidence.  Morgan begins to investigate Flynn.  The more truth she uncovers, the more she realizes how little she knew about her boyfriend, and her investigation is leading her into danger.  Maybe Flynn's death wasn't an accident after all, and if Morgan doesn't stop snooping, maybe she will be next.

Read K. A. Harrington's tale of mystery, suspense, and romance to find out the truth!  This one was hard to put down!

Buzz Kill

When the universally disliked football coach of the Honeywell Stingers is murdered, there is no shortage of suspects.  It seems like everyone had a reason to kill Hollerin' Hank Killdare.  From the much abused members of the team to the long time assistant coach who's now been promoted to the cheerleader he humiliated in an infamous You Tube clip, everyone had a reason to hate him.  But who killed him?

Millie Ostermeyer is not usually a "joiner." She is content to read her books and skate by on the edge in her classes.  The one thing she does take seriously is writing for the school paper even if the student editor is her arch nemesis, Vivienne.  When Millie discovers Coach Killdare's body while writing what should have been a boring story about the new stadium, she thinks she should have first dibs on reporting.  Vivienne, of course, disagrees.  Things heat up when the local police seem to be focusing their investigation on the assistant coach/local mayor who just happens to be Millie's father.

Now, with so much at stake, Millie is determined to find the real killer and rescue her father from the evil editorial clutches of Vivienne and the all but useless local police.  Her investigation leads her to Chase, gorgeous, new in town and a complete mystery.  The more time she spends with Chase investigating the murder, the more she sees that there was another side to Hollerin' Hank.  She also realizes Chase is more than just a pretty face.

Will Millie discover the truth in time to save her father's career and catch the killer before he/she strikes again?  Read Beth Fantaskey's new book to find out!  This was a fun mystery with a dose of romance thrown in.

Ruin and Rising

I've been a big fan of this series since the beginning, and the final installment is not a disappointment.  The atmospheric quality of Bardugo's writing is one of my favorite things about it.  From the first page, I am transported to this alternate version of Russia complete with lush backgrounds and costumes.  I practically get chilled from visiting the frozen world of Ravka.

Before I move on to the plot, please be aware that this is the final book in a trilogy, so there will be spoilers.  Don't read this review if you are behind on your reading!

Alina, Mal, and the rest of the survivors of the failed attempt on the Darkling are now underground at the White Cathedral under the control of the Apparat.  Alina is weakened after the battle and confused and disturbed by the band of religious zealot warriors the Apparat has assembled.

When she finally gains the strength, she and her surviving grisha set out with Mal to track the firebird.  She believes that finding the final amplifier is the only way to defeat the Darkling.

This quest will reveal dark truths about Morozova and put her friends in greater peril than ever.  The stakes are higher than ever as the final battle approaches, and everyone will be faced with difficult choices and heartbreaking sacrifice.

One of my students said this book was more melancholy than the others in the trilogy, and I think that is the perfect description.  I thoroughly enjoyed this series, and I can't wait to see what Leigh Bardugo writes next!

The Winner's Curse

Kestrel's life is about to change, but she doesn't know it.  Herrani slaves are a matter of life in the empire, but Kestrel doesn't like to think too much about it.  It's almost an accident when she wonders into the slave market one day.  The whole idea makes her uncomfortable, and she wants to leave until she sees him.  He's handsome, strong, and a trained blacksmith.  That talent would be useful to her father, a general in the Valorian army with soldiers garrisoned on the estate, but that wouldn't be enough to tempt her.  It's his refusal to sing and the implied punishment in the auctioneer's eyes that pushes Kestrel to bid and win.

Arin wasn't always a slave.  When the Valorian war machine showed up ten years ago conquering, killing, and enslaving, he was just a child.  Now he is a slave, but he doesn't intend to be one for long.

Kestrel and Arin should be enemies, but each seeks out the company of the other, and their feelings begin to grow.  This isn't just a tale of star crossed lovers.  These two are on opposite sides of a brutal war with each side taking ruthless action against the other and each betrayal cutting ever deeper.  Kestrel can only deny her feelings for so long, but can she ever truly love and trust her enemy?

I loved Marie Rutkoski's new book!  It's a great love story, but there are so many more moral questions at play.  It is much more complex than I had imagined.  Highly recommended!

Poison

Kyra is on the run for the attempted murder of Princess Ariana who also happens to be her best friend.  I know what you're thinking.  Maybe she was framed.  Nope, she really did try to murder the princess, but there is more to the story than that.

With the help of a special pig who can sniff out anyone, Kyra tries to find the princess, whose gone into hiding, in order to save the kingdom.

Kyra was living a quiet and successful life as a master potioner with a specialty in poisons before things went wrong.  She worked well with her two partners and was even engaged to be married, but her life was not destined to be easy.

With the help/hindrance of a cute boy named Fred, Kyra tries to outwit the palace guard and her fellow potioners to save the kingdom!

This is a fun read filled with romance and adventure!

This is Bridget Zinn's debut novel.  Sadly, the author died from colon cancer in 2011.

Across a Star-Swept Sea

Persis Blake is the flirtatious, ornamental, and obsessed with fashion.  She's also the best friend to Princess Isla, ruler of Albion.  But everyone knows Persis is the girl you call when you need advice on fashion, flirting, and parties.  Everyone knows Peris Flake.

That's why it's the perfect cover.  In public Persis plays a foolish rich girl.  In private she is the Wild Poppy, leader of a league of spies who risk life and limb on rescue missions to the neighboring island of Galatea.

Long ago the world and all it's inhabitants where nearly destroyed.  A small number of people escaped by going into orbit around the planet.  When they landed, two kingdoms developed.  The working class on both islands was made of reduced.  People with limited mental capacity due to generations of genetic manipulation.  Know a woman named Persistence Helo has created cure, and there on no more reduced.

On Albion, the ruling class and the regs are learning to mix together and change centuries of class division.  On Galatea, the ruling class remained intent on repressing the regs to maintain their own power.  This has led to a violent revolution where Citizen Aldred is capturing aristos and subjecting them to chemical reduction and forced labor.  To Citizen Aldred, all aristos are bad.

This is where Persis comes in.  With a variety of disguises, the Wild Poppy and her team snatch aristos from Aldred's clutches.  Things get complicated when Justen Helo, grandson of Persistence and foster son of Citizen Aldred himself shows up saying he has become disillusioned with the revolution.

At the urging of Princess Isla, Justen and Persis embark on false romance to explain his presence in Albion.  The grows ever more dangerous for Persis as she must fool this boy even as she unexpected begins to develop feelings for him.  Are Justen's motives as pure as he purports, or is he hiding secrets from Persis, too?

This companion novel to For Darkness Shows the Stars is a sci-fi adaption of one of my favorite classics, The Scarlet Pimpernel.  It's full of adventure, romance, and betrayal.  What's not to love?!  I hope Diana Perfreund will continue the series based on my favorite classics!

Jane Eyre

I was getting ready for my reading list presentations next week, and I realized I never did a blog post for Jane Eyre!  I love this book!  It's one of my all time favorites, and I read it for the first time when I was fourteen, so I thought it would be a great fit for my 8th graders.

Jane is orphaned as a young child and sent to live with her aunt and uncle.  Her uncle loves her, but his death leaves her in clutches of her cruel aunt and cousins.  This terrible beginning only gets worse when Jane is sent to a spare boarding school with harsh masters.

She eventually becomes a teacher and leaves to be a governess for Adele, the ward of Mr. Rochester.  This is when things really start to get interesting!  Mr. Rochester is gruff and several years older than Jane, but it isn't love before the two develop a mutual affection.  Jane knows nothing can come of it because she is poor and plain, but Mr. Rochester is the love of her life.

Meanwhile, strange things are happening in the house, and no one will tell Jane the truth about these dangerous events.  Will Jane find love and contentment, or will she be thwarted by fate?  Read this gothic romance to find out!

I hope you love Charlotte Bronte's classic novel as much as I do!

Siege and Storm

SPOILER ALERT!  THIS IS BOOK TWO IN THE GRISHA SERIES.  READ SHADOW AND BONE BEFORE CONTINUING!

Alina and Mal are on the run and in hiding, following the events at the end of Shadow and Bone.  They are hungry and dirty but happy to be free from the world of the Darkling.  Of course this time of romantic bliss won't last long.  The Darkling will stop at nothing to get Alina under his control.  When he captures Alina and Mal, there seems to be little hope for survival.

Thus begins the continued search for power, and Alina will gain a new ally in a long lost prince.  Nicholai is roguish and charming, and he wants to make changes in Ravka for the better including making Alina the leader of the Second Army.  They will both face opposition from the establishment, but the Darkling and his forces continue to build their strength, and an attack is imminent.

The nation is not the only thing at stake as Alina questions her sanity, and Mal feels useless and threatened by the princes who see Alina as a political asset and potential marriage partner.  Will their relationship survive Alina's new status and the stresses of preparing for war against the Darkling?

Leigh Bardugo's sequel is just as dark, lush, and romantic as the first book in the series, but about halfway through the story got a little bogged down, and Mal is just annoying for most of the story.  The conclusion really picks back up, so I have high hopes for book three!

Liv Forever

Wickham Hall is full of snotty rich kids as far as Liv is concerned, but the promise of her own art studio is enough to lure her from Las Vegas to the lush grounds and historic buildings of Virginia.  Liv grew up as a foster child, and she guards her heart closely, but deep down she is a true romantic with a real appreciation of art and poetry.

Soon after arriving she meets Malcolm.  They shouldn't have anything in common.  Malcolm is one of the elite, but the more time they spend together, the more Liv comes to know Malcolm as true romantic, just like she is.

Most of the other kids at Wickham Hall ignore her at best.  She is a scholarship kid after all.  Her only friend other than Malcolm is Gabe, another scholarship kid with a huge chip on his shoulder who believes he can see and hear ghosts at Wickham Hall.  Liv doesn't believe him--at least not until she becomes one of those ghosts herself.

Now she, Malcolm, and Gabe form an unlikely trio determined to uncover the truth behind Liv's death and the history of suicides at Wickham Hall before it's too late for all of them.

Romance, suspense, grisly murders, creep ghosts, secret societies.  This is a good Gothic lite read.  My only real issue with the story is Liv and Malcolm's instant and all consuming love for each other.  It's a little far-fetched, but if you can let that go, you'll get a good thrill from Amy Talkington's paranormal love story.

Dangerous

Maisie has lived a pretty sheltered life.  Her mom home schools her, and her only real friend is another home schooler named Luther.  Her world is small.  It seems like a huge joke that her middle name is Danger.  She's a science wiz, and her life long dream is to be an astronaut.  As difficult as that dream would be normally, for Maisie it is practically impossible.  She was born without a right hand.

When she finds a contest to win a spot at a space camp run by one of the greatest minds in space exploration, she thinks her dreams have come true.  She has a great time at the camp, and she even starts a camp romance with the super-hot and super-rich Wilder.

But there is more going on here than Maisie realizes, and a close encounter with alien technology changes everything.  Soon Maisie Danger Brown may the earth's only hope against an invading force.

I can't really give you too many details about Shannon Hale's new book because I don't want to ruin any of the surprises.  This is a bit of an experiment for Hale whose other books are fantasy novels.  Hale is one of my favorite authors, and I was excited to read this one.  It takes a bit to really get going, but once it does, it's a great ride!

Loud Awake and Lost

Ember survived the car accident eight months ago, but its effects are lingering.  She's been in the hospital and rehab since the accident, and she can't remember anything from the six weeks preceding the crash.  She's eager to get home, but once there, she finds little clues to a life she doesn't recognize.

She tries to jump back into her life by reconnecting with her best friend and her ex, but she keeps feeling disconnected.  It's like something major and life changing happened before the accident, but it's been wiped from her memory.  She doesn't feel like the ballerina who wears a bubble gum pink jacket anymore.

Plus there's Kai.  On a trip to nightclub she visits in an attempt to jog her memory, she meets this amazing hot guy who isn't like anyone else in her life.  He's unpredictable and creative, and Ember feels an instant attraction to him.

As she tries to piece her life back together, Ember must reconcile the ruffles and lace dancer girl who used to live in her room with the motorcycle jacket and boots girl who was driving the night of the accident.  As her memories start to come back, she will rediscover some truths about herself and eventually uncover the painful truth.

Read Adele Griffin's YA book that is a thrilling journey through trauma to recovery and realization.