Prodigy

If you haven't read Legend yet, STOP READING NOW, find a copy, read it, and then return!  I really liked Legend, so I've been looking forward to reading the sequel since it came out earlier this year.  I hoped it would be good, and I was not disappointed.  It is awesome!  Prodigy is the perfect blend of action and character development.  The plot never lags, and the characters become even more developed and refined.

June and Day are on the run from the Republic after Day's supposed execution at the end of Legend.  Day is suffering from an extreme leg injury which makes their journey to Vegas even more difficult.  If they can make it, they'll join up with the Patriots and do whatever it takes to  get Day's little brother, Eden, back.

But is June prepared to do what the Patriots want?  The Elector Primo is dead, and his son, Ander, is now in power.  The Patriots have a plot to assassinate the new Elector and start a revolution.  June will have to become a double agent to lure the new Elector into the Patriots trap.  She's willing to do it for Day.

Day has no problem with the assassination plot.  He hates the Elector, the Republic, and the entire elite class for all they've taken from him.  Besides, the Patriots have promised to help him get Eden back when all this is over.  Then they can all escape to the Colonies.

Both Day and June had to face revelations and question realities in Legend, but now the world seems to fall apart and reorganize at every turn.  Who can they trust in this world falling apart?  The Patriots?  The Colonies?  Each other?

Read Marie Lu's fabulous sequel to find out!

Ender's Game

If you've never read Ender's Game and you're a sci-fi fan, get reading!  The movie is about to come out, so you need to get busy with your reading now.

In the future, Earth is at war, and Ender is one of a group of children recruited for military and tactical training.  He will find friends and enemies in his new life, but these children are our last hope for survival.  Can they save us, or are we doomed to death at the hands of hostile alien invaders?

That is a short promo because it's been a while since I read it, but this book is so good!  Not only is it a great story, but there are some completely awesome training scenes.

Read it!  And visit Orson Scott Card's website find some of his other titles.

New Trailer for City of Bones!

Serendipity and Me

Sara loves cats.  She has cat posters, cat slippers, stuffed animal cats, everything  but an actual cat.  Her dad's answer is always no.

They are both struggling with grief over her mother's death when Sara gets the flu.  She is home feeling sick and alone when a kitten appears at their front door.  Sara just knows she can convince her dad to fall in love with this sweet little kitten named Serendipity, but her dad doesn't want to budge.

Sara and her dad feel separated from the world and each other by their grief, and Serendipity is warm and soft.  The kitten comforts Sara in a ways she hasn't felt for a long time.  It will rip her heart out all over again if she has to give Serendipity up.

In her quest to find a way to keep Serendipity, Sara discovers some truths about her parents' past and the reason her dad refuses to get a cat.  Maybe Serendipity can help both of them to begin to heal after all these years.

Judith L. Roth's new book is a bittersweet little verse novel about the debilitating and isolating power of grief and the love and companionship we can find with our pets.

Strands of Bronze and Gold

When Sophia's father dies, she and her older siblings are left in difficult financial circumstances.  It seems like a stroke of good luck when she receives an invitation from her mysterious and wealthy godfather.  Not only does he want to support Sophia, but he might be able to help her brothers and sister, as well.

Sophia leaves Boston for Wyndriven Abbey in Mississippi, and in 1855 the two are worlds apart.  Monsieur de Cressac plies Sophia with beautiful clothes, fine food, and the wonders of his home and estate.  He is charming and attentive, and Sophia is quick to overlook the problems in her new life.

Sophia has always been opposed to slavery, but she has never really been confronted with the practice before.  She is unsettled by M. de Cressac's reliance on slavery, but he waves her objections away.  When she headed for her new life Sophia believed she would live with de Cressac and his wife, but once she arrives, she discovers his wife is dead, and she silently questions the propriety of living with an unmarried man.

At first M. de Cressac's charm sweeps away her objections, but the longer she lives at Wyndriven Abbey, the more she discovers about her godfather, his disturbing past, and his volatile temper.

Jane Nickerson's Southern Gothic version of the Bluebeard fairy tale is lush, dark, beautiful, and dangerous.

Unspoken

The longest friendship of Kami Glass's life is with someone she's never met.  For as long as she can remember, he has been there as a presence in her mind to comfort and cajole her.  She learned a long time ago to stop talking to her parents and other friends about Jared.  Only crazy girls hear voices in their heads, right?

Life is about to get a little crazier for everyone in the small town of Sorry-in-the-Vale in the English Cottswolds.  The Lynburns, who own the manor house outside the village, have been gone for years, but now they're back.  The murmurs from older generations that even Kami's mother won't explain are now becoming more frequent.

Things get more intense when Ash and Jared, the Lynburn cousins, join Kami working on the school newspaper.  Her mother, and everyone else, warns her to stay away from them, but Kami just can't. Ash is beautiful and light and charming.  Jared is dark and brooding and handsome.

Kami and her team are investigating a series of strange events starting with slaughtered animals and progressing to attacks on people.  Is this violence connected to the return of the Lynburns?  Could it be there is more to the world than Kami ever dreamed possible?  And will her new friends lead to romance or danger?

Fans of The Mortal Instruments, Beautiful Creatures, and The Wolves of Mercy Falls will love Sarah Rees Brennan's new series starter!

Etiquette & Espionage

Sophronia has always been more interested in taking things apart and climbing trees than proper dress and conversation, so she is horrified when she learns her mother is sending her to Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But it doesn't take long for for her to realize this is no ordinary finishing school.  for one thing, the school is tethered to a series of balloons floating around the moors.  One of her teachers is a hot werewolf, and another is a fashion obsessed vampire.  She is learning to be a lady, but she is also learning self-defense, knife skills, and intelligence gathering.  Graduates learn to finish in more ways than one.  To top it all off, she seems to have made an enemy on her first day there.

With a mysterious prototype missing and the school menaced by flywaymen, Sophronia isn't waiting around for someone else to have all the adventures and solve this mystery!

Set in a steampunk Victorian England, this novel is full of mystery, adventure, evil plots, and even a few mechanimals.  Read Gail Carriger's debut novel for young adults and join in the fun!  Plus, how awesome is that cover!  I knew I had to read it as soon as I saw it!