What to Read, What to Read...

The Meerkat Wars by H.S. Toshack

2012-01-29T09:12:00.001-08:00

I am not the first to think "Watership Down" for meerkats when reading this wonderful little book in which I learned much about meerkats and, through them, about people and their conflicts.

As the story begins, Sheena, a bobbed-tailed, black and white kitty hops onto her people's Land Rover to make her third clandestine foray into Baragandiri National Park. She hops back into Great White when Dad drives off for firewood, only to be left in a dry section of the park, hoping to find her family before the campout ends in 10 days. Thirsty, she is sizing up an insect that looks juicy, when a young meerkat chomps down on it, getting stung at the same time by "Black Hairy Thick-Tail." Pebble, the meerkat, begins to recite the bad, bad symptoms of scorpion bites while experiencing them simultaneously. Hum, hypochondriac meerkat? Pebbles is pretty funny and the humor builds until Sheena realizes that he really is in bad shape at about symptom seven. A second meerkat, Sandstepper, determines that Sheena has the makings of an excellent furry ambulance and they maneuver Pebbles onto her back. With that rescue, Sheena is welcomed into the Duwara tribe of the meerkats, who begin each joyous day in a sunbath, the Sunwake. The Duwara are at war with the Utongo who worship a better sun. The Utongo are out for revenge against the Duwara for delivering sickness into their tribe. They attack and kidnap the Duwara's leaders' three pups. Sheena slinks across the Gorge in a Bond-like mission to infiltrate the Utongos, figuring there has to be more to this conflict. Along the way, she encounters animal friends and foes, and limps to the Utongos with severe injuries. There she was nursed by Fara until... (Fara found it hard to finish...) Sheena noted that the tribes were so similar, soaking in the warmth of the sun each morning, caring for the newborns, hunting, sleeping habits, playing. She knows that there is one solution to end the war, but she had to get the warring tribes together to make it work. Sheena is one resourceful kitty.

Can we learn about peace from slim, crew-cut fur creatures? One can hope. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about meerkats and the ten other creatures of the Baragandiri. Humor, pathos, danger, The Meerkat Wars really has it all. This is the third book about courageous Sheena and her adventures in Baragandiri National Park.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Girl Meets Boy: Because There are Two Sides to Every Story, edited by Kelly Milner Halls

2012-01-29T00:29:00.000-08:00

Kelly and I have been communicating for a few years now due to our endless devotion to "The Man," Chris Crutcher. Kelly is lucky to work with Chris and is an excellent writer with a quirky sense of humor. Kids love her school visits.

Voice, voice, voice. It makes a story or novel. In this collection stories are told from the boy and girl involved in relationships from surprising to budding to flaming. Kelly pairs her story with "The Man." Wanda, fatale of the high school, has John Smith dragging his tongue on the floor whenever he sees her. John thinks that Wanda can get answers for his problems from her shrink if he lets her bring them up during her therapy sessions. The relationship spirals into a nerve-wracking situation for John and he ends up in the shrink's office for help. Wanda prides herself as a man-eater, a nice cover-up for early sexual abuse by older men. John's entering her life cracks the tough exterior and she tells him her story. But love, control, fear and the sorrow of feeling trapped ends their relationship. The next story share the unlikely pair of a tiny tribe drummer and an Amazon-sized Lady Warrior of the girls' bball team. Loved these two characters. In another pair of stories Alex suggests a meeting with Max after chatting online for a while. Max was more than a little surprised when Alexandra appeared. Now what does Max do with a girl? Sean and Raffina have to survive sitting at the same lab desk during the ever-graphic sex education class. Will this agony every pass so that he can ask her out? Kelly and Rafi love the stars, but as she gazes at them he whispers poetry about them into her chest. That's not the only contrast, Rafi is Muslim and she is a hog rancher's daughter, and a heathen, according to his family. Making out has been forbidden by both families, but that is exactly what they are doing when they discover a community problem that has to be shared. The last story is told by both characters in alternating paragraphs rather than in companion short stories. Gavin's reunion with Stephanie is nothing like he expected.

ENDERS' Rating: ****
Kelly's Website

Empire of Ruins by Arthur Slade

2011-10-29T23:16:00.000-07:00

Modo and Octavia reunite with Dr Socrates to discover the Face God hidden in an Egyptian temple is Australia. Many have died or become insane on this quest. Pursued by the bionic Miss Hakkandottir, Modo falls into the jungle of Australia during a horrific sky airship battle. Miraculously he lands more or less safely and encounters a jungle tribe who are entranced by him. More than that, they view him as a god. When the team is reunited, they discover that their enemies have arrived at the temple before them. Who will possess the Face God? Who will fall to the traps of the temple? Fans will be thrilled to read this third adventure.
ENDERS' Rating: ****
Arthur Slade Website: http://www.arthurslade.com/book_empire/

The Fox Inheritance by Mary E. Pearson

2011-10-29T22:45:00.000-07:00

Locke and Kara’s intelligences have been kept in high-tech black boxes for 260 years, long after Jenna Fox was reconstructed into a minus-0%-original human being. They have been BioPerfect specimens for a year now, Locke is new and improved with even his cowlick missing. Kara is even more beautiful, but angry. Once they discover that they are prototypes for rich customers, and that their “shelf life” is undetermined, they stage a bloody escape. Locke to reuniten with Jenna. Kara to find Jenna to revenge the years spent in a box. The book stands on its own even if you have not read The Adoration of Jenna Fox. High tension, inventive technological future, great characters, and an America I hope is not part of our future. What is the inheritance?

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Mary E. Pearson's Website

North of Beautiful by Justina Henley Chen

2011-10-29T22:35:00.000-07:00

What kind of man will create an unbearable family life because of his professional humiliation?

One son leaves to work in China. Another son does not return from college to visit home. They both leave their sister and mother to suffer from the emotional and verbal whippings of the father. They had their share. But Terra carries an extra burden, a large port wine birthmark that covers the side of her face. Another target for needling from her father. Terra's mom takes her to Seattle for yet another attempt to cure the birthmark. On their way home they spin out on ice and rear-end Jacob and his mother's SUV. And here starts amazing friendships that heal birthmarks deeper than the skin. Terra and her mother learn about themselves in...China!

You will not like the dad, but you will cheer for everyone else in this amazing story.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Justina Headley Chen's Blog

Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting

2011-10-29T22:15:00.000-07:00

In this sequel to The Body Finder, Violet still is haunted by the echoes of the murdered. When she solves the disappearance of a young boy stuffed in a cargo car, an agent watching her moves in. Violet is also stalked by a younger teen who is obsessed over Violet’s lifelong friend and boyfriend, Jay. But the girl’s home holds an echo of its own, and Violet’s live is in danger from one of its inhabitants. I was spellbound until I lapped up the last page. There is definitely room for another Violet and Jay adventure with the dead.

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Kim's Website

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

2011-10-29T22:10:00.000-07:00

Another Evergreen 2012 contender, Leviatan is a steampuck novel occurring at the inception of The Great War, in Europe at 1914. Add the clanker- (war machine creators) defended prince whose parents were assassinated, and a girl pretending to be a boy to enlist in the Darwinist (mechanized animal) forces. Their separate stories of staying hidden and being disguised intercept. A great adventure! Two sequels are also very popular: Behemoth and Goliath.
ENDERS' Rating: *****

Scott Westerfeld's Website

My Life Undecided by Jessica Brody

2011-10-29T22:06:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn seems destined to make bad choices. Not only did chasing a lizard into a hole garner nationwide coverage of her rescue, a great party and bad cooking torched her mother’s model home that used to be for sale. Grounded until she is “forty,” she decides to turn over her decision making to anyone following her new blog called “MyLifeDecided.com.” One decision she does not have to make is fulfilling the 200 hours of community service with ancient, grouchy Mrs. Moody who is obsessed about “Choose Your Own Adventure” style of stories. Brooklyn likes the new southern guy, but when she blogs and asks for a vote of YES for a date with him, the blog followers tell her NO. Then her math teacher insists that she advance to a more difficult math class. The followers vote yes on that crazy idea also. Brooklyn's parents are ecstatic about her sensible choice. Brooklyn, not so much!

ENDERS' Rating: ******

Jessica Brody's Website

Beauty Queesn by Libba Bray

2011-10-02T00:24:00.000-07:00

Teen beauties: jet crash, stranded on a tropical island, power struggles, practicing for the pageant. What? never mind that they need to survive, fight off gigantic snakes, build shelters, find food and their makeup, and deal with the pirates. Libba creates a crazy situation in which beauty business as usual is ridiculously funny. Everyone has their own idea of survival from talent practice to medication to spearing fish. Sure to make you laugh, ponder and wonder.

ENDERS' Rating: ****
Libby Bray's Clever Website

all these things i've done by Gabriella Zevin

2011-10-01T23:47:00.000-07:00

If you think the economy is bad now, just imagine if chocolate was hard to find in the United States. Even worse that that: illegal! I think I would join Anya Balanchine's gangster family that deal in the illegal importing and selling of chocolate. (Me shuttering!!!) Coffee is illegal also, but that is not a big deal. (I used to believe it turned your knees black, so what is the allure? But I digress.) Anya's older brother, Leo, was permanently disabled in a "hit" meant for his father. In the same hit, their mother was killed. To add to the family trauma, as Anya and her little sister were playing under their father's desk, hit men broke into their home and executed him while he sat at the same desk. All over the control of chocolate and coffee. Anya's life is further complicated by a lousy boyfriend who is a villain. She is pursued by the son of the assistant DA, a star-crossed lovers situation if I ever saw one. Her grandmother, who should be the head of the family business, is slowly fading away. Even though Leo is older, Anya has to take on the burdens of her family. The lousy, now ex, boyfriend? He causes so much trouble that Anya ends up in jail at "Liberty House." The extended family are not helping Anya's dire situation either. I think the reader will really feel the pressure of a teenager who has far too many worries and responsibilities for her age, the horror of Liberty House, the economic decline of New York City, and the insanity that creates criminals.
ENDERS' Rating: ****
Gabrielle's Website

Swim the Fly by Don Calame

2011-09-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

Laughingly good? Not only. Be prepared to snort, guffaw, choke, and get stomach cramps from belly laughing. Swim the Fly describes a teenage boy in every American family! Oh, and let's not forget the sidekicks. In this story the gaggle is comprised of good friends, Matt, Coop and Sean, who set a summer goal each year. And they always accomplish the goal. YES! This summer they topple all past goals: see a girl totally naked. Be sure to click on Don's YouTube below to get a taste for clammato/chocolate, er, the taste of the book.

ENDERS' Rating: *****
Don's YouTube

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

2011-09-03T10:51:00.000-07:00

Love is a disease.
It must be eradicated by the time you are eighteen.
Forbidden books are listed on www.infosafe.gov/forbiddenlit.
A life mate who is compatible with you will be chosen for you.
Never interact with the opposite sex.
Enjoy a life without pain.

It is a future spawned by "nanny mentality." Take care of people so well that they are never hurt or damaged. But we know the other side of that blade...

Will Lena receive the cure? Will she even pass the evaluation? Will she forget the young man who has maneuvered into her life?

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Lauren's Website

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

2011-09-02T19:06:00.000-07:00

I listened to Beautiful Creatures on audio, narrated by Kevin T. Collins. He narrated in a regular voice, but talked in a Southern drawl in the dialog. I loved the sound effects and everything about his pacing.

BC is an Evergreen nominee book for 2012. It is a fascinating melding of voodoo, witchcraft, vampires and casters; definitely casters. Ethan discovers a hidden secret in his boring little town, one involving a new beautiful stranger, Lena Duchannes, her odd uncle, the librarian and the Civil War. His housekeeper keeps Ethan stocked with good luck pieces, as well as an amazing quantity of food to eat. Little by little Ethan discovers that not only is this new stranger unusual, she could be dangerous. Not to mention the curse, and the grave...

The saga continues in Beautiful Darkness, with so many twists and turns you need a road map!

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Kami and Margaret's Website

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

2011-09-02T18:45:00.000-07:00

If you have been under a rock the last few months, let me help you escape. The Help is an entertaining, eye-opening, jaw-dropping novel about the lives of one young woman who is white, 23 years old, and in a southern protocol prison, and how two maids, "the help," helped her escape.

The Help is about two extraordinary black maids, trying to make a living and trying to survive working for pennies for an array of fussy, social-climbing, vindictive white women. Before they know it they are authors and creating quite a stir in the town of Jackson, Mississippi. Didn't live during 1962? Not a problem. You will get this book.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Kathryn's Website

Fat Vampire by Adam Rex

2011-09-02T18:23:00.000-07:00

What could be worse than being turned into a vampire while at age 15, somewhat plump. Technically always too young for a driver’s license and always too rotund to attract girls, fresh-blooded ones. Doug Lee just wants to be a normal comic book junkie, hangin’ with his bud, not-too-bright, but loyal, Jay. Doug’s search for blood makes him deliver horrid pick-up lines, attempt an attack on a sleeping panda, and rob a blood bank at a comic convention. As Doug gains vampire power, a change comes over him. The exchange student he adores knows what he is. The attractions become dangerous. A desperate vampire hunter is after him. Rex is delft at morphing a hilarious tale into a mesmerizing suspense.

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Adam's Wacky Website

Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen

2011-09-02T13:22:00.000-07:00

Two best friends choose to leave their suffocating lives in rural America and head to the Big Apple to seek their fortunes and happiness. Faced with their first crisis, the two friends part, one to an amazing dream, the other to the streets. Their parallel lives intersect and drift apart once again. Can 1929 New York bring them the happiness both want, or does the cruelty, violence and despair rule everything?

Anna Godbersen just finished the draft of the 2nd book in the series.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

i so don't do famous by Barrie Summy

2011-08-10T23:51:00.000-07:00

Sherry falls into a Hollywood mystery when she, Junie and Sherry's dad travel to Hollywood where Sherry receives a prize for her "True Love" essay. Her mother wafts in on a coffee breeze to enjoy the moment of fame for Sherry and to try to crack the mystery of Marilyn Monroe's death. At the same time young celebrities' homes are being burglarized. In wafts a new smell, root beer. What does this ghost bring to the mix of mystery?

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Barrie's Blog

So Much Closer by Susane Colasanti

2011-08-04T21:57:00.000-07:00

In the Northwest it is hard to imagine moving to another state to follow a boy. The distances are just too far. But Brooke adores Scott Abrams so much that she moves from...New Jersey to New York City and ends up in the same school as he is! Brooke is hiding something from herself and us as readers, and she does it very well. But she discovers that those hidden qualities are really an asset at this new school. Is the move worth it? Is living with her aloft dad worth it? Is Scott worth it?

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Suzane's Website

BADD by Tim Tharp

2011-08-04T16:45:00.000-07:00

Tough girl Ceejay wants to be bad like her older brother who is stationed in Iraq. She takes on anyone, verbally and physically, to prove her ferocity. Friends start reporting to her that they have seen Bobby in town, weeks before he is to be released from duty. Once Ceejay finds him, Bobby has begun to hang out with the local wacko who dodges through the battle zone of the nasty Nogo Gatu and the heroic Yimmies. Bobby makes other strange choices. Ceejay watches with unbelief as her brother and Captain Crazy come to terms with the horrors of war.

ENDERS' Rating: ***

Tim's Website

Hold Me Closer Necromancer by Lish McBride

2011-08-04T16:13:00.000-07:00

A girl is decapitated. A young man in imprisoned and beaten senseless. A hot werewolf girl is autopsied while alive.

I haven't read such a funny book in a long, long time!

The most powerful necromancer in the Seattle area is very put out that a young upstart may take over his region. But Sam, the young upstart, hasn't a clue as to his powers or why this freak is after him. But the werewolf girl is hot. Brooke still talks and harasses him even though her head is in a bowling bag. It could be worse. Bingo.

Laugh when you read this sick book. It is okay. I give permission.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Lish's Funny Website

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

2011-08-04T15:52:00.000-07:00

Spoiler for those who have not read Shiver or Linger...

Just as Sam is "cured" of warping into a wolf's body, Grace becomes infected and changes at a dizzying rate, never knowing where she will show up as a scratched, naked teenage girl. Cole has thrown aside his passion for drugs and rock and rock and embraces research on himself for "the cure" to be perfected. But all is not well. A renegade wolf has just killed a new changelings and community leaders are outraged. Isabel's father amasses state support for exterminating the wolf population. Coupling the werewolf phenomena with the controversy of wolf control in the United States is a great addition to this final, dramatic installment.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Maggie's Website

Darkest Mercy by melissa marr

2011-08-04T15:12:00.000-07:00

Here is the final installment of the urban fantasy full of SCARY FAIRIES! War, with her wings dripping with blood, is on her vendetta to destroy balance between the fey worlds. A new frightening character is walking the streets offering eternal rest to those who approach death. Two angels lords yearn to be with the queens they love, but have forced alliance to the opposite fairy queens. Every fey kingdom is preparing for war that seems inevitable. But can conflict be removed just by following one's fairy heart? Is death a comfort? Or are the entanglements of the fey world that mortals cannot see going to implode?

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Melissa Marr's Website

the piper's son by Melina Marchetta

2011-08-04T13:52:00.000-07:00

Family tragedies can pile up on a person at dizzying speeds and Thomas Makee's pile is suffocating him. He has dropped out of school, dropped his music and family, but hasn't dropped his obsession with a former girlfriend, nor drugs. When he tumbled from a table and acquires 10 stitches, he starts part-time jobs in cubicle-ville and at a restaurant sink. Francesca, from Saving Francesca, works at the restaurant owned by a relative and practices her music in the back room. Tom and Ned, the cook, yell suggestions to her from the kitchen. Loved that! Back to the tragedies...they affect the entire family, sorrow dripping from the stories of Georgie, Tom, Dom and others. I was getting depressed. But humans do have the ability to choose their futures, and there is lots of right choices being made to shovel out of the misery. The family dynamics in this Italian (I am pretty sure) family are loud, argumentative and volatile.

Probably not the cheeriest review I have written, but I am hopeful for all the family! Lots of language, so best for older YA readers who can also wrap their minds around the heaviness of the plot. Well worth the read.

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Melina's Website

starstruck by Cyn Balog

2011-08-04T13:31:00.000-07:00

After a 3-year absence Dough's boyfriend, Wish, is returning to the east coast to attend school once again with her. She has seen his photos on Facebook and he has grown from 14 year old cute to 18 year old GORGEOUS! Great senior year coming up right? But Dough has changed also. There is 70 more pounds of her to love, but will Wish still love her? Will he be more than perfection? And what is with his distaste for rain?

ENDERS' Rating: ***

Cyn's Blog

Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris

2011-08-04T12:56:00.000-07:00

Katie Grable, type A team manager/first aid helper/straight arrow, discovers that the coach has a stash of unlabeled containers of "vitamins" that he is injecting into some of his players. Well, they are bottom of the league heap, and coach thinks he has to try something. Katie is ready to gallop in on her white horse to expose the STEROID scandal, but then one of the players bites her lip off at a party and chews it up. Ewwwww! Mike was always an animal, but this is a new low. What was in those syringes? How will Katie solve this impending disaster?

I have one tiny question. What do football coaches and their star gridiron beasts think of this hilarious book?

Entertaining story, great cover, and welcomed new author! This is going to be a hit at my HS.

See the SearchStory that I created about it: http://youtu.be/Ou1dFu_io6c

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Carrie's Zombified Blog

the summer i learned to fly by Dana Reinhardt

2011-08-04T12:35:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have to confess: I snatch Dana's books at review group. She and Beth Kephart are two writers that pull you into the characters' feelings so artfully.

Drew, a loner and fellow rat lover, lives with her single mom who has opened a gourmet cheese shop in central California. Since it is a few years before the trend of "trendy food shops" profits are lean, but the bills are not. Also in the shop are gorgeous Nick, the pasta maker and Swoozie, the clerk and replacement grandma for Drew. One of Drew's jobs is to throw out the expired food to the alley which is whisked away. One night in the alley she meets Emmett Crane who lives on their thrown out foods. Emmett has a secret and Drew is determined to learn more about him. His quest sweeps her up. Does the mission succeed? One thing is for sure, the friendship does.

Wonderfully written so that we see into the souls of these two kids. Oh, and the story is told by Drew as an 18-year-old attending Berkeley. That perspective makes the story special.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Dana's Website

Nope, not a review!

2011-07-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

"The Guys Read Panel at BookExpo

This video is of guy authors talking at BEA about guys reading.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

2011-07-09T22:15:00.000-07:00

Mclean moves often with her dad, going to where he is assigned to resuscitate restaurants in trouble: "Restaurant Impossible" assignments. Mclean decides to be a new person for each move. But now her real self and name have bubbled to the surface. It all begins and ends with Dave. He yanks her into a hiding place during a chase. She repays the favor by ricocheting a basketball onto his head. There are a bevy of memorable characters. Deb commandeers a public service project that the distressed restaurant manager, Opal, has been suckered into assembling. Everyone of Dave's buds get involved. Dave's FBFs welcome Mclean and the oddball Deb into their circle. Jason, the cook, is Harvard educated. Tiffany, wait staff, is trouble and contributes some zingers. I loved the "ensemble casting." But part of that cast is Mclean's mother who insists on visitations with Mclean. Mclean resent her mother leaving her dad and refuses to go with her. But the money and lawyers of her new step-father might be more than Mclean can handle. Can Mclean and her family be fixed?

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Sarah Dessen's Website

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

2011-07-05T15:43:00.000-07:00

Beth says that she writes "speculative literature" and indeedy she does! Move over Brave New World.

Amy's scientific mom and military dad have chosen to be cryogenically frozen to be transported via space globe across the universe to settle a new world. In a nauseating first chapter Amy and the reader witness the freezing of her parents. After that Amy stills chooses to be preserved for 300 years. Meanwhile, on the space vessel, Godspeed, a tense change in leadership from Eldest to Elder, who is Amy's age, is developing into a chaotic finale.

An inter-galactic "who done it" begins when someone opens Amy's cube and begins the thawing process, that can kill without proper medical assistance. She is saved by Doc and immediately adored by Elder. Acclimating to the vessel is impossible as Eldest marks her as a freak to all the inhabitants. She witnesses disgusting mating habits. She discovers what really happens to the grays as they age. She finds out why the people blindly obey. She finds out important information about those in the mental hospital. Most importantly, she discovers that as she coninues to age, her parents will not.

Will the murderer be found before her parents cubical are switched off? What is Eldest hiding from everyone?

Riveting, horrific and thoughtful all at the same time.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Beth Revis' Website

Book Tour in TN

The Emperor of Nihon-Ja by John Flanagan

2011-06-29T08:08:00.000-07:00

I just enjoyed the tenth installment of "The Ranger's Apprentice" series, touted as the final battle. Even though the series title is about the apprentice, I am impressed with how Flanagan maintains the ensemble of heroes sharing center stage throughout the series. And I like it! Halt, Will and Horace have such unique characteristics.

In this episode Horace has traveled to the far east to study the fighting techniques of the Senshi of Nihon-Ja. He becomes involved in a bloody civil war when a jealous Senshi lord marches through the country to take power and the life of the emperor, Shirgeru. Will, Halt and their very talented friends board the Skandian Wolfwill to assist. With only the emperor's injured senshi and a passel of woodcutters and farmers they face the hordes in a last stand.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

John's Website

Stalked by Christine Hart

2011-06-12T20:46:00.000-07:00

Amy and Elise are stoked about their summer jobs at a luxurious resort on Vancouver Island, BC. It will look so good on their resumes when they begin applying for college. The girls are shocked by the movie star good looks of their recruiter, who also ends up being their on-site boss. Wherever Amy goes, there he is, including her room. Amy has to decide how much a letter of recommendation is worth, and how much danger she is facing. Will Amy be a gutsy girl?

ENDERS' Rating: *****
Christine's Website

Seven Kinds of Ordinary Catastrophes by Amber Kizer

2011-06-12T20:11:00.000-07:00

Gert Garibaldi looks at her world with its catastrophes and calls it like it is. this bright, unabashed teen picks through the mine field of high school, boys and home while making uncensored commentaries about the people in her life. Her first boyfriend is the poster child for "What you don't want in a boyfriend." If you like gutsy, Gert is your girl! The first book about her: One Butt Cheek at a Time.

ENDERS' Rating: *****
Amber's Website

Numbers: The Chaos by Rachel Ward

2011-04-28T22:38:00.000-07:00

Adam’s mother, Jem, could see the exact date of someone’s death by looking into their eyes. Adam has the sight also, but he has to live with the date and their death. He meets an extraordinary girl, Sarah, in an art class as he models for her sketch. In her eyes he sees a distance death filled with love and peace. It is so different from his usual tormented visions that he is at first mesmerized by her, then quickly loves her. Sarah is carrying a baby from repeated sexual abuse and pushes him away. But there are bigger problems on Adam’s mind: a huge amount of people have a death date of New Year’s Day, just a few weeks away. All kinds of mayhem arises from his attempts to save the city, his nan, Sarah and her “old soul”
baby girl. Prepare yourselves for nasty destruction and a peek at a disturbing “big brother” society that forgets the individual in the quest of becoming the
ultimate nanny society, a society that also ignores what it does not want to see. Excellent, better than the first novel, with lots of hope because of love and compassion shown in the main characters. A sequel called Infinity follows.

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Rachel's Website

three black swans by Caroline B. Cooney

2011-04-27T19:44:00.000-07:00

Missy and Claire are cousins who look more and more alike as they become older. The official parent line is that Missy was born 2 week after Claire
and was near death often. But as they grow, their mother-sisters, start confusing the photographs of the girls, and end up hiding all their photos and
plans of scrapbooking. Missy listens to a radio show that explains the phenomena of stronger and weaker twins, and she hatches an idea to introduce
her cousin Claire as her long-lost twin on the school news show. The show goes viral and is seen by a young man in New York who shows it to his
friend. The Pandora’s box is flung wide open! “Black swans” is a reference to events that are hugely important, rare and unpredictable, and explainable only
after the fact. Let’s just say that Missy and Claire make a trip to New York.

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Caroline's Website

Afterlife by Claudia Gray

2011-04-27T16:03:00.000-07:00

The saga continues, and concludes, the love story of Lucas and Bianca that began in Evernight. The story begins in the bloody aftermath of the vampire attack in which Balthazar’s evil sister turns Lucas into a vampire. Lucas is crazed with his ingrained hate of vampires and the loss of Bianca and his blood lust. Balthazar and Bianca convince Lucas that the only place he will be safe during his volatile stage is Evernight Academy. Unfortunately, it is also the most dangerous location for Bianca. If you like a story with layered conflicts, this is the one for you. In fact, a spreadsheet of the conflicts may be useful. Just kidding. And what is going on with Mrs. Bethany, the spooky head mistress? Why is she befriending Lucas who she barely tolerated before? And Bianca’s parents, who hate wraiths, how will they respond to their daughter now? Fans will not be disappointed.

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Claudia's Website

Sapphique by Catherine Fisher

2011-04-20T22:35:00.000-07:00

Prepare to re-enter the bizarre worlds of Incarceron and the Outside once again! Attia is a magic show plant for the crazy magician Rix as they travel through the bowels of Incarceron trying to make contact with Finn, who Kiero is sure abandoned his oath brother for a life of luxury in the Realm. Travel with Rix is dangerous and the two young people strike out on their own yet are imprisoned by a settlement of women. Meanwhile, Finn is desperate to save his friends by rebuilding the portal to Incarceron. His right to the crown is challenged by a possible impostor and Claudia is torn between Finn and her mentor, Jared. The Realm is flickering toward extinction as a last stand between Finn, Claudia and Jared against the queen and her forces crescendos at the warden's home. If that isn’t enough, Incarceron is trying to free itself from itself. Confused? Crazy enough, it all makes sense in this amazing fantasy/science fiction/dystopia world. I have not read Incarceron, but I understood and was captivated by the entire story.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Catherine Fisher's website

where she went by Gayle Forman

2011-04-20T22:17:00.000-07:00

Adam had pulled Mia back from death in If I Stay. Now he faces the results of a promise he made her in the hospital. Though Mia lives, Adam has lost her. As his rock career rockets, he finds himself anxious, popping medicines a little too often, avoiding the band, and dreading the European tour. His manager gives him an extra day in New York to settle his mind. As he walks through the city he runs smack into a billboard with Mia and her cello plastered on it; and he finds himself in the audience of her concert. Word spreads that he is there, even to the star. In a night a bit reminiscent of a darker Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist, Mia leads Adam to her favorite NY locations all night long. In a dramatic confrontation, Mia shares a shocking revelation. Fans will love the ending. I know that I did. The main quandary now is when will Forman’s next book be released?

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Gayle Forman's website includes a good book trailer

The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan

2011-04-07T22:01:00.000-07:00

Annah survives alone against the Dark City that is lawless and becoming overrun with the Unconsecrated that are returning in swarms. She has been waiting for Elias to return from his two-year stint with the Recruiters. She is finally going to strike out on her own, a dangerous decision. Elias does come back but with a surprise for Annah, her beautiful twin sister that she and Elias deserted in the Forest of Hands and Teeth when she, Abigail, refused to go any further. Catcher, a new person who can walk among the Unconsecrated, enters their lives, and everything changes. Will they survive the onslaught of the hoards? Will they survive the ruthless Recruiters? I felt the stress of their situation and the ever-present daily horror and drudge of doing away with the Mulos. I loved this third “Forest of Hands and Teeth” novel with its different voice. It already has a waiting list at my school.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Carrie's Website

THE KNIFE THAT KILLED ME by anthony mcgowan

2011-03-17T20:01:00.000-07:00

Catholic schools have not been the scene of such violence since Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War.

Paul Varderman, an everyman high school student, just tries to keep it together as he navigates through bullies, girls and strange teachers at his private school. But this school is home to its own frightening sociopath. Roth, big, neanderthal, strong and brilliant, who thrives on the groveling and simpering of fellow students. Roth threatens Paul if he does not become a delivery boy to a rival at the neighboring school. That terrifying encounter is the unraveling of the lives of bullies and "the freaks." This is an unforgettable story that you and your friends can talk about for days.

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Anthony's Website

The Lighter Side of Life and Death by C.K. Kelly Martin

2011-03-13T16:18:00.000-07:00

“Coo, coo, cha-choo Mrs. Robinson!" (Most of you will need to ask your parents about The Graduate).

Mason is not only a sports start, he covers all the bases, being a star thespian in the latest school play. Mason isn’t bad looking either. To top off his euphoria, his best and most beautiful pal, Kat, has honored him with a passionate encounter that surprised and delighted them both. But since that encounter, Kat is treating him like he has bubonic plague. He doesn’t know what to do. But along comes the older woman, 23-year-old Collette, who flirts with him, and visa versa. Before he knows it, a fling has begun with his own Mrs. R. All the time he knows that Collette has another guy, that is, man. He is in uncharted territory and wonders what to do next. Martin tells a riveting tale of the primal adventures become misadventures of a teen boy. I wonder how she can write so well from a male perspective!

ENDERS' Rating: ****
c. k. kelly martin's website

Halt's Peril by John Flanagan

2011-03-13T15:56:00.001-07:00

Once again in pursuit of the Outsiders, Halt, Will and Horace become the hunted by the assassins. Halt is in peril as he is hit by an arrow. It is only a small wound and he begins to mend until riding the next day when everyone discovers that the arrow is tipped with poison. They are in the middle of a wilderness, away from any help. Will and Tug race to bring the healer Malcolm to create a concoction to save him. The only problem is that one cure will heal, one will kill. The key is the assassin. Great adventure! Waiting for the tenth episode!

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Ranger's Apprentice Website (takes a while to load)

Girl Parts by John M. Cusick

2011-03-13T15:29:00.000-07:00

Here is a controversial book!
Discuss among yourselves...

Controversy #1: Young people watching the suicide of a young woman on the internet
Controversy #2: Parents buying one young man a robotic, yet very life-like, companion with which he is to learn sensitivity
Controversy #3: A companion that wants to be closer to the young man
Controversy #4: A companion discovering the horror of being a robot
Controversy $5: A young man discovering that his companion, indeed, is a robot
Controversy #6: The companion and new boy buddy trying to do something about it
Controversy #7: Is there life after pixellation?

ENDERS' Rating: ****

John's website
Great YouTube

I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett

2011-03-13T15:02:00.000-07:00

Tiffany the witch: when I read about her I really want to be one! She has all the great attributes of someone who really loves and serves the people around her. She is tolerant and forgiving of little blue warriors nudging into her affairs, privacy and banquets. She is loyal to old friends even when they are not loyal to her. She faces her enemies head-on. I like this 16 year old girl/witch! In the fourth and last novel about Tiffany and her wee blue men and kenda, she attacks dark acts of violence at home and faces the ultimate darkness that is searching to destroy her. Luckily the Wee Free Men lighten the heaviness of the dangers for the readers. They know that they have to watch out for their “wee big hag o’ the hills.” As Tiffany prepares for the ultimate showdown with the darkness closing in on her, she discovers secrets about Roland’s bride to be and her mother. She administers to his father, the Baron. In a strange turn of events involving fire and a hare she saves the day for herself, Roland, and her hills. I wish there were a fifth novel!

Terry was just awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from AASL and he has received numerous honors in the UK.

Terry Pratchett has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's Disease. He spoke to the Alzheimer's Research Trust Conference in the UK earlier this year, where he donated $1 million to aid Alzheimer's research.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Terry's website

Kiss by Jacqueline Wilson

2011-03-13T14:29:00.000-07:00

Sylvie and Carl have been best friends since…forever!

Sylvie knows that now they are in high school their friendship will blossom into a romance, then marriage, just like they pretended when young. Carl seems to have forgotten the master plan. He is moody, distant and overly excited about a soccer player on the boys’ team at his school. For Carl’s birthday they go to a Chihuly glass exhibit in London, and Carl’s glass dreams splinter around him. Though there were enough hints as to Carl’s passion, Sylive just doesn’t get it. Love will do that to you.

ENDERS' Rating: ***

Radiant Shadows by melissa marr

2011-02-27T21:02:00.001-08:00

This is indeed a “Wicked Lovely” book, fourth in the series. I must admit that it is the first one I have read, and that crippled my reading for the first few chapters. Once I allowed myself entry into this fantastical world, I was hooked. This novel spotlights Ani, hound daughter of Gabriel, and a halfling who is becoming more and more fey all the time. I was confused as to her age, as at the beginning of the story she appears to be a tween, the she suddenly is passionately involved with Devlin, who has been instructed to kill her. But Devlin is smitten and decides to protect Ani instead. Marr fans know that the cast of characters consist of some nasty scary-fairies, Sorcha and Bananach. The latter is never satisfied unless there is war in the worlds, and she is out to create the biggest in this novel. I would love to sketch her. What fairy’s wings drip with blood? How is that for a visual? Ani becomes a strong female lead and with Devlin the “Bloodied Hands” of the fey, saves the fairy world and all its inhabitants from vaporizing from the lack of opposition balance between the queens. Devlin and Ani (with Rea inside of Ani) become the new king and queen to restore balance to the kingdom. There are lots of avenues for the plot of Darkest Mercy released spring of 2011. The Devlin/Ani/Rae triangle will be interesting to see played out as well as the outcome of the new power structures. And what will Bananach do to those humans?

ENDERS' Rating: ****

melissa marr's website

The Inheritance Almanac by Michael Macauley

2011-02-23T19:03:00.000-08:00

This alphabetical almanac will certainly find its niche with Inheritance readers! I like the personal facts about Chris and his family interspersed throughout. It is easy on the reader’s eyes. The book is a great resource to keep the names of characters straight, particularly if it has been a while since the reader has actually read the trilogy. And now is the time to complain that my Eragon readers are very sad that no fourth novel in the series has appeared! They were promised a fourth novel at the end of Brisingr and it is time to bring it on! But wait dragon fans! Chris is releasing sneaky hints about book four on http://shurtugal.com Hurray!

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Chris' Website

The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez

2011-01-30T19:03:00.000-08:00

Cuba was an island playground for Lucia and her little brother Frankie, after school was disbanded by the new leader, Fidel Castro, until their parents insisted that they always stay at home. The revolution had begun with bloody evidence in plain view in the city squares. Her father lost his banking job. Valuables from their home were taken by the revolutionary soldier. Lucia’s parents pay to have her and Frankie flown to Miami, as part of Operation Pedro Pan in which parents sent around 14,000 of their children to Camelot (the term for the presidency of John F. Kennedy). For a while they are in an orphanage. But fortune shined on them as the director remembered a kindness that their father had done for his family. He knew of a home in Nebraska where the two of them could be together. They find themselves in the home of chatty Mrs. Baxter and not-so-chatty Mr. Baxter who introduce them to farm chores, hand-me-down repaired clothes, thrift and American Christmas. Lucia attends high school and experiences its cliques and first "like." Frankie is crazy about baseball and his new friends. Will he forget Spanish and his parents? Why are telephone calls so hard to complete and so expensive to Cuba? Will she ever see her parents, best friend or Cuba again?

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Christina's Website with Playlist

Stones into Schools by Greg Mortenson

2011-01-29T19:57:00.000-08:00

Wanting to read a real story with real heroes? Even if some of the heroes are tagged The Dirty Dozen of Pakistan and Afghanistan? This is the book for you! Greg Mortenson weaves a great story about his real life adventures building schools in the remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan with the help of local people's labor. The chapter describing the U.S. military's understanding of the importance of relationships and "three cups of tea" was fascinating. The maps and colored photographs are great. Of course, there are his others books too: Three Cups of Tea (original and young reader editions) and Listen to the Wind, a picture book.

Greg Mortenson: appearing in Longview Washington, 1 March 2011.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Greg's Organization, the CAI

Pennies for Peace Campaign

the Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong

2011-01-29T16:17:00.000-08:00

Chloe, a fifteen-year-old necromancer, balances trying to understand her relationship with Derek, a werewolf, and his brother Simon, a sorcerer, while she tries to enter the nefarious lair of the Edison Group to rescue her aunt Lauren and friend, Rachelle. All this to wrap up in the final novel of the Darkest Powers trilogy! Adult supernaturals taught the teens how to manage their powers and search for a way to bring down Edison Group. One of my students torn the book away from me to devour it, her pulse already accelerating. She said it was her favorite of the three because everything was tied together, and there was even more action in the third book. The story still seems purposefully unfinished. Wait until I tell her a companion series is being released in April.

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Kelley Armstrong's Website

The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller

2011-01-29T13:09:00.000-08:00

Haven Moore has always lived in Snopes City, Tennessee, the granddaughter to a controlling matriarch who sees Haven’s dead father and Haven as “of Satan.” Despite the counseling of the esteemed pastor of the local church, Haven continues to have graphic, sensuous dreams involving Ethan and Constance who lived and loved during the 1920s. Haven knows minute details about New York City though she has never traveled there. Haven is Constance, reincarnated. When the gossip fallout from her latest vision makes life unbearable for Haven and when a bland, mysterious man torches the family mansion, Haven escapes to NYC with the help of her dress design partner, Beau (who is my absolutely favorite character). She is drawn to a secret society that harbors people with useful talents to exploit and is drawn to a society playboy who is the reincarnation of Ethan. Cat and mouse chases, trips to Rome, the freaky gray men and even the devil himself create a tense reading experience. I was eager for the climatic conclusion and was not disappointed. Keep reading to the last page. Teen gothic romance readers will love the story. Yep, a sequel: All You Desire is due August 2011

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Q&A with Kirsten

Blog and Website

As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth by Lynne Rae Perkins

2011-01-02T21:19:00.000-08:00

I obsessed about missing trains while in Europe, but Ry really does miss his during a 45-minute (not!) stop on the way to a camp in Montana. If not bad enough, he opens the urgent letter from the camp, sent a few week before, en route to discover that he is on the way to a canceled camp! Catching up with the train is impossible, cell phone reception is nil, and his backpack with all his earthly possessions, sans his wallet and cell, is on the train. He follows signs to a small Montana town where a local mechanic, Del, senses that this is a good kid in trouble. The story swtches to Lloyd, Ry’s grandfather, who is house-sitting while Ry and his parents are gone, taking Ry’s dogs on a walk and stepping onto unstable ground that becomes a sink hole. He is not answering Ry or Ry’s parents calls. The dogs are having their own adventure that is depicted in graphic novel format, tossed into the novel like captivating chocolate kisses. Del is a fixer. He is going to fix Ry’s problem by driving him across country to his home in Wisconsin. That is the start of an improbable quest to find Ry’s parents on a small Caribbean island where they also have had amply doses of bad, bad luck. Humor, pathos, quirkiness, this book has it all with lots of good read aloud sections. So abandon any skepticism about so much bad luck and enjoy!

ENDERS' Rating: ****

The Scorch Trials by John Dashner

2010-12-27T22:58:00.000-08:00

This is the sequel to The Maze Runner, so will be an unintentional spoiler if you do not read it first.

In The Scorch Trials the survivors of the Maze, relishing their rescue, discover after their first night in the dorm that Cranks are just outside trying to attack them, their rescuers have been murdered and they are locked up without food. So much for being "saved."

It starts again. Only this time they are infected with the Flare that turns humans into living zombies before their death. The new test is to make it through The Scorch (earth's most devastated ring of destruction) in two weeks and to receive the cure. There's motivation!

The boys discover that there have been two maze groups, with similar experiences and outcomes, except Group B is all girls who are eager to capture and kill Thomas. The tension never lets up in The Scorch Trials, so watch The Sound of Music or Thoroughly Modern Millie before and after reading it.

Oh, book three is coming.

ENDERS' Rating: ***

Dashner's Blog

Payback Time by Carl Deuker

2010-12-25T15:55:00.000-08:00

Mitch, shortened from "Michelin Man" taunts he can;t shake loose, has been assigned by the school newspaper editor to be the sports reporter. It's not the position he wants [editor] but he concedes as most students turn to the sports articles first and because gorgeous, bright Kimi is the sports photographer. She proves to be such an inspiration that Mitch begins to shed some of his tires with yogurt and walk/running. If he could only break an amazing story his dream of journalism scholarship would be at his door.

And there it is: An amazing new quarterback appears on the scene at summer practices. But in front of the coach he, well, throws like a girl. He plays defense. He wears different jerseys. His home looks like a fortress. No one includes his defense record in the scoring stats. What is going on? Mitch has a theory of coach and player cheating and is going to prove it.

This is Deuker at his best. Lots of sports action and palatable tension. My sports readers begged for it before Christmas break.

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Carl's Website

jumpstart the world by catherine ryan hyde

2010-12-16T20:50:00.001-08:00

Elle has adopted a one-eyed cat as an apartment roommate to spite her mother. Sure Elle is a loner, but her mother has dumped her into an apartment in the city "short of her 18th birthday" because Elle makes her mother's boyfriend uncomfortable. Oh, then on her 16th birthday Mom and the boyfriend are on a cruise! If that isn't bad enough she is rethinking the one-eyed cat who is far from a companion. The only saving grace of the apartment is Frank next door, who is the kindest man Elle has ever met. Despite his girlfriend Mollie, Elle is instantly in the depths of crush over him. A new school has it fill of emotional horrors, but a motley crew of misfits befriend Elle and prove their loyalty during a time of great crisis. There is lots of the unexpected in this book, but true to Catherine Ryan Hyde's writing, there is lots to ponder.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

CRH's Website

Harmonic ((( Feedback))) by Tara Kelly

2010-12-16T20:48:00.000-08:00

Drea has just moved to gray Bellingham with her hard-luck mother to live with eccentric grandmom. She holes up in the bland basement, soon to turn bright green, with her sophisticated music editing equipment. Drea is not much of a people person, in fact, they make her uncomfortable. She doesn't understand why they cannot take the truth when they ask questions. She feels nervous when people get too close. She doesn't trust the feelings she has around the new guy, Justin, who plays an amazing guitar. Then there is Naomi, her new drug-crazed friend with an amazing voice. So they form an amazing trip-hop band. This is a funny, heart-warming look into the perspective of a teen girl with Asperger's Syndrome, her musical brilliance, and her trial and error with social situations. You will wish Drea were your friend by the time you finish.

ENDERS' Rating: *****
Tara's Website

Torment by Lauren Kate

2010-11-27T19:22:00.000-08:00

I was enthralled with the beautiful cover of the sequel to Fallen, about a difficult love between an angel, Daniel, and a mortal, Luce. Daniel has picked true love over residing in heaven and he enters an uneasy truce with the head of the demons, Cam, for eighteen days. Within that time they both will hunt and kill as many of the Outcasts of Heaven as possible to save Luce from them. Why do they want her? That I will not divulge! Luce is hidden in a high school on the California coast for Nephilim, descendants of angels and humans. I was disappointed by the separation of Luce and Danie, and Luce’s complaints. Fallen angels, demons, half-mortals...their lives are complicated!

ENDERS' Rating: ***

Lauren Kate's Website

The Things a Brother Knows by Dana Reinhardt

2010-11-27T19:12:00.000-08:00

Boaz is home, but his brother Levi and their parents can hardly celebrate when he locks himself into his bedroom sketching on maps, searching on the internet, and screaming during the night. Not even his gorgeous high school sweetheart can break through the wall that Boaz has created. Ironically, the entire community sees him as the homecoming hero, a marine who kept America safe. Levi discovers Boaz’s plans, infiltrates and tries to make a connection with his brother. Boaz has created a unique plan to deal with his PTSS and with war’s horrors. I would strongly recommend it for a civics class discussion or for a summer reading program for seniors in high school.

ENDERS Rating: *****

Dana Reinhardt's Website

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

2010-11-27T18:53:00.000-08:00

Don’t you love it when you are treated to a perfectly entertaining book? Rachel and David have collaborated again creating a funny, intelligent, engaging pair of teens who need something to do to survive a boring Christmas holiday. Lily’s brother and friend have helped her create a red notebook full of scavenger hunt clues that hopefully will keep her entertained during the holiday. Dash haunts the Powells-type bookstore (NYC's Strand Book Store...Powell's wins) and noticed the red notebook, successfully following its directions. Then he writes a few of his own. The game is afoot! And it is a huge success. But as these two come closer to meeting will they be disappointed with their true selves? Is there more to this relationship that white majorette boots?

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Rachel Cohn's Website
David Levithan's Website

Green Witch by Alice Hoffman

2010-11-27T18:43:00.000-08:00

Didn’t want to like this book. Dystopia novels are going the path of fallen angels and vampire books for my attention span: give me something fresh or pack it up!

Green is the only survivor in her family after the horrendous attack of the Horde. The young man she loves is missing. She lives in a solitary world of gardening, healing and adoring herself with green tendril tattoos. Alice employs the fool myth, as Green visits three “witches” and receives powers through their stories to travel to the center of the Horde to try to heal the land and their destroyed city. I loved this story of survival after cataclysmic destruction, and was glad to see that one of my favorite author, David Levithan, was the editor.

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Alice Hoffman's Website

The Last Exit to Normal by Michael Harmon

2010-11-27T18:27:00.000-08:00

Ben Campbell's life is thrown into turmoil when his dad announces that he is divorcing Ben's mother, and then chooses a boyfriend! Ben is furious that his dad would destroy their family and plots revenge. If he find trouble, he is there. And he brags about it. Make the old man's life miserable. So what does his father do? Plunks him down into population 400 Normal, Montana. Let the games begin. Did I mention Ben arrives with spiked hair? A real hit in a cowboy community. Soon the plot thickens as Ben discovers that even a town of 400 has some secrets.

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Michael Harmon's Website

Saving Maddie by Varian Johnson

2010-11-07T00:29:00.001-07:00

Real friendship never dies.

A real friend never forgets that you love blackberries but not strawberries.

Real friends are there for each other.

Joshua Wynn has a lot on his plate, and it began to overflow when Maddie showed up for church five years after she disappeared. He wrote letters, received few, then none at all. And suddenly she returns not at all resembling the freckled thirteen year old who loped the fields with him. She was a woman gawked at by all the tenor section in the choir. As a good Christian, president of the church youth group and the son of the minister, Josh sees himself rescuing his Maddie from the woman she has become, and returning her to the fold and to him. His mother insists that he does not. His father is hesitant. Joshua does not know if he can rescue Maddie before she totally entrances him. Who is saved in the end? I loved these two young people, empathized with the burdens they carried, and reveled in their affection. Oh, great characters live in the local retirement home...you will love them!

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Varian's Website

Vixen by Jillian Larkin

2010-10-23T19:36:00.000-07:00

I had to laugh at myself. I searched all over the W3 for a picture of Jillian, only to finallky remember that she posed for me Monday night at the Random House gala to celebrate her new book! She is darling, right?

"Men, booze and all that jazz." Vixen is set in the 1920s when young people, in this case, seventeen and eighteen year olds, were casting off the old and embracing the carefree world that attempted to wipe away the memory of The Great War. Our three damsels, debutant Gloria, frisky Lorriane and tainted Clara, are all vixens at difference stages. Clara is dumped at her cousin's, Gloria's, home with strict orders to shape up or ship out to a reform school. Gloria is locked into a loveless engagement like a caged songbird. and Lorriane just can't be bad fast enough. I was a little concerned about the use of flasher, black and sparkling cider in the story, but considering Jillian is young enough to be my daughter and that she is a "Thoroughly Modern Millie" buff, I can forgive the modern terms. (Actually I did find that sparking cider was a mildly alcoholic cider of 1880, and people flashed in 1890). All three girls are dangerously connected to bullying men, either mob owners of speakeasies or manipulating fiancees. There are lots of twists and turns with the girls alternating the narration of their hair-raising antics. I am looking forward to the sequel in 2011. (Young women at school do not care for the armpit in the cover photo).

ENDERS' Rating: ***

The Dark Deeps by Arthur Slade

2010-10-23T19:13:00.000-07:00

I threw on my steampuck jewelry, made some cocoa, and curled up to enjoy the escapades of Modo and Olivia in the second “Hunchback Assignments” novel. Modo discovers immediately that he has more to fret over than his infatuation for Olivia. Barely done licking their wounds from the Clockwork Guide’s destruction of life and property in London, Mr. Socrates whisks them both off to New York to solve a mystery about sinking ships. On the steamship they payola the captain to sail to specific coordinates south of Iceland. An unfortunate decision, considering that immediately the ship is rammed and…well, you really do not want to know the rest do you? I enjoyed the new characters in this novel, the passionate captain Monturol and her loyal second. Of course the evil Miss Hakkandottir shows up again as well as another love interest for Modo. The question is, can Modo keep his face straight long enough for these young ladies? This H.G. Wells-ish romp was exciting from beginning to end. There were so many clever "under the sea" surprises that I already have the cocoa ready for the third novel.

(Arthur looks rather ghoulish on his website. I like seeing an artist's interpretation of Miss H on the ca cover).

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Arthur Slade's website

The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson

2010-10-03T00:47:00.001-07:00

This fairy tale has all the makings of tales of the past: beautiful wood cutter's daughter, handsome future duke, forbidden love, twists and turns.

Rose is apprenticed to be a healer at Hagenheim Castle, relieved to be away from an arranged marriage with an old man. As she attended to the young and handsome future duke she falls for him, but sadly, he is betrothed to a mystery woman who is under a curse that he is trying to change. Or would it be easier to accept the attentions of the duke's brother who is trouble? Woven into the story is great setting, customs, dress and religion of the Middle Ages. Will Rose has a "happy ever after ending?"

As you read you will discover upon which fairy tale The Healer's Apprentice is based. A student reviewer read the book in one night and is ready for more of Dickerson's books! You will love the book also.

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Melanie's Website

this world we live in by Susan Beth Pfeffer

2010-10-03T00:26:00.000-07:00

I love this series about a far-too-full moon and its effects on the world. When Susan visited my school years ago she told students that she loved creating "what if" situations. She has outdone herself with this excellent series.

A year has passed since the moon has tilted into a closer orbit around the earth affecting weather, power, and food production. Miranda and her brothers spend their days fishing and searching for food, fuel and anything else they can scavenge. Matt gets married. Her father, with his new wife and child, show up to complicate the situation more, along with three new strangers, Alex, Julie and Charlie. Alex wants to enter a monastery, but his feelings for Miranda are getting in the way. Another horrific disaster surfaces.

(Spoiler coming! STOP reading if you can). As the story ends, Miranda, who has fallen in love with Alex, is ending her diary and ready to start the trip to a safe city for which Alex has a ticket. My vote is for a fourth book, which student reviewers believe will happen, and are looking forward to reading. Susan never disappoints readers who expect the unexpected from her.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Susan' Blog

The Hunchback Assignments

2010-10-03T00:15:00.000-07:00

Here is a Sherlock-Holmes-ish steampuck novel that needs another episode right now. Mr. Socrates rescued a hunchback infant from a traveling side show, raises and educates him, names him Modo, and trains him to be a shape-shifting super spy. Then he dumps Modo out onto the streets of London at age fourteen for an assignment. Modo is to discover the reason behind the disappearances of street children, and others, including Prince Albert (but not in a can). Modo teams up with another Socrates protégé, Octavia Milkweed and they descend into the murky underground of London to discover the horror that Dr Hyde has created. The array of evil are vivid characters. The evil Dr Hyde disappears to surface another day. Can Modo morph into his princely figure long enough to enchant Olivia? We shall see. The Dark Deeps, second in the series, was just released, just when we thought Victorian London was safe.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Arthur's Website

Token of Darkness by Amelia Atwataer-Rhodes

2010-10-03T00:05:00.000-07:00

Cooper Blake has survived a horrible crash from which doctors doubted a happy conclusion. Cooper cannot sleep, fears using the freeway, and, oh yeah, is haunted by a wildly dressed entity named Samantha. Both of them are under attach by supernatural vermin that feed on their misery. Cooper discovers persons that can help him with the dreams, uncanny powers and Samantha. In fact, they are an interesting crew of supernatural budding stars who will surely be featured in more stories. Unlike Andromedia Strain, this book discusses the fantastic theories that support the actions of the cast, almost too much explanation, as it drags the pace of the rising action. But I feel that AAR is on her way to another popular series, back to her fantastic-teen genre and away from snakes and falcons and wolves.

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Amelia's Website

after by Kristen Harmel

2010-10-02T23:19:00.000-07:00

Lacey is sure that if she had not dawdled with makeup for the weekly “breakfast with Dad” on Saturday mornings, that he would be alive today. Everyone but Lacey knows that she is overcompensating for her guilt by trying to solve her brothers’, mother’s and other people’s problems. The idea of starting a group for grieving teens who are ostracized by others seems a great way to create something positive from her pain. But Mom still works later than ever, Tanner thinks he cannot have fun as Dad is not. Logan resorts to being a party animal. Dealing with grief is harder than Lacey even realizes. The group presents a surprise. So many books deal with grief, but this is the first I have seen with a “fixer” as a main character.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Kristen's Blog

Triskellion 3: The Gathering

2010-09-20T22:01:00.001-07:00

In this much anticipated end of the Triskellion trilogy, Rachel and Adam escape to freedom from the Hope Orginaization to tranquility in Australia. Hahaha! Gabriel is back. Another terrifying adventure whisks Rachel and Adam to New Mexico and back to dangerous New York, following the clues of their grandmother’s diary, hoping to find the third triskellion. Mom is in trouble. The identity of their father is discovered, and at the end Rachel knows that soon her mother will notice the bulge. The epilogue foretells two lives “stirring inside of her.” Don’t look for a photo of Will Peterson, a pseudonym for authors Mark Billingham and Peter Cocks who, despite Rachel giving up the diary, may have more in store for fans one of which snagged the book from me and declared it the best. This is inventive fantasy that opens a new door to fantasy literature without a detour through Middle Earth!

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

2010-09-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

What book had fans lining up around a block at Powell's in PDX in the early morning of its release? You guessed it! Mockingjay. I cheated and bought the audiobook before the book released, and I must say, it was riveting.

For those of you thinking of reading The Hunger Games, nominated for the 2011 Evergreen Award, Mockingjay is the dramatic conclusion of the annual "games" that keep the districts of the former United States under the thumb of "the capitol." A boy and a girl are chosen from each of the thirteen districts to compete to the death with only one survivor. With amazing technologies and with the capitol crowd watching the action with bated breath, THG competition provides the excitement of a District Thirteen girl named Katniss whose skills and logic keep her and her ally alive the longest. But who wins?

I am not going to be the spoiler for those who have not read any of the trilogy. But if my library shows any trends, all 10 copies of The Hunger Games, all 4 copies each of Catching Fire and Mockingjay are checked out with a huge "hold" queue. It is worth the read, or the listening. One tease: no one likes a likable character to die.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Suxanne's Website

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

2010-09-06T15:53:00.001-07:00

High schooler, techno-head Marcus and his band of ARG friends ditch school to follow clues in their new Harajuku Fun Madness game, when the San Francisco ground rocks as the Bay Bridge is bombed by terrorists. In trying to escape the now dangerous subway system, friend Daryl is stabbed. As Marcus, Julu and Van try to hail official looking vehicles to help they are arrested for their suspicious behavior. After a humiliating interrogation that lasts days, Marcus is released. His experience with Homeland Security's "Severe Haircut Woman" Marcus faces fighting the injustice without friends who are too frightened, and with fractured support from his parents. With clever technical skills, a new posse and a new girl friend he spares with the HS giant for human rights in the military occupied San Francisco.

This techno-suspense is a 2011 Evergreen Award nominee

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Cory's Website (He has more sites, linked from this one)

Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs

2010-09-06T12:23:00.000-07:00

A titch of a spoiler...

Lily has a major crush on the swim team phenom, Brody, and conspires with a questionable ally, Quince, to set up a rendezvous with Brody to declare her love that she has suffered with for the three years since living with her Aunt Rachel in Seaview.

What is a mermaid to do when her magical kiss goes astray? Lily is like many girls, not realizing that some boys show their love by being irritating. Quince, the great irritating one, ends up with more of an adventure than he bargained for with so-not-into-you Lily. Once back in the kingdom of Thalassinia, Lily ends up making a choice that she had not bargained for. I must admit that I entered the story a “been there, done that” attitude, foreseeing a YA novel remake of Splash. But I was pleasantly surprised and entertained. I think this will be as popular as Oh My Gods and Goddess Boot Camp. There is a sequel coming in 2011, Fins are Forever. Pun intended.

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Tera's Website

Num8ers by Rachel Ward

2010-08-29T00:33:00.000-07:00

How would you feel about knowing how long you had to live?

Jem has a talent. She sees numbers when she looks at people. The numbers are the exact date of their deaths. She retreats into a loner existence. Then she meets Spider who is so attracted to her and breaks through her isolation. But Spider is trouble…in school, on the streets. Despite their shared problems, they go to London together and Jem’s terror grows as she sees TODAY as the death date of lots of the people surrounding her. They run, and the authorities now want to question the two teens running away from the Eye. It is just a matter of time for these two kids. I could not put it down. The ending will blow readers away.

American readers will get a glimpse of British life of fringe citizens, who face prejudice and poverty.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

They Never Came Back by Caroline B. Cooney

2010-08-29T00:12:00.000-07:00

What appears as mistaken identity sets fear, doubt and lots of nosy FBI agents into motion. It all started with boy in the Latin summer school “scary staring” at Cathy and jumping toward her, sure that she is his cousin Murielle. She listens to his rantings about his cousin that got left behind and how his aunt and uncle were fugitives who never returned. Frightened, Cathy escapes with her ride. The boy refuses to give up and suddenly the FBI arrive. Cathy, even if she is not Murielle, could serve a useful purpose. Cooney does it once again, giving us a great story. My only disappointment is that the mystery unraveled a bit quickly for my taste.

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Heart to heart by Lurlene McDaniel

2010-08-28T23:49:00.000-07:00

Confession time: this is my first Lurlene McDaniel novel, though her books are extremely popular at my high school library. She started writing novels about youth facing challenges after her son was diagnosed with type one diabetes.

Elowyn and Kassey are such good friends that Elowyn gives Kassey an extra set of keys to her new car, a gift for her sixteenth birthday.

A young teen named Arabeth never leaves her home. She quietly waits for a donor heart so that she can live. Little does she know that Elowyn will become her closest friend also, with the donation of her heart after an accident in her new car. Everything gets surreal as Kassey, then Elowyn’s parents begin visiting Arabeth, as well as Elowyn’s boyfriend Wyatt. Awkward situations need to be dealt with as their lives become tangled together. I can see what my teen readers like about McDaniel’s books, if they are as intuitive and uncomfortable as this one.

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Lurlene's Website

Wolves, Boys & other Things that might KILL ME by Kristen Chandler

2010-08-28T23:24:00.000-07:00

KJ Carson lives in West End, Montana (a real location north of Yellowstone Park). She works in her dad’s hunting and fishing store or assists him as he guides fishermen or hunters or just plain annoying people. Grey wolves have been introduced to the park against the protests of ranchers, and to add to the controversy, a scientist studying the wolves appears, with her gorgeous, shaggy haired son, Virgil, who enrolls in KJ’s very small high school. Being on the newspaper staff, she ends up writing a column about wolves. Immediately angry “letters to the editor” begin. Lots of students and their parents are ranchers who are concerned about the loss of stock by maurading wolf packs. The hate escalates until people could be hurt. Virgil begins his own solution. KJ buys into it, but will it stop the ripening hatred? Good characterization, realistic situation, and a good plot made this a great read. You can tell that Kristen really knows this location, as the park is a popular "cabin" destination for Utahns.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Kristin's Website

So Many Boys by Suzanne Young

2010-08-28T22:47:00.000-07:00

In this episode of “The Naughty List” novels, Tessa has given up her skirt in the Smitten Kittens cheer squad and her nocturnal sleuthing of cheating boyfriends. In fact, SOS has been disbanded. Her hands are full with trying to have a relationship with her college freshman boyfriend, Aiden. Then someone hijacks the SOS files and takes on cases, for hire and for revenge. Tessa misses her cheering days, and the squad leadership decides she can come back if she dates sweet, popular Jake Townsend. But Aiden’s actions are complicating things. An old enemy is moving in. The Kittens are not so peppy any more. Another boy, besides Jake, is showing interest. What ever will Tessa do? Entertaining, humorous and soapy. Next: A Good Boy is Hard to Find.

ENDERS' Rating: ***
Suzanne's Blog

Freak Magnet by Andrew Auseon

2010-08-28T09:16:00.000-07:00

In the midst of dystopia, vampire and violence stories emerges a refreshing story that definitely is my “feel good” novel of the year thus far.

Charlie is the freak. Gloria is the freak magnet. So both of them think! One day at a coffee shop Charlie spots the most glorious creature to grace the earth. You guessed it: Gloria. In his over-the-top, freakish way, he hits on her despite the warnings of his best buddy. Gloria disses him and heads off in her totally black persona way. Fate interweaves their lives and they continue to intersect. Gloria hates to admit it, but Charlie is hot, but still a freak. But her admissions to his endearing personality continue during their lucky encounters. This he said/she said format digs into her blackness, his love and fear for his family, and their growing affection. Charlie’s antics at his job with his quirky co-workers are laugh-out-loud funny. Gloria’s de-icing reveals the loss that she has felt the last year. This is a book that reminds us that love is in the world, if we only trust it.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Andrew's Website

Center Field by Robert Lipsyte

2010-08-25T21:31:00.000-07:00

Mike is a center fielder. He lives by the example and motivational messages of a great major league center fielder. But between a bum ankle, a new Latino player, and his irritating yet popular girl friend, things are not going smoothly. Then abrasive, sexy, brainy Katherine Herold enters his life and she creates an amazing major league opportunity for Mike. An irritating weasel of a nerd causes Mike to overreact in the hall, and he ends up being a double-agent, sorta, for the nerds versus his coach that he adores! If that is not enough, a controversy arises over the new player’s nationality and age. His family becomes part of the intrigue. If it sounds convoluted, it is not. Wow! What Lipsyte novel is NOT good???

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Robert's Website

Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve

2010-08-25T20:59:00.000-07:00

Fever Crumb, an orphan in futuristic England is raised by an engineer in a think tank called, appropriately, the Order of Engineers, tisking emotions. But her adoptive father loans her out to assist an archaeologist, Kit Solent on a top-secret mission. Fever is well suited to assist, as she has memories that she cannot explain about hidden vaults of the city. Well, a new face with one blue and one brown eye sets off hysteria in London that Fever is a dreaded Scriven, probably a front runner to an invasion. In their mob mind set, they successful destroy the home base of the Order of Engineers, kill Solent leaving his children orphans, and torch London.

Unknown to the Londoners Fever’s mysterious Scriven mother has joined forces with the Movement and is their head technomancer, assisting their leader Quercus. The Movement uses the first power-hungry moving city, one thousand years before the Mortal Quartet novels, to intimidate and overtake London. In a horrific “modification” Solent is constructed into a stalker, a bionic fighting machine based on the remains of his body. The most touching scene of the entire book centers around this stalker. Reeve has created another dystopia that has a riveting storyline. More is promised about Fever in at least one sequel.

Say "steampuck" three times!

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Philip's Blog (An explanation of the photo is in his biography. He is the one on the right).

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

2010-08-25T12:32:00.000-07:00

Have you seen the commercials with the insurance agent and the little kids? He treats the first one like dirt but when the second one who enters gets everything the first asked for.

Catching Fire has such a feeling of total manipulation from the formidable Snow. In a legal move, he calls the 75th Hunger Games which demands the re-entry of all previous champions with the goal of destroying his least favorite teenage girl, a girl inspiring revolution. The field is a motley crew of dandies (great word), the elderly, the physically maimed, and the emotionally crippled. And of course, Peeta and Katniff are two of the three who are District 12 champions. The team members' contributions were unexpected and food for thought. But what is in the future for Katniff, the girl of fire, and Peeta? Betcha can't put it down!

Great recommendation:
“Catching Fire not only lived up to my high expectations, it surpassed them. It's just as exciting as The Hunger Games, but even more gut wrenching, because you already know these characters, you've already suffered with them.”
--Stephenie Meyer, www.stepheniemeyer.com

Mockingjay comments will be coming soon....but I will try not to spoil it!

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Suzanne's Website

I So Don't Do Makeup by Barrie Summy

2010-08-19T23:35:00.001-07:00

Our fave young detective is back with another case that surfaces at the local mall. Only this time Shelly is soloing without the support of her mother or the Academy of Spirits. Shelly assembles a likely list of culprits who are injuring and causing pain for her best friend Junie and the others at her makeup makeover slumber party. More people are victims of tampered makeup and lotions from a mall kiosk. Luckily Grandpa Wren is able to help Shelly. Even her mom, a ghostly police detective, finally begins to assist, even though that act of defiance puts her in dangerous standing at the Academy. The "Janes" were hysterical, even though they took themselves very seriously.

How successful are their efforts? You will see. Will you enjoy this third mystery? Yes, you will.

ENDERS' Rating: ***

Barrie Website

War Horse by Michael Murpurgo

2010-08-19T23:09:00.000-07:00

Horses were drafted into World War I. Just like the British and American Expeditionary forces, few came home.

Everyone will be totally into the amazing action story and the chain of events showing a facet of World War I that few of us are aware. This horse's story begins in England on a small farm, adored and trained by teenage Albert. He is not too useful on the farm as his thoroughbred conformation is not really compatible with the pulling that is required of farm horses. One day, he is whisked away by the military to serve is "The Great War" in France.

I listened to the audiobook of War Horse, a short novel that will move any girl who loved horses to tears.

British National Theatre's War Horse (Check out the stage horses in the video)! Steven Spielberg is producing a movie based on the British stage production, due out in September 2011.

ENDERS' Rating: More than horse lovers will love this. ******

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

2010-08-19T22:31:00.000-07:00

This gripping story of a young veterinarian in a second-rate circus gave me a glimpse into the seedy, enchanting, illegal and endearing lives of a road circus "family." This story has an additional punch, as 93 year old Jacob tells his story from a nursing home while he waits to be picked up by his children to be driven to a road circus visiting his town.

Wikipedia gives this story introduction: "As the memories begin, Jacob Jankowski is twenty-three years old and preparing for his final exams as a Cornell University veterinary student when he receives the news that his parents were killed in a car accident. Jacob’s father was a veterinarian and Jacob had planned to join his practice. When Jacob learns that his father was deeply in debt because he had been treating animals for free as well as mortgaging the family home to provide Jacob an Ivy League education, he has a breakdown and leaves school just short of graduation."

Since the Great Depression is killing the country, Jacob jumps a train, discovering that it is a circus train. Let the show begin! The circus life is shocking and disturbing. This books is riveting, no Curious George at the Circus here.

If that isn't enough to get you reading WFE, Reese Witherspoon AND Robert Pattinson star in the movie to be released April 2011. This movie will probably bestow true stardom upon Robert. Movie Site

Sara Gruen is an animal rights advocate. You can read about her new book on her website.

ENDERS' Rating: WOW!

Sara Gruen's Website

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

2010-08-19T22:26:00.000-07:00

What are the chances of meeting yourself? Well, someone with your same name.

Two of the finest, funniest, quirkiest YA authors combine forces to create an entertaining novel that will appeal to guys, girls, anyone who likes a quirky, funny, ironic, aha novel. One Will Grayson is the longtime sidekick of Tiny Cooper. Through a crazy coincidence Will Grayson meets Will Grayson #2 in a sleazy Chicago porn shop. Both their lives are changed by knowing Tiny Cooper, the writer-director-producer-actor-singer who stars in a school musical based on Tiny's life. In the climatic ending there is no doubt that love of others is. People are. John Green, David Levithan, I appreciate you both. You are both crazy-good writers.

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Nerdfighters Website

David Levithan's Website

Giveaway at "Reads, Reviews and Recommends"

2010-08-19T11:51:00.000-07:00

Kate just reached 150 followers and is celebrating with a giveaway. You can enter it at: http://kateevangelistarandr.blogspot.com/

Washington State Librarian, Jan Walsh, recommends....

2010-08-14T00:18:00.000-07:00

I love the books Jan suggests for the fall Washington Reads season. I think you will also.

Blomgren, Jennifer. Where Do I Sleep?: A Pacific Northwest Lullaby. Sasquatch Books, 2001 W Clark. Ideals Children’s Books,unpaged.

Eubank, Patti Reeder. Seaman’s Journal: On the Trail with Lewis and Clark. Ideals Children's Book, 2002. unpaged.

Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Little, Brown, 2007. 229p. (Laugh-out-loud, edgy).

Meyer, Stephanie. Twilight. Little, Brown and Co., 2005. 498p. (Forks used to be a utensil, now it is one of the most recognized hamlets in the world)!

Lynch, Jim. The Highest Tide: A Novel. Bloomsbury USA: Distributed to the trade by Holtzbrinck Publishers, 2005. 247p. (This is one of my all-time fav books).

Guterson, David. Snow Falling on Cedars. Harcourt Brace, 1994. 345p.

Ford, Jamie. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Ballantine Books, 2009. 290p.

King, Laurie R.. Folly. Bantam Books, 2002. 400p.

Randlett, Mary. Mary Randlett: Landscapes. Introduction by Ted D’Arms; with an essay and poems by Denise Levertov; contributions by Barry Herem, Jo Ann Ridley, and Joyce Thompson. University of Washington Press in association with Tacoma Art Museum, 2007. 118p.

Ziak, Rex. In Full View. Moffitt House Press, 2002. 214p. (Rex is a passionate historian of the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery).

ENDERS' Rating: Great Washington titles, in one way or another. Enjoy!

Washington State Reads Fall 2010 Website

Comics 101 Workshop with Darren of Bluewater Productions

2010-07-14T01:39:00.001-07:00

Seth Baumgartner's Love Manifesto by Eric Luper

2010-07-07T00:41:00.000-07:00

Poor Seth. He has lost his fourth job, his girl breaks up with him in Applebee's in front of the guy replacing him, and then over his shoulder he sees his dad with another woman! He decides to deal with his grief and angst in an oral journal, a podcast, using his mom's old soundboard. Seth is good and his podcast gains quite a following. While golfing with his dirty-minded bud, Dimitri, Seth determines to ask for his fifth summer job at the golf course and to play gumshoe to ferret out his father' slut. With zany, witty, hormonal Dimitri as his sidekick they end up in more hot water than fresh lobsters. A new love interest is on the horizon for Seth if he lives through her freakishly horrid sandwiches.

Loved, loved, loved this laugh-out-loud book for its cleverness and compelling story!

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Eric Luper's Website
Eric's Blog

The Snow Ball Effect by Holly Nicole Hoxter

2010-07-06T23:55:00.000-07:00

I totally misread this title. I think the photograph chosen for the cover is to blame. It can't be me, right?

The Snow Ball Effect comes from advice Lainey receives from a new guy in her life when he compares the first taste of an amazing new snow ball flavor to understanding that an experience may not be the same the next time it comes up, just like the amazing new snow ball flavor will not be as, well, amazing the second time. It works for the situation in the book.

As the novel begins Lainey is told of her mother's death. She wonders what to do with her handicapped little brother when her older sister appears to be his guardian. Taking care of Collin is quite the challenge. Lainey's ever-attentive and doormat boyfriend, Riley, worked magic with him. But the Slurpee guy, Eric, ends up having a serendipitous connection to her mother. The sibs' crazy trip to Disney World and the repercussions were a bonding experience. Holly seamlessly presented a serious story woven with pathos, humor, excitement and nostalgia. Young adults will love this book. I hope she writes another book soon.

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Holly Nicole Hoxter's Website

Brillaint by Rachel Vail

2010-07-05T17:19:00.000-07:00

Brilliant is the third novel that explores the stress of a family's financial problems. This time it is through the eyes of the eldest daughter, the brilliant Quinn, of the "Avery Women." Same scenario as the previous Lucky and Gorgeous: Mom Avery makes a major blunder that costs her job, almost her freedom. Consequently each suffers economic loss as Mom is the major wage earner in the family. Dad Avery is a teacher...'nough said.

Quinn is the good, steady, dependable, bright eldest daughter who walks on troubled waters. Helping with the repossession of their grand piano was the last straw. When she surges into crazy decisions, everyone is shocked, including the guy she adores.

I loved the scene with the old upright piano. This is the third time reading about that scene, of course, as all three sisters are involved. It would be fun for three friends to read each novel and discuss "family problems" with the perspective of the one novel. Then they could read all three and discuss again.

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Rachel Vail's Website

Sweet Little Lies: an L.A. Candy Novel by Lauren Conrad

2010-07-05T16:53:00.000-07:00

Lauren Conrad says that she has no great talent, but is just being herself on her MTV reality series. But that experience certainly has given her lots of material for her novels!

Her novelized starlet, Jane Roberts, a SoCal young adult whose ordinary life is being shared on reality tv in this sequel to L.A. Candy, shows lots of authentic experiences. Jane has her hands full: a big event assignment by her boss, an out-of-control boyfriend, a friend who is just too blunt and a cast member out to do Jane no good. This perfect storm of relationships is about to implode around Jane and you just don't know if her sweet, innocent personality will be able to cope with all the drama. Of course, Trevor and Dana are hoping for lots of that drama on tape and it is hard to outrun the mics and cameras.

Fans of the first book will devour this one. The third is out in October 2010.

ENDERS' Rating: **

Lauren's June-new gorgeous website (Check out the tour video and her journal.)

The Kings of Clonmel by John Flanagan

2010-06-23T09:20:00.001-07:00

Book eight's exploits of Halt, Will and Horace kept me reading long after "lights out." In this novel a power-hunger cult slides into villages of Clonmel warning the people of marauding bands of murderers whom their god, made of gold with the villagers' riches, will expel from the land. Of course the hooligans and the head priest and his henchmen are in kahoots. But their performances are quite terrifying and convincing. Halt sees through the scam and leads the Will and HOrace to his homeland of Clonmel to restore the kingdom one local king at a time. With battles, stratagems and stealth they face their enemies. A logical and smooth ending is a perfect segue to book nine of this Gallic-style fantasy series. And who doesn't love horses who telepathically communicate with their riders?

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Ranger's Apprentice Website (takes a while to load)

Singing for Mrs. Pettigrew by Michael Morpurgo

2010-06-18T08:28:00.000-07:00

Wow! I am honored to read such lyrical writing. Morpurgo is definitely a writer's writer. He was the Children's Laureate of Britain from 2003 to 2005 and is a captivating storyteller and prolific writer! These stories are interlaced with short commentaries about their origins and backgrounds. I cannot wait to share the supernatural "The Giant's Necklace" orally with family. And "My Father is a Polar Bear" would be appreciated by an audience full of people who have lost a father for one reason or another. "The Mozart Question" was my favorite and would be devoured in a journalism class. Nonetheless, I don't think the book will be selected by readers unless we American bloggers and librarians and reviewers actively promote it. So DO IT! I cannot wait to read War Horse, his novel about one of the millions of horses taken for soldiers during World War. Today Steven Spielberg announced his cast for the motion picture.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Michael Morpurgo's Website

Vintage Veronica by Erica S. Perl

2010-06-17T22:10:00.000-07:00

Veronica has an eye for fashion. She is friendless. She is fat.

Veronica learned the eye for fashion with her used-to-be father. When she was little they went to "the fleas" together where she learned to spot real finds. Her skill of assembling amazing outfits to mask her fatness got her the job...at age fifteen. (No one asked her age.) Nasty clothes with stains and rips that are thrown in "the dep" to be dug through every Friday on "Dollar a Pound" day, which is overseen by deadhead Bill, a great character. In fact, the characters from Veronica to horrible Zoe are sketchable.

It is no wonder that Veronica laps up the friendship of the mean girls in the vintage clothing shop, two of the "florons" from the shop level. Her gut tells her to beware, but she is as hunger for friendship as for the donuts at the shop next door. As far as fat goes, the reader only knows that Veronica is at least a little chubby, as the commentary about her size is in her head.

When the dep clogs she has to call "The Nail" to unclog it, a skinny young man on the staff about the size of a long skinny nail. The florons dare her to follow him home to discover if he is stealing from the store and Vernonica finds out so much more about Len. I devoured the book. I was only put off by excessive f-ing, imho. The glimpse into the underbelly of a used clothing store was fascinating, funny and that was unexpected. Who knew?

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Erica S. Perl's FB

Time You Let Me In selected by Naomi Shihab Nye

2010-05-30T18:18:00.000-07:00

Hooray!
Fresh new voices of poetic talents!

Most have not been previously published and we are blessed to be able to add them to our high school and public library and home shelves. Current topics and issues hum through the verses. The poets come from all locations, submitting their pieces to be included in Nye’s book honoring “25 poets under 25.” There is a short introduction by Nye discussing the contact and compilation of the book. Short, whimsical bios and photographs of the fledgling poets are in the back pages. Certainly Matthew Baker’s “ode to poetry” will help resuscitate a defense and anger over the lack of poetry study: “you are nothing, poetry you are the weak, the helpless,/the unevolved, you are the entire state of Delaware/yawning in unison, you are rhyming, no one cares.” I care, I really do!

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Naomi's letter to would-be terrorists

Timelock by David Klass

2010-05-29T16:50:00.000-07:00

Jack Danielson fans will love the breathtaking conclusion of the "Caretakers" trilogy! Jack is kidnapped and taken into the future world from which he came. There he finds answers for the traumatic adventures he had in saving the oceans and the rain forests in the first two books, Firestorm and Whirlwind. Now he enters the world's former Eden to find instead giant transport worms, king-sized scorpions and a scorching desert where you have to live underneath the crusty surface or in fantastic fortresses. The Dark Lord realizes that the time portal will be used by Jack and the Dannites to stop the polar ice cap melt, and speeds back in time to battle them. Jack, PJ and Eko travel with a courageous fellowship for the final showdown. Young men already love this series and will devour this finale as well. Some think this trilogy should be required science reading. What do you think?

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Caretaker Trilogy Website

Tangled by Carolyn Mackler

2010-05-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

Mackler hands us another winner with four tangled up lives of four teenagers: beautiful and successful Skye, her reluctant sidekick Jena, Dakota the pig, and his younger, nerdy brother Owen. The tangling involves their connections with each other over a four month period. We are introduced through Jena’s eyes to perfect, aloft Skye with whom she has to share spring break in Paradise due to their mothers being college buddies. While there she is seduced by Dakota. She is shocked-delighted-fearful of her first sexual encounter. The reader feels the violation. Skye steals him away for Jena’s final spring break humiliation. In May Dakota becomes the narrator, revealing that he was reeling from the death of his estranged girlfriend. June is Skye’s month. She is disillusioned with her famed life, discovering on “Real Life” that her dead father has family still in Brazil. Last is Dakota’s brother, Owen, the blogger of “Loser with a Laptop” who cannot tolerate the retreat in which his mother enrolls him to take him out of geek-dom. He goes on the lam to meet Jena in New York City under the wooden butterflies of the children’s museum. I loved comparing his view of Jena with hers from April. He was so taken by her that he felt like he had “a fault line in [his] body.”

ENDERS' Rating: ****

Carolyn Mackler's Website

FAT CAT by Robin Brande

2010-05-22T17:19:00.000-07:00

I have had a streak of excellent reads the last few months! Only one book I reviewed did not make this recommend blog. Maybe that supports my theory that the best writers are writing for YAs.

Robin's first book, Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature, was a 2008 BBYA book, and FAT CAT is on the fast track to be a winner for next year. Catherine, Cat, is a brilliant teenager with a knack for scientific inquiry, which is put to the ultimate test during a yearlong science project to be judged at a high school level fair in the spring. Through the luck of the draw, Cat draws a picture from which she uses herself as the primary scientific experiment and observation. This project is anything but ho-hum. Amanda, Cat's best friend, is beside her all the way. I want Amanda for my best friend. Along the way, Cat discovers that she has become a "guy magnet" and has a crash course in repelling guys. Cat has to face a four-year hurt by her former best friend, Matt. She cooks her way into the hearts of all around her. But does she win the competition? Does Cat understand what has happened to her?

I liked Cat; her focus, her commitment to herself. And what does her story come wrapped in: a funny, well-paced story that YAs will love reading.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

Robin Brande's Website (I suggest following her website if you are a writer).

Stuck on Earth by David Klass

2010-05-17T21:48:00.000-07:00

David Klass has been one of my fav authors ever since reading the hilarious-poignant-gripping You Don't Know Me. Stuck is about a snail alien who is sent on a mission to earth to determine if the human race should be annihilated in order that the superior Lugonians, whose planet is in crisis, can inhabit and clean up the earth. Our alien observer, Ketchvar III is to inhabit a 14-year-old's body, one Tom Filber, and with this human transport, observe the human race to see if there is a glimmer of humanity in humans, or if they are ripe for destruction. Ketchvar discovers that he has landed into a hateful and dysfunctional family, that Tom is bullied at school, and that the major industry in town is clandestinely flushing toxins into the river. Ketchvar is sure that the world will soon belong to the Lugonians. With the help of Tom, an ancient science teacher, and the lovely Melissa next door, Ketchvar exposes the evil paint company. But to what danger has he exposed himself and others? Klass continually entertains us with alien-learns-cultural-nuances humor while he tells this tale of intergalactic imperialism. This book packs great messages in an page-turning package.

ENDERS' Rating: *****

David Klass Info on the Web