Meg-A-Rae Episode 15: A Very VERY Special Thanksgiving Episode - Books We're Thankful For

In honor of one of our favorite holidays (and our favorite food: pie), Meg and I have compiled a list of the books we're thankful for. They are many and varied. Once you've checked out our video, see the blog post below for all of the books I talked about and see Meg's blog for her favorites!

First, I'm thankful for Michelle Sagara's Chronicles of Elantra series. She is my second favorite fantasy author and this is my second favorite fantasy series EVER. She's created a fully realized world and a heroine that you want to stand up and cheer for! Though it's an adult book, it's a great teen crossover read, too. She's also written a very cool YA book, the first in a new series, called Silence.

Which leads me to my #1 all time favorite fantasy author and series of all time: J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Tolkien is the master of his craft and, in my opinion, the father of all fantasy. He is magic, and I can't wait to see the new Hobbit movies. Thus, I'm also thankful for Peter Jackson.

I'm thankful for adult author Sarah Addison Allen for her beautifully written magical realism books.

I'm extremely thankful to any author who DOESN'T kill the loveable dog, horse, owl, or other sweet beastie just for something silly like plot progression or character growth. I'm looking at you J.K.



I'm thankful for Ally Carter and her super-fun Gallagher Girls novels. The series is about a secret school for girls who learn to be spies. To find out what I really think, check out my review of book 4: Only the Good Spy Young.

I'm thankful for Sarah Rees Brennan and Gina Damico for ruining my life with their amazing books. These books are full of humor, snark, and heartbreak. They are mustache-twirling authors who like to cause their reader's pain - and I loved every second of it! These books hurt so good!

I'm incredibly thankful for Jasper Fforde and his amazeballs Thursday Next series and for entering the YA genre with The Last Dragonslayer. I finished that book in two days and it was SPECTACULAR! No one writes like Mr. Fforde! His books are incredibly clever, witty, magical, and fantastical! I heart every well-chosen word!

Finally, I'm thankful for Gail Carriger - she's one of my all-time favorite authors, a Master of Steampunk and creator of the amazing adult series The Parasol Protectorate. I'm beyond excited that she's starting the new Finishing School series for YA and that Etiquette and Espionage, the first book in the series, comes out this February! I need it in my hands NOW!

Hope you all have a very happy Thanksgiving and may you eat your weight in pumpkin pie!

Book Review: Cast in Shadow

Cast in Shadow (Chronicles of Elantra #1)
By Michelle Sagara
*****

A story where words are not only mightier than the sword, but they are also capable of blowing up a building.

At the onset of puberty, Elianne discovers words like tattoos forming on her arms and legs. Then all hell breaks loose - children are being murdered and found with these same marks in the fief of Nightshade - her home - a rough, lawless, wrong-side-of-the-river place. Seven years after she escaped from Nightshade and found a home in the grand city of Elantra, Elianne, now called Kaylin Neya, finds that history is repeating itself.

This fantasy story, the first in the Chronicles of Elantra series, takes place in a beautifully described world with strange races and many problems. Kaylin is a Hawk, one of the three branches of service in the Halls of Law, in which she is part of the police force for the city. She is sent back into the heart of Nightshade to investigate the resurgence of these murders with former friend and current enemy, Severn. With the help of a Dragon lord and the Lord of Nightshade (a Barrani, an immortal, elf-like race, who are as arrogant and cold as they are beautiful), Kaylin must learn about the ancient language that makes up the marks on her body and the powers they give her in order to fight the evil that's searching for her.

While much of this story is made up of the fantastic, at its heart is the trauma of Kaylin's youth and how she struggles to overcome it. She is forced to face the past before she can move on to the present concerns. This story envelops the reader in its fantasy world, but what I found most compelling is Sagara's depiction of words and names and the power they can hold. In this place that power is tangible; it can both save a life and bring down walls (both figuratively and literally).

This book is generally considered an adult title, but it has excellent YA cross-over potential. Kaylin is probably about 20 in this story. Her abilities and training make her more capable than her age would suggest, yet her past and attitude tend to make her act younger than her age. This book would be accessible and appropriate for teens who have a love for fantasy. I highly recommend it!

Book Review: Scorch

Scorch (Croak #2)
By Gina Damico
*****

"Hi, I'm Driggs."
"Damn, boy. You're even cuter up close." Cordy looked him up and down hungrily. "Got any dead brothers in here?"
Lex made a face. "Cordy, ew."
"Doesn't hurt to ask!" She peered at Driggs. "Now tell me, what are your intentions with my sister?"
Driggs became flustered. "Um, I don't know. To love her...and, uh...honor...protect..."
Lex went red. "Driggs, shut up."
"Awkward." Cordy beamed. "Love it."
"We have to go," Driggs said in an unnecessarily loud voice.
 

A couple of months ago, I reviewed the first book in this awesome series, Croak. After fighting Miss Michelle for the sequel (she got to read it first), I finally got my chance at it! Before I review the book, though, I'd like to send a little note to the author:


Dear Ms. Damico,

What are you trying to do to me? You break my heart into little tiny pieces in Croak, tape it up so I think I'm ok, and then you STOMP on it in Scorch! You know, there's only so much damage you can do to my poor heart before it's too mangled to repair. You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? You're a very mean woman.

When's the next book coming out?

Sincerely, a devoted reader (to my own detriment),
Rachel


I'm going to attempt to write this review as spoiler free as possible. Scorch picks up a few months after Croak left off, and Lex is finally back in the town of Croak. The surprise baddy is now on the run and most everyone blames Lex, particularly the nasty Norwood and his hellish wife, Heloise. These two are right up there on the hate-scale as Professor Umbridge of the Harry Potter books, and I hated that character more than I hated Voldemort. She tries to get back to normal, but the Sadistic-Spouses make that impossible. Lex and her friends end up on the run from both the town and the surprise baddy. Things go from bad to worse until Gina Damico ripped my heart out again. Some puzzles are solved, but the ending leaves you dying for more (See what I did there? It's a story about grim reapers, and it leaves you dying for more?). Apparently I'm a glutton for punishment, because despite the repeated cardio-vascular annihilation, I love this story and I love these characters - I guess that's why it hurts so good! Seriously though, this book is awesome, and you'll be doing yourself a disservice if you don't read it.



Ha! Another book where it's completely appropriate to use this GIF!

UPDATE: I'm excited to say that Ms. Damico responded to my Tweet about this blog entry and she says the following:

Thank you! And in response to your letter: Mwahaha! *twirls mustache, swishes cape*
 

I knew it. I knew she was an evil mastermind. She also said that the next book is scheduled to be released in Fall 2013! Thanks for the info, Gina!

Book Review: Hold Me Closer, Necromancer

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer (Necromancer #1)
By Lish McBride
*****

“So, you're telling me the zoo commissioned you to make a zombie panda in order to avoid a potential international incident.” 
 

Before I start this review, I'd like to comment on two things. First, I adore the title of this book. It is both amazing and nostalgic, and may manage to replace Phoebe's "Hold Me Closer, Tony Danza" that I always think of when I hear the song. I heart it. Lots. Also loving the title of the sequel: Necromancing the Stone. I loved that movie! Dear Lish: you rock book titles! You are my hero of book titling!

Second, I was shocked by the vast quantity and variety of results when I did an image search for "zombie panda." Internet, you are cray-cray.

Hold Me Closer is the story of Sam, a college drop-out, who is currently working at a fast-food joint. Like Cassel in White Cat, Sam has never really felt like he fit in anywhere. It turns out that there's a good reason for that. Sam is a Necromancer, but his powers have been stifled.



Everything changes when he accidentally damages a creepy dude's car. Said creepy dude, Douglas, realizes what Sam is, and demands to make Sam his apprentice. And by demand, I mean sending a brute to beat him up. When that didn't work, he then beheads Sam's friend, reanimates the head, and leaves it on Sam's doorstep. When that still doesn't work, he just kidnaps Sam. So yeah, that works.

Douglas likes power, a lot, and he thinks Sam is a fairly weak Necromancer, so he's not a threat. That keeps Sam alive - as long as he's useful - but good ol' Doug is still pretty sure he's going to kill Sam eventually and he (Doug) is ok with that.

This is a fantastic book! Mucho love to this series (also a Rosie nominee!). If you couldn't tell, I love me some snark, and Sam and his friends are full of the stuff. There's a lot of action, a bit of torture, magic politics, and some zombies, but it doesn't come across as overly-dark. Even when things are at their worst for Sam and his friends, the book is chock full of fun! Well, I think it's fun. I wonder what that says about me... Anyway, I highly recommend it to fans of paranormal, snark, and urban fantasy, and frankly, anyone who's a fan of awesome.

Books on Film: Movie Trailer - City of Bones

I love it when books are turned into movies - especially the ones with fantasy elements. It's so cool to see the fantastic rendered on film!

The Mortal Instrument series (and it's spinoff) was written by Cassandra Clare. The first book, City of Bones, will be coming to theaters this August! First things first: check out this description from Goodreads:

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing -- not even a smear of blood -- to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . .

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

And now, the movie trailer!

'The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones': Trailer 1
(Sorry I couldn't embed the video - insert sad face - but this link will take you to the MTV page with the exclusive trailer!)

Book Review: White Cat

White Cat (Curse Workers #1)
By Holly Black
****

“Pet the cat dude," says Sam. "She brought you a present. She wants you to tell her how badass she is."

"You are a tiny tiny killing machine." Daneca coos.

"What's she doing?" I ask.

"Purring!" says Daneca. She sounds delighted. "Good kitty. Who's an amazing killing machine? That's right. You are! You are a brutal brutal tiny lion! Yes, you are.” 

In Cassel's world, some people can do magic and some people can't, but everyone knows it exists. But the majority of the non-magic users fear people who do magic, so magic is outlawed. Therefore, the magic users tend to band together in organized magic groups, and since magic is outlawed, these groups participate in organized crime. In other words, a magic mafia.

That's right - a magic mafia!

So Cassel's family are all magic practitioners and are connected to a major crime family. Cassel, though, (if I may steal a term from Harry Potter) is a squib - the only non-magic person in a magic family of con artists. His mother is in prison, his brother is interning at a law firm trying to get her out, and his other brother is an enforcer for the mafia don's heir apparent. Cassel's grandfather does the dirtiest work of all - his touch can bring death.

In this world, all magic is used through the power of touch; everyone wears gloves to keep from getting "cursed." But for every magic touch the magic wielder uses, he or she get's a whiplash-type effect. So if you are a memory worker, you lose your own memories. If you can kill someone with a touch, a part of your body dies (Cassel's grandfather is missing many fingers). So magic wielding isn't all fun and games, but Cassel still feels like the black sheep in the family because he doesn't have a gift.

To make matters worse, he killed his best friend.

The story follows Cassel as he tries to make a normal life for himself, but is finding that hard to do with his last memory of his best friend, his confusion about why he killed her, and other major family issues. And considering the fact that his best friend is the Don's only child and Cassel's family is keeping the secret that Cassel killed her, the issues are vast and troublesome. The story has a lot of twists and turns, but it is an engaging urban fantasy mystery. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes an edgier read with a supernatural twist!

I first mentioned this book in our Meg-A-Rae Very Special Magical Episode. Check it out!

Audio Book Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1)
By Laini Taylor
Narrated by Khristine Hvam
****
(I downloaded this title for free from the www.audiobooksync.com summer reading program.)

“Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well.” 

Karou is a teenager who attends a school for the arts in Prague. She has blue hair and tattoos, most obvious of which are the eyes on each palm and "true" and "story" on each wrist. She's also a brilliant artist and her friends love to look at her sketch book for the fantastic creatures she draws there. In addition to the beautiful drawings, Karou tells stories of the different "characters." What her friends don't know is that these creatures are real, and they're Karou's family.

Karou's family are Chimera - creatures made up of different animal parts (kinda like the Sphinx). Unbeknownst to Karou, her family has been fighting a war for a century; a war against the angels.

Enter Akiva, a beautiful angel who comes to earth to close the portals Karou's family uses to access our world. Akiva meets Karou and the sparks (and flames) fly. They fall in love, but there's far more to their story than either could possibly guess.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a mesmerizing mix of love and hate, peace and war, romance and tragedy. Taylor has fused together two worlds in a fascinating and believable way and Hvam narrates it beautifully. And just when you have hope that everything will work out for our star-crossed lovers, Taylor comes along and sucker punches you. Thank heaven's there's a sequel! (It'll be available in 2 months.)

This is a great story for anyone who enjoys paranormal romance, mythology, or stories that take place in foreign locales. Highly recommended.

P.S. Check out this book trailer I did for Daughter of Smoke and Bone!

Book Review: Hourglass

Hourglass (Hourglass #1)
By Myra McEntire
****

"How do you tell the difference between real people and time ripples?"
"You mean besides punching them in the stomach?"
I blushed, not because I'd hit him, but because I was thinking about his abs.
 

Before I begin with my review, please take a moment to admire the awesomeness of that cover. She's walking on the wall, very close to landing on the floor. Both beautiful and a bit creepy.

Now to the story. Emerson is a girl getting ready to go back to her old high school for her senior year. She spent the last few years at a boarding school in another state. She also spent some of that time committed to a mental institution. Around the time she was 13, Em started to see dead people. Shortly after that, her parents died. Shortly after that, she yelled at a guy who took her seat in the cafeteria, only to realize that she was the only one who could see him.

Jump forward a few years later and Emerson gets a visit from the Hourglass Institute; her brother hired them to try to help her through these "visions." But instead of getting some quack doctor or crazy shaman, a young man shows up and tells her the visions are real...and they mean she's a time traveler. And he needs her help to right a wrong from the past.

I loved this book. It's a really cool take on the time-traveler genre. Emerson has a snarky sense of humor, which I love, and the writing is fast paced. There's action, mystery, and a romance - a great read for anyone who enjoys the paranormal genre. Also a great choice for anyone who likes a book where the characters have a sort of super power. We also have the sequel, Timepiece, and I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Graphic Novel Review: Polterguys

Polterguys (Volume #1) 
By Laurianne Uy
***

This graphic novel is the story of awkward and nerdy Bree, a new college student, who finds herself living alone in an old house. She's never really fit in, she was always more interested in her studies and had a hard time relating to the other kids. She thinks college will be different, though - a place where everyone is there to learn. Unfortunately for Bree, making friends in college has been just as difficult as it was before. After going through several roommates, Bree scores a room in an old, empty house. However, she's not as alone as she thinks - she actually has five ghostly roommates.

Ok, so this story was quick and cute. It has the feel of Ouran, which I loved, but the story of Polterguys doesn't have the depth of plot or characters. The story felt rushed and the characters weren't developed enough, particularly considering the ending (which I won't tell you). But there's a lot of potential, and I'm interested in seeing where the story goes.

There is one big problem, though, and it may just be my problem...every time I try to type the title of this series, I find myself typing Poulterguys instead. That would be a completely different story: one girl's new life in college who finds herself living with five guys who are half man-half chicken. Actually, I'd probably read that.

Book Review: Rot and Ruin

Rot and Ruin (Benny Imura #1)
By Jonathan Maberry
****

"Anyone seeing those three teenagers smiling the kinds of smiles they wore would run in terror.
Benny was counting on it."

This story takes place 14 years after First Night - the night when anyone who died turned into a zombie. As the night went on, more and more people died, and thus more and more people became zombies. Now Benny is 15, the year when you either get a job or your rations get cut. After trying out a few different occupations, he ends up apprenticing to his brother, Tom: a zombie bounty hunter.

But there's more to Tom's job than Benny could have guessed. Tom doesn't just kill zombies, but he specializes in closure. Learning Tom's job teaches Benny about the ways of this world that the people in town don't talk about, and he also learns the meaning of life and humanity.

I'm not a fan of the zombie genre - or the post-apocalyptic or dystopian genres either - but this was a really good book. It's not just a zombie slasher novel, though there's plenty of that; Maberry looks into the emotions and mind sets of people living years in survival mode and the morality of killing zombies who once were people, too. It's a story of loss and fear and, ultimately, courage. Maberry also asks the question: Who's the real monster, the zombies who kill mindlessly or men who are capable of reason and still do awful things?

I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a good zombie book or movie. I'd also recommend it to fans of The Hunger Games - those who dug into the story of a world-gone-wrong and a teenager's fight to make it a better place. I'll close with a quote that epitomizes both Katniss' journey in The Hunger Games and Benny's here:

“Often it was the most unlikely people who found within themselves a spark of something greater. It was probably always there, but most people are never tested, and they go through their whole lives without ever knowing that when things are at their worst, they are at their best.” 

Book Review: Croak

Croak (Croak #1)
by Gina Damico
*****

“Life isn't fair. Why should death be any different?” 

"'And what...did you mean when you said you're going to teach me how to Kill people?'
He snickered. 'You didn't really think you were going to spend the whole summer milking cows, did you?'"

Description from Goodreads:
Fed up with her wild behavior, sixteen-year-old Lex's parents ship her off to upstate New York to live with her Uncle Mort for the summer, hoping that a few months of dirty farm work will whip her back into shape. But Uncle Mort's true occupation is much dirtier than shoveling manure. He's a Grim Reaper. And he's going to teach Lex the family business. She quickly assimilates into the peculiar world of Croak, a town populated by reapers who deliver souls from this life to the next. But Lex can't stop her desire for justice--or is it vengeance?--whenever she encounters a murder victim, craving to stop the attackers before they can strike again. Will she ditch Croak and go rogue with her reaper skills?

From me:
Girl with anger-management issues becomes a grim reaper. That's the story in one sentence and it does a pretty good job of encapsulating the humor, snark, and action that happens in the story. Lex was a perfect kid, until she turned 14, and then she would erupt into rages that even she couldn't explain. In a last ditch effort to help their daughter, Lex's parents send her off to her Uncle Mort's farm. Lex thinks she's going to spend the summer milking cows and feeding chickens and other farm-type tasks, much to her dismay (she's not only a city-girl, she's a New York City-girl). But when she gets off the bus in the middle of nowhere and is approached by a guy in black leather, with skeletal hands, and riding on a motorcycle - claiming to be her uncle - she doesn't believe it. And that's only the first of the surprises.

Lex is taken to the small town of Croak, which turns out to be entirely populated by grim reapers. Their job is to release the souls of those that have just died to enable them to move on. Lex is a Killer - she touches the body to release the soul - and every Killer has a partner who is a Culler - who grabs the soul and takes it back to Croak to be released into an afterlife. As the story goes on, Lex's rage diminishes, except when she realizes that she can do nothing to stop the murderers who necessitate some of Lex's Kills.

This book was both fun, exciting, and at times heartbreaking. Damico has created an interesting take on an ancient idea - that of the grim reaper. Here, her reapers start young, and the sign that they're reapers is the strange and sudden rage they all develop in their teens. It's a quick read, definitely a page-turner. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who likes the paranormal or urban fantasy genres or anyone who likes their stories with a side of snark.

The sequel, Scorch, is coming out on September 25th. If you like Croak, make sure to check out Scorch at MPL!

If you're still not convinced, check out this awesome book trailer:

Teen Reviewer: The Lost Hero

The Lost Hero (Heroes of Olympus, #1)
By: Rick Riordan
Reviewer: Emily Reeves

“It'll be dangerous," Nyssa warned him. "Hardship, monsters, terrible suffering. Possibly none of you will come back alive."
"Oh." Suddenly Leo didn't look so excited. Then he remembered everyone was watching. "I mean... Oh, cool! Suffering? I love suffering! Let's do this.” 

Description from Goodreads:
Jason has a problem. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper and a best friend named Leo. They’re all students at a boarding school for “bad kids.” What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly?

Piper has a secret. Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare. Piper doesn’t understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn’t recognize her. When a freak storm hits, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she’s going to find out.

Leo has a way with tools. When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home. But there’s weird stuff, too—like the curse everyone keeps talking about. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist that each of them—including Leo—is related to a god.

Join new and old friends from Camp Half-Blood in this thrilling first book in The Heroes of Olympus series.

Emily's Review (minor spoilers ahead):
In the first book of the second series that involves the same people along with some new ones, Jason doesn’t remember anything before waking up on a school bus holding hands with Piper. Apparently she’s his girlfriend. His best friend is named Leo. Everything seems very wrong. Piper’s father has been missing for three days, and her vivid nightmares reveal that he’s in terrible danger. Piper, Jason, and Leo are whisked away to Camp Half-Blood. The most troubling thing is the curse everyone keeps talking about, and that Annabeth’s boyfriend is missing. This is one of the best books that I have ever read; I totally recommend it. My favorite part of the book is when Jason saves Piper from falling to her death. My least favorite part of the book is that Annabeth does not find Percy. I cannot believe that Hera would to this to her own family; I mean she is the goddess of marriage for crying out loud!

Teen Reviewer: Percy Jackson and The Olympian Series, Books 1, 2, and 3

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and The Olympians, #1)
The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and The Olympians, #2)
The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and The Olympians, #3)
By: Rick Riordan
Reviewer: Emily Reeves


The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and The Olympians, #1)

“My name is Percy Jackson.
I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.
Am I a troubled kid?
Yeah. You could say that.” 

Description from Goodreads:
Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school... again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus' master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.

Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus' stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.

Emily's Review (minor spoilers ahead):
In the first book of the Percy Jackson series, twelve-year-old Percy Jackson is on his first dangerous quest. With the help of Grover and Annabeth, Percy must catch a thief who has stolen Zeus’ lightning bolt. He must come to terms with a father he has never known and betrayal by a friend. I would recommend this book. My favorite part of the book is when Percy finds out who is father is. My least favorite part of this book is when Percy’s mother gets abducted by a monster. I would freak out if I found out that I was a half-blood. I mean could you imagine never knowing one of your parents? Most times the mortal parent does not even know that the other parent is a god. I would be having nightmares of all of the monsters that would be attacking me.



The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and The Olympians, #2)

“Families are messy. Immortal families are eternally messy. Sometimes the best we can do is to remind each other that we're related for better or for worse...and try to keep the maiming and killing to a minimum.” 

Description from Goodreads:
After a summer spent trying to prevent a catastrophic war among the Greek gods, Percy Jackson is finding his seventh-grade school year unnervingly quiet. His biggest problem is dealing with his new friend, Tyson, a six-foot-three, mentally challenged homeless kid who follows Percy everywhere, making it hard for Percy to have any normal friends. But things don't stay quiet for long.

Percy soon discovers there is trouble at Camp Half-Blood: the magical borders that protect Half-Blood Hill have been poisoned by a mysterious enemy, and the only safe haven for demigods is on the verge of being overrun by mythological monsters. To save the camp, Percy needs the help of his best friend, Grover, who has been taken prisoner on an island somewhere in the Sea of Monsters, the dangerous waters Greek heroes have sailed for millennia. Only today, the Sea of Monsters goes by a new name: The Bermuda Triangle.

Together with his friends, Percy must retrieve the Golden Fleece from the Island of the Cyclopes or Camp Half-Blood will be destroyed. But first, Percy will learn a stunning new secret about his family, one that makes him question whether being claimed as Poseidon's son is an honor or simply a cruel joke.

Emily's Review (major spoilers ahead - read the review with caution if you haven't read the book yet!):
In the second book of the Percy Jackson series, the magical borders of Camp Half-Blood begin to fail. Now Percy and his friends have just days to find the only magic item powerful enough to save the camp before it is overrun by monsters. Percy must stage a rescue operation to save his friend Grover. He learns that he has a half brother that is a Cyclops. I would totally recommend this book. My least favorite part of this book is when Percy denies that Tyson is his brother. My favorite part of the book is when Thalia comes out of the tree that her father turned her into years ago to prevent her from dying. Another one of my favorite parts of the book is when Percy saves Annabeth from the sirens that are showing her what she wants to see about the future to lure her to her death.



The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympian's, #3)

“In a way, it's nice to know that there are Greek gods out there, because you have somebody to blame when things go wrong. For instance, when you're walking away from a bus that's just been attacked by monster hags and blown up by lightning, and it's raining on top of everything else, most people might think that's just really bad luck; when you're a half-blood, you understand that some devine force is really trying to mess up your day.”

 

Description from Goodreads:
When the goddess Artemis goes missing, she is believed to have been kidnapped. And now it's up to Percy and his friends to find out what happened. Who is powerful enough to kidnap a goddess? They must find Artemis before the winter solstice, when her influence on the Olympian Council could swing an important vote on the war with the titans. Not only that, but first Percy will have to solve the mystery of a rare monster that Artemis was hunting when she disappeared—a monster rumored to be so powerful it could destroy Olympus forever.

Emily's Review (minor spoilers ahead):

In the third book of the Percy Jackson series, Percy gets an urgent distress call from his friend Grover, and he immediately prepares for battle. He knows he will need his powerful demigod friends at his side and his trusty bronze sword Riptide. The demigods rush to the rescue to find that Grover has made an important discovery. The titan lord Kronos has devised another plot to get his revenge on the gods. An ancient monster has arisen. One rumored to be so powerful it could destroy Olympus. Artemis, the only goddess who might know how to track it, is missing. Now Percy and his friends have only a week to find the kidnapped goddess. I would definitely recommend this book. My least favorite part of the book is when Annabeth falls of the cliff during the rescue mission of the two new half-bloods. My favorite part of this book is when Percy meets with Aphrodite because she is suggesting that Percy like Annabeth, but he gets so flustered.

Guest Reviewer: Gone

Gone (Gone #1)
By: Michael Grant
Guest Reviewer: Alicia Scully, MPL Youth Services Intern
(5 out of 5 stars)

“One minute the teacher was talking about the Civil War. And the next minute he was gone. There. Gone. No 'poof.' No flash of light. No explosion.” 

With no warning, suddenly everyone over the age of fifteen disappears and the kids left over find that they are encased in some kind of dome stretching 20 miles across. Sam and his new found friends must try to understand their situation as well as how to survive. To make matters worse, a group of kids from the prep school have taken over and Sam isn't so sure that they're as kindhearted as they appear. There are other issues as well--the animals are starting to mutate in strange ways. The premise is extremely fascinating and the pace is quick enough but the narrative shifts points of view abruptly and there isn't a strong connection at first to make this a good move initially. Eventually this makes sense and it does help to pick up the pace toward then end, so it isn't too much of a problem. The book is extremely violent and shows immense instances of human cruelty, even more so than the Hunger Games books. If you're squeamish and can't handle graphic details, this may not be the book for you, but the plot is well worth it in the end and not all of the mysteries are revealed in this installment.        

Teen Reviewer: Janie Johnson Books 1, 2, 3, and 4

The Face on the Milk Carton (Janie Johnson #1)
Whatever Happened to Janie (Janie Johnson #2)
The Voice on the Radio (Janie Johnson #3)
What Janie Found (Janie Johnson #4)
By: Caroline B. Cooney
Reviewer: Emily Marie Reeves


The Face on the Milk Carton Description from Goodreads:

No one ever really paid close attention to the faces of the missing children on the milk cartons. But as Janie Johnson glanced at the face of the ordinary little girl with her hair in tight pigtails, wearing a dress with a narrow white collar--a three-year-old who had been kidnapped twelve years before from a shopping mall in New Jersey--she felt overcome with shock. She recognized that little girl--it was she. How could it possibly be true?

Janie can't believe that her loving parents kidnapped her, but as she begins to piece things together, nothing makes sense. Something is terribly wrong. Are Mr. and Mrs. Johnson really Janie's parents? And if not, who is Janie Johnson, and what really happened?


Emily's Review:

The Face on the Milk Carton is the first in a soon to be five book series, and has made me absolutely speechless. The book ends way too abruptly. This is one of the best books that I have ever read, I recommend it for everyone. I’m even trying to convince my dad to read it. Do you think that if you came across a picture of yourself at the age of three that you would recognize it? Yes. How about if you did not know that was you? Probably not, but Janie Johnson was able to tell that she was the missing child on the back of her friend’s lunch milk carton. She feels like a bad daughter to the parents she left behind for an ice cream sundae, but does not want to leave the parents she grew up with and loves. If none of this happened to the three year old, Jeanie would have never met her boyfriend.



Whatever Happened to Janie Description from Goodreads:

No one ever paid attention to the faces of missing children on milk cartons. But as Janie Johnson glanced at the face of the little girl who had been taken twelve years ago, she recognized that little girl--it was herself.

The mystery of the kidnapping is unraveled, but the nightmare is not over. The Spring family wants justice, but who is to blame? It's difficult to figure out what's best for everyone.

Janie Johnson or Janie Spring? There's enough love for everyone, but how can the two separate families live happily ever after?


Emily's Review:

In Whatever Happened to Janie, Janie, also refered to as Jennie, goes to stay with her birth family. She does not try as hard as everyone else has been to make this new situation work. Towards the end she decides to go and live with the parents that raised her. Janie Johnson realizes that she truly is Jennie Spring, but does not want to hurt the people she calls Mommy and Daddy anymore than their real daughter did. Janie’s brother and sister, Stephen and Jodie, went to New York to try and find Hannah and make her pay for what she has done to their family. Hannah is the one who took Janie from the mall in New Jersey twelve tears ago and left the little girl with her own parents while she returned to the cult that attracted her back when she was a teenager. My favorite part is when Reeve came to visit Janie and asked her biological father if he could take Janie to his senior prom. My least part of the book is when Janie asks her biological mother if she could go back to the parents that raised her. I totally recommend this book.



The Voice on the Radio Description from Goodreads:

Janie's life finally seems to be settling down. But she really misses Reeve Shields, her boyfriend who is away at college. Reeve is overwhelmed by his new college life, and when he is asked to host a late-night radio show, he cannot turn it down. But he is stressed, and he finds himself spilling Janie's secrets on the air, certain that Janie will never find out. But will Janie have to pay for Reeve's lapse in judgement?


Emily's Review:

In The Voice on the Radio, Reeve becomes the biggest jerk when he finally gets a good spot on his college radio station. The jerk part comes in because he tells Janie’s story without her permission and then does not tell her about it himself. She finds out when she goes to Boston with Jodie and Brian and hears him doing one of his janies, or stories about her. My favorite part of The Voice on the Radio is the when Janie is actually able to call her birth parents mom and dad. She realizes that she can love both sets of parents without hurting anyone. When Janie found out what Reeve was doing on the radio is definitely my least favorite part of the book. The book doesn’t really get exciting until the end, but is still a very good read. I recommend this book to anyone who thinks that it is easy to trust someone because The Voice on the Radio proves that someone you thought that you could trust can still turn on you very easily. Just wait until you find out about Hannah.



What Janie Found Description from Goodreads:

Janie’s two families appear to have made peace. Life seems almost normal. She’s even decided to speak to her former boyfriend, Reeve, again. But then Janie’s Connecticut father suffers a sudden stroke, and this tragedy leaves her mother reeling. Janie must step in to manage family finances and to support her mother emotionally.

While handling her father’s business matters, Janie discovers the one undeniable fact that could destroy both of her beloved families. And she alone must decide what to do.


Emily's Review (spoilers ahead):

What Janie found is the most exciting book in the series so far; there is also an e-book available and still one book to come in January 2013. If I were Janie I would hate my kidnap[per] father even if he was in a hospital bed and about to die. I am so happy that Reeve and Janie get back together. My favorite part of the book is, definitely, when Janie is thinking about what she wants to do to Reeve to let him know that she wants him back. The worst part of What Janie Found is that Janie’s kidnap[per] father is in the hospital, because she can’t ask him any of her questions, and that makes her want to find Hannah and ask her all of her own questions. I cannot believe what Janie’s father did for his own daughter, the kidnapper. I recommend this entire series to everyone and anyone.