Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery, 426 pages

A sweet, lively story. Young Anne definitely was a bit too much for me at times. She's so intense, overly much. But she mellows out as she ages through this book, so that was nice. It's a really bittersweet story, with lots of highs and lows, but overall it's a pretty good one with interesting characters. I'll probably finish out the series.

If you're looking for a slice-of-life historical fiction, this is pretty good once, especially if you're looking for a book for a young but advanced reader and need something they can handle that is age-appropriate.

The War I Finally Won

The War I Finally Wonby Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, 385 pages

As the frightening impact of World War II creeps closer and closer to her door, eleven-year-old Ada learns to manage life on the home front. This is an amazing work of historical fiction about England in World War II.  This is a sequel, although the books could be read as stand alone stories and I think I liked this one better than the first.  This story has as much action as the first and really hits all of the emotion that anyone could possibly want in a story.  I would highly recommend it to kids who like historical fiction.

Unearthly Things

Unearthly Things by Michelle Gagnon, 278 pages

“After losing her parents in a tragic accident, surfer girl Janie Mason is forced to trade the sunny beaches of Hawaii for the cold fog of San Francisco. She's never even met her new guardians, the Rochesters - an old money family who relish being pillars of high society. Janie feels hopelessly out of place in their world of Napa weekends, fancy prep schools, and cotillions. But something isn't right in the Rochester mansion. There are noises - screams - coming from the attic nearly every night. Noises everyone else claims they can't hear.” This was a creepy but awesome story.  Although it is a loose retelling of Jane Eyre, I liked it much better than the original.  I ended up bored with Jane as an adult in the original story, but this moves much more quickly and held my attention much more.  I would give this to any teen who likes horror or magical realism.

Genuine Fraud

Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart, 264 pages

“Imogen is a runaway heiress, an orphan, a cook, and a cheat. Jule is a fighter, a social chameleon, and an athlete. An intense friendship. A disappearance. A murder, or maybe two. A bad romance, or maybe three. Blunt objects, disguises, blood, and chocolate. The American dream, superheroes, spies, and villains. A girl who refuses to give people what they want from her. A girl who refuses to be the person she once was.” This was a great story, one where I didn’t know if I should be rooting for the main character or not.  Lockhart is a master at the unreliable narrator and I love her books, even when I’m not sure what’s going on, as I often feel while reading her books.  She’s a great storyteller and I look forward to every one of her books.

The Lonely Hearts Hotel: A Novel

The Lonely Hearts Hotel: A Novel by Heather O’Neill               Audiobook: 12 hours, 2 minutes      Hardback Book:  400 pages                  

Great bittersweet story.    Reminds me of Pierrot, the sad French clown pining for his love, Columbine (cue the French accordion music).    But that is another story.   This story begins with the pregnancy of an unwed mother’s dropping their babies off at a Catholic orphanage in Montreal.    The children grow up unloved and brutalized by the nuns though they form bonds with the other children in the orphanage through their comical antics and musical abilities.   They have such tragic beginnings and even more tragic lives as they are treated like scum by the nuns and beaten for any thing and most times for no reason other than the nuns dislike the children because they feel they are abhorrant for being born out of wedlock to women who were looked down upon as whores and the children were made to pay for the sins of their mothers just for breathing.    The children somehow manage to keep their sanity though many crazy things happen to them and they fall in love.    Rose, the girl loves to dance to Pierrot, the boy’s piano playing.     A rich female benefactor offers the mother superior a large donation is she will let them come to her house to play piano and sing and dance for her guest which gets them a lot of gigs with the rich folks in town and become quite lucrative for the nuns.    After they are released from the orphanage at 19 the boy and 17 the girl.     The boy was adopted by a rich donor to the orphanage who heard the boy playing piano while he was there and was taken with the beautiful mellifluous tones.   The girl was sent to work as a maid and a nanny for a well-to-do family whose children were terrors, but, because of the girl’s winning way with children she was able to win the children’s adoration because she is always doing stuff that is Waaaaay out there herself.    She often dances with an invisible bear, etc.    Much more happens in this household which leads to a big change in Rose’s life.    Around this same time Pierrot has been writing to Rose at the orphanage but the nuns throw his letters away leaving him to think Rose received them but was not speaking to him for leaving.   In truth she never knew about the letters.   There paths come so close to crossing so many times over the years and each finds themselves in amazing circumstances learning new skills and making new connections.    Great story, if sad at times.   There is so much happening all the time throughout the book and the reader will be spellbound to find out what comes next.      I don’t want to give any more away but trust me this is an awesome book truly defining the when life gives you lemons make lemonade outside of the box survivalist thinking.    Just excellent.   It is a must read if you like stories with lots of loosends that come together in markedly unique ways it is a total pageturner!    I recommend this book for adults, maybe older teens,  there are many things that happen that are pertinent to the story but maybe a little too adult themed.   GOOD BOOK, I applaud you, Heather O’Neill you really capture the spirit of the moments.   

 - Shirley J.

The Cruel Prince

TheCruel Prince by Holly Black, 370 pages

“Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King. To win a place at the Court, she must defy him--and face the consequences. In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.” I think this might be my favorite book by Black.  I loved the characters and the story and I really loved how everything worked together.  This is an excellent book for teens who like fantasy.

A Plague Of Bogles

A Plague Of Bogles by Catherine Jinks, 330 pages

“Jem Barbary becomes a bogler's apprentice in 1870's London and gets the fright of his life in a city where science clashes with superstition and monsters lurk in every alley.” This book combines two of my favorite genres: fantasy and historical.  It also has a touch or horror about it.  Kids who like the combination will definitely want to read this series.

A Face Like Glass

AFace Like Glass by Frances Hardinge, 487 pages

Neverfell doesn’t have any memories from before she was five, and the cheesemaker, Grandible, found her in his tunnels.  He never let her leave his tunnels and made her wear a mask all of the time.  Neverfell assumed that she must be extraordinarily ugly until the day a rabbit escapes the tunnels and she goes after it and discovers part of the truth.  This is one of those books that left  me feeling like I had just experienced emotional trauma at the hands of a novel while everyone else is just carrying on with their lives.  I want to give this to every teen who likes fantasy.

Orphan Train Girl

Orphan Train Girl by Christina Baker Kline, 227 pages

“Molly Ayer has been in foster care since she was eight years old. Most of the time, Molly knows it’s her attitude that’s the problem, but after being shipped from one family to another, she’s had her fair share of adults treating her like an inconvenience. So when Molly’s forced to help a wealthy elderly woman clean out her attic for community service, Molly is wary. But from the moment they meet, Molly realizes that Vivian isn’t like any of the adults she’s encountered before. Vivian asks Molly questions about her life and actually listens to the answers. Soon Molly sees they have more in common than she thought. Vivian was an orphan, too—an Irish immigrant to New York City who was put on a so-called “orphan train” to the Midwest with hundreds of other children—and she can understand, better than anyone else, the emotional binds that have been making Molly’s life so hard. Together, they not only clear boxes of past mementos from Vivian’s attic, but forge a path of friendship, forgiveness, and new beginnings.” I really liked this book.  Unfortunately, the library doesn’t own a copy of it.  However, I thought it was a good mix of historical and contemporary.  Although the message was a little heavy handed, I still thought it was a sweet book and that kids would probably enjoy it.

Race To The Bottom Of The Sea

Race To The Bottom Of TheSea by Lindsay Eagar, 423 pages

“When her parents, the great marine scientists Dr. and Dr. Quail, are killed in a tragic accident, eleven year old Fidelia Quail is racked by grief. But she is forced out of her mourning when she's kidnapped by Merrick the Monstrous, a pirate. Her task? Use her marine know-how to retrieve his treasure, lost on the ocean floor. As Fidelia and the pirates close in on the prize, with the navy hot on their heels, she realizes that Merrick doesn't expect to live long enough to enjoy his loot. Could something other than black-hearted greed be driving him?”  This book was pretty amazing.  I would give this to kids that like adventure, historical fiction, or strong female characters.

Maniac Magee

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli, 184 pages

“After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life becomes legendary, as he accomplishes athletic and other feats which awe his contemporaries.” I can’t believe it took me this long to read this book.  I’ve read so many of Spinelli’s books but I had never picked this one up before.  This may be his best book.  I would highly recommend it to elementary age readers that like realistic fiction.

Charmed Life

Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones     218 pages

Cat doesn't mind living in the shadow of his sister, Gwendolen, the most promising young witch ever seen on Coven Street. But trouble starts brewing the moment the two orphans are summoned to live in Chrestomanci Castle. Frustrated that the witches of the castle refuse to acknowledge her talents, Gwendolen conjures up a scheme that could throw whole worlds out of whack.
--

This book reminded me a lot of other fantasy novels I read as a child - especially Dealing with Dragons. It has a similar style of writing and the way magic is handled, and characters that are a bit quirky or off in some way. I enjoyed how this book is so matter of fact about the world it explores that you just sort of take everything in and you just have to accept that that's the way it is. I will say, for the whole book, all I could think about was how much I hate Gwendolyn. I hated her through the whole thing and the entire time I was hoping she'd finally get what's coming to her. I can't say whether or not she does, but I'm just putting it out there - if you read this book, be prepared to read about one of the most insufferable characters ever written. This book is rather fun, for the most part. It's light fantasy, light magic (even though it's about magic). It definitely feels a bit surface level on the whole, so hopefully the other books in the series bring more bite to them. The book itself gets wrapped up quite quickly (in just the last few chapters), where most of the book is spent not really providing any directional plot, just a bunch of sequential events in the life of the Chant siblings. In this case, I would not recommend it to any struggling readers - there is not enough oomph to propel anyone through the story, you just kind of have to like the writing style and be vaguely interested in finding out how it will end up. I will read the rest of the series, though, as I am intrigued by the idea of Chrestomanci.

Beck

Beck by Mal Peet & Meg Rosoff, 261 pages

“Born of a brief encounter between a Liverpool prostitute and an African soldier in 1907, Beck finds himself orphaned as a young boy and sent overseas to the Catholic Brothers in Canada. At age fifteen he is sent to work on a farm, from which he eventually escapes. Finally in charge of his own destiny, Beck starts westward, crossing the border into America and back, all while the Great Depression rages on. What will it take for Beck to understand the agonies of his childhood and realize that love is possible?” This book had enough action and emotion in it that I think that it will satisfy a wide variety of teens.

Race to the Bottom of the Sea

Race to the Bottom of the Sea by Lindsay Eagar     432 pages

When her parents, the great marine scientists Dr. and Dr. Quail, are killed in a tragic accident, eleven year old Fidelia Quail is racked by grief. But she is forced out of her mourning when she's kidnapped by Merrick the Monstrous, a pirate. Her task? Use her marine know-how to retrieve his treasure, lost on the ocean floor. As Fidelia and the pirates close in on the prize, with the navy hot on their heels, she realizes that Merrick doesn't expect to live long enough to enjoy his loot. Could something other than black-hearted greed be driving him?

This was a solid second book by Lindsay Eagar. Hour of the Bees was a hit for her, and rightly so because it was an amazing story with amazing characters. I was so excited to see her next book was going to be about pirates, one of my favorite subject matters. When I saw this book, I fell in love with the cover and with the idea of what it promised - a high-stakes pirate adventure, featuring a strong, scientifically-minded female protagonist. It checked so many of my boxes. And I have to say, it did not disappoint!

Eagar is a fantastic world-builder. The world is very like a 17oos world, but with some modern elements, like submarines, ocean-scanners, etc. Fidelia, in addition to following her parents' footsteps with her interest in studying marine biology, she also has a knack for inventing scientific equipment to aid her parents in their studies. She built the submarine that her parents use. So there is a tiny element of sci-fi. 

I'd highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good pirate story. This would be a great book for girls or boys who love action/adventure stories and pirates. It's got a lot of STEAM elements in it, which makes it a great book for kids who like science, too.

Marked

Marked by Jenny Martin, 361 pages

"Cash, the prince of Bisera and leader of the rebellion, is missing. Phee's uncle James is dead. And Charles Benroyal, once again, is behind it all. Caught between grief, thoughts of revenge, and traumatizing flashbacks of battle, Phee struggles to aid the resistance and prove her worth, even as she attempts to reconcile her growing romantic feelings for Bear with her loyalty to Cash. But when Benroyal's attacks grow bolder, no one is prepared for the sacrifices Phee will have to make to win this war once and for all. With the high-stakes action ofa The Fast and the Furious , a swoony love triangle, and a wholly original science fiction world,a Marked awill have your heart racing until its breathless conclusion.” I liked this book.  It was a great sequel to the Tracked.  I like that it wrapped up in two books too.  I would give this to teens who like dystopian and science fiction type novels.

Counting by 7s

Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan, 380 pages

“Twelve-year-old genius and outsider Willow Chance must figure out how to connect with other people and find a surrogate family for herself after her parents are killed in a car accident.” I’m re-reading this book for a book club and I loved it the first time I read it.  I loved it again this time.  This is a great book for kids who feel like they don’t fit in and wonderful for any kid who likes realistic fiction.

The Outsiders

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, 180 pages

“The struggle of three brothers to stay together after their parent's death and their quest for identity among the conflicting values of their adolescent society.” Oddly enough, I’ve never read this before.  I think that, despite the parts that date the book, it’s also very timeless.  Teens can read this today and still understand the differentiation between social groups.  The story is short enough that even reluctant readers could probably enjoy it.  This probably wouldn’t be the first book that came to mind if I was trying to think of good recommendations, but I wouldn’t avoid it if I thought of it.

Rivals In The City

Rivals In TheCity by Y.S. Lee, 293 pages

"Mary Quinn has a lot on her mind. James Easton, her longtime love interest, wants to marry her; but despite her feelings, independent-minded Mary hesitates. Meanwhile, the Agency has asked Mary to take on a dangerous case: convicted fraudster Henry Thorold is dying in prison, and Mary must watch for the return of his estranged wife, an accomplished criminal herself who has a potentially deadly grudge against James. Finally, a Chinese prizefighter has arrived in town, and Mary can't shake a feeling that he is somehow familiar. With the stakes higher than ever, can Mary balance family secrets, conflicting loyalties, and professional expertise to bring a criminal to justice and find her own happiness?" This is the fourth and final book in this series.  I really liked the series and would highly recommend it to people who like historical adventures with strong female characters.

The Forever Man

TheForever Man by Eoin Colfer, 339 pages

"Riley, an orphan boy living in Victorian London, who has achieved his dream of becoming a renowned magician, and Chevie, the seventeen-year-old FBI agent who traveled from the future and helped him defeat his murderous master, Albert Garrick, face the return of Garrick, an assassin-for-hire, and must destroy him once and for all."  I liked this story.  Colfer isn't my favorite author but I liked this series and I felt like it wrapped up fairly well.  Young adult fans of his other books will enjoy it.  I would recommend starting the series at the beginning but this book can be understood without that.

Up From The Sea

Up From the Sea by Leza Lowitz   272 pages

On March 3, 2011, the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami happens. It was a disaster of epic proportions where “approximately 15,889 people died, 6,152 were injured, and 2,601 people are still missing. And 127,290 buildings were destroyed, with a million more severely damaged.”

Leza Lowitz, who lives in Toyoko, used that premise as the basis for her powerfully haunting novel about a teenage boy and the devastation that rocks his costal Japanese village.Kai is at school when the earth begins to shake. A 9.0-magnitude quake rattles and rolls his small village. The aftershocks, which number 11,106, often measured over 7.0.

This scenario would make an excellent novel, but Lowitz doesn’t take the easy way to tell of Kai’s life. Instead she has chosen a novel-in-verse.

Readers run with Kai as he heads for high ground with his teachers and classmates. We feel his weary arms cling to a tree as a wave hits. We reel at the loss of his mother, grandmother, and grandfather, his village, his friends, everything. Everything.

The only bright spot is that Kai’s estranged dad live in New York City; he hopes he can make contact with him, and that, somehow, they can be reunited.

Watching Kai search for his family’s remains and to try to pick up the pieces of his village is eerily reminiscent of watching New Yorkers combed hospitals, leave notes and pictures in the hours and days after 9/11. One thing I learned from this tale is that to the Japanese, 3/11 conjures the same type of painful memories that Americans feel every time 9/11 is mentioned.

Kai is selected to go to New York to participate in the 10th anniversary of 9/11. That part of the story was not delved into enough for me. It almost sounded like a vacation.

I read Up From the Sea in less than two hours. The prose is highly visual and emotionally gut- wrenching. I could not put the book down until I learned how Kai came to terms with what he had endured.

I give Up From the Sea 5.5 out of 5 stars. The whole 9/11 thing could have been left out without hurting the story at all.