Book Review: The Shattering by Karen Healey

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The Shattering cover imageKeri can’t believe her brother would kill himself. She and Jake were very close, and she’s astounded that he could do something like that without her having a clue he was troubled. So when a former friend whose older brother also committed suicide suggests Jake may have been murdered, Keri is sure she’s right. Especially when Janna point outs a pattern of suicides among older brothers over the years.

The two team up with Sione, who has also lost a brother, to find out who may be killing these boys and why. But their search has not gone unnoticed by those who would rather not be discovered.

The Shattering by Karen Healey is a thriller that also looks at the grief that family members feel after suicide. Keri, Janna and Sione want to know the truth about their brothers’ deaths, and they dig up lots of secrets about local townspeople in their quest. But they are also painfully aware that their actions may put them in danger, and they want to avoid hurting their parents any further. Undercurrents of racism, sexual orientation, and social class gives readers a lot to think about as they turn pages to solve the mystery. Teens aged 15 and up should be fascinated by the issues and the twists and turns of the story until the end.

Publisher Little, Brown and Company provided me with a copy of this book.

Book Review: The Thirteenth Summer by Elizabeth Laing Thompson

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The Thirteenth Summer cover imageCrystal has never really spent much time with her rock star dad, and now that her mother has to live out of state for a few months while training for a new job, she will get her chance. Rage Waters and the Fellas are on tour, and Crystal is both excited and nervous about joining the chaos of their nomadic life. This is the chance she’s waited for to get to know her dad and find out if he really cares for her. Trouble is, threatening notes from a crazed fan may put them both in jeopardy before she finds what she’s looking for.

The Thirteenth Summer by Elizabeth Laing Thompson mixes normal teen concerns with the reality of the life of a famous entertainer. Crystal worries about her braces, body odor, frizzy hair and breakouts, particularly when she’s around Luke, who is the son of another band member. She also finds out that while Rage’s lifestyle comes with perks—fancy hotels, limousine rides and expensive restaurants—it also doesn’t leave much time for Crystal to spend one-on-one with her father. Not surprisingly, several major conflicts come up as the two get to know one another and learn how to talk with each other.

Crystal is 13, which means she’s between wanting to cling to some of her younger traits and wanting to be more grown up. That brings up some interesting issues, particularly as Crystal gets to know Luke better. The mystery of the crazed fan—dubbed psycho girl by band members—adds another twist to the story.

I thought The Thirteenth Summer was a lot of fun to read and it would provide interesting discussion for girls and their moms to talk about family relationships, finding confidence in yourself, and knowing how to communicate about important issues.

The author provided me with a copy of this book.

Book Review: The Bone Magician by F. E. Higgins

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Here’s a guest review by author Christina Hamlett.

Title: THE BONE MAGICIAN
Author: F. E. Higgins
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends (2008)
Genre: YA Fantasy

Deodonatus Snoad. Benedict Pantagus. Aluph Buncombe. Rudy Idolice. The gritty city of Urbs Umida has attracted no shortage of characters with odd names. The only things perhaps odder than their monikers are the professions they’ve chosen to pursue and the motivations that dictate their interactions with others.

At the center of this dark tableau is a young protagonist named Pin, a mortician’s apprentice whose unsavory duties include keeping a three-day vigil over the recently departed to ensure that they are, in fact, dead as a doornail before they get buried. On one particular night, however, Pin’s views about death are radically altered when he happens to witness the surrealistic machinations of a mysterious older man and his assistant, Juno, who bring a female corpse back to life for a few last words with her grief-stricken fiancé. Plucky Pin is as determined to expose the tricks behind the duo’s charade as he is to clear the name of his missing father, a man whom the poison pen of Deodonatus Snoad has labeled as a serial killer.

Subplots featuring a caged and vicious creature called The Gluttonous Beast, a potato-throwing dwarf, and a charming man who believes that the shape of one’s skull and the presence of bumps can predict criminal behavior give this fast-paced tale plenty of film adaptation potential.

Teens and tweens who have gravitated to the likes of Harry Potter will easily get caught up in the mystical elements, and Higgins does such an effective job at crafting realistic and compelling ambience that you can practically smell the stench of the River Foedus in which hapless victims draw their last breaths.

Book Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

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Laini Taylor is a master at weaving tales that include creatures of all kinds, but her stories are solidly grounded in the human experience. Her characters want what many of us want: to know where we come from, to feel love, and to hope for the future. Karou in Daughter of Smoke & Bone is no exception.

For as long as she can remember, Karou has straddled two worlds: the one most humans see where she lives as an art student, and the world of Brimstone’s shop where she grew up surrounded by what humans would call monsters. The drawings she creates are the only things that bridge the two worlds the way she does.

Even though Karou’s name means hope in her first language, she doesn’t know anything about her beginning. She only knows that she was trained to take care of herself, and now that she lives among humans, she often goes on errands to bring Brimstone what he needs to create his magic. When an angel intent on killing her appears, and the doors to Brimstone’s shop are destroyed, Karou is suddenly aware of just how little she knows about herself and how to find her way back to those she loved.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone has elements of a Romeo and Juliet tale—lovers who find each other against the odds, families that are sworn enemies, and hope that the rift between the two sides can heal—but that’s where similarities end. The world Taylor has created for Karou is mesmerizing, and even the little details like Brimstone’s collection of teeth are suffused with meaning. I found myself torn between reading quickly to see what happens, and slowing down to savor the details along the way. Either way this is a book that’s likely to totally engross you from the moment you read the first word until you finish the last. I didn’t realize there was to be a sequel until I got to the end, but now I happily await the next book. I recommend it for mother-daughter book club with girls aged 15 and up.

Book Review: Waiting for June by Joyce Sweeney

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Waiting for June cover imageHere’s a guest book review form author Christina Hamlett:

WAITING FOR JUNE
Author: Joyce Sweeney
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish (2006)
Genre: YA

When I was a high school freshman, there was a girl two years ahead of me who was inexplicably sent off one summer for an extended visit with relatives in Minnesota. Or so the story went. My mother, however, divulged the truth to me that the girl “got herself in trouble” and was off having a baby that would subsequently be put up for adoption. She further warned me that I was to have absolutely nothing to do with the girl when she returned because it would ruin my reputation and likely send me down the same dark path. (I remember thinking at the time how stupid she was to imply that pregnancy was a contagious condition.) Back in the 1960s, teenage girls who “went all the way” with their boyfriends and became pregnant were subjected to similar disappearing acts. Those who kept the news from their parents put themselves at the risk of back-street abortionists. Flash forward to the 21st century and some of the high school classrooms I’ve visited to deliver talks on Career Day. Not only have I seen a surprising number of girls in their last trimester who just can’t wait to be mommies but have also overheard just as many more who carry home pregnancy kits around in their backpack and are clearly disappointed if the stick registers negative.

As unsettling as it is to think of babies being born to girls just short of their senior proms and graduation, there are obviously exceptions to the issue of maturity. Joyce Sweeney’s confident young heroine, Sophie, in WAITING FOR JUNE knows exactly what she has gotten herself into and is welcoming the birth of a little girl that she will love beyond measure. Sophie’s stubborn refusal to identify the baby’s father (the result of a one-time indiscretion) has made her an object of curiosity, speculation and gossip amongst her peers as well as raised the hackles of her single-parent mom who has just as steadfastly refused to divulge the name and whereabouts of Sophie’s dad. As if doctor appointments, homework assignments and figuring out how to get a job weren’t enough items on Sophie’s already crowded plate, she has also attracted the attention of a vicious adversary who leaves threatening notes in her locker. Sweeney does an exceptional job at creating a page-turning thriller that is interspersed with red herrings. There’s also an underscore of mysticism which, unfortunately, is the story’s only weak link. The fact that whales are involved would have been more plausible to me if the story were set in the Pacific Northwest instead of Florida.  Other than that, Sweeney captures the voice, mindset and obsessions of her target demographic. While adults are likely to figure out the villain’s identity midway through the story, there are enough distractions for teen readers—especially involving Sophie’s mother’s past—that they’ll be caught off guard when all truths come to the surface.

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Book Review: Circle of Secrets by Kimberley Griffiths Little

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Circle of Secrets cover imageWhen Shelby Jayne’s mamma, Mirage, left their family, Shelby swore she’d never forgive her. Now it’s a year later, and because her father will be out of the country working for six months and her grandmother recovering from hip surgery, Shelby finds herself deep in the swamps of Louisiana on Mirage’s doorstep with a suitcase in hand.

She’s not interested in Mirage’s reasons for leaving or in her box of recipes for healing spells, but she is drawn to the blue-bottle tree in the backyard. The tree is beautiful and mysterious at the same time, and it’s mystery grows when Shelby finds notes inside some of the bottles that seem to be written from one person to another. Also mysterious is her new friend Gwen, who is always hanging around the cemetery and seems to be abandoned by her parents. If Shelby can solve the mystery of each, she just may be able to create a healing spell of her own that will mend her family and lift the burden of a tragedy from long ago.

Circle of Secrets is Kimberley Griffiths Little’s newest book set on the banks of a Louisiana bayou. A companion to The Healing Spell, it expertly weaves a new tale while giving a nod to the previous one. Shelby Jayne faces many issues that should lead to good discussion as she deals with bullies in a new school, struggles to forgive and reconnect with her mother, and sees family conflict with new eyes.

Little never misses a beat as she weaves this tale of mystery, magic, and mother-daughter relationships. I highly recommend this for mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 9 to 14.

Book Review: Kitchen Counter Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn

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The Kitchen Counter Cooking School cover imageI already like to cook, and most of the time I think I do a pretty good job whipping up things in the kitchen. So when I started to read The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks by Kathleen Flinn, I thought I would enjoy her story but not find much to learn about cooking. From the first chapter, I knew I was wrong.

Flinn’s narrative about working with 10 women who didn’t feel comfortable in the kitchen is fascinating on many fronts. It all started with Flinn’s encounter with a woman in a grocery store who was buying mostly boxed foods to prepare at home, because she didn’t feel she could cook anything that would taste as good. From there she recruited 10 volunteers who opened up their pantries and fridges to Flinn, then prepared her something they would often cook. The lessons that followed were geared toward novices, but they hold something worthwhile for experienced cooks as well.

The volunteers learned everything from how to hold a knife and chop vegetables, to how to cut up a chicken, use leftovers, make soup and more. Each chapter of the book recounts the lesson and comes with recipes at the end. Flinn’s style is conversational, and she includes little bits of fascinating information about cooking and food throughout the story.

I found myself reading passages out loud to my husband and checking my own cupboards each time Flinn went through a new lesson. And I was inspired to make several of the recipes even while I was reading the book. Things I previously thought were too much trouble to make, like chicken stock and homemade bread from scratch, Flinn demystifies and makes easy. I really enjoyed taking the opportunity of getting out of my rut in the kitchen and learning new things that I believe will serve me for a long time to come.

I’m keeping my copy of The Kitchen Counter Cooking School right alongside my Joy of Cooking and my Cajun cookbooks. I’m also planning to give this as a gift to several friends who have commiserated with me over their lack of skills at the stove.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book for review.

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Book Review: Gandhi a Manga Biography by Kazuki Ebine

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Gandhi cover imageAward-winning manga artist Kazuki Ebine has created a new book about one of the world’s greatest men. Gandhi, A Manga Biography follows Mahatma Gandhi from the time he remembers seeing injustice against his countrymen when he was a child, until he takes his last breath. In between, the illustrations and narrative tell the compelling story of Gandhi’s journey from being a “fine English gentleman” to the beginnings of his passive resistance in South Africa, and ultimately, to his rise as a symbol of peace, hope and freedom for India and the rest of the world.

Manga obviously cannot capture all the details of Gandhi’s story, but this biography captures the heart of the great man as well as the impact he had on millions of people and great governments. For those interested in other manga biographies, Penguin Books also offers one titled Che Guevara and another called The 14th Dalai Lama.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book for review.

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