Reflecting

So, I have finished reading all of the books that I need to read for my YA lit class.  (I'm still not finished with all the assignments, but it's a start, right?)  I thought I would just reflect a little on the past 6-7 weeks about what I have learned as far as reading.

First of all, I have to say that there were some books that I was not looking forward to reading, so I'm really glad that I was assigned to read them because I discovered some real jewels this summer.  Born to Run, Playing with Matches and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian were 3 of the top ones.  I also discovered that I really like contemporary realistic fiction. (Dr. Truett, I hope that doesn't give you cardiac arrest!)  I plan to definitely add more of it to my reading lists in the future.  Now, I still love some supernatural fiction, but I can branch out a little as well!

I feel like I also learned a lot about using YA lit in a classroom.  I had given it a little thought before this class, but it's nice to think about all the stuff out there to help young adults cope with issues and also the amount of YA lit that fits nicely next to the traditional canon of literature.  As a librarian, I hope to be able to encourage teachers to use more of it. 

Anyways, I am pleased with the books that I read this summer (with the exceptions of Girl and The Space Between Trees).  I don't think I"ll be able to keep up this pace with reading once school starts back, but I will still be reading and reviewing.  So now we return to our regular programming.  I hope you've all enjoyed this journey with me!

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

Book:  The Goddess Test
Author:  Aimee Carter
Publisher:  Harlequin Teen
Year:  2011
Reason I read it:  This is the 5th book on Greek mythology for my booktalk.
My grade:  A++

Every girl who has taken the test has died.

Now it's Kate's turn.

It's always been just Kate and her mom--and now her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won't live past the fall.

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld--and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he's crazy--until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride, and a goddess.

If she fails.. (cover and summary from goodreads.com)

MY REVIEW

You know when you’ve read one of those books that you don’t want to put down and when you finally finish it, the characters won’t leave your head?

The Goddess Test is one of those books!  Wow!  What a fantastic read this book was!  I was curious about it and thought that the premise sounded interesting, but the way Ms. Carter wove a story of mystery, romance and mythology all together was amazing.  I could not put this book down.  In fact, we went on Sunday to buy a new car and when my husband asked me to drive it home, I got upset because I wanted to read, not drive the new car! : )

The story was captivating.  I immediately sympathized with Kate, the main character.  Her mother is dying of cancer and she has to leave New York City and move to a little town in the middle of nowhere.  She is so focused on her mother’s illness, she can’t even be a normal teen.

I liked James a lot as well, especially at the beginning.  He seemed like just a nice guy.  Ava was, of course, the typical mean girl and I sort of predicted what would happen with her at the beginning, but after that, the predictability of the story was non-existent!  There were all sorts of twists and turns that were great but I could never have foreseen.  And I ended up liking Ava A LOT!

And then there was Henry.  ::sighs::  Henry was positively swoon-worthy!  If I had known that the god of the dead could be so fabulous, I would have started looking for one a long time ago!  He was a perfect underworld god:  dark hair, dark moods, dark temper, but oh, so captivating!  By the end of the book, I was ready to go through the  tests myself!

I like to see that some interest in Greek mythology is coming back in vogue.  Rick Riordan did a fabulous job with starting the Greek gods spin-offs in Percy Jackson, and Aimee Carter is continuing in his footsteps.  “The Goddess Test” shares its Greek mythology roots with Riordan’s works, but where Percy Jackson is slightly more juvenile and geared to a younger audience, Aimee Carter kicks it up a notch and really takes the idea to a more sophisticated level.  The story is complex and deals with love, death and sacrifice, drawing the reader into the story wholeheartedly. 

Just as a forewarning to those who like to know, there are several allusions to sex in this book, but nothing inappropriate.  Her fade to black is very well done!

This book is probably going to be on my top 5 of the year.  Right now, the only book ahead of it so far is “Unearthly” and it’s because Tucker Avery owns my heart.

But Henry, god of the underworld, can own my soul, if he wants it. : )

There is one drawback to this book.  I now have to wait until February, 2012 to find out what happens next. ::sobs::

This book is definitely an A++ for me!  Aimee Carter aced it, with lots of extra credit to spare! It arrives in stores on April 26^th.  You should run, not walk, to get it.  Or perhaps find a centaur to take you.

(Much thanks to Harlequin Teen and netgalley.com for the ARC.)

 

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

Book:  Starcrossed

Author:  Josephine Angelini

Publisher:  Harper Collins

Publication date:  May 31, 2011
Reason I read this book:  For my YA lit booktalk on Greek mythology re-tellings set in modern day.

My grade:  A+

Helen Hamilton has always tried to hide how different she is—no easy feat on an island as small as Nantucket, and only getting harder as she finds herself haunted by hallucinations and vivid nightmares.
It's not until she crosses paths with Lucas Delos at school that Helen's true heritage is finally revealed. Yet even as Lucas helps her awaken to her startling powers, they can never be together—not unless they can break free from the tragic destiny the Three Fates have in store.  (description from www.josephineangelini.com)

MY REVIEW
Oh My Gods of Mt. Olympus!  I cannot believe how freaking incredible this book was!  I feel like I’ve been saying that a lot, but this book was insanely good.  I did not want to put it down and I have not been able to stop thinking about it.  I felt so immersed in the book and the story--everything just pulled me right in.  I also have an insane desire to visit Greece now. : )

First, I have to say that I am so happy to see a revived interest in Greek mythology.  As a teacher, I have noticed an appalling lack of knowledge in this area among the students that I teach.  I always loved Greek mythology as a kid and used to spend hours reading my copy of D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Mythology.  In fact, I think that I could spend hours going back through this book as well, so that brought back some really nice memories and feelings.

This book was a nice twist on Greek mythology.  I really wondered how on earth the author was going to pull off a modern re-telling of Helen of Troy, but let me just say that she wove this story flawlessly.  I could not get enough of it.  I read while I was cooking dinner for my kids, while giving my toddler a bath and even snuck in reading time when my students were busy working!  That is how engaging the story and plotline were.  In fact, this story hooked me from the first chapter.

The characters were magnificent.  I loved Helen and Lucas was a wonderful leading many, although I have to say that by the end of the book, I found myself really liking Hector.  Actually, there wasn’t a character that I really disliked, except for the bad guy, of course.

I thought the plot was very well-balanced.  There was a good mixture of romance, suspense, action and magic.  It was nice to get things from different points of view throughout the novel as well.  There were also some nice plot surprises, although I suspected parts of what eventually happened, the author was still able to surprise me with details.  Of course, nothing wrapped up in the end, which had me scrambling to my computer to make certain that there was a sequel.  And yes, there is one.  Thank the gods!

This is a book that I would highly recommend, especially to older teens and adults who liked Percy Jackson.  This one is a little like Percy Jackson for an older audience.  It’s much more sophisticated, but still holds the same appeal.

I have to give out another A+.  This book is fabulous.  Do yourself a favor and go buy a copy as soon as it is released on May 31, 2011.

Thanks to Harper Collins and netgalley.com for allowing me to read and review this novel.

Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton

Book:  Darkness Becomes Her

Author:  Kelly Keaton

Publisher:  Simon Pulse

Year:  2011

Reason I read it:  This is book #5 of the modern Greek mythology books for my booktalk in YA lit class.

My grade:  A

Ari can’t help feeling lost and alone. With teal eyes and freakish silver hair that can’t be changed or destroyed, Ari has always stood out. And after growing up in foster care, she longs for some understanding of where she came from and who she is.

Her search for answers uncovers just one message from her long dead mother: Run. Ari can sense that someone, or something, is getting closer than they should. But it’s impossible to protect herself when she doesn’t know what she’s running from or why she is being pursued.

She knows only one thing: she must return to her birthplace of New 2, the lush rebuilt city of New Orleans. Upon arriving, she discovers that New 2 is very…different. Here, Ari is seemingly normal. But every creature she encounters, no matter how deadly or horrifying, is afraid of her.

Ari won’t stop until she knows why. But some truths are too haunting, too terrifying, to ever be revealed.

My Review

I love it when I read a book that is so original that I can’t even think of anything else that it’s like.

Darkness Becomes Her is one of those books!!!

Ok, it’s true that dreamy Sebastian sort of reminds me of Derek from Kelley Armstrong’s Darkest Powers series.  But it’s just his size and broodiness that made me think of Derek.  Oh, and the swoon worthiness! : )

What other book out there mixes together voodoo, vampires, shapeshifters, witches and Greek gods and monsters and then sets it in a dystopian New Orleans?

No other book does that!  Bravo, Kelly Keaton!  In a genre that is starting to get a little repetitive and predictable, you have written a gripping paranormal tale that has more twists and turns than a roller coaster!

And as if I needed more than Anne Rice to get me to want to visit New Orleans!  This novel just sealed the deal!  Maybe that will be my graduation present to myself when I finish this degree.  I would love to visit the haunts of Lestat, the Mayfair witches and now, the places of New 2!

I don’t even know how to describe this book.  I had a really hard time putting it down, much to the chagrin of my 3 year old.  I just wanted to sit and bury myself in this world.  Each revelation was more and more wondrous, until I just sat and marveled at the fact that someone could have this much imagination and pull this book off successfully.  There was only one thing that I saw coming, but really, I think she MEANT to foreshadow it!

Now, I have seen reviewers complain about the “insta-romance” between Sebastian and Ari.  First of all, there is no immediate declaration of love a la Twilight.  Are they attracted immensely to one another?  Yes.  Do they feel a kindred connection?  Yes.  Is this something that happens every day in the high school where I teach?  YES!!!  Honestly, I think that the people who make these complaints don’t remember what it was like to be a teenager.  I mean, hormones do funny things to your brain.  Kids think they are in love within a couple of days.  Add some danger and 2 extremely attractive teens and you get….voila!  What some people refer to as “insta-romance” but what I refer to as “A Normal Day in the Life of Any High School”.

There is only one complaint I had about this book, and it’s the only thing that kept me from giving it the + on the A.  I felt like Ari and Athena both were a little too badass, for lack of a better word.  Sorry, I just don’t see the Greek goddess of wisdom being like a leather-clad urban fantasy chick.  That didn’t work for me.  But it was such a tiny complaint in the face of the greatness of this story that I was able to push it to the side for the most part. 

I was also pleased and delighted to see that Kelly Keaton is a fellow North Carolinian!  We rock in NC!!

This book was great!  I can’t believe I have to wait until February to get the sequel!  Thank goodness I finally was able to join Simon & Schuster’s Galley Grab!  I’m hoping that I will be able to snag an early copy of this sequel.  And I will unashamedly gloat if I manage to get it!

Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

Book:  Falling Under

Author:  Gwen Hayes

Publisher:  Penguin Group

Year:  2011

Reason I read it:  I had to read 5-6 Greek mythology re-tellings for my booktalk.  This is a re-telling of the Persephone myth. (Yes, I have read 3 of those!)

My grade:  C

Theia Alderson has always led a sheltered life in the small California town of Serendipity Falls. But when a devastatingly handsome boy appears in the halls of her school, Theia knows she's seen Haden before- not around town, but in her dreams.

As the Haden of both the night and the day beckons her closer one moment and pushes her away the next, the only thing Theia knows for sure is that the incredible pull she feels towards him is stronger than her fear.

And when she discovers what Haden truly is, Theia's not sure if she wants to resist him, even if the cost is her soul. 

My Review

A better title for this book would have been “Falling Under Twilight”.  There were so many scenes that felt pulled right out of “Twilight”. It was so bad in some parts that the author even referenced it in one of the scenes.  Haden is telling Theia that he is dangerous and has tried to stay away from her, isn’t good for her, etc and she responds with “Please tell me that you’re not about to say you’re a vampire and you sparkle….” Or something along those lines.

Really?

Now, it is no secret that I hold a devotion to Twilight that rivals the devotion I have for my own children.  But I like Twilight in Twilight, ya know?  I don’t want to read it in another published book.  If you’re going to copy Twilight in your writing, there’s a website for that.  It’s called fanfiction.net.

I almost put this book to the side after that.  Why didn’t I?  Well, I do like Twilight, so it’s not like I was opposed to that sort of story, but honestly, I just kept going because I’m under a tight deadline for finishing these books.

I’m glad that I kept going.  Why?  Because after a certain point, the book was nothing like Twilight.  In fact, as I kept reading, the book started to become a little creepy and scary.

In the end, I found that I had consumed a martini of a book, shaken, not stirred, that was a combination of Twilight and, oddly enough, Coraline with just a dash of Nancy Holder’s Wicked series thrown in. 

Now, do I think that the author meant for those other things to be in there?  Probably not.  Do I think that this author read Twilight?  Most definitely.

I am curious about the next book in the series now, though.  The book veered away from Twilight enough that I can read the next one in the series.  That is what saved the grade on this book.  Otherwise, I would have been forced to give an automatic F because that’s what you get when you copy other people’s ideas.  ,

In the end, I'm giving this one a C.  I liked the story, but the first half of the book felt almost plagiarized to me.  So I had to take points off for that.  If this were one of my students, that grade would also come with a stern warning about citing your sources!

Note to YA authors:  please steer clear of story lines that mimic Twilight so closely.  Too many people have read it and they will call you on it.

Abandon by Meg Cabot

Book:  Abandon

Author:  Meg Cabot

Publisher:  Point

Year:  2011

The reason I read it:  I have to read 5-6 books for a book talk in my class.  My theme is modern re-tellings of Greek mythology.  This is a retelling of the Persephone myth.

My grade:  A

New from #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot, a dark, fantastical story about this world . . . and the underworld.

Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone . . . because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.
But now she's moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid
.
Only she can't. Because even here, he finds her. That's how desperately he wants her back. She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away . . . especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most.
But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld.

My Review

So, when I read a Sarah Dessen book earlier in the summer, I was proven wrong about her.  With Meg Cabot, the same thing happened.  I always thought that her books were some sort of silly, sugary-sweet nothing.

This book was NOT silly or sugary-sweet.  It was awesome!

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I don’t see myself running out to read all the Princess Diaries books or anything.  But I have decided that, with the right subject, Meg Cabot is one heck of a writer!

This re-telling was just brilliant.  I love the way she gave things just enough of a twist to make the story modern but recognizable.

The premise of the story was fabulous.  I like the whole plot with the Furies and I was surprised by so many things when they happened.  I liked the characters a lot, especially Mr. Smith and Alex.  Of course, I loved Pierce and John.  Pierce was so interesting and the whole near-death experience was a very believable plot motif.

I found myself constantly checking the number of pages left as I got closer to the end.  Not because I didn’t want to read them, but because I wanted there to be more of them!  I knew at a certain point that I was going to be left wanting more of the book when it reached the end. 

And I am.  Wanting much more!  Can’t I just have the sequel now??

I really love these Greek mythology re-tellings.  It’s bringing back my childhood when I spent hours reading D’aulaires Greek Mythology and I could tell the story of almost every god and myth.  In fact, I need to go hunt that book out at my parents’ house.

My grade for the book is an A.  I didn’t find one bad thing about it and I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book in the trilogy.

The Mystery Library: Witches by Stuart A. Kallen

Book:  The Mystery Library:  Witches

Author:  Stuart A. Kallen

Publisher:  Lucent Books

Year:  2000

Why I read it:  I needed to read a non-fiction book for my YA lit class and I’ve had this one to read as part of some research for something I’m writing.

My grade:  B

Throughout history men and women have utilized ancient spiritual practices dating back to the dawn of time. These rituals based in nature and on the astrological calendar have been used for healing, spiritual growth, good, and bad. "Witches" traces the practice of witchcraft from its ancient roots through the persecution of the Middle Ages to Wicca practices in modern times.

My Review

I was not very excited about reading a non-fiction book.  I’m more of a fiction sort of girl.  But I had this book checked out from my school library because I’ve been tossing around some ideas for a novel and I wanted to start reading and researching a little.  So, I figured “what the heck?” and I read it for this assignment.

This book is part of a series that we have at my school called “The Mystery Library”.  There are lots of titles in the series and they all deal with the supernatural.  Some other titles in the series include “Vampires”, “Angels”, “UFOs”, “Unicorns” and other things.

I liked the book.  It didn’t really have a lot of information that I didn’t already know, but for someone who is trying to find out something new, it would be a good starting point.  I did get some good information about specifics in the history of witch persecution and burning in Europe.  For example, I never realized that more witches were burned at the stake in Germany than all the other European countries.

The book dealt with the subject of witches in a very factual and matter-of-fact way.  It looked at the history of witches as ancient healers and midwifes, it talked a lot about the cult of the goddess among ancient peoples and talked about the conversion of witches from helpful to evil in the light of Christianity. 

There was an entire section dedicated to witch persecution of Europe and America.  It gave names, countries, dates and events in this section and I found it to be very informative.

In the last 2 chapters, it discussed modern practitioners of Wicca and some of their beliefs and where they came from.  It also looked at magic and spells and the people who practice various religions that use magic and spells.  There were mentions of shamanism, voodoo and Santeria.  Each religion and practice was presented factually.  The beliefs of the religion and what practioners do were described, not in great detail, but in an overview fashion.

I found this book to be informative and it dealt with what could be a controversial subject in an unbiased way.  The book neither condoned nor condemned the practice.  It simply stated what followers believe and do.

I give this book B. My caveat?  The pictures look very dated.  I think that in the next edition, they need to find pictures that don’t look like they came from the early eighties.  Otherwise, this is a great book for teens who need a good overview of the history of witches.