Beautiful and the Cursed, by Page Morgan (book review) – danger and dark secrets in Paris

Oct14
UK book cover of The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan published by Hot Key Books

UK cover

US book cover of The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan published by Delacorte Books

US cover

Brother missing,
Gargoyles watching,
Protectors or predators?

A different sort of paranormal creature stalks Paris as the 20th century peeks over the horizon – first novel I’ve read with gargoyles as central characters!

Read this one for

  • a new paranormal hero/villain
  • interesting family dynamics
  • a look into 1899 Paris

Book two in the series, The Lovely and the Lost,  is scheduled for May 2014 publication – more gargoyle intrigue impacting the human world, no doubt!
Hoping its cover is more like the UK cover of The Beautiful and the Cursed.

**kmm

Book info: The Beautiful and the Cursed / Page Morgan.  Delacorte Press, 2013.   [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover images courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Searching for her missing brother in 1899 Paris, Gabrielle finds gargoyles come to life, mysterious alliances, and danger at every turn as time runs out for his safe return.

Grayson was overseeing repairs at the gargoyle-bedecked old abbey that Mama had bought as an art gallery, but he wasn’t there when she arrived in dead of winter with his teen sisters – how unthoughtful!

But Gabby and Ingrid soon discover that his disappearance has interested not only the police, but also the warring factions of unworldly beings – the Dispossessed in human guise and the masters of Underneath, whose hellhounds have burst into the Paris nights.

For the gargoyles are indeed the Dispossessed, forced to stay in the world after their death because of their crimes in life, forever guarding and protecting the humans residing in their building, able to assume human form as needed, yet never letting people see them so.

And as for the hellhounds… their dark masters require more human blood and have broken a long-standing treaty with the Dispossessed to acquire it more quickly.

How can the gargoyle Luc protect Gabby and Ingrid when they keep leaving the abbey grounds?
Did one of the Dispossessed turn traitor and open the way for the hellhounds?
Where does Grayson fit into all this?

First in a series featuring a new type of paranormal hero, The Beautiful and the Cursed  brings the dark corners of the City of Light into sharp focus as two sisters risk much to find their brother.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

This Song Will Save Your Life, by Leila Sales (book review) – will this change work?

Oct11

book cover of This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales published by Farrar Strauss GirouxRepeat suicide risk,
perennially unpopular girl,
or rave-worthy DJ –
which persona would you choose?

Widely available at your favorite local library or independent bookstore, This Song Will Save Your Life is a Fall 2013 “Fierce Read” – catch Leila Sales at the Texas Book Festival in Austin at the end of October.

What songs are on the playlist that keeps you going when things get rough?
**kmm

Book info:  This Song Will Save Your Life / Leila Sales. Farrar Straus Giroux, 2013. [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Elise wasn’t sure what to add to her killing-myself playlist, but never dreamed that she’d finally find friends through a suicide attempt and music.

Being born unpopular was the problem – Elise hadn’t had a friend since grade school, and high school was simply hell. Her remarried mom with the perfect husband and two perfect kids didn’t see it, her rock musician dad didn’t see it, so Elise figured why live at all?

Of course, killing herself didn’t work, made her more of an outcast at school than ever, kept her awake at night. Running in the dark calms her down and one night brings her to a secret dance club in a warehouse. Great DJ, awesome music, folks don’t mind that she’s just 16 – Start is the best thing that ever happened to Elise.

Soon, she lives for Thursday nights at Start (never mind that Mom thinks she’s asleep upstairs)  where Vicki, Pippa, and Char respect her eclectic taste in music, encourage her to try becoming a DJ, and like her for herself – especially handsome Char.

Secrets can be hard to hide, though, and Elise’s lack of sleep and dropping grades trip her up (have her folks ever stopped considering her a repeat suicide risk?).

How can she keep DJing at Start?
What suddenly made affectionate Char so distant?
Why is high school so important anyway?

Her dad taught her about all kinds of music, her mom taught her about social activism – maybe Elise needs her friends at Start to teach her how to live.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Monster in the Mudball, by S.P. Gates (book review) – ancient hunger, on the loose!

Oct9

book cover of Monster in the Mudball by SP Gates published by Tu BooksTrapped for decades,
she awakens hungry,
violently hungry…

Every time ancient Zilombo is reborn, the monster from deep in an African lake has new and frightening powers that help her hunt – this time in England!

Try out three chapters for free here and you’ll be hooked as Jin, Frankie, and Mizz Z go after The Monster in the Mudball  along the Oozeburn River’s littered shores.

Do you hear the shivery jangle of a bottle cap anklet…  or is it just me?
**kmm

Book info:  Monster in the Mudball (An Artifact Inspector Book) / S. P. Gates. Tu Books, 2013.  [author biography]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: A baby, a monster older than the world, and a mysterious inspector – Jin and Frankie need the last one to help them rescue the first one from the middle one, before Zilombo eats him!

No one would expect that dusty old ball of mud contained an African monster which would gladly eat anything, especially when the mudball had been high on a shelf in a small British house for 20 years. How the dried dirt became mud again, hatched out its oversize feet and huge-clawed hands, escaped from its exile just before the Inspector of Ancient Artifacts arrived on her annual inspection… Jin knows, and Mizz Z the inspector knows that his baby brother is in great danger if this Zilombo monster isn’t caught – soon!

After such a long imprisonment, ancient Zilombo needs food and a hiding place, so she runs toward the scent of water, finding a secret spot near the river and sniffing for the delicious scent of that Smiler baby – oh, how she will enjoy eating it!

Jin and Mizz Z are on Zilombo’s trail, recruiting big sister Frankie along the way, but they may be too late, as baby Smiler chooses this night to take his first steps at Grandma and Grandad Tang’s riverside house.

Why does Mizz Z know so much about this ancient monster?
What new powers does Zilombo have in her newest form?
Can Jin and Frankie really save their baby brother?

Wild adventure along the muddy banks of the deceptively calm Oozeburn River as Jin, Frankie, and Mizz Z try to recapture the monster with her jangling ankle bracelet of soda bottle caps before she strikes again.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Linked, by Imogen Howson (book review) – illegal twin, found again

Oct7
US book cover of Linked by Imogen Howson published by Simon Schuster

US cover of Linked

Separated at birth,
each thinking she was alone,
yet connected by thoughts,
their suffering begins again.

“Telepathic twins in space” was UK author Imogen Howson’s working title for Linked,  and it describes the basic plotline well. Looking forward to scheduled 2014 sequel Unravel.

Grab this book if you like:

  • Mystery with a twist
  • Teens against a corrupt society
  • Action and adventure
  • Colonies in space
  • SciFi with grit

How far would you go to save part of your family, if it meant leaving the rest behind?
**kmm

UK book cover of Linked by Imogen Howson published by Simon Schuster

UK cover of Unlinked

Book info: Linked / Imogen Howson. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]   Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Elissa’s nightmares bring pain and bruises with them – not mental illness, but telepathy with her unhuman twin sister. Now they must escape the planet whose government wants to use them, regardless of the costs.

Brain surgery is the teen’s last hope of ending the visions of white-masked figures, the brutal pain, the bruises that bloom on her skin as she watches. Thankfully, their planet-colony has advanced medical care, thanks to the wealth that their unique spaceship engine technology brings in.

When Elissa discovers that her nightmares are the real thoughts and torture of another girl on Sekoia, she has to act. When she finds out that Lin is her sister, she doesn’t even know a word for it – twin? When she helps Lin escape, the girls become wanted criminals, and Elissa’s police chief father must catch them both!

How can two children be born at the same time, yet be separated?
Why are those people torturing Lin and other ‘unhuman’ children?
Can they convince brother Bruce to get them off-planet in a space academy ship?

A mystery, a terraformed planet filled with colonists and secrets, a race to safety… Lin and Elissa are linked through their minds – will they die that way?  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Killer of Enemies, by Joseph Bruchac (book review) – mind, heart, death in future

Oct4

book cover of Killer of Enemies by Joseph Bruchac published by Tu BooksTechnology gone,
New monsters join the old,
Hungry for the people’s blood.

Read this desert-based dystopia for Lozen’s warrior woman spirit, her respectful killing skill, and her tenacious love for her family.

For a taste of  the dangers and monsters that Lozen faces inside and outside Haven, try chapters 17-19 for free here.

Then ask for Killer of Enemies  at your local library or independent bookstore now- you won’t want to miss it!

**kmm

Book info:  Killer of Enemies / Joseph Bruchac. Tu Books, 2013. [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Lozen can sense the monsters on both sides of the compound’s walls and kill the mutants outside skillfully. But those holding her family hostage inside…can only be eliminated with a skill that the teen isn’t sure she has.

The land of Lozen’s Apache ancestors survived the Cloud from space which wiped out all technology, but so many people perished. The privileged Ones who survived meltdown of their implanted enhancements have holed up in secure places and gathered small armies, ‘recruiting’ those with blacksmithing or hunting skills to add to their power.

With her family held hostage in “Haven” Lozen must hunt the freakish Cloud-magnified animals who can batter down the former prison’s walls. The four Ones ruling Haven don’t know that the teen can sense the gen-mod monsters’ thoughts, as well as those of most humans.

Carefully-made plans for her family’s escape from the insanity of Haven may have to accelerate when the Ones declare her only friend is a traitor and plan to execute him.

Can she sway their decision without exposing her telepathic powers?
Can she get her family out of Haven before it’s too late?
Can a monster-killer save herself?

Weaving traditional Chiricahua beliefs with a new Stone Age power struggle, the Killer of Enemies  must remember her heritage while she strives to live long enough to have a future.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

The Chaos, by Nalo Hopkinson (book review) – myth to reality on city streets

Oct2

Book cover of The Chaos by Nalo Hopkinson published by Margaret McElderry Books“Sasquatches, demonic Tinker Bells,
purple hippos wearing party hats;
they were all real now.” (p.167)

Auntie Mryss, cousin of Scotch’s white Jamaican dad, has been waiting for the End Times – looks like maybe they’re here and somehow related to the tarry growths inching along Scotch’s chocolate brown skin.

Hopkinson’s comments on “Noticing Race” are worth hearing, as you can well imagine that questions of race and identity have threaded through Scotch’s life for a long time before the Chaos brings every bedtime story and nightmare to life in Toronto.

Grab this imaginative novel at your favorite local library or independent bookstore and get ready for a mind-blowing ride through the dream-tainted city.

**kmm

Book info: The Chaos / Nalo Hopkinson.  Margaret McElderry Books, 2012.  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Fitting in at school becomes the least of Scotch’s worries as legendary creatures descend on Toronto with terrifying results and her big brother goes missing.

Scotch (like the Jamaican hot pepper) doesn’t stand out for being biracial at this more-diverse school. Her dancing is stand-out good, like her big brother’s rap poetry. Their conservative parents don’t like either gift. And how they turned in their own son to the police for one joint! Chuh!

The black gooey growths on Scotch’s arm worry her, the hallucinations she sees flying all over worry her, then everything goes crazy as a bubble of light zings her and Rich disappears!

A volcano erupting in Lake Ontario, monsters from myth stomping through the city streets, cell phones not working – Scotch tries to help people as she doggedly makes her way to Auntie Mryss’s house. And those things from nursery rhyme dreams appearing everywhere? Mryss is sure that Scotch is the key to fixing it all…

Why are all these subconscious images becoming real now?
Why is the black goo spreading over Scotch’s skin so fast?
Where is her brother? Where!?

Jamaican author Nalo Hopkinson brings the myths and stories of many cultures into this nightmare reality threatening her adopted Canadian hometown where a heroine who doubts her own strength perseveres amid The Chaos.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

To Be Perfectly Honest, by Sonya Sones (book review) – truth=lies, if Colette is talking

Sep30

book cover of To Be Perfectly Honest by Sonya Sones published by Simon SchusterExaggerations,
Embellishments,
Calling them “lies” is so…caustic.

Colette stretches the truth about her movie-star mom, long-absent dad, and winsome little brother – to protect them, of course. Or to keep the world from discovering how unspecial she is. Or none of the above. Definitely an “unreliable narrator” here.

Luckily, Sonya Sones is honest when she writes a “Dear Teen Me” letter to tell her younger self that her experiences would become part of much-loved novels-in-verse someday.

Find Collette’s story today at your local library or independent bookstore, and decide for yourself if Collette can ever be honest, even with herself.

**kmm

Book info: To Be Perfectly Honest: a Novel Based on an Untrue Story / Sonya Sones.  Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Colette’s movie-star mom is entirely gorgeous, the 15-year-old isn’t, but invents some crazy tales to make herself more interesting. When it counts, though, Colette may have told too many lies to get ever back to the truth.

Teen guys in L.A. seem interested in only one thing, but Colette refuses to be just another conquest. She might even miss their groping if Mom insists on dragging her and little brother Will along to the small town where her next film is being shot. She will die of boredom, truly.

Thankfully, a gorgeous guy on a motorcycle starts talking to her in the town park. She certainly can’t let him know who her mom really is, so the stories start flowing again.

Connor is so sweet and thoughtful, a great pal to Will, and so handsome. Colette senses that he has a secret sorrow, and it nearly breaks her heart when he finally tells her. Loving the most special girl in the world is on his ‘bucket list’ he says, and Colette is the one.

Should she let Connor be the one for her?
What if the doctors are wrong and his time is ticking away too fast?
Would he still adore her if he knew how many lies she’s told him?

“But there’s no law against
a girl making up stories.
And I sure am lucky
there isn’t.
Or I’d be serving
a life sentence by now.”

Sones gives readers a charmingly unreliable narrator in this compulsively readable novel-in-verse – sometimes it’s smoke and mirrors, sometimes it’s truer than true. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Pearl, by Jo Knowles (book review) – mystery fathers, faithful friendship

Sep27

book cover of Pearl by Jo Knowles published by Henry Holt BooksNo dad,
weird mom,
just one friend, ever –
Henry and Pearl feel like they’re in Bizarro World for sure.

Must have been hard for Pearl’s grandfather when his only child was suddenly pregnant at 15, the age that never-had-a-boyfriend Pearl is now. As much as he loved his little ‘Bean’, he blamed her mom for that mistake every single day for the rest of his life.

Her friend Henry’s mom never got over being abandoned when he was a tiny baby, so she just stays in their house, watching soaps endlessly.

Fate does have its twists and turns, especially when 15 years of neighborhood and family secrets suddenly surface. You’ll have to read Pearl  to find out which layers of those secrets are the truth.

Big thanks to author Jo Knowles for helping Kate Messner offer  the summertime Teachers Write program online so that teachers and librarians can get better at their own writing (and maybe finish the next amazing novel we all can’t wait to read).

When is revealing a secret worse than keeping it?
**kmm

Book info:  Pearl / Jo Knowles. Henry Holt, 2011. [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: The summer that her grandpa dies changes everything for 15-year-old Bean and her best (only) friend Henry, trying to grow up despite their oddball moms and missing dads.

Soap operas, junk food, always staying at home – that’s Henry’s mom. Waitressing till late night, always arguing with her dad Gus, never escaping the big mistake she made at 15 – that’s Bean’s mom. Along with grandpa Gus, they’re all that Bean and Henry have, besides one another.

It was Gus who started calling her Bean (instead of Pearl), who took her fishing on the city-smooshed river behind their tired house, who told her stories of the grandmother who died when Pearl’s mom was young.

Gus’s death opens up family secrets, brings Claire into the house (her mom needs her, they both say), makes the summer even hotter and more miserable for Bean and Henry. At least the friends can be together and keep each other sane amid the craziness that their moms and Claire unleash.

Why did Bean’s mom hate her own dad so much?
Will Claire ever go back to her own place?
Why didn’t their dads stick around?

Too many secrets swirl through Bean and Henry’s lives now, but maybe they’re good enough friends to survive it all in this realistic novel of growing up and second chances.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Ravens of Solemano, by Eden Unger Bowditch (book review) – journey of secrets, families lost?

Sep25

book cover of Ravens of Solemano by Eden Unger Bowditch published by Bancroft PressBelongings vanish, then reappear.
Mysterious coins and curious murals.
Fabulous food, but no parents to share it with.

The remote village hides the five Young Inventors and their teacher well, but it also hides many secrets, perhaps even the origins of the Mysterious Men in Black who guard, guide, and confuse them! Hopefully, its ravens can hide the children from evil Komar Romak long enough for them to solve a baffling problem which endangers the world.

Just published on Sept. 24th, The Ravens of Solemano  surprises with clever puzzles, endearing characters (except for Romak),and links to historical figures famous and obscure. Ask for it today at your favorite local library or independent bookstore – if they don’t have it, use the Book Info below to request it.

Of course, you’ll enjoy these further adventures of the Young Inventors Guild even more  if you’ve already read The Atomic Weight of Secrets (my no-spoiler recommendation here) , so check it out, too.

If the expectations of the world are on your shoulders, can you ever put family first?
**kmm

Book info: The Ravens of Solemano: The Order of the Mysterious Men in Black (Young Inventors Guild, book 2) / Eden Unger Bowditch. Bancroft Press, 2013.   [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: A daring escape, a too-brief family reunion, then the five Young Inventors must solve cryptic puzzles in a puzzling village before their dreadful enemy strikes again – now the world itself is in danger!

Fortunately, their schoolteacher Miss Brett is with Jasper and little sister Lucy, Wallace, Noah, and Faye as they must travel across the sea from the explosion site where they spent such a short time with their parents, on the run from evil Komar Romak. The Men in Black hustled the children and Miss Brett to safety aboard the strangest ship, crewed by more like them. Such wonders in its library and labs!

But a murdered man’s message sends danger their way, even before the Young Inventors reach the Italian village of Solemano with its ever-present ravens, mysterious garden labyrinth, and many puzzles to solve. Miss Brett helps the children settle in and resume their experiments – their inventive minds find much to ponder here.

Underground passageways with possible clues, garden statues that are not what they appear to be, friendly villagers with secrets of their own. How long will the children stay in Solemano? The Men in Black who guard/protect them cannot (or will not) say.

Has Komar Romak discovered their hiding place yet?
Can the Young Inventors discover enough of Solemano’s secrets to protect themselves?
Will they ever see their parents again?

This second tale in the Young Inventors Guild series takes readers far away, into an imaginatively peopled land of puzzles and parallels as the brilliant children who first met in The Atomic Weight of Secrets  must work together to save themselves and the world. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Save

Gated, by Amy Christine Parker (book review) – safe from evil world…perhaps

Sep23

book cover of Gated by Amy Christine Parker published by Random HouseInside the gates, it’s safe.
Outside, the evil world will end soon.
Or maybe it’s the other way around.

The messages that Pioneer began receiving from The Beloved in space during 9/11 have sent an entire colony of families to create their own Armageddon-proof underground Silo against the coming endtimes.

Inside the Community’s gates, Lyla’s mother still mourns a long-ago kidnapping, shooting practice uses human-size targets, and no outside TV, radio, or magazines are allowed in – sanctuary or captivity?

Doomsday cults are nothing new, but Lyla’s future is now, and it’s not at all what Pioneer promised!  What a page-turner!

**kmm

Book info: Gated / Amy Christine Parker. Random House, 2013.  [author Facebook page]  [publisher site]   Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Pioneer comforted Lyla’s parents after her sister’s kidnapping and the 9/11 attacks, led them to establish the Community to survive the imminent endtimes, will keep them safe from the world’s evils… maybe.

Lyla has grown from shy little girl to inquisitive teen in this pastoral place of horses and friends and meadows and shooting practice on human-shaped targets. Yes, Pioneer expects everyone to defend the Community when the Earth’s rotation reverses soon and these chosen ones go into their underground fortress to wait out the chaos.

Despite Pioneer’s efforts, the Community hasn’t completely escaped the notice of nearby townspeople during their monthly supply runs. In fact, the sheriff has just come for a visit to make sure everyone is within the gates of their own free will.

When Lyla is chosen as tour guide for the sheriff’s teenage son, she begins thinking about the outside world and finds Cody in her dreams (even though Will is her intended now).

A small mistake on her part leads to disastrous results as Pioneer shows the Community outside news that confirms his prophecies are coming true now!

“This is not a drill!” Pioneer thunders – but Lyla doesn’t want to believe that the endtimes have arrived in this novel about belief, lies, and faith.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)