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F is Forget Me Not, by Carolee Dean (book review) – photo goes public, is her life over?

Apr7

book cover of Forget Me Not by Carolee Dean published by Simon PulseOne photo,
two people,
future ruined.

Social media has its good side, but not for Ally when someone texts a compromising photo of her to the whole school (and it wasn’t a solo portrait).

She’s blocked out whatever landed her in H hall, a live person surrounded by the ghosts of teen suicides, so Elijah braves the haunted site to help her find the way out.

Several poetry styles (and a few screenplays) in multiple voices trace the stories of Ally, Elijah, Oscar and the ghosts from now through their painful pasts.

How far would you go to be unforgettable?
**kmm

Book info:  Forget Me Not / Carolee Dean. Simon Pulse, 2012 (paperback, 2013).  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Once-popular Ally just wants her classmates to forget about that scandalous photo, but someone wanted her forgotten forever.

She finds herself in “the haunted hallway” at school with the spirits of kids who died nearby, but she’s not dead – yet.

Elijah knows that if Ally can’t break through the memory wall she built after that photo went viral, she’ll be stuck on H hall forever.

He loves her too much to let that happen, even though Ally longs only for Davis, who promises to break up with Darla.

Who sent that photo?
Who went on the school roof with Ally?
Who wants her out of the picture for good?

This novel-in-verse traces Ally’s past hopes, current despair, and possible future – the choice is now hers. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Winner’s Curse, by Marie Rutkoski (book review) – a body is bought, the heart plots revolution

Mar4

book cover of Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski published by Farrar Straus GirouxShe loves music more than war – not the Valorian way.
He seeks bloodshed and revenge – not tastefully Herrani.
Master and slave, locked in a struggle that may destroy everything.

Somehow it’s no accident that a noted singer is being sold just as Kestrel and her best friend Jess arrive at the slave market in the newly-conquered Herrani city – or that being a slave in the Valorian General’s home is worth more to Arin than his own freedom. But love has a way of changing the best-plotted plans…

When the price is too low, the cost of keeping your purchase may be too high – that’s “the winner’s curse” and Kestrel will never have a chance to forget it.

This “Bridge of Snow” short story prequel at Tor.com will whet your appetite for Kestrel and Arin’s brutal, brilliant world, then chill your heart when you realize what’s about to unfold.

It’s publication day for The Winner’s Curse, so ask for it at your local library or independent bookstore now.

In this land so much like ancient Greece, can love conquer all?
**kmm

Book info: The Winner’s Curse (Winner’s Trilogy, book 1)  / Marie Rutkoski. Farrar Straus Giroux, 2014.   [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Soldier or wife – the only options open to Valorian young women. But the General’s daughter Kestrel lives for her music, a waste of time in their war-hardened society.

Death or slavery – all that remains for the Herrani people after the General’s successful invasion. Arin vows to give the occupiers a taste of their own barbaric ways.

Buy or sell – Kestrel didn’t plan to purchase a slave who could sing, to keep him when he refused.

Honor – the Valorians admire it above everything else.
Revenge – the Herrani want it totally, completely.

Win or lose – Kestrel can sense the right cards and the wrong play in Bite and Sting, but no gamble is the right one when she realizes how she feels about Arin, how he feels about her.

Masters, slaves, romance, rebellion – perhaps the gods of this ancient land have raised the stakes and are betting against either side winning…. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

A2Z Blog Challenge this year? My TBR shelf says yes!

Feb18

logo of A to Z Blog Challenge April 2014 Every spring, I agonize over whether or not to participate in the April AtoZ Blog Challenge.

Twenty-six posts in 26 days…

By no means impossible, but it sure is tough for me to get all the posts’ subjects to align with the A-through-Z daily schedule in April (we have Sundays off, thank God!).

However, my to-be-reviewed shelf of worthwhile reads is so overflowing that I  easily set aside 26 great books, each with a wee-bitty alpha tag, just waiting for April – and I still have scads more to write about in the meantime!

So yes, I’m committing myself to 26 A2Z posts in April again – third time’s a charm? See me at #785 on the AtoZ list?  (This will also help immensely with my pre-2014 books backlog as part of the Bookish blog TBR2014 Challenge)

Are you up for the Challenge too?
**kmm

Team Human, by Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan (book review) – love your local vampire?

Feb14

Team HumanHazmat suit? Check.
Fountain pen and journal? Check.
Vampire enrolling in high school, 200 years late? Check.
Craunston High may not be ready for Francis, but Cathy sure is – and Mel wants to stop that relationship ASAP!

Read an excerpt here for that first schoolday as Cathy swoons over coolly distant Francis, whom Mel judges as “a crazy astronaut suit full of trouble” – and that’s before she meets the human teenage boy who lives in the same vampire house!

You should easily be able to find Team Human  in your favorite local library or independent bookstore after its 2013 paperback release (also available as eBook).

Would you give up sunshine, chocolate, and your best friend for love?
**kmm

Book info: Team Human / Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan. Harper Teen, 2012 (paperback 2013).  [Justine’s site]   [Sarah’s site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy from personal collection; cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: When her best friend falls in love with a vampire and wants to change over, Mel just cannot let it happen!

It’s all so civilized in this New England town founded by vampires, with sunproof windows in every building and the Zombie Disposal Unit on call (unfortunate side effect for 20% of vampire changes) and volunteer blood banks.

Recently, the principal’s husband ran away with a vampire, leaving her and Mel’s classmate Anna alone. Then debonair Francis enrolls in their high school, and ultimate undead fan Cathy falls for him.  Why is this well-educated 200 year old vampire suddenly risking daytime travel to school? Mel is sure he’s up to no good.

No, Cathy’s not a modern soul, but what if Francis stops loving her after she risks the change?
Yes, Kit is hot, but the human teen living with Francis’s vampire family is planning to change, too!

Maybe Mel is a bit sensitive about vampires, but she won’t stop investigating Francis’s real reasons for coming to school if it will keep her best (her only) friend on Team Human!   (One of 7,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Clockwork Scarab, by Colleen Gleason (book review) – the Misses Stoker and Holmes, on the case!

Feb4

book cover of Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason published by Chronicle BooksAncient Egypt is all the rage,
“Cognoggins” crave the newest steam-machines,
London society’s fairest maidens are being kidnapped…and worse!

It’s Evalina who inherited the Stoker family call to hunt vampires and the superhuman quickness needed to succeed. The logical mind and innate problem-solving skills shared by Sherlock and Mycroft also live on in gadget-loving Mina.

Only the personal request of Her Highness could make these rivals work together in this 1889 world powered by steam… and lies.

Add a handsome police detective, a young man of the streets who knows more than he should, and a stranger who claims to come from the future (where electricity is legal? Oh, who is he trying to fool?), and things get more complicated than either independent-minded miss had anticipated!

Check out the first Stoker & Holmes book today at your favorite local library or independent bookstore, and immerse yourself in a steampunk city with mystery and mayhem.

Or should modern writers not take classic tales beyond their original authors’ limits?
**kmm

Book info: The Clockwork Scarab (Stoker & Holmes, book 1) / Colleen Gleason. Chronicle Books, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: When young London society heiresses go missing and leave scarab amulets behind, Stoker and Holmes must investigate – that’s Eva Stoker, vampire hunter, and Mina Holmes, niece of Sherlock.

Summoned by the Princess of Wales to solve the deadly mystery, the two young ladies find another dead girl in the British Museum’s Egyptian room – and a young man in strange garb who claims to come from the future!

Inspector Luckworth of Scotland Yard suspects this Dylan fellow in the case, charming street urchin Pix knows more than he’s telling, and another young lady of quality disappears…

Can Eva’s defensive talents keep rational Mina from becoming the scarab cult’s next victim?

Can Mina solve the scarab mystery before Eva’s impulsive actions close off all clues or get them both killed?

Can they get Dylan back to his time in his own world?

Something much deadlier than illegal electricity is stalking the streets and levels of steampunk London in this first volume of the Stoker and Holmes series, even if these dedicated young ladies are underappreciated by the men in their noted families!  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

TBR2014 Challenge – catching up on YA books!

Jan31

Wait a minute…
How did January race by so fast?

Thankfully, I did squeeze in some recommendations of pre-2014 published books for the TBR2014 Challenge on Bookish blog (I’m number 30 there).
(the newest books are great, but the best books of any time are better, right?)

Be sure you check out these recent BooksYALove faves (each title link goes to my no-spoiler recommendation):

book cover of Coda by Emma Trevayne published by Running Pressbook cover of Winter of the Robots by Kurtis Scaletta published by Alfred A KnopfIn Anthem’s future USA, personal music is illegal, but he must play anyway! Coda, by Emma Trevayne (Running Press, 2013)

Something eerie and deadly stalks the old junkyard in Winter of the Robots, by Kurtis Scaletta (Alfred Knopf, 2013).

 

book cover of Relic by Heather Terrell published by Soho TeenTechnology lust killed the earth, say the elders, but the Relic which Eva finds says otherwise in Heather Terrell’s 2013 Soho Teen release.

So that makes 3 of my hoped-for 50+ TBR2013 titles… gotta step it up during February!

What 2013 books are still on your to-be-read shelf?
**kmm

Multicultural Children’s Book Day – many viewpoints, many stories

Jan27

January 27 = Chocolate Cake Day, Holocaust Memorial Day, birth anniversary of Mozart and Lewis Carroll.

Chase’s Calendar of Events will tell you that every day (and week and month) of the year has many holidays, anniversaries, and observances associated with it.

Add Multicultural Children’s Book Day to that list for January 27th, thanks to bloggers JumpIntoABook and Pragmatic Mom! Fewer than 10% of children’s and young adult books published in the US annually feature main characters of color, multiple ethnicities, or varied cultural heritages, even though nearly 40% of American children and youth share these characteristics.

So Valarie and Mia decided to gather up lists of great kids’ and YA books which bring strong multicultural characters and stories into our lives by creating MCCBD, joined by publishers whose books fill this niche – Wisdom Tales Press, Chronicle Books, and Lee & Low Books (including their Tu Books imprint).

In anticipation of MCCBD, I linked several BooksYALove multicultural recommendations on Pragmatic Mom, including:

Book cover of My Basmati Bat Mitzvah by Paula J. Friedman published by AbramsBook cover of The Chaos by Nalo Hopkinson published by Margaret McElderry Books Tara tries to balance Hebrew school, Bollywood movies, and the expectations of her Punjabi and Yiddish grandparents as she prepares for My Basmati Bat Mitzvah.

As nightmares-made-real stalk Toronto’s streets, Canadian-Jamaican teen searches for her brother and answers in The Chaos.

book cover of Killer of Enemies by Joseph Bruchac published by Tu Booksbook cover of Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel by Diana Lopez published by Little BrownLike her warrior women ancestors, Lozen is Killer of Enemies to save her family in this chilling future tale, named American Indian Youth Literature best YA novel today!

Struggling with her mom’s cancer diagnosis and her own school difficulties, Chia says just Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel when other situations arise.

And today is also Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, so pop some virtually here!

Which multicultural book would you name to a “best of the best” list today?
**kmm

Relic, by Heather Terrell (book review) – frozen secrets, fiery ambition

Jan15

book cover of Relic by Heather Terrell published by Soho TeenHumanity’s remnants dwell on a single Arctic island,
shunning the technology which led to Earth’s near-destruction by flood,
purposely bound by medieval rules more rigid than the ice Ringwall protecting New North.

Eva isn’t a meek Maiden, content to embroider and to make an advantageous marriage. She can’t leave her family’s honor Quest unfulfilled following her brother’s mysterious death – she must venture into the frozen wasteland outside the Aerie as the first female Testor in generations. To prevent her from succeeding, someone is willing to do anything…

Read a selection from the prequel novella Chronicle here, then rush to get Relic at your local library or favorite independent bookstore now – you won’t want to miss a chilling moment of Eva’s quest for answers.

Is technology still our tool, or has it become our master, as the Triad claims?
**kmm

Book info: Relic (Books of Eva,  book 1) / Heather Terrell. Soho Teen, 2013. [author site]  [publisher site]  [author interview video] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: When her twin brother suddenly dies, Eva feels compelled to fulfill his Quest, despite all odds…and sabotage.

Eamon and the other Testors had long trained for the Boundary Land’s frozen challenges – discover a Relic, write its cautionary tale, earn respect in the Aerie where the words of Lex rule everything.

So Eva searches the Lex and finds a precedent which allows her to participate,
even though true Maidens know their place – at home,
even though the Triad elders grudgingly allow her to go – hoping that she fails,
even though Eva’s discovery in the ice may shatter her society’s foundation.

Their ring-walled city survived when technology’s evils doomed the world to die by flood, but can it survive the truth which Eva uncovers?  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Solstice, by PJ Hoover (book review) – hotter’n Hades in new Texas?

Nov4

book cover of Solstice by PJ Hoover published by Tor TeenFatal heat waves,
acceptable losses,
is there any solution?

Her mother’s overprotectiveness, her father’s abandonment, the eternal summer that’s killing everything on Earth – and somehow just-turned-18 Piper can fix everything??

As PJ noted at a recent author talk, she actually did have some input on the cover art (most authors don’t) and made sure that the city skyline was truly Austin!

Especially for fans of

  • dystopias (with a twist)
  • Greek mythology
  • growing up stories and finding your own path
  • climate change as a character
  • ancient tales set in modern times
  • love triangles with real tension

Grab this debut novel from a Texas Sweetheart writer today and discover the depth of the choices which Piper must make.

How far would you go to save your family? to save the world?
**kmm

Book info: Solstice / P.J. Hoover. Tor Teen, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [publisher book trailer] [author’s book trailer]  Personal copy; cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk:
Piper endures her overprotective mom and the heat waves sweeping the earth, little realizing that she alone holds the key to solving the global climate crisis and averting the death of humanity!

Mom’s greenhouses protect rare medicinal plants from the heat bubbles that push Austin over the 120 degree mark so often now. But they’re like a prison to Piper, who just wants to graduate and go somewhere, anywhere away from the dark visions which began on her 18th birthday.

At school, handsome Shayne understands her better than her best friend does and new guy Reese promises answers about Piper’s ever-absent father. Her mom’s sudden out-of-town trip gives Piper the chance to go on her first dates – and discover that she’s not just a teen girl from Texas!

Questions about the strange birthday gifts delivered by messenger and her mother’s habit of moving them so frequently have peculiar answers, involving the Underworld and Hades’ motivation, plus Mars plotting to rid the world of humankind forever…

Who is Piper (really)?
How could she stop the Global Heating Crisis?
Which stunning guy should she choose – when her mother hates them both?

Greek mythology meets near-future dystopia in this debut novel where only the relationship stresses are hotter than the everlasting summer.
(One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Clockwork Heart, by Liesel Schwarz (book review) – dark powers invade steampunk London

Oct21

book cover of A Clockwork Heart by Liesel Schwarz published by Del Rey BooksA warehouse filled with beating hearts,
An army of mechanical-hearted homeless,
Danger for London – can the Oracle hold back the Dark?

Grab book 2 of The Chronicles of Light and Dark if you like:

  • steampunk London + romance
  • true friend nightwalking vampires or absinthe fairies with poor judgment
  • dirigible captains with a penchant for gambling and daredevilry
  • ancient entities reborn into a more-modern time
  • the struggle between forces of Light and Dark cast in an alternate history

Naturally, you’ll enjoy this book more if you had already followed Elle battling A Conspiracy of Alchemists  (book 1 reviewed here) when she discovered her heritage as Oracle, but you’ll get bits of the backstory throughout this book as her beloved Marsh is captured and fitted with  A Clockwork Heart  whose time is running out!

*kmm

Book info: A Clockwork Heart (Chronicles of Light and Shadow, book 2) / Liesel Schwarz. Del Rey, 2013.   [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: The Oracle must solve the mystery of the Tickers to reclaim her true love and save the world from being overrun by the creatures of Shadow before time runs out!

Looking at young Lord Greychester and his lovely wife, one would never suspect them to be a bound warlock and the Sibyl herself. Marsh and Elle are trying to blend in with London society, but his experiments with Spark and her airship charter flights could make them conspicuous.

Elle’s dreams are interrupted by the warnings of all the Sibyls who have gone before, telling her to turn the airship around and return to London – Marsh has disappeared! Scotland Yard won’t help her find him, so she enlists the help of an absinthe fairy, a Nightwalker with a good heart despite her appetite for human blood, and her father with his inventions to find out where he’s been taken

The Consortium of Shadow prepares to attack the Council of Warlocks and overcome Light once and for all, using an army of mechanical-hearted people animated by Spark and darkness. Among the paupers and drunks brought into Clothilde’s grisly workshop within the electromancers’ monastery is Marsh.

Can Elle uncover the Consortium’s plan?
Can she rescue Marsh before it’s too late?
Is it all a trap to lure her into Shadow forever?

This second book in The Chronicles of Light and Shadow takes readers to an alternate steampunk London where the walls between the domains of good and evil are growing ever-thinner. Read A Conspiracy of Alchemists first to get the full story of this ages-old conflict and Elle’s unwilling rise to be the Oracle which both sides want to possess.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)