Tag Archive | beliefs

Moonglass, by Jessi Kirby (book review) – seaside mystery, running to forget

Jan18

book cover of Moonglass by Jessi Kirby published by Simon SchusterA  moonglass pendant,
Some childhood memories,
Innumerable questions –
All that Anna has left of her mother.

Tumbled roughly in sand and waves for countless months and years, seaglass goes from sharp shards to a smooth and frosted beauty. Anna’s mom always called it “moonglass” as she found the best pieces while walking the beach during a full moon.

Losing her mother as a toddler, staying away from the seaside town where Mom grew up, returning at last with her father – maybe the tossing and tumbling of her life will finally stop for Anna, maybe she’ll find out why her mom died, maybe she’ll finally stop running away from memories and find herself.

This is the paperback cover to look for at the independent bookstore; your local library may have the darker blue hardback edition.

What do you search for when you walk along the beach?
**kmm

Book info: Moonglass / Jessi Kirby. Simon & Schuster, hardcover 2011, paperback 2012. [author’s website] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My Book Talk: Mom just walked away from her, walked away from her toddler daughter waiting on the beach, walked into the waves and never came back out.

When Dad’s job takes them back to the beachside town where her parents met and fell in love, Anna thinks that the years following her mother’s death might not keep unhappy secrets buried deep enough, so she keeps her distance from Dad, from people at her new high school, from the shore lifeguards.

Running helps Anna meditate away (well, ignore) her problems and worries, so she tries out for the cross-country team, cheered on by her new sorta-ditzy friend Ashley who truly does think that retail therapy and meditation can fix anything. Having to move in the middle of high school stinks… but being able to hear the waves every night, the same ocean that her mom listened to growing up, that counts as a small plus.

Dad has strictly warned Anna away from the beach lifeguards who work for him at the state park – after all, he was a lifeguard with quite a reputation here at this same park as a teen, where he met her mom, where they lived as newlyweds.

But Tyler isn’t the crazy lifeguard, like Dad was, and he helps Anna explore some of the old cottages left vacant when the seashore became a state park. Maybe some clues about Mom can be found in the neighbors’ left-behind bits and pieces…

Why won’t Dad tell her more about Mom and their past?
Can Anna reconcile what she thought she knew about her mother with what people in her mom’s hometown are remembering?
Why would Mom just walk away, under the moonlight, into the sea?  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

12.21, by Dustin Thomason (fiction) – Mayan codex, deadly epidemic, end of the world?

Oct31
book cover of 12 21 by Dustin Thomason published by Dial

Disease and rioting…
Airplane crashes…
Attacks on immigrants…
Just another day in L.A. or is it the end of the world?

The mysterious codex smuggled to Chel from rural Guatemala might verify the doomsday interpretations of the Mayan “Long Calendar” or just the last days of a single Mayan town… but how to be sure?

As December 21st approaches, look into the great museum exhibits clarifying Mayan timekeeping and the Long Calendar; are researchers even using the correct conversion factor to match Mayan and modern dates?  Be sure to check out the excellent interactive tutorial on reading Mayan glyphs on the book’s website, too.

You’ll find this medical thriller/apocalyptic tale at your local library or independent bookstore now. Probably better to read it sooner than later, right?
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Book info: 12.21 / Dustin Thomason. Dial Books, 2012.  [book website]   [author’s Facebook page] [publisher site] [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher. 
My Recommendation: Gabe Stanton leaves his disease research lab to check on a mystery patient at a Los Angeles hospital. Chel Manu wonders if the astounding Mayan codex brought to her by a smuggler might not be a forgery. And an airplane falls from the sky, as a rampaging epidemic begins sweeping through L.A. 
This cluster of symptoms described by the hospital matches an extremely rare incurable prion disease, one so infectious that hazmat suits are required just to enter the patient’s room. Perhaps with the help of the right translator they can get some information from the young man to track down the disease’s origin…before he dies of acute insomnia and panic. 
So Chel is asked to translate, pulled away from her volunteer time with Guatemalan refugees, away from her research on ancient Mayan writings, away from the black market antiquities dealer who brought her a never-seen codex from a forgotten city, away from those who think that the 12.21.12 end of the Mayan ‘Long Calendar’ marks the end of the world. 
With few clues and the disease spreading rapidly, Stanton tries to pinpoint how the infection is spread, as Chel surreptitiously translates the new-found codex. Both sets of information point back to a hidden ancient city in the homeland of Chel’s mother, thousands of miles away. 

As the government quarantines LA to stop the epidemic, Stanton and Chel must find a way to get to Guatemala before it’s too late. Is there any possible cure for this disease? How much of the codex’s unusual tale is true? Will the countdown to the end of the Long Calendar become the countdown to the end of civilization? (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Jepp, Who Defied the Stars, by Katherine Marsh (fiction) – a court dwarf dreams of more

Oct3
book cover of Jepp Who Defied the Stars by Katherine Marsh published by Hyperion

In the company of tall women and taller men,
a thinker, a planner, a dreamer,
Jepp’s life as a dwarf in the 16th century was never easy.

From a humble country inn to the royal court in Brussels to Tycho Brahe’s observatory, Jepp’s meteoric rise and fall are not what his horoscope predicted! Being part of a collection, as shown in Diego Velasquez’ paintings – pah!

You’ll find Jepp and his adventures at your nearest independent bookstore on its US publication day, Tuesday, October 9th; ask your local library to order it, too.

Jepp is a fascinating character, not satisfied with the hand that Fate has dealt him – do you think he can escape his destiny?
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Book info: Jepp, Who Defied the Stars / Katherine Marsh. Hyperion, 2012.  [author’s website] [publisher site]

My Recommendation: Jolting down a frozen dirt road, Jepp wonders how fate took him from his tiny village to a royal palace to this prison on wheels heading north. If the young teen could just find his long-absent father, discover why he was born a dwarf, learn to change his destiny…
His family’s inn sees fewer and fewer travelers, as Spanish Netherlands wars with its rebellious Protestant north in the late 1500s. Elegant Don invites Jepp to become a court dwarf at the Infanta’s palace in Brussels, to own more than one tattered book, to be dressed in silks, to dine on rare delicacies, so the thirteen-year-old leaps at the chance.
But the luxuries come at a high price, for the five court dwarfs are essentially prisoners in their gilded rooms and must perform silly tricks to amuse the princess and her courtiers. Jepp is not happy to be a mere clown, but is even unhappier to see his friend Lia become sadder by the day. Their daring attempt to escape the palace together proves costly, and Jepp is shackled and sent far away from the Infanta’s court and his friends. His horoscope promised much better than this!
In a distant icy land, Jepp finds himself part of an astronomer’s astonishing household, full of amazing mechanical devices, researchers mapping the stars, and a chance to think and learn. Are our fates truly locked in place, as the star-readers claim? Can Jepp change his destiny? Will he ever find his father? Could his horoscope promising “a good marriage to one faithful and true” really come true, or will only the predicted disasters befall him?
Inspired by the real Jepp of Uraniborg and Velasquez’s paintings of court dwarfs, this historical novel pulses with energy and intrigue as our narrator traces his life journeys and indeed tries to defy the odds and live happily into the landmark year 1600. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

The End: 50 Apocalyptic Visions from Pop Culture, by Laura Barcella (nonfiction)

Jul24
book cover of The End 50 Apocalyptic Visions by Laura Barcella published by Zest Books

Global warming.
Mutant diseases.
Alien attacks.

Seems like humans have been trying to figure out how the world will end almost since its beginning. Fifty apocalyptic visions from pop culture are analyzed in this new book (published today) which has many of the usual (Welles’s “War of the Worlds” radio broadcast and Dr. Strangelove) and several lesser-known exemplars.

I’m intrigued by Steve McGhee’s painting “The Big Swallow” which portrays an enormous storm and whirlpool consuming Sydney harbour (I climbed that bridge, so I don’t want it to disappear!) and a 1912 novella “The Scarlet Plague” by Jack London (read here free).

Ask for The End at your local library or independent bookstore and decide which movie, book, song, or artwork has it right. How do you think the world will end?
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Book info:The End: 50 Apocalyptic Visions from Pop Culture That You Should Know About…Before It’s Too Late / Laura Barcella. Zest Books, 2012.   [author’s website] [publisher site]

My Recommendation: Climate catastrophe or zombies? Alien invasion or the Four Horsemen on earth? People have long pondered how the world might end. Go behind the scenes of fifty apocalyptic endings from the past five centuries of art, film, theater, books, and music in this fascinating book.
Michaelangelo’s “The Last Judgment” and Durer’s 1498 “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” translate Biblical “end time” words into stirring pictures. Sandow Bok’s 1995 painting “Course of Empire” shows Los Angeles fractured by ultimate destruction of unknown origin. 
“It’s The End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine)” by R.E.M. is a spotlighted song, as is Barry McGuire’s performance of “The Eve of Destruction”. The peppy tune of “99 Luftballons (99 Red Balloons)” by Nena might hide this Cold War protest song’s strong lyrics from casual listeners.
Barcella highlights important early books The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster (1909) and Earth Abides by George R. Stewart, which Stephen King acknowledges as a huge influence on his work, like The Stand, discussed here as a television miniseries. Alan Moore’s dystopian graphic novel series V for Vendetta and Watchmen are analyzed, as is Brian K. Vaughn’s 60-issue comic book saga of Y: The Last Man.
Almost a third of the book covers movies from “12 Monkeys” to “Waterworld,” with aliens, asteroids, melting ice caps, zombies, atomic war, and other disasters leading to the end of life on earth. Quotes and Unforgettable Moments from every play, book, and movie give the flavor of each one’s style.
The author consulted experts about “the Reality Factor” of The End proposed by each movie, song, or book (almost all are quite improbable) and also lists the impact of each creative work on subsequent popular culture.

Thought-provoking and entertaining, this book gives readers much to think about as its alphabetical list of titles covers the many and varied ways that The End might emerge slowly or drop suddenly from above. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

I Hunt Killers, by Barry Lyga (YA fiction) – following Dad as a serial killer?

Jul2
book cover I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga published by Little BrownDad taught him everything about hunting –
how to sharpen knives correctly,
how to choose the right victim,
how to kill a person without leaving any evidence behind.

Imagine the world’s most notorious serial killer – as your dad.

Jazz knows how serial killers think and is determined to never be anything like his dad. But his nightmares continue, the sight of blood can trigger a flashback to being “on the job” with Dad as a kid… and a new killing spree has begun in his small town.

Barry Lyga skillfully takes readers into a killer’s mind through vivid yet subtle writing which lingers in memory long after the book is closed. (If you’re prone to nightmares, then I Hunt Killers is probably not for you!)

Grab the first 10 chapters and the prequel short story “Career Day” at Barry’s website for free, then rush to find I Hunt Killers  at your local library or independent bookstore and pray that Jazz can find the killer before more bodies pile up…
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Book info: I Hunt Killers / Barry Lyga. Little Brown, 2012.   [author’s website]   [publisher site]   [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My Recommendation: His dad killed people – lots of people. The world’s most infamous serial killer has been in prison for years when his teen son happens upon a dead body murdered in Billy’s style. And then another, and another. Surely the sheriff of Lobo’s Nod doesn’t suspect that Jazz is taking up the family trade…
Jazz is trying to finish high school in their hometown before the social workers find out that he’s taking care of his unbalanced grandmother, instead of Gramma taking care of him. Just one best friend, but who needs more than funny, crazy Howie, a hemophiliac who has to let Jazz have all the adventures. Not many folks are comfortable around Butcher Billy’s kid, but Sheriff G.William has been his mentor for a while.
Now, G.William won’t let Jazz see the files on the victims, refuses to realize that the cases are connected, doesn’t want to know that they are following Billy’s pattern from its very beginning – and that Jazz can predict what type of person will be the next victim.
All those years of Dad making Jazz help him sharpen his knives, clean up afterwards, go with him on ‘jobs’ have allowed his son to see the crime scenes and the victims through a killer’s eyes. Jazz has all the details about every person that Billy killed (refusing to visit the websites dedicated to his dad or his killing spree) – but does he have his dad’s killer instincts, too?
As the body count rises – each victim having one less finger remaining than the last – Jazz’s nightmares about the horrific lessons that his dad taught him increase. Why can’t he figure out who the killer is when he can tell who the next victim will be? When will G.William take his theory seriously and protect the next possible victims? Will finally Jazz have to visit his dad in maximum security prison to find out if somehow Billy unleashed another monster on the world?  

Forecast for Lobo’s Nod: nightmares ahead, trust no one, count all your fingers…A chilling thriller that’s so real that it’s really, really scary – definitely not for the faint-of-heart – I Hunt Killers is first in a new series by Barry Lyga. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Fracture, by Megan Miranda (fiction) – drowned, but not dead: death-escaper or death-bringer?

Jun18
book cover of Fracture by Megan Miranda published by WalkerHer bright red parka, barely visible beneath the ice.
Decker’s insistence that they rescue her.
Delaney was completely blue when they pulled her out.

Ten people every day die from non-boating drownings.
Delaney should have been one of those awful statistics, but somehow she survived eleven minutes under Falcon Lake’s ice in that December-frigid water.

Death seems to keep calling her, as she feels okay and not-okay, trying to make things right with Decker, who blames himself for her accident. And that guy Troy acts like he knows everything about her and what she went through…

Debut author Megan Miranda has been a science teacher and researcher, so all the medical and death details are exact; her storytelling skills make Fracture  a winner.

For a short story featuring Decker, you can unlock “Eleven Minutes” from the Fracture Facebook page by paying with a tweet or FB share. We’ll get the whole story from Decker’s perspective in Vengeance  in 2014.

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Book info: Fracture / Megan Miranda. Walker & Company, 2012. [author’s website]    [publisher site] [book trailer]  

My Recommendation:Held underwater for eleven minutes by the ice, Delaney should be dead or brain-dead. But she’s not. She’s not herself either, as she finds herself pulling away from her best friend Decker and drawn to death scenes.

It was Decker who pulled 17-year-old Delaney from the icy Maine lake, who kept up resuscitation until the paramedics arrived even though everyone said she must be dead. If they hadn’t taken a shortcut across the lake ice at Decker’s insistence, this probably wouldn’t have happened, so he blames himself over and over, especially during her six-day coma.

Her brain scans show massive damage, yet Delaney is walking, talking, thinking as if nothing had ever happened. Well, except for being able to see death about to happen… and being drawn toward the dying like a magnet. Or is she there when someone dies because she’s causing it?

A new guy in town is interested in her (nice change from the same kids she’s known forever), but something is a bit too different about Troy. As Delaney tries to find out more about him, she discovers strange things and connections she’d rather forget.

Will Mom and Dad stop their new overprotective behavior soon (please)? When will Decker start acting like her best friend again? When will Troy stop acting like she knows something that she definitely doesn’t? When will the dying stop sending out beacons toward her?

Eleven minutes can change everything – you’ll remember Delaney’s story long after you close the covers of this suspenseful debut novel. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation, by Tim Hamilton (book review) – the classic as graphic novel

Jun7

book cover of Ray Bradburys Fahrenheit 451 Authorized Adaptation graphic novel by Tim Hamilton published by Hill and WangWe’ve lost another great master of the written word, of creating stories in our heads through words on a page, with the death of author Ray Bradbury at age 91.

Among Bradbury’s most noted works is Fahrenheit 451  (which he says as “four-five-one” not “four fifty-one”).  It is our great good fortune as readers that he agreed to its adaptation as a graphic novel in 2009 and fully participated with artist Tim Hamilton in selecting which exact passages from the 1953 book were used in this authorized adaptation.

Yes, all the word bubbles and captions in this graphic novel are Bradbury’s own, complemented perfectly by Hamilton’s incandescent illustrations.

Get your hands on this great trade paperback book today at your local library or independent bookstore  and keep on reading widely – Ray would like that.
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Book info: Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation / Tim Hamilton and Ray Bradbury, illustrated by Tim Hamilton; with introduction by Ray Bradbury.  Hill and Wang, 2009. [Tim Hamilton’s website]   [Ray Bradbury’s website]    [publisher site]     [video: Ray Bradbury on his books as graphic novels]

My Book Talk:  The future sees unified thought as productive, original opinion as unpatriotic, books as divisive. The firemen burn hoarded books to keep useless emotions and original thinking from hurting society in this time of war.

Guy Montag has been a fireman for ten years. As a wandering teen in their neighborhood asks questions about happiness and why everyone drives fast to avoid seeing the flowers, Montag wonders if anyone has real conversations anymore or just watches their television walls all day and all night.

The memory of an old woman who chose to be burned along with her books haunts him now – what is in books that made her stay with them? Montag feels compelled to find out, seeking the answers in contraband books, sliding further and further from unified thought.

This intense graphic novel adaptation of the classic includes an introduction by Ray Bradbury himself, tracing the original book’s development and asking readers which one book they would choose to memorize and protect from destruction.  (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Arise, by Tara Hudson (fiction) – spirits prowling New Orleans

Jun4
Book cover of Arise by Tara Hudson published by Harper Teen

It’s getting worse for the young couple,
Joshua looks like a loner at school because he’d rather talk to her, and no one else can see mostly-dead Amelia.

And when they kiss, Amelia vanishes spontaneously, reappearing elsewhere with no control over her location.

A trip out of town for the holidays doesn’t sound half-bad, even if they might encounter Joshua’s grandmother Ruth who’s a Seer dedicated to eliminating all ghosts like Amelia.

Happy Book Birthday tomorrow (June 5th, 2012) to Arise!  You’ll enjoy this spooky adventure even more if you read Hereafter  first to learn how Amelia and Joshua met (my no-spoiler recommendation here), so grab it at your local library or independent bookstore, then head for the French Quarter with Arise.
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Book info: Arise (Hereafter series, 2) / Tara Hudson. Harper Teen, 2012. [author’s website] [publisher site] [book trailer]  

My Recommendation:Amelia longs to kiss Joshua, but the spirit-girl just poofs away when she touches the human boy, rematerializing somewhere else. Perhaps his Seer relatives in New Orleans have an answer to their dilemma, or perhaps the couple is walking into a sinister trap.Getting away from the evil beings clustered near the High Bridge should be holiday enough, but it’s a long, awkward trip from Oklahoma to the Crescent City. Josh’s sister Jillian can sense Amelia in the car, and their parents get them lost more than once. Dozing off, Amelia is brought into the spirit world, seeing her father at last! He’d died shortly after she did, but she hadn’t been able to locate his spirit until now – and he brings her a chilling warning about rising rivers.

Entering the Mayhew family’s ancestral home is like walking into a supernatural force field, as all the relatives gathered there for Christmas are Seers attuned to the spirit world. The teen cousins can see Amelia’s ghost-form and include the newcomers in their mysterious winter-break plans.

Amelia encounters ghosts wandering around the French Quarter tourist areas who warn her of dark demons gathering nearby, all invisible to the living. Gabrielle is another thing entirely, a spirit-girl they meet at a Voodoo shop, one ghost who’s found a way to stay with the living and might be able to help Amelia do the same. For every time that Amelia vanishes and reappears, yet another piece of her ghostly form is lost…

Is it coincidence that the dark forces are rising just when the Seers of the Mayhew clan are all in one place?

Can Gaby’s midnight ceremony in the graveyard anchor Amelia in the world of the living?

Or should she stick with her plan to save Joshua and his family from the deepest evils by disappearing from his life forever?

This sequel to Hereafter  travels from countryside to city, from known dangers to unforeseen perils, from the hope of being together for a lifetime to the agony of potentially being apart forever – ghosts and Seers alike have little time to discover their allies and enemies.  (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

In High Places, by Harry Turtledove (book review) – alternative history, time travel, danger

May30

book cover of In High Places by Harry Turtledove published by Tom Doherty TorWhat if the Black Death had lasted decades and decades?
What if scientific knowledge was scourged from Arabic thought?
What if you could visit timelines where history had changed?

Welcome back to the world of Crosstime Traders, where technology makes it possible – and profitable – to travel to the many timelines where historical events large and small caused different time-streams to branch off from the Home Timeline.

Crosstime Traffic isn’t some science experiment, but a vital business enterprise that brings in food and energy resources from low-population alternates to support the high-technology Home Timeline.

So in this alternate, educated Annette from California must disguise herself as a quiet, modest Muslim daughter of olive oil merchants from southern France and make sure that she never says or does anything that would make locals question that identity.

Of course, profit is the slave traders’ motive, too, but there’s something truly strange here. Could this particular group of slavers be in cahoots with someone from the Home Timeline?

Other Turtledove adventures in the Crosstime Traffic series include The Valley-Westside War, set in an alternate where The Bomb fell worldwide in the 1960s, and The Disunited States of America, where the US Constitution was never ratified. Alternative history brings intriguing answers to “What if?”
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Book info: In High Places (Crosstime Traffic, book 3) / Harry Turtledove. Tom Doherty Associates/ Tor Science Fiction, 2007. [author’s website] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My Book Talk:  Almost time to leave muddy Paris and go back to school – on an alternate timeline. Annette’s family is returning to their Crosstime transfer station when slavers attack their caravan and take the teen far from her destination, far from her parents, far from her only way to get Home.

In this 21st century, the “City of Light” is a filthy small town in the rough Kingdom of Versailles. The Black Death killed 80% of Europe in this timeline, allowing the Muslim Kingdoms to spread far beyond the Middle East – no voyages of exploration, no Scientific Revolution, no Industrial Revolution. Here, a second son of God is credited with finally stopping the plague, basic sanitation is unknown, and bad water kills more people than marauders’ arrows.

Masquerading as olive oil traders from Marseilles, Annette’s parents observe local politics in Paris as they gather fine fruits and olives to be sold on the Home timeline, which requires food and energy from many alternate timelines to support its technologically advanced population.

Duke Raoul of Paris feels that something is too-different about these oil merchants, but is more worried about reports of slave traders attacking closer and closer to his realm. By sending young Arabic-speaking Jacques as a caravan guard on the long journey over the mountains, perhaps he can learn more about both problems.

The attack on their caravan was expected; being captured for sale as slaves in far-off Madrid was not! Far from the safety of Marseilles, Annette and Jacques are sold to a large household with some mysterious buildings where large groups of slave disappear for a whole day before returning.

How will Annette’s parents know where she’s been taken?
How can she escape to Marseilles and the only transfer station to Home?
Why does Jacques’ description of a metal room sound so much like that advanced technology?

Take a trip through time to a country that might exist somewhere, some-time, with another exciting adventure of the Crosstime Traders from the master of alternative history, Harry Turtledove.  (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Border Town: Crossing the Line, by Malin Alegria (book review) – sisters, competition, the truth

May27

book cover of Border Town Crossing the Line by Malin Alegria published by Point BooksHigh school cliques.
Social pecking-order.
You’ve got to know where you stand
and when crossing the line is the right thing to do.

Big sister Fabi is sure she has all the answers that ninth-grader Alexis will need to succeed in their high school in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. But pretty little Alexis isn’t satisfied with being a quiet Mexican-American good-girl and decides to run with the popular crowd, setting her sights on football star Dex, despite his bad-boy reputation in town.

Alexis and Fabi’s extended family ranges from arguing grandmothers who stay on opposite sides of the Garza restaurant to baby brother Rafael (also known as Baby Oops) to their many, many uncles and aunts and cousins.

Like many border towns, questions of immigration and fair work, legal enterprises and criminal activities “from away” are the unspoken undercurrents that disturb the balance of life in Dos Rios and finally demand answers.

This is the first book in the Border Town series, with the Garza family’s next adventures coming soon: Quince Clash (#2) will be published July 1, 2012, with Falling Too Fast (#3) and No Second Chances (#4) following at three-month intervals. Fans of the popular Bluford High series should jump right into Border Town.
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Book info: Border Town: Crossing the Line (Border Town #1) / Malin Alegria. Point (Scholastic), 2012.  [author’s website] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My Book Talk: Fabi is excited that her little sister will attend her high school this year, but worries when Alexis won’t listen to the rules that keep them safe in their Texas border town. Crossing the line into the wrong crowd is more than a social miscue – it could endanger their family’s business.

There have always been tensions between long-time residents of Dos Rios and newcomers, between Mexican-Americans and whites. When it comes to the patrons of her family’s Mexican restaurant, Fabiola Garza knows who to joke with and who to be quiet around. Her cousin Santiago can sweet-talk anyone, especially their two grandmothers, one whose answer to every question is a rosary, the other who just adores conjunto musician Little Rafa.

Alexis starts seeing bad-boy Dex, deciding that being popular is more important than attending the voice lessons that her parents work so hard to pay for. Too bad that Fabi’s best friend moved away – she needs Georgia Rae’s advice more often than just weekends.

Chuy is attacked in the restaurant one night, but the waiter can’t identify the robbers. Luckily new student Milo is with Fabi when she discovers him. As other immigrants are robbed of their earnings on payday, the townspeople get worried. Are the drug cartels coming across the border from Mexico now or is anti-Mexican sentiment in Dos Rios turning violent?

When Santiago starts flashing cash around town, the police decide he’s responsible for the thefts. Fabi overhears Dex bragging to his football buddies about mugging immigrants and asks Georgia Rae and Milo to help her uncover the truth.

Can Fabi convince Alexis to stay away from the football star for good?
Can she keep her cousin out of prison?
Can she convince anyone that the judge’s grandson Dex is a thief?

First in the fast-moving Border Town series, Crossing the Line is followed by Quince Clash (book 2), Falling Too Fast (book 3), and No Second Chances (book 4).  (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)