Tag Archive | teens

Replica, by Jenna Black (book review) – clones, cops, and secrets

Aug12

book cover of Replica by Jenna Black published by Tor TeenExecutive Board members get memory backups regularly,
Executive families scramble to marry into the Board,
mere Employees do all the work, take all the risks, hide their own secrets…

Don’t send me to this future where corporations have purchased governments, and Paxco (former New York City) exports a memory-and-clones technology that no other Corporate State can match.

Nadia has to balance her conscience with the safety of her family when assassination gets too close to home, too close to the truth.

Read the first chapter of Replica here, then zip to your nearest local library or independent bookstore to get your copy.  Resistance,  book 2 in this new series, currently has a March 2014 publication date.

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Book info: Replica / Jenna Black.  Tor Teen, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Nadia’s future was all lined out, until her intended was killed and his Replica animated to replace him. As she and new-Nate try to fill in his memory gaps, the head of Security threatens them with more permanent erasure. Someone has secrets to hide…

The teen must be on her best behavior in public (the media is vicious), and she can’t even let her guard down at home – all Executive families know that some Employees spy for the Corporation.  Her soon-to-be fiance Nate doesn’t know what discretion means, even though someday he’ll inherit Chairmanship of Paxco (formerly known as New York City) from his father.

When Nate is killed at a party and Nadia was last to see him alive, her life becomes a nightmare as Security publically arrests her (such damaging publicity) and promises to harm her family if she doesn’t cooperate. Reanimated Nate’s last memory backup was 2 weeks before the party, so he can’t help prove her innocence. But perhaps his personal valet Bishop could… if they can find him in the Basement tenements where all Employees are crammed together. For the Replica technology reserved for highest Executive families is Paxco’s only export and must be supported by the peaceful labor of Employees.

Mosely of Security says Nadia must find the valet if she wants her family to remain safe, Nadia doesn’t trust him, and Bishop is not interested in endangering himself for her benefit – stalemate or powderkeg waiting for just the wrong/right spark to explode the Basement into violence against the Executives?

Is Nadia helping the true Nate or just the Nate she wants to see?
Why does running Replica take so many Employees?
What are the secrets that Paxco and Nate and Bishop are trying to hide?

Of all the Corporates States (of former America), Paxco seems to be a difficult place for truth to thrive, whether for Executive, Employee, or Replica in this future world thriller.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Bubble World, by Carol Snow (book review) – virtual world, real love?

Aug5

book cover of Bubble World by Carol Snow published by Henry HoltParties, cute clothes!
More friend-time, less classwork.
Perfect world – or total illusion?

Freesia’s parents think she’s getting the best education available (and have the big tuition bills to prove it), the teen and her friendlies on Agalinas think school is a big party, and all of them are completely wrong!

This just-published novel starts off as frothy as Freesia’s favorite fruity beverage, but the secrets of Bubble World  are dark and deep. Ask for it at your favorite local library or independent bookstore and see if anyone escapes this school misadventure unscathed!

Is it wrong to want to run away from real life when it bores you to death?
**kmm

Book info: Bubble World / Carol Snow. Henry Holt, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Immersion classes and mega-parties on a tropical island – high school in paradise, with shopping, ziplines, and the cutest itty-cars! Freesia and her friendlies love being here, but these recent power outages are so wackacchino, like something is going wrong on Agalinas. Um, like what went wrong on the mainland?

Freesia’s parents and adoring little sister know the beautiful high schooler needs lots of time to be with her friendlies (and keep tabs on her enemies via bubble) and lots of shells to spend on clothes. Her bubble helps with Attire Assistance for her extensive wardrobe, holds her Outfit Registry (wear an outfit more than once every 4 months? Never!), and keeps her Chase Bennett music playing.

Her teachers match the snacks to the class, like bimbimbop and kimchee for Korean immersion and culture, but they don’t make the students wear themselves out speaking the language or doing homework. More time for parties and waterslides and shopping!

With exquisite houses and perfect beaches for these gorgeous teens, no one wonders why there’s no airport or passenger boat service to the mainland… but Freesia and best friend Ricky start to wonder about the more-frequent outages and discover startling things about Agalinas Island and Bubble World.

When one outage doesn’t reboot like normal, Freesia finds herself on the mainland, in her real non-beautiful body as Francine, in her family’s real house in the desert! What her parents thought about her virtual school is nowhere close to its reality; what Freesia thought was reality is closed off from her now.

How can Francine/Freesia cope with Phoenix instead of paradise?
Do her Agalinas friendlies miss her as much as she misses them?
How can she get back to the island??

Identity, reality, and friendship get spun and twisted around in this near-future tale of trying to use the digital world to avoid coping with the real world. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Will & Whit, by Laura Lee Gulledge (book review) – hurricane blackout, fears to face

Jul31

book cover of Will & Whit by Laura Lee Gulledge published by Amulet BooksLet’s get this all straight: Will is a teen girl (full name Wilhemina), Whit is Hurricane Whitney striking inland Virginia, and this great graphic novel has heart written all over its black and white pages.

A shrink would make much of Will’s creation of lamps from found objects in relation to her fear of dark, but I think her creative heart would lead her to do it anyway. She and her friends won’t let a little thing like a hurricane and no electricity stop them from putting on quite an arts carnival to end their summer.

Take a peek into Will’s life with the book trailer (you know, like a movie trailer -except for a book) – gotta love Laura Lee’s art!

Have you ever faced your fears like Will wants to do?
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Book info: Will & Whit / story and art by Laura Lee Gulledge. Amulet Books, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: As a hurricane approaches, Will confronts her new fear of the dark as she finds ways to move forward with her life through friends old and new.

Just a few more weeks of summer before their junior year of high school, so Wilhemina and her pals float along the river on air mattresses, check out the kids across town planning an arts carnival, and hope that Hurricane Whitney won’t really get this far inland. Will makes lamps from interesting found materials, Autumn loves creating puppets, Noel is the best cook ever.

The late-season storm does hit their Virginia hometown, knocking out the power for days. She and her aunt are fine in the family antique store, but now Will has even more dark places to avoid as she tries to not-think about what happened to her a year ago.

Ava and Blake have worked on their arts carnival all summer – now the continuing blackout may prevent them from actually having the show.

Can Will, Autumn, and Noel help the show go on?
Is there some special chemistry brewing between the two groups of friends?
When will she face what happened last summer?

Laura Lee Gulledge’s black-and-white art is filled with heart and hope and light, despite the personal darkness that Will must face in this graphic novel of friendship and growth.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

A Girl Called Problem, by Katie Quirk (book review) – move our village, change our luck?

Jul24

Book cover of A Girl Called Problem by Katie Quirk published by Eerdmans Move our whole village?
School for all the children!!
Leaving behind our memories and starting from scratch?

In 1967, Tanzania was still “becoming” a single country after the merger of Tanganyika and Zanzibar following their recent independence from European powers. President Nyerere asked all his people and tribes to work together as one. Sometimes this meant moving from small poor villages into larger villages to have schools and medical care.

Ask for this April 2013 paperback at your local library or favorite independent bookstore, and travel in its pages to discover how Shida and her family cope with big changes in those early years of Tanzania.

When has moving to a new place helped you grow?
**kmm

Book info: A Girl Called Problem / Katie Quirk. Eerdmans, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: A new start sounds good to Shida, as Tanzania becomes a unified country in 1967, but can the 13 year old and the other villagers truly find a better life in their new town?

So many problems in her life – mama depressed and thought to be a witch, a curse tied to their family, even Shida’s name means ‘problem’ in Swahili, her only gift from her late father’s family. She learns about healing herbs from the village grandmothers and helps families with small illnesses – why can’t the village elders see that she should become a true healer, instead of just planning to be married?

To become a strong new African nation, the people need schools and health care, so the president asks those in small villages to move and form towns. Move from Litongo? Each family will have a new hut with tin roof and a plot for growing food. All the children will go to school, even the girls!

The president’s promises are true – new huts, plots of land, a school, and a clinic! But some already living in Njia Panda don’t want more people in their town, and many traditional men think that girls shouldn’t be in school, including their teacher! Odd things begin to happen in the Litongo part of town – cattle wander from the thornbush corral, clothing goes missing (Mama Shida is sure it’s another curse).

Can Shida and her cousins convince their teacher that girls belong at school?
Can Shida care for her mama and have time to work with the clinic nurse, too?
Can she solve the mysterious things happening to her neighbors?

A full and vibrant slice of life in the early days of Tanzania, A Girl Called Problem tries to outrun her own name and find a way for the Litongo villagers to truly become part of the town and their country’s future.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Funny you should ask – humorous fiction favorites

Jul19

Searching for some light-hearted summer reading at your local library or independent bookstore?

Take along this BooksYALove list of favorite funny books, and cool off with a good laugh! Click any title to see my full recommendation of the book. Review copies and cover images courtesy of their respective publishers.
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book cover of Pantalones TX Don't Chicken Out by Yehudi Mercado published by Archaia book cover of Who's on First? by Abbott & Costello published by Quirk BooksClassic baseball comedy routine teammates are just wild in Who’s On First? by Abbott & Costello.

Pantalones, TX: Don’t Chicken Out! – can Chico Bustamante stay ahead of the chicken-shack-driving sheriff and conquer the giant bucking chicken?

book cover of Astronaut Academy Zero Gravity by Dave Roman published by First Second book cover of Astronaut Academy Reentry by Dave Roman published by First Second BooksEnjoy Hakata Soy’s first middle school term in space as he enrolls in Astronaut Academy: Zero Gravity – time for dinosaur riding lessons and fireball tournaments!

Then return to Astronaut Academy: Re-Entry for another semester of fireball tournaments and missing extra hearts – and mystery to solve.

 

book cover of Teen Boat by Dave Roman and John Greenbook cover of Year Zero by Rob Reid published by Del Rey Books

More Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy) as he teams up with John Green (the artist one) to create TeenBoat!  Imagine “the angst of being a teen, the thrill of being a boat!” – yes, it’s that funny.

When music-loving aliens realize they’re violating Earth copyright laws and have run up a bill bigger than the universe, things get a bit out of hand in Year Zero.

 

book cover of Mothership by Martin Leicht and Isla Neal published by Simon Schusterbook cover of Tempestuous by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes published by Merit PressAn orbiting maternity home for unwed mothers is attacked by aliens (really cute aliens!) and things aboard the Mothership  get all kinds of crazy.

Set Shakespeare’s comedy The Tempest  in a modern shopping mall during a blizzard, add some memorable characters and a robbery, and you have a most Tempestuous  and wacky tale.

 

book cover of The Candymakers by Wendy Mass published by Little Brownbook cover of Also Known As by Robin Benway published by Walker Books Who wouldn’t jump at the chance to create a new candy for the world’s sweetest contest? But The Candymakers   must solve a mystery before everything goes sour.

As a teen spy goes undercover in a ritzy private school to keep the organization’s cover from being blown, she doesn’t anticipate love among the complications in Also Known As.

 

book cover of Lias Guide to Winning the Lottery by Keren David published by Frances Lincoln Booksbook cover of Cat Girls Day Off by Kimberly Pauley published by Tu BooksYes, you can enter the lottery at 16 in Great Britain, but Lia’s Guide to Winning the Lottery  is more of a how-not-to than a financial guide!

Being able to hear cats talk seems like such a boring talent until Nat uses it to capture a kidnapper and snag a movie part after all in Cat Girl’s Day Off.

 

Secret Ingredient, by Stewart Lewis (book review) – psychic to young chef: change is coming

Jul12

book cover of The Secret Ingredient by Stewart Lewis published by DelacorteTwo food-obsessed dads,
One music-mad brother,
The world’s best best friend,
and a long-ignored question bubbling up, demanding an answer.

Maybe the psychic’s unsought observation is true, and every decision that Olivia makes this summer will be connected. Maybe she’ll find cute Theo again, too.

A movie version is already in the works for this June 2013 book, but it’s set in Birmingham instead of LA.  The Secret Ingredient‘s  SoCal setting is plot-essential, as Ollie gets a summer job with a Hollywood casting agency, counts the palm trees as she passes each one on her bus ride, and harbors a lingering fear of the ocean’s depths. I’ve always said that the book is better than the movie –  just try to imagine two gay men adopting children 17 years ago in Alabama…

In the book, Ollie shares several recipes with her own secret ingredient added – any recipes with your special touch?
**kmm

Book info: The Secret Ingredient / Stewart Lewis. Delacorte Press, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: This summer should be relaxed for Olivia, but the unexpected jumps in. With a psychic’s warning and a vintage cookbook in hand, Ollie decides to help her dads save their restaurant and finally search for her birth mother.

Bell and Enrique have put everything they have into FOOD, and mortgage payments are coming due too soon. Ollie cooks the special on Saturday nights, always adding a secret ingredient for her own signature touch. Her big brother is totally obsessed with his guitar playing, but his huge talent isn’t exactly paying his bills yet.

They’ve had never been particularly bothered about being adopted by their gay dads (LA is pretty laid-back that way), but Ollie begins to wonder about her own mother when she hears that her best friend Lola’s mother has cancer.

Riding up the elevator to her summer job at a casting agency, a psychic suddenly tells the sixteen year old that her choices will be pivotal and connected, including a young man, guidance from the past, and food, too.

Maybe Theo from last summer will come back?
Perhaps her birth mother is the past part?
And food is always with Ollie – but will FOOD survive, too?

As she supports Jeremy breaking into the music business, creates a backstory for the handwritten notes found in an old cookbook, and stands by Lola during her mother’s treatments, Ollie has to figure out whether the secret ingredient for her own life might be finding her birth mother…or not.

Enjoy the recipes this brilliant young chef shares as she finds her own way in the world during an intense high school summer. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Nix Minus One, by Jill MacLean (book review) – save his sister, a dog, himself?

Jul10

book cover of Nix Minus One by Jill MacLean published by Pajama PressA dog, beaten and ignored.
A girl, risking and reckless.
A boy who must step out of his safe-place to save them…

I lived in Newfoundland in early grade school (on a now-closed Air Force base), so I have a strong mental picture of the isolated small coastal town that Roxy longs to escape, where Nix’s solitary ways are known to everyone, where a story can never be untold.

Request this novel-in-verse from your local library or independent bookstore; they might have to order it (Pajama Press is a small Canadian firm, not one of the “Big 5”), but it’s so worth waiting for!

Have you ever felt like the only person who could fix a situation?
**kmm

Book info: Nix Minus One / Jill MacLean. Pajama Press, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Nix helps hide Roxy’s wild nightlife from their parents, like he wants to help the mistreated dog he meets, but the consequences may be too much for the quiet teen to handle.

Now that cod fishing is done for good, coastal Newfoundland towns are shrinking fast, but there are still enough bullies at the regional high school to taunt Nix about his weight and red hair. All the ninth grader wants to do is be left alone to play video games and work in Dad’s furniture workshop, pretending that beautiful Loren will pay attention to him some day.

Just by chance, he sees a beaten and half-starved dog at a neighbor’s house and wishes yet again that Mom would have let them have one instead of worrying about clean floors. Maybe the old grump will let Nix walk the dog, just to get her out of that poop-strewn yard full of junk.

Big sister Roxy decides to party with a senior and expects Nix to cover for her when she misses curfew. Their conservative parents warily respect his smooth manners and rich family, but have no idea that he’s the area go-to-guy for drugs. Everyone at school knows Bryan will dump her after a few weeks… everyone but Roxy.

Nix finally coaxes the dog into walking up into the hills with him, occasionally meeting classmate Blue when she’s birdwatching, both laughing about how they’ll never be popular at school with these hobbies.

And then that rainy night, when Roxy doesn’t come home, when silence becomes the fourth person at their dinner table…

Why couldn’t Nix keep his sister safe?
Why can’t he get Twig away from the master who mistreats her?
Why can’t he make Mom and Dad happy?

This powerful novel-in-verse echoes with the rhythms of family life, school tensions, unexpressed dreams and desires, and a long-hidden story that suddenly re-orients everything that Nix ever knew. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Splintered, by A. G. Howard (book review) – Alyssa in Wonderland, forever?

Jul8

book cover of Splintered by AG Howard published by Amulet Books“Off with her head!”
Red Queen and White Queen,
Wonderland was never as benign as the animated Disney movie version led us to believe!

Even the newer movie of Alice’s return to Wonderland isn’t as life-and-death gritty as what Alyssa finds when she goes down the rabbit hole, trying to break the Liddell family curse of madness.

Texas author A.G. Howard compiled a playlist of songs to keep her in the Splintered  mood – alternative rock, dark, experimental. Wonder what she’s listening to now as she writes book 2, Unhinged…

Got a favorite Wonderland character to share?
**kmm

Book info: Splintered / A.G. Howard. Amulet Books, 2013.   [author blog]   [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: If hearing plants means you’re crazy, then soon Alyssa will be as insane as her mother, unless she can make the treacherous journey to a forbidden place that could save them both or doom her forever.

It was her great-great-great-grandmother whose dreams inspired Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland,  and the Liddell women have been cursed with madness ever since. Dad had to put Alison in a psychiatric home when he found her snipping at little Alyssa’s hands with garden shears. Of course, he couldn’t hear the flowers whispering or know that Alyssa was just trying to protect them. A car wreck is the convenient explanation for her scars, for Mom’s crazy talk at Soul’s Asylum.

Alyssa can ignore the everyday whispers of flowers and bugs, but not the enormous moth in her dreams who promises release from their madness. Too bad her best friend Jeb won’t keep his promise to go with her to England, preferring the company of beautiful, rich Taelor.

Her long-ago memories include dreams of a little boy in a strange land, who has grown up to become that moth in her dreams! Morpheus says that Alyssa can break the curse and save her mother, if she’ll just bring back what Alice Lidell took from Wonderland, things that Alison hid in their house.

If Alyssa can get to England and find the rabbit hole into Wonderland…
If she can let Jeb help her when she’s afraid he’ll be trapped, too…
If they can fix what went wrong when Alice escaped carrying Wonderland objects…
even when nothing is as it appears and not everyone wants the wrongs made right!

A journey into madness to break insanity’s curse, the solid friendship of a good human guy against the enchanting promises of Morpheus, secrets and sacrifices – this is no cutesy fairy tale, but a gritty, dark-angel quest that will take everything Alyssa’s got and perhaps more! Followed by Unhinged.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

SYNC audiobooks – humorous reads!

Jul5

So, hopefully you’ve been downloading the free SYNC audiobook pair each week when I remind you. But are you secretly thinking, “audiobooks aren’t really reading”?

Nay, my friends! Research has shown that ‘reading with your ears’ actively engages your brain in much the same way that reading text does. And of course, we all know that some of us are visual learners and others are auditory learners.

Over on The BookRiot blog, Rachel recently debunked “‘Listening to Books is Cheating’ and 7 More Myths About Audiobooks” so what are you waiting for? You only have until Wednesday to download either or both audiobooks, then you can listen as long as you keep them on your electronic device.

Ready, set, read — with your ears!

CD cover of Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford read by Nick Podehl published by Brilliance AudioCarter Finally Gets It
By Brent Crawford
Read by Nick Podehl
Published by Brilliance Audio

 

 

 

CD cover of She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith read by full cast at LA Theatre WorksShe Stoops to Conquer
By Oliver Goldsmith
Read by Rosalind Ayres, Adam Godley, Julian Holloway, James Marsters, Christopher Neame, Paula Jane Newman, Ian Ogilvy, Moira Quirk, Darren Richardson, Joanne Whalley, Matthew Wolf
Published by L.A. Theatre Works
Two different comedies, two different settings, just too funny!
**kmm

Maid of Secrets, by Jennifer McGowan (book review) – spying for the Queen, perilous times

Jul3

book cover of Maid of Secrets by Jennifer McGowan published by Simon and SchusterWorld Wednesday takes us to the early days of Queen Elizabeth I’s court amid intrigue and international turmoil.

Her Majesty is protected quite visibly by her trusted royal guards and oh-so-secretly by 5 young maids-in-waiting chosen by her for their very special talents.

Read an excerpt here to meet Meg during her pickpocketing days with the theater troupe, before the Queen’s spymaster makes her an offer she cannot refuse.

Get this first book in the Maids of Honor series today at your local library or independent bookstore, and follow Meg’s journey from sticky-fingered orphan to secret-storing spy.

Jennifer says she’s working on Maid of Deception  now, so we’ll read more about the lovely and cunning Beatrice next.

What royal secret would you most like to know?
**kmm

Book info:  Maid of Secrets / Jennifer McGowan.  Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Arrested by the Queen’s men for pickpocketing, Meg has a choice: die or become a spy! Queen Elizabeth’s most-special Maids of Honor must solve a murder before danger reaches Her Majesty – and must ignore love they can never have.

Her ear for dialogue and quick memorizing served Meg well as she traveled with the theater troupe. Now she’ll become a listener without seeming to listen, approaching her assigned target as a mere lady-in-waiting. But first she must learn a well-bred lady’s manners, plus spycraft skills like silent strangulation and reading.

The young ladies hand-picked as spies by the Queen herself have been training together for several months: Jane, a Welsh girl with masterful knife skills; Sophia, who has visions and reads portents; Beatrice, whose beauty bewitches any man to do her bidding; and Anna, who knows many languages. Meg is replacing Maria, who was brutally murdered because someone in Windsor Castle knew she was a spy.

Now the Spanish ambassador and his courtiers are arriving, and for all their elaborate speeches, they do not wish Her Majesty well. It’s up to Meg to hear their private conversations and report them back verbatim to Sir William – and to report treachery anywhere in the court directly to the Queen alone, at her express command.

Dancing and flirting, listening for conversations in Spanish and storing them perfectly in her memory, trying not to make an obvious social error in the palace (and to resist stealing anything), Meg is on edge during the ball and the days after. She finds handsome Rafe of the Spanish delegation distracting (he’s Beatrice’s assignment), then uncovers messages plotting to overthrow the Queen!

Can Meg and the Queen’s spymaster identify the traitor quickly and quietly?
Can she avoid Maria’s fate as she continues to listen in on Spanish courtiers?
Can she guard her own heart as Rafe begins to woo her?

In the earliest days of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, the safety of her royal person and the fate of the country may rest in the hands of these five Maids of Honor in Her Majesty’s secret service.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)