Tag Archive | US author

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)

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)

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)

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Criminal, by Terra Elan McVoy (book review) – girlfriend, lover, accomplice?!

Sep20

book cover of Criminal by Terra Elan McVoy published by Simon PulseHe loves me,
he loves me not.
Of course he’s innocent!
Oh, God, he’s not…

Hopefully, you read guest blogger Alison Law‘s introduction to fellow Georgia author McVoy’s latest book earlier this year on BooksYALove. I just have to chime in with my recommendation for this book and pray that I never have to see anyone I know trapped into a situation like Nikki is!

What are you waiting for? Get this novel now at your local library or independent bookstore  – if you’re a fan of realistic fiction, you should be on their waiting list for anything that Terra writes.

How far should you go to protect the one you love, even when you know that love is not returned?
**kmm

Book info: Criminal / Terra Elan McVoy. Simon Pulse, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]   Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Nikki loves Dee and is so glad he came back to her, until a joyride in a borrowed car turns into deception, murder, and worse.

So Dee left her alone for a while, came back with a new N tattoo, but it’s just not his style to say anything about love out loud. She’d do anything to keep Dee happy, keep him from leaving again, keep herself in Bird’s house away from her addict mom.

She still hears the gunshots in her dreams, wonders how the police were so quick to question Dee. Maybe they didn’t get every fingerprint off Bird’s fancy car when they borrowed it that day… When Dee calls her, he’ll straighten it out. Waiting and waiting for him to call.

Murder? Dee isn’t some goody-two-shoes guy, but they’re pinning that deputy’s murder on him – and now Nikki’s in the slammer because she just drove when he told her to drive away from some Atlanta neighborhood she’d never seen before.

Her best and only friend Bird warned her about Dee, now she’s cutting off all contact with Nikki for the sake of her little daughter. Momma’s no help, ever, and Dee is lying about Nikki’s involvement in the crime to save his own skin!

Doesn’t Dee love her?
How can she find out when they’re in separate prisons?
What if she really doesn’t want to know?

The desperation of Nikki’s love for Dee is only matched by her growing determination to get out of this mess, with or without him, in this gripping novel which begins the morning after the getaway and unfolds in damning detail after detail.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Boxers & Saints, by Gene Luen Yang (book reviews) – two views of war, graphic novel style

Sep18

book cover of Boxers by Gene Luen Yang published by First Second Booksbook cover of Saints by Gene Luen Yang published by First Second BooksChina at war with itself in 1900,
tradition versus new beliefs,
cultural identity versus change.

We may have heard of the Boxer Rebellion or Uprising because of its unusual name (and inevitable juvenile snickers about the word ‘boxer’), but didn’t realize that Western countries were eyeing China for conquest and colonialism in the late 1800s.

Now this pair of  well-scripted and evocatively drawn graphic novels examines the larger conflict from the viewpoints of two individuals whose paths cross once (or was it twice?), neither of whom can realistically expect to win the fight of their lives.

Yang uses a muted palette for the drabness of village life, reserving strong colors for battles when Bao and his disciple-brothers and sisters transform into all-powerful Chinese gods and for Joan of Arc’s appearances to Vibiana. The boxed set of both books is gorgeous; check out the spine art’s continuation of the cover sequence.

When is it too late to change your beliefs? When is it too soon to stand your ground, despite the odds?
**kmm

p.s. I wrote and scheduled this post before the National Book Awards‘ long-list was announced on 16 September – congratulations, Gene!

Book info: Boxers / story and art by Gene Luen Yang, color by Lark Pien. FirstSecond Books, 2013.   Saints / story and art by Gene Luen Yang, color by Lark Pien. FirstSecond Books, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site – Boxers]  [publisher site –  Saints]  [book trailer for both books]   Review copies and cover images courtesy of the publisher.

My book talks:    BOXERS – Foreign powers want to take China’s wealth in 1900, but patriotic men (and women) will use fists, swords, and fire to reunite their country.

This graphic novel of the Boxer Rebellion traces the roots of the Society of the Righteous and Harmonious Fist, a people-led army rising from impoverished villages, dedicated to getting justice for the wrongs committed by foreign devils, including Christian missionaries and Chinese converts.

Youngest brother Bao becomes strong and mighty through the Society’s practices, eventually leading them against foreign and imperial troops at Peking. When he allows the Red Lantern maiden warriors to join the cause and fight alongside men, some Brother-Disciples question his motives, though not the women’s killing skill.

Practicing martial arts and stern rituals, Brother-Disciples of the Fist feel themselves transformed into gods of Chinese legend as they fought to wrest the capital city from the ’round eyed’ foreigners uncontrolled by weak emperor Ching.

Yet time doesn’t stand still for gods or empires or young men who are visited in their dreams – the Boxer Rebellion ends just as this book portrays it.

Yang’s companion book, Saints, shows this historic conflict from the viewpoint of a Chinese convert to Christianity who escapes her abusive family to watch history unfold.

SAINTS – The God preached by foreign missionaries might rescue an unwanted daughter in 1900 even as a peasant army marches to kill all the foreign devils who want to drain China of its wealth and debase its heritage.

Four-Girl, born on the most inauspicious day of the year, doesn’t even merit a name as her grandfather blames her for the untimely death of her father. A devil, he calls her, and nothing she does is right. To fight back, she begins secretly learning about Christianity, since its missionaries are known as ‘foreign devils’ to everyone.

Escaping from abuse at home, Four-Girl receives the saint-name Vibiana when she is baptized and travels with the foreign priest to a town with its own church. Away from its orphanage, she sees visions of a slim girl in bright metal armor – the priest says her name is Joan of Arc, a champion of her Church and her country.

Now Vibiana knows she is being called to save someone, even in the face of the Righteous Fist army killing Christians and foreigners wherever they go as the Boxer Uprising begins.

Be sure to read Yang’s companion book, Boxers, to see how a peasant army tries to push out the foreign devils and their converts to reunite the China they love.  (Two of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Tumble & Fall, by Alexandra Coutts (book review) – Earth in asteroid’s path, the end?

Sep16

book cover of Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts published by Farrar Strauss GirouxAsteroids pass near the Earth often enough.
This Persephone one will hit us,
No doubts, no magic superhero rescue,
Now what?

As the collision date nears, families all over the world are faced with a crisis that’s not covered in any emergency preparedness manual.

In this novel, Sienna, Owen, Carly, Caden, Zan, and Noah each have their own ideas about what to do before it’s all over  – “Stand by Me” seems to be the island’s theme song, for sure.

If you knew we only had a few weeks left before the end of the world, what would you do? (Alexandra’s list is here)
**kmm

Book info: Tumble & Fall / Alexandra Coutts.  Farrar Strauss Giroux, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]   Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Just a week left to live… not someone in particular, but everyone, as an asteroid zooms toward an unavoidable collision with Earth. Who to be with, what to do or not do – how does a small island town cope with The End?

Sienna’s dad brought her from rehab to the summer home they’d avoided since Mom’s death, to her persnickety little brother Ryan, to the woman Dad is marrying so they could spend the end of the world together. The island kids have grown up, too, and Owen wants to make sure Sienna hears his band and their pal Carly singing while there’s still time.

Zan felt like the world ended 10 months ago when Leo died in a wreck. Now his little sister brings her a book found in his truck afterwards, little knowing that its receipt-as-bookmark holds a hidden message for a Vanessa, someone that Zan must find.

Kidnapped! Caden isn’t surprised that his selfish absentee dad used force to get him off the island, but why didn’t he grab sister Carly, too? He’s got to reach his family on the island before the asteroid disrupts the tides too much for boat travel.

A performance-art installation called “the Forgiveness Machine”,
Optimists building an amphibious ark,
Secrets kept and secrets uncovered.

The days until collision tick down, and these teens, their friends, and their families must each decide how to live fully until The End.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel, by Diana Lopez (book review) – cancer, promesas, and friendship

Sep13

book cover of Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel by Diana Lopez published by Little BrownBlack means super stressed-out,
Yellow is imaginative,
Pink means fearful and also breast cancer awareness – coincidence?

Experiencing such a range of emotions in one day is fairly common for teens, and Chia’s mood ring reflects that clearly after her mom is diagnosed with breast cancer.

So much that I loved about this book: Chia and her friends ask questions about surgery and cancer that grownups are often too polite to voice. They enjoy both paletas  and Baskin-Robbins ice cream. The girls have nicknamed their guy-friend Gumwad (always chewing gum and blowing bubbles) and he’s fine with that.

Chia gets mad at her family for little things and loves them unconditionally through the big things, like the family trip to make promesas at the shrine of the Virgen de San Juan and Mom taking Chia with her to pick out her post-op prosthesis.

And the author gets so much right about San Antonio that it feels like you’re there. Grab this summer 2013 release today at your favorite local library or independent bookstore.

**kmm

Book info: Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel / Diana Lopez. Little Brown, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Erica’s plans for a fun summer turn upside down as her mother is diagnosed with breast cancer and the eighth grader makes a promesa  to help Mom recover after surgery (mood ring=anxious).

All Chia (yes, Erica collects Chia pets) wanted was time with friends before their last year of junior high and a close encounter with a guy on her Boyfriend Wish List (mood ring=happy), but the sudden discovery of Mom’s cancer makes her head babysitter for her academically precocious little sister and always-active toddler brother (mood ring=unsettled).

Before the surgery, the family travels from San Antonio to a church in the Rio Grande Valley where people ask for miracles and celebrate healing, making promesas  to God, promises that they will do good things in thankfulness. Chia decides her promesa will be signing up 500 people as sponsors for the annual breast cancer awareness walk (mood ring=hopeful).

But fulfilling her promesa is more difficult than she anticipated – so many people turn away from her request to sponsor her in the walk (mood ring=angry)!

Can Chia juggle schoolwork, her friends, and getting sponsors signed up?
Will Mom make a full recovery from her surgery and treatments?
Is Chia’s Boyfriend Wish List going to crumble into dust before she gets her first kiss?

Supportive friends and freedom to ask the tough questions about cancer allow Chia to consult her mood ring, wonder if Shawtae’s dreams will ever predict something accurately, and daydream about boys and growing up in this true reflection of life in South Texas today.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)