Tag Archive | series

O is Oryon in Changers: Book 2, by T Cooper & Alison Glock Cooper (book review)

Apr17

book cover of Changers Book 2 Oryon by T Cooper and Allison Glock Cooper published by Black SheepWhich body will it be this time?
What lessons will Ethan learn this year – the hard way?
Any closer to discovering zer personal life mission?

Four bodies in four years – a rough way to go through high school, and with deadly enemies trying to unmask and eliminate every Changer teen!

This is the second book in the Changers series, which began when Ethan suddenly became Drew (my no-spoiler review here), so ask for them both at your local library or independent bookstore.

Visit the wearechangers.org site to post your ‘unselfies’ and consider empathy and life.

Could you stay yourself if your gender, race, or personal skills changed overnight?
**kmm

Book info: Changers: Book 2 – Oryon / T Cooper & Alison Glock Cooper. Black Sheep/Akashic Books, 2015.  [T Cooper author site]  [Alison Glock author site]   [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Waking up on first day of sophomore year in a new body as Oryon, this teen must learn to deal with prejudice and discrimination as he struggles to obey Changer rules by avoiding his best friend from his previous identity as a girl.

Transformed overnight from a petite white female cheerleader into a tall, lanky African-American male does make Oryon’s life challenging. This year the Changer Council has kept him at the same high school, explaining his white parents as his newest foster family.

And sweet Audrey, closest friend from last year is in his homeroom! Yes! But of course, she doesn’t recognize Oryon in this body so unlike Drew’s….

Oryon decides to try out for football, but being nearer to Audrey and the other cheerleaders also means being much too close to her brother, a vicious Abider, sworn to wipe out Changers like himself…

Halfway through his/her four years of changing bodies to discover which one s/he’ll live in forever, Ethan/Drew/Oryon has to deal with the conservative Changers Council, the Radical Changers who escape the rules, the Abiders trying to uncover all Changers – and falling in love, again!  Second in the series which began with Changers Book 1: Drew.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

K is killing rain in H2O, by Virginia Birgin (book review) – one drop of rain, one more death

Apr13
book cover of H2O by Virginia Birgin published by Sourcebooks Fire | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Every cloud carries death, rain that kills millions –
now in the drinking water, no cure in sight…
but somehow she will find her father!

“If you are reading this, you are very, very lucky to be alive…but you already know that, right?” (p. 7) says Ruby, in a near-future where an asteroid – blasted to bits before hitting Earth – brings a deadly plague that rains down, seeking the iron of our blood.

Listen to the prologue of the UK audiobook here free, as Ruby begins the story of the end of humanity, raindrop by raindrop, and her race to find Dad in far-off London.

Published as The Rain  in UK, there is a sequel to H2O; hope it gets to the US soon!

Ruby was kissing Caspar in the hot tub when the rain began – where would you want to be when the world started to end?
**kmm

Book info: H2O / Virginia Birgin. Sourcebooks Fire, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: As deadly rain sweeps across the world, Ruby fights thirst, well-meaning survivors, and the army so that she can get to London and her father.

Blowing up the asteroid saved earth, but doomed mankind to die by the blood-eating virus it carried, now sweeping down as rain, every drop lethal, no cure.

Trying to find anything safe to drink, staying away from rain and groundwater and tapwater, the teen and her stepdad survive longer than most.

Despite the odds, Ruby must get to her father, so she finds a car with keys and heads toward London with a nerdy classmate, a frightened-silent child, and a single driving lesson – watching the sky every minute for the clouds bringing more death.

Is there any place to hide from the rain?
How much further?
Dad, are you there?

The Rain (UK title) doesn’t care where it falls, but will Ruby survive to see The Storm sequel? (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

E for Etherworld, by Claudia Gabel & Cheryl Klam (book review) – escape from virtual paradise turned hell!

Apr6

book cover of Etherworld by Claudia Gabel and Cheryl Klam published by Katherine Tegen BooksEscape from polluted world to nature paradise through virtual reality!
It’s simple, it’s safe… it’s addictive.

Regan has mourned her father’s death for too many months, watched his fabulous virtual reality creation be exploited by young protege whose mother is profits-first, realized the dangers of Elusion – and discovered that Dad may be alive!

All she has to do is enter Elusion undetected, tweak technical stuff beyond her understanding, and pray that new boyfriend Josh is really on her side…

Just published on March 31st, Etherworld  is the answer to the potential and peril begun in Elusion  (my no-spoiler recommendation here) which recently came out in paperback – so you can read them both now!

**kmm

Book info: Etherworld (Elusion, book 2) / Claudia Gabel & Cheryl Klam. Katherine Tegen Books, 2015.  [Claudia’s website]  [Cheryl’s website]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Missing teens and a criminal conspiracy – if Regan can escape from Elusion using her father’s Etherworld technology, she can prove that the virtual reality system makers knew its addictive dangers, unless they get her first!

In pollution-clogged 22nd century test cities, some teens who hacked their Equips to stay in Elusion far past the safe time limits have disappeared, but the escape-to-nature vr will still be released nationwide.

Regan travels into Elusion with her boyfriend Josh, whose sister is among the missing, as they follow clues that Regan’s father is still alive. Warnings from the Elusion creator’s protege Patrick don’t ring true once they learn that his mother falsified Elusion’s safety data so their company could make millions.

Elusion’s ads say that nothing can harm you in an Escape since your body isn’t really there, but Regan and Josh discover that’s not true! A vicious predator follows them from Escape to Escape, safe havens become traps, and they meet others who cannot be in a two-person Escape, yet are.

Returning from Elusion will land her in the psych ward, staying there may unhinge her mind… but finding her father is worth the risk.

This exciting sequel to Elusion  (my review here) examines the limits of loyalty, the dangers of greed, and the potential good and bad that any new technology can bring. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

B for Burning Kingdoms, by Lauren DeStefano (book review) – escape from tyranny to war

Apr2

book cover of Burning Kingdoms by Lauren DeStefano published by Simon Schuster BFYRTheir king betrayed his subjects’ trust.
Their only hope – fly over the Edge and pray,
pray that the land below has a wiser king…

Each refugee from stratospheric Interment has left for their own reason, but Morgan is shocked to discover Celeste’s motive and how far the princess will go to get what she wants.

You can read Burning Kingdoms without the first book in the Internment Chronicles (as I did), but learning in detail what led Morgan and friends to escape that Perfect Ruin high in the sky would certainly enhance your immersion into this almost-our-1920s world.

What would you give up to save those you loved?
**kmm

Book info: Burning Kingdoms (Internment Chronicles, book 2) / Lauren DeStefano. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2015.  [author site]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Fleeing their floating sky-island, Morgan and other young rebels find themselves grounded in Havelais whose king wants to use their knowledge to ramp up his war for rare resources, the same ones abundant on Internment.

Morgan and her betrothed, her blinded brother, her best friend – they had to leave or be killed by the King. But why did the crown princess demand to come on this one-way journey?

Snow falling from the sky, multiple children in one family, an amusement park just for glimpsing ‘the magic floating island’ -Havelais has many things that Morgan had never imagined, including aerial warfare with bombs from a neighboring kingdom.

Housed at the amusement park hotel by the king’s advisor, only Morgan and Pen venture out regularly, sneaking into speakeasies and cinemas with Mr. Piper’s teenage daughter Birdie or riding in son Nimble’s beloved auto-mobile car, until the princess is granted an audience with the king and inadvertently gives Havelais a reason to travel to Internment at last.

How can the princess believe the king will become an ally?
Why does Morgan sometimes wish that her betrothed hadn’t stayed by her side?

This second book in the Internment Chronicles swoops down from the Perfect Ruin  created by Internment’s flawed king and his ever-tightening grip on its citizenry to bring new faces and voices into a conflict that may consume them all.   (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Dissonance, by Erica O’Rourke (book review) – traveling to parallel worlds through music

Mar19

book cover of Dissonance by Erica O'Rourke published by Simon Schuster BFYREvery choice creates a parallel world.
Nothing can destroy these echo worlds.
But something is!

Del has the talent to Walk between worlds, but when an echo of popular Simon actually notices her, she ignores safety protocols and Walks from echo to echo until she finds a Simon who adores her. Then the trouble really begins!

Read chapter one here for free on the publisher’s site, find this 2014 book at your local library or independent bookstore, and look for just-published book 2 Harmonic, realizing that your choice might spin off another world…

**kmm

Book info: Dissonance (Dissonance, book 1) / Erica O’Rourke. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2014. [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Following the family talent of world-walking, Del ventures far beyond what her apprenticeship allows, searching for love in the parallel worlds created by every choice and endangering our Key world with what she discovers!

Having older sister Addie supervise her final practice Walks instead of Mom or Dad or even ditzy Grandpa Monty doesn’t suit the Chicago teen, so musical Delaney explores on her own – entering the pivot where a choice split that echo away from the Key world, listening for an echo world’s specific frequency, leaving a tiny origami star in each world as a breadcrumb trail home, just in case.

When Del interacts too much with an echo, creating a dissonance in that world that the Consort of Walkers will need to erase, she saves them the trouble by doing it herself, with scary results.

Now forbidden by the Consort to Walk alone, stuck on a music class project with standoffish Simon yet aching to return to echo Simon who cares for her, Del only dares to Walk when Grandpa leaves the Key world to continue his search across echos for Grandma, an experienced Walker who never returned home.

Why can’t they just tune a dissonance instead of erasing an echo world?
Can she Walk and make a teensy change to fix something in the Key world?
Will the real Simon ever love Del?

When Del’s extracurricular Walks uncover a startling secret, the Consort of Walkers argues about the best course of action, but it may be too late to save the multiverse! First book in the Dissonance series. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Shadows on the Sea, by Joan Hiatt Harlow (book review) – German U-boats… off the Maine coast?

Feb7

book cover of Shadows on the Sea by Joan Hiatt Harlow published by Margaret K McElderry BooksWorries during wartime,
safe with Nana in Maine,
but town is full of secrets…

Staying far from big cities should keep Jill out of danger as her parents travel separately to California and Newfoundland in 1942, but her grandmother’s small town has many secrets, much gossip, and treachery closer than they know.

The author continues her story of teens during World War II with The Watcher,  which follows Wendy from Shadows on the Sea.

**kmm

Book info: Shadows on the Sea / Joan Hiatt Harlow.  Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2003, 2005 pbk. [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Jill just wants a friend and good news from her traveling parents in 1942, but the 14 year old soon uncovers a secret that endangers everyone in Nana’s coastal Maine town.

On her first solo train trip, Jill wishes she could be with her father on his USO singing tour, rather than going to Nana’s house to await word that her mother made it safely across to Newfoundland. Those U-boats prowling like wolves…

At least she can visit Wendy, who came to work at her aunt’s inn for the summer, and the lighthouse keeper’s son Quarry, who says there are more rumors than usual in town. As Jill learns her way around Winter Haven, she stumbles upon hidden pigeon coops, meets very snooty girls who invite her into their special club, and finds a wounded bird with a message strapped to its leg… in German.

Will mother make it safely back to the US?
Are the rumors about Wendy’s aunt true?
What does the pigeon’s message mean?

“Loose lips sink ships” – in Winter Haven, the warning on patriotic posters is true in this tale of World War II on the home front. Followed by The Watcher. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Stranger, by Rachel Manija Brown & Sherwood Smith (book review) – humanity has changed, or has it?

Feb3

book cover of Stranger by Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith published by VikingAfter the Change killed electricity,
unrooted societies, mutated many life forms,
Los Angeles survived as walled Las Anclas –
but will one teenage prospector doom them all?

This fast-moving dystopian tale with 5 narrators includes semi-sentient plants (so very deadly), Changed humans with amazing talents, unChanged ones who accept them, and those who don’t. A diverse cast of characters, families of all configurations, several love stories, and a madman, too.

Read chapter one here as Ross tries to reach Las Anclas alive, then get Stranger today at your local library or independent bookstore.

Don’t wait till the November 2015 paperback release – you must discover the secrets of Las Anclas now for yourself!

**kmm

Book info: Stranger (Change, book 1) / Rachel Manija Brown & Sherwood Smith. Viking Children’s Books, 2014. [Rachel’s site]   [Sherwood’s site]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: When a strange young man collapses outside Las Anclas, its citizens must decide whether to share their secrets with him or become targets of the madman pursuing him.

Ross knows that the book he uncovered holds information about lost technologies, if only he could read it, if only he can escape Voske’s bounty hunter through the ever-hostile desert.

Felicite plans to become powerful in Las Anclas, strategizing and smiling as her political parents do, praying that no one discovers her secrets.

Yuki survived shipwreck to land in LA as a child, but the prince of a distant land wants only to leave the walled town as a prospector, as long as Paco comes along.

Mia would rather solve mechanical problems than train with the militia, but the youngest Engineer in town history wonders if she’ll ever fall in love or care if she doesn’t.

Jennie took over the schoolroom when their teacher’s Change power became too dangerous, but her fighting skills as a Ranger are also needed by the town – will she have to choose?

These five teens have the future of their neighbors in their hands when Voske attacks Las Anclas with Changed humans, remade weapons, and treachery – is there a traitor inside the town’s walls?

This dystopian adventure twines together superpowers and prejudice, adult and family relationships of all types, the visceral rush and lingering mental pain of war, and possibilities of redemption amid sacrifice.  (One of 8,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Geek Girl, by Holly Smale (book review) – a beauty of a geek?

Jan29

book cover of Geek Girl by Holly Smale published by Harper CollinsAnimals? Adores them!
Fish anatomy? Fantastic!
High heels? Huh?

Aspiring natural scientist and focus of every school bully, clumsy Harriet reluctantly goes with lovely Natalie to a fashion tryout – and is chosen! What??

I just loved Geek Girl when I read an advance copy in 2013 and was so sad that it was only available in the UK then. At last, Harper Collins has brought freckled Harriet here – just out this week!

Read the beginning of Harriet’s headlong rush into modeling here on the publisher’s site for free.

The second book in the series, Geek Girl: Model Misfit, will be published in the US this July – whatever will Harriet get into next?

**kmm

Book info: Geek Girl (Geek Girl, book 1) / Holly Smale. Harper Collins, 2015.   [author site]  [publisher site]   Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Harriet is just fine with being a geek and so are her best friend Natalie and smitten Toby – it’s everyone else at school who hates her for being smart. Tricked into attending a mall fashion show, it’s ginger-haired, freckled Harriet who’s chosen as a model, not beautiful Nat! And wanting to change from despised geek to anything else, Harriet says yes.

From her suburb to the London modeling agency, Harriet’s dad is excited, her lawyer stepmom is skeptical, and Harriet is about to pass out from nerves. This is not part of the plan – she wants to be a paleontologist! It’s Natalie who’s always dreamed of being a model. At least the cute dark-haired guy from the mall is there, rescuing her from outside the agency where she’s hyperventilating.

The flamboyant modeling agent who discovered her (that’s Wilbur with a –bur not an –iam!) calls her Plum-cake and Treacle-Nose. Harriet doesn’t recognize the name of the very influential designer who wants to meet her, but she does know that this clothing brand is top-of-the-line (online research about fashion modeling last night paid off).

Suddenly, a gawky fifteen-year-old geek is the new face of Baylee, slated for a photo shoot in Moscow in the morning! Her stepmother disapproves of teen girls modeling or missing school, but Harriet and her dad are determined to pull this off anyway.

How could she know that getting to Moscow was the easy part?
Why didn’t Wilbur tell her that cute Nick would be there?
Will Nat ever forgive her for stealing her dream?

Every detailed plan that Harriet makes after that fateful mall trip seems to go awry in this funny tale of friendship, family, fashion, and wondering why high heels were ever invented. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Of Metal and Wishes, by Sarah Fine (book review) – ghost in the machine?

Jan20

book cover Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine published by Margaret McElderry BooksAltar offerings to the Ghost are mere superstition,
surely we can free ourselves without its aid…

Wen never thought she could find love within the horrific factory complex where her educated father is compelled to run a clinic, but now her heart is torn between two who demand her loyalty and affection.

This adventure-romance set in an alternative perhaps-China echoes themes found in Phantom of the Opera with a steampunk twist and will be followed by Of Dreams and Rust in August 2015.

Would you trust your very life to a whispered promise?
**kmm

Book info: Of Metal and Wishes / Sarah Fine. Margaret McElderry Books, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: In the slaughterhouse, Wen and her father fight ever-present death at his medical clinic, but an omnipresent ghost bent on revenge may tip the scales forever.

Migrant workers in the slaughterhouse’s guts, machinists in its metalwork shops, her own educated father – no one can get out of debt to the company, yet the 16 year old tries to find a way, not relying on the gossips’ claim of a ‘ghost’ in the factory who grants wishes.

When her murmured plea for an offensive worker to leave her alone results in a terrible accident, Wen realizes that there is something or someone with eyes and ears everywhere in the factory. When she begins helping the migrant workers whose underground leader Melik talks of overthrowing the bosses, the Ghost’s whispered promises to keep her safe from all harm become shackles instead of security.

Accidents, secrets, revenge, family history – as the factory becomes an ever more dangerous place in this possible China, Wen must decide whether to trust the Ghost or trust Melik – but can she trust her own heart? (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

In the multiverse, A Thousand Pieces of You seeking me; by Claudia Gray (book review)

Nov4

book cover of A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray published by HarperTeenEach choice you make creates a fork in time,
a new path in the multiverse through history –
Which dimension holds Meg’s happiness? Read more about this new book