Can doing something good ever be bad? Not usually, but sometimes it seem that way. Anyone born in the years just before and after September 11, 2001 were born into a nation at war. War is always bad, even if it is sometimes necessary. Good things can happen in times of war…even between combatants. There are all kinds of pictures of soldiers doing little things for the people in Afghanistan or Iraq. There are also pictures of soldiers doing horrible things. Still, focusing on the good is never a bad thing. That’s the attitude that Jess, the main character in Valerie Patterson’s book, Operation Oleander,  which is a grass-roots organization collecting school supplies for an orphanage in Afghanistan.

Jess and her friends Meriweather and Sam work at a booth selling things like soda, the cost of which are school supplies. They are all military kids trying to do something positive while their parents are deployed…at least in Jess’s case. Meriweather and Sam are there because they are Jess’s best friends. On the day that everything changed, Jess’s dad emails pictures of the kids at the orphanage showing how much they are enjoying the first batch of supplies. Her father is proud of her efforts and encourages her to continue. But, while they are setting up the table, Mr. Scott, Meriweather’s dad, comes rushing in to take her home because something bad has happened. It’s all over the news…a bomb exploded near Kabul, at an orphanage and there were casualties. Meriweather’s mom and another soldier are killed…Jess’s dad is badly injured. Was it her fault? Meriweather seems to think so; accusing looks from passers-by seem to think so. What would her father think? What would he want her to do? How can something so good have turned out so badly?

This is a very short book but a powerful story. When something good turns bad, what do you do to save it? Is it worth saving? How do you learn to see past the hatred and anger and do the right thing? These are questions we all must face, at one time or another. How we answer them will determine our legacy. Good and Bad are very simplistic terms, yes, but so many people only see one or the other in life. It’s time to start seeing the truth but put a positive spin on our reaction to it. Positivity is never a bad thing!

 THE END. To a reader, these two words can be devastating…especially if you have to wait for the next book in a series to come out!!! Today, however, it’s truly the end…of a series. Gone by Michael Grant has kept me on the edge of my seat since page 1 and six books later, I still couldn’t put it down! I have seen those teenagers growing up, fighting, dying. They grew more emotionally than physically, though many of their bodies did change drastically. Some changed for the better, others for the absolute worst…you might even say absolute evil. At the center of it all is one Autistic boy who just wanted to protect himself and a terrifying creature seeking destruction. The end came in a classic battle between the two. The end was fire and blood and pain and violence. This is a story not for the faint of heart or delicate sensibilities. It is a story of human nature at its worst and best and everything in between. Astrid said it best, “There were heroes in the FAYZE…and there were villains. Most of us were a little bit of both.”

Just the other day my boss said, “there’s nothing new in the world” of fiction…while that may be true, some authors have figured out a way to make old, tried-and-true stories new and exciting again. One example is Beauty and the Beast. My favorite retelling is Beauty by Robin McKinley (the best version of the fairy tale you’ll ever read). Alice in Wonderland is another. I first read Frank Beddor’s Looking Glass Wars and absolutely loved that trilogy…exciting, action-packed and totally unexpected! I just loved how Beddor wrote the Cheshire Cat’s demise!!! Another fantastic entry in the Alice story is Splintered by A. G. Howard.

Alyssa’s family is cursed. It started with Alice Liddell…yes, that Alice. When her female descendents come of age, they begin to hear voices…crickets, rabbits critters of all sorts begin to speak to them and it invariably drives them mad. Alison, Alyssa’s own mother, sliced her hands to ribbons when she saw a 5-year-old Alyssa talking to a beautiful blue butterfly…to be fair, Alison was aiming for the butterfly. Alison is now in a mental hospital. Alyssa has her own problems, besides being bugged by bugs. She has had another voice in her head since she was a child and he’s back. He tells her that there’s a way to break the curse and get her mother back but she must go down the rabbit hole. She accidentally brings along Jeb, her good friend and secret crush since they were children. Wonderland is a place full of strange creatures and powerful magic. Morpheus is the voice Alyssa has heard all her life and she trusts him…but he is not exactly what he seems and neither, as she soon finds, is she. Alyssa and Jeb will have to navigate the intrigue and dark schemes to not only break the curse but to survive!

Truly, this is a fascinating romp through a very familiar tale but with wonderful, dark twists and turns that will keep you guessing.

Most of the time, Real Life is good, you know? It’s real and it’s life…better than the alternative (Heaven, not withstanding). Sometimes, though, I read a book and want more than anything to crawl into it and live there. A book where the heroine gets swept away by a dashing Englishman who loves books. I just finished just such a book called, of all things, Killer Librarian by Mary Lou Kirwin.

Librarian Karen Nash has just been dumped by her plumber boyfriend (no pun intended:). The second worst part is that it happened just hours before they were supposed to board a plane on Karen’s Dream Trip…England, Sigh…The very worst part is that he took the trip with another woman, a  younger, skinnier, prettier woman. Karen knows this because she decided that she WAS going to England, no matter what, and happened to be on the same plane as they were. For much of the flight, she had murder on her mind. She plotted the hours away even though it didn’t make her feel much better. Upon her arrival at “their” B & B, she finds the owner a quintessentially English gentleman .  Still she plotted. At a pub, one evening, she was quite drunk (English beer is quite a bit stronger than the American variety), and blathered her sad story to a young man at the bar. Rather cryptically, he replies “Not to worry. Dave will be taken care of. I’ll make sure of it.” She thought little of it at the time but later, her sober mind kicked in and she felt guilty. Still, she was in LONDON so she did what any self-respecting librarian would do…she wandered the streets of London as she would the shelves in a library. She was pleasantly surprised to find that Caldwell, the B & B owner, was also a bibliophile and had a wonderful collection of books for her to peruse. They would sit at the breakfast table and talk about their favorite authors, books, characters, anything bookish. Karen soon found herself noticing how handsome he was and how charming. During a trip to Hay-on-the Wye, a tiny town with more bookshops than most large cities, they realized how alike they were and how much they enjoyed spending time together.They were falling in love.

So where’s the “killer” part? Well, you’ll just have to read the book to find out…and just see if you, too, don’t want to become a killer librarian!

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I am one of those people who says “Read whatever, Read it all”! This does get me into trouble, on occasion, because I sometimes forget my audience when I get excited about book-talking. If I’m with a 6th grade student, it’s probably not a great idea to talk about a book with older teen or even adult situations (yes, I’m referring to the “S” word, among others)! I try very hard to remember because, if I had a child, I would want my kid’s librarian to care about what he/she reads (yet another reason it’s good I have cats…I’m up to reason 465, I think). That said, I do love edgy books that are well written. I had a nemesis once who called YA books “after school special”. I really hate that phrase…they don’t even make after school specials any more so, obviously someone else didn’t like it either! I believe that these kinds of books can offer a safe way for teens to explore dangerous territory. As one of my middle school girls said about Ellen Hopkins’ books, “After reading these books, I will never do drugs…ever!” Anyway, I just read through an article/interview in VOYA magazine about books that are “Sure to Raise Eyebrows”. Now, this would be a good time to tell those of you with young kids, Click away, click away! But, if you have teenagers, read on. If you want to read the full article article, you can check their web site, voyamagazine.com. I may add some titles that fit into my version of VOYA’s categories. If my library owns the book or I have reviewed it, I provide the summary. If we don’t own it, I have linked the title to the Amazon or Barnes and Noble review page…I don’t want to get caught plagiarizing!

Books about drugs…Meth, specifically

Out of Reach/Arcos

Tweek: Growing up on Methamphetamines/Sheff

Crank/Hopkins
Kristina Georgia Snow is the perfect daughter: gifted high school junior, quiet, never any trouble. But on a trip to visit her absentee father, Kristina disappears and Bree takes her place. Bree is the exact opposite of Kristina — she’s fearless. Through a boy, Bree meets the monster: crank. And what begins as a wild, ecstatic ride turns into a struggle through hell for her mind, her soul — her life. These books are based on Hopkins own daughter and they are not at all hopeful, nor do they end happily. After reading, you might want to sit down and cry then go watch something really hilarious or uplifting or go have some ice cream (that last always helps me, though not my hips).

Those awkward boys:

Perfect Chemestry/Elkeles

Paper Towns/Green
When Margo Roth Spiegelman beckons Quentin Jacobsen in the middle of the night—dressed like a ninja and plotting an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows her. Margo’s always planned extravagantly, and, until now, she’s always planned solo. After a lifetime of loving Margo from afar, things are finally looking up for Q . . . until day breaks and she has vanished. Always an enigma, Margo has now become a mystery. But there are clues. And they’re for Q.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson/Green
One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens—both named Will Grayson—are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history’s most fabulous high school musical. This book will make you laugh out loud!!!

What happened to you? “Hidden abuse that least to Big Problems”

Th1rteen R3asons Why/Asher
When high school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing thirteen cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah, who committed suicide, he spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah’s voice recounting the events leading up to her death.

Because I am Furniture/Chaltas

Perks of being a wallflower/Chbosky

Black-eye’d Suzy/Shaw (this is an older title)
This is Suzie. She used to be normal but now she lives in a box of her own making; four walls that close in on her so that she has to sit with her knees under her chin and arms wrapped protectively around them. Her box has blocked out all of the words she used to have, so now she cannot speak nor can she eat or sleep in her small space. Suzie’s mother insists that it is only a phase that she’s going through or that she is punishing the family, that nothing is wrong…she’s doing it on purpose. Her father and sister can do nothing but watch as Suzie wastes away. Things change when Uncle Elliot comes by the house to speak to his brother. He immediately recognizes that Suzie is in serious trouble and she is whisked away, box and all, to a hospital. Her mother is angry, so angry and Suzie’s box closes in tighter. She finds herself in St. Dorothy’s, a mental hospital, where she is surrounded by people who want her to talk, eat, sleep, things she is not capable of doing. But slowly, slowly, she begins to feel safe and to trust those around her until the walls begin to push back and she is able to see what made her retreat into her self-made box and how to deal with the world outside of it

Boy’s friends: Close guy relationships

Last Summer of the Death Warriors/Stork
Two young men-one dying of cancer, one planning a murder-explore the true meanings of death and life in the tense and passionate new novel from the author of Marcelo in the Real World. When Pancho arrives at St Anthony’s Home, he knows his time there will be short: if his plans succeed, he’ll soon be arrested for the murder of his sister’s killer. But then he’s assigned to help D.Q., whose brain cancer has slowed neither his spirit nor his mouth. D.Q. tells Pancho all about his ‘Death Warrior’s Manifesto’, which will help him to live out his last days fully-ideally, he says, with the love of the beautiful Marisol. As Pancho tracks down his sister’s murderer, he finds himself falling under the influence of D.Q. and Marisol, who is everything D.Q. said she would be.

The Brothers Torres/Voorhees

Where things come back/Whaley
Just when 17-year-old Cullen Witter thinks he understands everything about his small and painfully dull Arkansas town, it all disappears. Tinged with melancholy and regret, comedy and absurdity, this novel finds wonder in the ordinary and emerges as ultimately hopeful.

City of Bones/Clare
Suddenly able to see demons and the Shadowhunters who are dedicated to returning them to their own dimension, fifteen-year-old Clary Fray is drawn into a bizzare world when her mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a monster.

Picturing Books: Picture books for teens

Underwater dogs/Casteel  (I had to include the cover…just too cute and funny)

Monkey Portraits/Greenberg (hilarious pictures of facial expressions…it would be fun to caption the pics)

Toilets of the world/Gregory

ID, Please: “Teenage Drinking, Nothing good comes from this”

Last night I sang to the monster/Saenz

The Spectacular now/Tharp

I am fairly certain that I have mentioned how much I loath and detest waiting for things! I buy a new article of clothing, I have to wear it as soon as possible. I buy a gift, I can hardly contain myself until the person opens it. Well, imagine my chagrin when I reach the end of book one of a trilogy/series and have to WAIT NEARLY A YEAR for book two! I can’t even tell you…….Anyway, the book in my cross-hairs right now is Altered by Jennifer Rush. Those of you who know me particularly well will understand why I picked up the book to begin with (see cover).  I wasn’t expecting much…sometimes the cover is the best part of the book. This time, though, the cover was just the beginning and I thoroughly enjoyed the read!

Anna is an ordinary girl living with her father in an idyllic farm house…where there’s a basement laboratory holding 4 ridiculously handsome boys. Okay so “ordinary” doesn’t really describe her life in the least. Her mom died when she was a baby and all she has of her is a picture and her journal/cookbook. Each day she goes down into the basement lab to help her father study and monitor the boys’ progress. It’s her job to take their blood and analyze it, recording any changes or anomalies. It’s not so bad, really. Cas is goofy and tells great jokes. Trev is her confidant and who knows her secret feelings for Sam, the alpha male and most gorgeous boy she’s ever met. The only fly in the ointment is Nick, who, for no reason she can figure, hates the very sight of her. None of the boys remember anything before they woke up in the lab five years earlier, which is strange and piques Anna’s curiosity enough to break into her father’s study to read their files. She only gets as far as Sam’s when men from The Branch come to take the boys away. The Branch is a mysterious organization for whom her father works and who “own” the boys. They use the opportunity to escape but are surprised when Anna’s father wants them to take her with them. As they make their way, putting as much distance between them and their captors as possible, the boys and Anna try to piece together what little information they have and deal with the flashes of memory Sam begins to have. They quickly realize that, if they are going to survive, they will have to find out who they used to be and why they were chosen.

This isn’t quite a dystopian story because the whole world has not catastrophically altered but there are certainly some elements of dystopia in the story. It’s a rather clever take on the age-old genetic mutation theme. The characters are well-formed and believable, though there are moments when you have to do a mental double-take. Anna’s role in the story ends up being pretty interesting and somewhat unexpected. Fans of sci-fi will definitely enjoy this!

Okay, so I’ve had some time to think things over and my good friend Dwan Simmons asked me a couple of great guiding questions so, here it is…

Kami has an imaginary friend…or at least that’s what everyone has always thought Jared was to her. They would talk for hours and when one was frightened or excited or emotional in any way, the other was right there to talk things through. Kami is 17 now but her link to Jared is just as strong; she just has to work harder to hide it. One ordinary day, two new boys come to school. They are both very nice looking, especially the blond and gregarious Ash. They are Lynburns, one of the families that founded Sorry-in-the-Vale, one of the many quaint villages that dot the Costswold countryside. There’s something not quite right about them or the reaction of the townsfolk reaction to their return and soon, Kami realizes that one of the boys is far more familiar to her than she ever expected.

The story trots along brilliantly. The characters are quirky and absolutely hilarious (Sarah Brennan, you certainly know how to turn a phrase). This is one of those books you might want to read in private unless you want to constantly explain why you are laughing out loud. Anyway, all of a sudden (or it seemed that way to me) MAGIC makes inserts itself into the story. That was the part I was having trouble with. Now don’t get me wrong…I love a good fantasy story, especially if there are star-crossed lovers involved but, for some reason, I wasn’t expecting this. Sure the telepathy (from infancy, mind you) was a bit out there but magic? Anyway, all’s well that ends…with a cruel and clever cliff hanger!!!

If you like to laugh and you enjoy a good fantasy tale, you should definitely pick up Unspoken. If you don’t like those two things but do like a good romance, you should also pick up Unspoken!

In looking for books to add to my school’s summer reading list, I made myself read a nonfiction book…and I actually liked it! Of course, it helps that it’s written in prose so reads a lot like a novel. It’s all about a plot to steal Lincoln’s dead body! Pretty Gruesome!

For me, the secret seems to be format (I suspect that it’s the same for my middle school students). If it’s written like a novel, there’s a pretty good chance I’ll like it…especially if there’s a really good story to tell! Truth is often stranger than fiction, as they say!

Counterfeit money has been a problem for as long as there has been paper money. In fact, the Secret Service was created solely to deal with counterfeiters. One man was the bane of Secret Service’s existence. Benjamin Boyd didn’t start out to be a counterfeiter. He was a talented engraver who figured out that he could make more money (literally) printing currency. When he is finally apprehended and faces a long jail term, those who depended on his money hatch a dastardly plan to break him out!

Okay, so I finished Cinder and am glad I did, though still wondering how it’s all going to be okay, in the end…I hope!!! Truly, it’s a fun read and an intriguing twist on Cinderella. I am just trying to imagine all the different fairy tales one could steampunk…Robin Hood? I think Maid Marion would look great with gears and metal! Hansel & Gretel…nah, that’s been done in movie form. Beauty and the Beast? Just don’t give Belle laser eyes…she’ll burn up all those books she likes to read. How about steampunk Peter Pan?  Hey, Tink… Hmm, this could be fun! Comment on your suggestions for fairy tales to steampunk!