Skary Childrin and the Carousel of Sorrow Review

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(More customer reviews)Let me just begin by saying that I am not a young adult and I don't have kids but this book is great! I only recently heard about it from an article on Yahoo (or maybe aol). Once I looked up Katy Towell and saw the drawings and animations (which are great fun) I decided to download a sample of the book. I read straight through the sample and had to download to keep going! The story is quirky, spooky, sad, and funny and I found it really engaging. The drawings are totally cool and don't overwhelm the story. I read until 4 a.m. and had to stop only because I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. It is totally set to be a series and I can't wait to read more! (I also really want a print of her adorable little gorgon with the stone kitty from her website!) I know that I would have totally dug this book at 12 years old and I am no where near that age now - except, perhaps young at heart. A great read.

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Twelve years ago, for 12 days straight, the town of Widowsbury suffered a terrible storm, which tore open a gate through which escaped all sorts of foul, rotten things. Strange things and strange people were no longer welcomed in Widowsbury, for one could never be sure of what secrets waited under the surface . . . Adelaide Foss, Maggie Borland, and Beatrice Alfred are known by their classmates at Widowsbury's Madame Gertrude's School for Girls as "scary children." Unfairly targeted because of their peculiarities—Adelaide has an uncanny resemblance to a werewolf, Maggie is abnormally strong, and Beatrice claims to be able to see ghosts—the girls spend a good deal of time isolated in the school's inhospitable library facing detention. But when a number of people mysteriously begin to disappear in Widowsbury, the girls work together, along with Steffen Weller, son of the cook at Rudyard School for Boys, to find out who is behind the abductions. Will they be able to save Widowsbury from a 12-year-old curse?

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The Inverted Forest: A Novel Review

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(More customer reviews)Unless someone beats me to it, I'm the first reviewer of this book on Amazon. What to say...
I saw "The Inverted Forest" as a B+ blurb in Entertainment Weekly and, it being summer and I being a lover of the adult camp counselor experience, I preordered it and when it came the day it was released, I put down my other reading and read, and read, and read. I found my heart beating with every page I turned, not only because of the desire to know what lay on the next page, but because every page I turned meant one less page of this book that I'd ever get to enjoy.
When I finished this book I actually physically hugged the book, tearing up. This is not to say that it's a beautiful little story, nor even a really sad one. "The Inverted Forest" is populated by probably the most wonderfully and horribly human characters I've read in my 32 years as a lover of literature. From the shadowy heat of Camp Kindermann Forest to all the other average locales of the narrative, I feel like I have known these people- these real, real people- my entire life.
This is summer lit, certainly, but only inasmuch as it will appeal (to a certain degree) to the wistful camp counselor in those who have enjoyed that experience. This is not a light book, by any stretch of the imagination. The plot turns will leave your mouth dry; the lives of these characters (each so frightfully real and flawed that it's hard to ever decide on a protagonist...though you'll probably realize who the real antagonist is after a certain point) will ring true to everyone. We know these people; some of these people are, indeed, ourselves and the ones closest to us.
This might not make much sense. I can't even find the right words to describe this book to even my closest confidants. All I can say is that the raw emotion and John Dalton's magnificent prose (I expect great things from this author) will not disappoint the strong of heart.

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Late on a warm summer night in rural Missouri, an elderly camp director hears a squeal of joyous female laughter and goes to investigate. At the camp swimming pool he comes upon a bewildering scene: his counselors stripped naked and engaged in a provocative celebration. The first camp session is set to start in just two days. He fires them all. As a result, new counselors must be quickly hired and brought to the Kindermann Forest Summer Camp. One of them is Wyatt Huddy, a genetically disfigured young man who has been living in a Salvation Army facility. Gentle and diligent, large and imposing, Wyatt suffers a deep anxiety that his intelligence might be subnormal. All his life he's been misjudged because of his irregular features. But while Wyatt is not worldly, he is also not an innocent. He has escaped a punishing home life with a reclusive and violent older sister. Along with the other new counselors, Wyatt arrives expecting to care for children. To their astonishment, they learn that for the first two weeks of the camping season they will be responsible for 104 severely developmentally disabled adults, all of them wards of the state. For Wyatt it is a dilemma that turns his world inside out. Physically, he is indistinguishable from the state hospital campers he cares for. Inwardly, he would like to believe he is not of their tribe. Fortunately for Wyatt, there is a young woman on staff who understands his predicament better than he might have hoped. At once the new counselors and disabled campers begin to reveal themselves. Most are well-intentioned; others unprepared. Some harbor dangerous inclinations. Among the campers is a perplexing array of ailments and appearances and behavior both tender and disturbing. To encounter them is to be reminded just how wide the possibilities are when one is describing human beings. Soon Wyatt is called upon to prevent a terrible tragedy. In doing so, he commits an act whose repercussions will alter his own life and the lives of the other Kindermann Forest staff members for years to come. Written with scrupulous fidelity to the strong passions running beneath the surface of camp life, The Inverted Forest is filled with yearning, desire, lust, banked hope, and unexpected devotion. This remarkable and audacious novel amply underscores Heaven Lake's wide acclaim and confirms John Dalton's rising prominence as a major American novelist.

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This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein Review

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(More customer reviews)After turning the final page of This Dark Endeavor, I immediately wanted to go search out and re-read my battered copy of Frankenstein. If this book has the same effect on the young audience it targets, then it will indeed have served a noble purpose. While I wasn't immediately engaged by this story that seemed to take a bit too long to get rolling, it wasn't long before my imagination was totally taken in by the fine writing, the depth of characterizations and the thrilling adventure.
The author does an amazing job at achieving balance in a story that is at times gruesome and haunting, and sometimes just hold your breath, edge of your seat thrilling. Victor's narrative voice is strong and true, and the dialogue is masterfully done. Obsession lies at the root of this story and here we get an intriguing look at the genesis of one of the most famous obsessions in literature. Teens will be captivated by Victor's quest for the elixir of life and will willingly follow him anywhere in his attempt to save his brother. They will relate to Victor's love/hate relationship with his twin brother, and his jealousy over the beautiful Elizabeth.
Heart wrenching emotion, villainy, alchemy, and love all combine much as they did in Shelley's masterpiece to form a story that is a worthy prequel to a classic. This will appeal to young adults with a thirst for adventure, especially boys who will be quick to place themselves in Victor's shoes. Elizabeth is a strong character who will also broaden the appeal to young girls who enjoy period fiction. Give this one to fans of Yancey's The Monstrumologist. While it does not provide the monsters, it does provide a literary examination of the dark side of human nature perfect for those with a thirst to examine their own obsessions. Recommended.

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Growing up, twin brothers Victor and Konrad fill their lives with imaginary adventures...until the day they stumble upon The Dark Library, where they discover secret books of alchemy and ancient remedies. When Konrad falls gravely ill, Victor is drawn back to The Dark Library and uncovers an ancient formula, beginning a treacherous search for the ingredients to create the forbidden Elixir of Life. Their success depends on how far they are willing to push the boundaries of nature, science…and love.

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Okay for Now Review

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(More customer reviews)Okay For Now is Doug Swieteck's story. Doug is an 8th grader who, due to his father losing his job, moves to a small town with his family. Amidst multiple family issues -- a passive mother, abusive father, bitter and beaten-down Vietnam-vet brother, and a second brother who is merely scared -- Doug manages to discover much about not only his neighbors, but himself as well.
In the safety of the town's open-one-day-a-week library, Doug discovers a new talent, love, friendship, and selflessness. Outside of the library, his life is not an easy one. His familiy has multiple issues. He is unfairly judged by both students and teachers at school. And townsfolk are wary.
Doug's optimism, given all of his issues, is catching and he manages to bounce back from the many not-so-great things that happen throughout the book. He manages to keep a good attitude (most of the time, anyway) because he has a mission... To replace the missing plates in the town library's original John James Audubon book. Not only fascinated with learning to draw the birds, Doug learns that various plates have been sold to raise money for the town and he firmly believes all things belong in their proper place. The plates belong in the book as originally intended, not hanging on somebody's wall.
Each chapter of the novel opens with the images of one of Audubon's bird paintings, and the bird is effortlessly tied into the content of the chapter. Dough's insights regarding each plate are not only useful as he learns to draw the birds, they help him to better understand the dynamics of the world around him -- particular those of his immediate family. A passive yet loving mother. An abusive and angry father. A brother who is frightened at how he may turn out. And an older brother who is bitter and scarred due to his experience in Vietnam.
Okay for Now is an excellent read. It will draw you in and not let you go until you have finished the last page. Doug's character is extremely well-written, and I immediately felt like I knew him. I was happy when he was happy, and I even felt his pain when the not-so-great things happened.

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The End of Everything: A Novel Review

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(More customer reviews)Lizzie was the last person to see her best friend, Evie Verver. For thirteen years the two had been inseparable, but now Evie was gone. The only clue was the maroon car Lizzie had seen right before she left Evie to go shopping with her mom. When the police were not able to locate her, Lizzie began her own search to find out where Evie may have been taken. However, as Lizzie dug deeper, she began to realize the friend she thought she knew was someone quite different. In a dark and rather disturbing novel, The End of Everything is brilliantly written, but difficult to read.
Had I realized what this book was going to be about and how it was written, I would not have picked it up. It's a good book, but right now I just want to read something light and fluffy to wipe away the images that were left behind by this story. It's sad, disturbing, and not at all what I was expecting. Instead of a novel that revolves around solving a crime, it's told by thirteen year old Lizzie and is very much a loss of innocence book. I was not prepared to dive into a world of romanticized pedophilia or teenage sexuality. It's not that these issues were glorified, but they're there none the less and not something I was expecting or prepared to read.
This is an exceptionally well written book. Abbott has a great ability to create vivid images and evoke strong emotions. She does a nice job of setting the atmosphere and capturing the mind of a child who knows much, but really doesn't know anything. However, it's her writing talents that are also a detriment. It's hard to read a story where the thirteen year old narrator was seeing the kidnapper as possessing a great love for the child he's taken. Nor was it comfortable to read many of Lizzie's recollections with Evie, as many of them had sexual overtones. There was a strong realistic element to this story, but it wasn't something I wanted to read.
Even though I would have liked for Abbott to have left some innocence in the story, I am glad that she allowed the reader to be disgusted by the characters and their warped relationships. It would have been easy to tell the reader what they should think, but instead she lets them take the events and feel the sickness of these characters for themselves. I don't need a happily ever after ending, but there is a part of me that wishes there was a glimmer of hope in this story.
I feel much the same way about The End Of Everything as I do Lord Of The Flies. There is a terrible sadness for children when they lose their innocence; when the world and life they know is suddenly shattered and they realize things will never return to where they were before. While I think this is a brilliantly written book, I wish I hadn't read it. This is not a book for everyone.
Review title provided courtesy of Little, Brown, & Company.

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Goliath (Leviathan) Review

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(More customer reviews)After narrowly escaping the Tesla canon in Istanbul, the Leviathan heads east with Deryn and Alek in tow, where they are expected to pick up a mysterious new passenger. The newcomer is secretive and quirky to the extreme: his eccentricities put Deryn on edge, but his claims of having a device that will end the war intrigue Alek. As secrets are revealed and the Leviathan continues east to the United States, dodging enemies along the way, Deryn will make some important choices about her future and the decisions Alek must make will affect the entire world.
Goliath is an outstanding finale to this imaginative and vivid steampunk trilogy. Once again, Westerfeld masterfully balances the intrigue and politics of the great war between the Darwinists and Clankers with Alek and Deryn's dynamic and unique friendship. The tensions between the two run high as Alek finally discovers the truth about Deryn, and there is plenty of drama as they try to figure where they stand with each other. Alek also experiences many personal conflicts as he puts his trust in a weapon in order to bring an end to the war, and is ultimately tested to his limits. A few old characters resurface as complications arise and provide some well-needed insight and comic relief to the story. Everything in Goliath builds to an electrifying confrontation with a breathless and very satisfactory ending. This final book is full of adventure, plenty of skulking about, moral dilemmas, and no shortage of action. It will be very hard to let go of Alek, Deryn, the perspicacious loris, and the rest of Westerfeld's magnificent world.
Cover Comments: I love this cover--the yellow/gray background, and I am liking the portrayal of the characters a lot! Very cool!

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Alek and Deryn are on the last leg of their round-the-world quest to end World War I, reclaim Alek's throne as prince of Austria, and finally fall in love. The first two objectives are complicated by the fact that their ship, theLeviathan, continues to detour farther away from the heart of the war (and crown). And the love thing would be a lot easier if Alek knew Deryn was a girl. (She has to pose as a boy in order to serve in the British Air Service.) And if they weren't technically enemies. The tension thickens as the Leviathan steams toward New York City with a homicidal lunatic on board: secrets suddenly unravel, characters reappear, and nothing is at it seems in this thunderous conclusion to Scott Westerfeld's brilliant trilogy.

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Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Review

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(More customer reviews)To be honest, when I first started reading "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" I expected a haunting thriller, full of horror and danger. That is not what this book is. Instead, this book is fantasy/adventure combined with a very unique style of photography, which made the book better than I ever thought it would be.
Story - Jacob Portman desires an adventurous life, much like the life his grandfather describes to him in various stories. However, when Jacob realizes that he can never have an adventurous life, he just tries to be normal and fit in. He's not popular or extremely smart, and there doesn't seem to be anything unusual about him at all; but when his grandfather dies and leaves Jacob a cryptic message, Jacob is sent on a hunt to find his grandfather's past and ends up traveling all the way to Wales. Once there, Jacob discovers much more than he ever could have imagined about his grandfather and is thrown into the midst of a very peculiar situation.
Writing Style - If I had to compare Ransom Riggs to any other author, I would have to compare him to Lemony Snicket. In fact, this entire book reminded me very much of Mr. Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events" books. Don't get me wrong, Riggs did not steal Lemony Snicket's writing style at all, but Riggs just simply reminded me of him, which is a positive since I pretty much love anything that Snicket touches.
Something else that I feel Riggs did superbly was explain the detail of everything in the story. Even without the occasional photographs of people and things in the story, I was able to visualize the locations and details because of the fantastic descriptions.
Now, as for the photographs, they added a whole new dimension to the story. They didn't turn the novel into a picture book or something else that we normally associate with children; rather, they added a new level of immersion to the story, with the reader being almost able to see exactly what Jacob is seeing as he looks at the many photographs scattered throughout.
The book is truly addicting, but it isn't perfect; there are a few kinks that I feel needed to be worked out. The major kink being the fact that the attitude of some of the characters just doesn't seem to match the story! The abundance of cursing and crude humor just doesn't make sense with some of the characters or the plot of the story. Also, there were a few things that weren't developed as much as possible and could have been explained more and built upon.
Warnings - Language, Mild Violence, Mild Peril
Overall - In all fairness, my last complaint was very nitpicky and small, and I don't want to give anyone the impression that this is not a good book. For a first novel, it is fantastic! There are a few things to improve on, but I think Mr. Riggs is off to an amazing start! I immensely look forward to his second novel, which I assume is in the works based on the cliffhanger at this end of the story. I would say that, most likely, teens will enjoy the book more than adults, but it really does have a very interesting plot that many will love.

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