Book Review: Firebrand by Gillian Philip

Firebrand is an amazingly thrilling tale about two brothers exiled from their home world.
This story starts with the main protagonist Seth telling his story: his mother is in a high place of power as is his dad. His mother and father split up for they are not connected in soul. In the realm Seth lives, the world of the Sithe a realm beyond the veil, marriage and love is thrown around. If you wish to marry you must be connected by soul otherwise you can live and mate with whomever you please; there is no "cheating on" in this world. Women in this world are also more battleborn: women tend to be warriors or blacksmiths. Our story begins with Seth living with his father who ignores him in every way. He has no friends at this time and his only companion is his brother Conal, the "good" brother for lack of a better word. The first few chapters are the story of Seth and Conal growing as people and the pain as well as love that grows between them. After some time, the real story begins when Conal is exiled from his world to the world across the veil, the Overworld, at the end of the sixteenth century. The Overworld is the world of mortals - a world of death, darkness and dismay as in this world Sithe are burned at the stake.

Firebrand is an amazing book full of thrilling action, enticing romance, and depressing sorrow. It is a fun thrilling book that will keep you at the edge of your seat for each minute you read it. The first time I started reading it, two hours and ten chapters went by before I realized what time it was. I recommend this book for anyone into fantasy or just looking for a good book to read.

-Zane the Awesome

Book Review: Played by Liz Fichera

The stars of Played, by Liz Fichera, seem to be diametric opposites. Riley Berenger is a pampered rich kid from Phoenix, and socially she's light-years away from Sam Tracy, who lives on the Gila River reservation. But then they both go to a leadership weekend in the mountains and get trapped in a mountain cave together during a violent monsoon storm. In that intense experience, they become unlikely friends.

Now, back at school and back to normal life, Riley is determined to pay Sam back for saving her life, by turning him into one of the popular kids. He only goes along with it because Riley is also trying to help him attract the notice of a girl he's loved forever (who happens to be Riley's brother's girlfriend). But maybe he's starting to forget about that girl, and thinking about Riley instead.

How often do we get to see Arizona in books? Not that much, honestly, and that's why I was so happy to read this book. It's also a great, sweet love story, so if that's what you're looking for, pick this up!

-Maureen K

Book Review: The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

The Replacement is a horror, comedy, mystery, and romance fantasy which takes place in the time of today's high school era. The main character has many dreams of a monster, or something else, in a crib. He believes that this creature was or is him. The main character and some friends go out to figure this so-called mystery and figure out the astonishing news about their dear friend.

I enjoyed The Replacement because of its levels of effect on the reader. I felt like the author wanted me to be the main character. Though the book is not meant for every age level, I do believe that parents, children, and teens should read this book. This book will bring out the unnoticed side of sensitivity in the human being.

-Bree

Book Review: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Let me just say that I don't read teen romances...anymore.  Unlike fantasy or mystery or historical fiction, teen romances tend to appeal only to teens, or maybe I'm just a jaded, middle-aged librarian!  I mean when I was a teen, I read romances all the time and loved them--if you haven't read  Mrs. Mike, a classic first published in 1947, you are missing out on some serious, sob-inducing romantic tragedy.  But several friends, whose taste in books I trust implicitly, recommended Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell, and I was happy to find that a good teen romance knows no age limits!

Book Review: "Counting Backwards" by Laura Lascarson

Taylor lives a troubled life with her mother.  She runs away and steals a car.  Her father convinces authorities to put her in a "therapeutic boarding school", Sunny Meadows.

Already stressed Taylor sees the fence and guards as they arrive.  She suddenly realizes Sunny Meadows is a maximum-security facility.  Angry with her father for sending her to this place she immediately feels trapped.  His last words to her are"Your anger is bigger than you ".  He leaves and at once she can barely breathe.

Her only thought is to run, to escape Sunny Meadows.  Run is a common theme for this story.    Running is how Taylor deals with her feelings and problems.  She makes plans.  In the meantime, she deals with bullies and quirky friends.

Eventually, she realizes the only way out is to pretend and go along with the game.  Then she will run. 

"Counting Backwards" portrays one girl's journey through a psychiatric correctional facility revealing her emotions and reactions to her fellow inmates and those who are there to help her. 

Personal List of Cities I Must Visit (in real life, not just in a book)

Marrakesh.  Budapest.  Venice.  Barcelona.  Dublin.  Mexico City (check).  But above all, Prague.  Prague in the Czech Republic you say, what is so interesting about a city stuck behind the Iron Curtain after WWII for forty plus years? Well, I must admit that my father's claim that he was 1/4 Czech, making me 1/8 Czech, seemed very romantic to me as a kid, and the more I learned about the former Czechslovokia--more than 2,000 castles are still standing, gorgeous mountains basically surround the country, and Franz Kafka was Czech (you remember, cockroaches, The Metamorphosis)--the more I fell in love.

Now, let's get back to the BOOK that brings this lovely place to life.  Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke & Bone is an amazing tale that includes a somewhat unbelievable but eventually totally believable romance, bizarre characters who pull their own teeth out for a wish, a restaurant with coffin chairs and tables that serves goulash, portals that open to awesome cities around the world until a handprint is burnt into them, a quirky artist with permanent blue hair, and an epic war between Seraphim and Chimaera.  If that's not enough to make you put a hold on it, the audio book is incredible as well--lots of words I have never known how to pronounce pronounced and beautiful, exotic accents all for your listening pleasure!  And the best part for an admitted series addict?  The sequel, Days of Blood & Starlight, is ready and waiting for you.

Don't think or judge. Just Listen.

Annabel Greene begins her Junior year of high school ostracized by her peers and hated by her friends. She is haunted by the unthinkable events of a party that took place at the beginning of the summer, which she has kept secret from friends and family. This is one secret among many that she keeps from the world. She also suffers silently from the pressure from her mother and her fear for her oldest sister's health. In a time when she needs a friend more than ever, she meets Owen Armstrong, a music-obsessed classmate with anger management issues who is as ignored by the rest of the school as she is. In a "right place, right time" situation, he instantly goes from someone she watches from a distance to her only friend, saving her from lunch hours spent in isolation and teaching her the value of speaking up and making herself heard.

Just Listen is a story which induces both laughter and tears, and is highly recommended for anyone who has ever feared voicing their own feelings. Sarah Dessen is also the author of other popular young adult books such as The Truth About Forever, This Lullaby, and Lock & Key.

-Micheala

I am large, I contain multitudes

It's hard to describe Marcus Sedgwick's "Midwinterblood" in any other terms other than possibly one of the most amazing books I've read in a long time. Pardon me for being blunt. I tried coming up with some sort of cute/interesting intro to lead up to my review but nothing seemed to fit. There is absolutely no way to introduce it outside of it being amazing. At this point I'm not even sure how to describe the plot of the book and what happens without spoiling massive quantities of it; everything is connected to everything else in some deep way. The best way to describe it would be with a small quote from the book:

It cannot be... that when our life is run, we are done. There must be more to man than that, surely? That we are not just one, but a multitude. (p. 250)

So it is that on a small Scandavian island where the mythical Dracula orchid grows, Eric and Merle, two souls in love, find then lose each other over and over and over again. Seven different stories weave together their tale of love surviving through the ages, through vampires and magic and war, going back to a time unrecorded by history. Only at the very end does the whole story become completely clear.  Only then do you see the end that is really the beginning.

~The Stacked Librarian

P.S. The title of the blog post is a Walt Whitman quote. It's from "Song of Myself." If you like Whitman, definitely read this book!

Angel of Death

Assassin nun.

Oh, yes, you read that right.

Assassin. Nun.

That's the character at the heart of Grave Mercy, by Robin LaFevers. Ismae had a fairly bad early life. Born in 15th century Brittany (a tiny European country, now part of France) to an abusive father and a mother who tried to abort her, she was married very young to an equally abusive husband. When she ran away, she discovered the convent of Saint Mortain, where nuns live in service to their patron saint and, by the way, also learn the arts of murder. That's because Saint Mortain is the new name for the old god of death, and he helpfully marks the people that he wants his nuns to kill.

After a few years and a lot of skills, Ismae is sent forth to the court of Duchess Anne, the very young ruler of Brittany. She is to assist the girl by killing off those who would do her harm. But the world outside the convent is new and frightening to Ismae, who is used to the safety and sisterhood of Saint Mortain's. The person who scares her the most is Duval, Anne's half-brother. All the men Ismae has ever known have been nasty and brutish, but Duval is intelligent, gentle, and awfully interested in her.

Complex, romantic, and action-packed, this book will stay glued to your hands. I mean, seriously. Assassin nuns!

Fake Love Story

Charlie Tracker and Fielding Withers, who play teen lovers Jenna and Jonah on a hit TV show, are also an item off-screen. They hold hands on the beach, snuggle and cuddle on the streets of LA, and are generally so adorable they make your teeth hurt, in Jenna and Jonah's Fauxmance by Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin.

Only thing is, it's all for the paparazzi cameras and gossip columnists. Actually, Charlie and Fielding can't stand each other. For the past four years, they've been carrying on a fake romance in public to bolster their show's ratings, and annoying each other in private.

After an unexpected scandal, their show is abruptly canceled. You'd think it would be a relief, right? Except that Charlie isn't sure what roles she's suited for, besides a cute and fluffy teenager. (She's not even sure she's a very good actress.) Fielding is almost sure he doesn't even want to be an actor anymore, but he has no idea how to strike out on his own. And they're both unnerved at the prospect of losing the person they most love to hate. What they never really hated each other at all?

Earth Angel

Angels are a hot topic in teen literature these days. In some books they're vicious, scary creatures bent of ridding the world of humans; in others, they're guardians who are fighting for the wellbeing of Earth. In Cynthia Hand's brilliant series, however, it's not exactly the angels who are the focus of the story--that title goes to the angel-bloods, the off-spring of angels and humans.

In Unearthly, Clara Gardner is one such angel-blood--she's a quarter angel, to be exact, and has received a vision of the "purpose" she has been put on Earth to complete. Unfortunately, her purpose involves saving a mysterious boy from a raging forest fire in Colorado. She has no idea when, where, or why this fire happens, but she does know one thing; if she doesn't get it right, someone could die.

Tucson Festival of Books Teen Author Spotlight: Maggie Stiefvater

Maggie Stiefvater is a YA author who specializes in paranormal and urban fantasy. She has a gift for lyrical prose, and her books are always rich with atmosphere. Luckily for us Tucsonans, Ms. Stiefvater is going to be attending the Tucson Festival of Books! If you've never heard of her or are a die-hard fan looking for more of her work, there are a lot of good choices.

Ms. Stiefvater's first book was Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception. In it, Dierdre Monaghan is a painfully shy musical prodigy. She is also a cloverhand--a human who can see faeries. She and her best friend James are about to become embroiled in an ancient faerie war; there are two faerie assassins on their way to kill Dierdre before her music captures the Fae's attention. The story continues in the sequel, Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie, and involves Nuala, a deadly faerie muse.

The Wolves of Mercy Falls Trilogy is set in the icy winter of Minnesota. In Shiver, Grace has always been obsessed with the wolves that live in the forest behind her home. What she doesn't know, however, is that the wolves are actually werewolves, who turn human in the summer and wolf in the winter. One of the wolves, Sam, has loved Grace from afar for years, and a threat to the pack brings the two together. The story of Grace and Sam continues in Linger and is concluded in Forever.

The Age-Old Question: Book or Movie?

Movie adaptations of popular books have always been a Hollywood trend, and this holiday season is no exception. Here are a few titles of wildly popular books that you'll get to watch on the big screen:

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo is a classic story about love, justice, and salvation set in 19th century France. It follows Jean Valjean, an ex-convict who struggles to avoid recapture by the policeman Javert while taking care of the young Collette, the daughter of ill-fated prostitue Fantine.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy follows the titular Anna, a beautiful woman trapped in an unhappy marriage to Aleksei, a man twenty years her senior. Anna's fateful decision to relentlessly pursue an affair with Count Vronksy results in tragedy and heartbreak for nearly everyone she knows.

Waiting for the World to End: Armageddon Summer

We're running out of time, if the world's going to end in 2012, as a few people are insisting. In this book, meet two ordinary teenagers like you, who both have parents who share a belief that the world's going to end, and drag them off to a remote mountain to greet the end of the world with their cult. I won't tell you if the world ends or not, but either way, you'll be in suspense about how Armageddon Summer ends!

Alien Tension

I love the tension in love hate relationships that turn to romance.  It's even more fun when you add in aliens like in Jennifer Armentrout's Obsidian.  Alien Daemon is obnoxious for a reason, he is protecting his family and his species, by not getting to know the cute next door neighbor, Katy.  Katy of course just thinks he's obnoxious.  Then he saves her life.   Unfortunately that puts an alien mark on her.  Now he feels obligated to protect her until the mark wears off.  This gives them plenty of time to trade barbs and get to know each other.  But this is not just a romance.  There is plenty of action too.  There is a second alien species, who would like nothing more than to kill all of Daemon's kind and steal their powers.  Now Katy is in the middle and learns up close and personal just how deadly this undercover war is.

A Winter's Tale

When Grace was eleven, she was attacked by a pack of wolves. They dragged her into the snowy forest of Mercy Falls, Minnesota, and she would surely have died if not for the intervention of one particular wolf. For the six years since she has been obsessed with him, following every movement of his pack as they roam the woods near her home.

Sam has been a werewolf for most of his life. However, it isn't the moon that dictates his form, but the temperature--in winter he's a wolf, in summer he's a boy, and he's been in love with Grace ever since he rescued her that cold day years before. But how can he ever tell her, especially when he only has one year left before he becomes a wolf permanently?

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater is a haunting, lyrical story that takes star-crossed lovers to an entirely new level--one where the lines that separate good from evil are constantly blurring, and humans can be just as cruel as the monsters they fear.

You Wish

Ever wished on your birthday candles? What if all your birthday wishes came true . . . all at once?

That's what's happening to Kayla after her sixteenth birthday, in Mandy Hubbard's hilarious You Wish. She's got a room full of gumballs, a pony of her own, even a life-size Ken doll. Unfortunately, those are all things that she wanted when she was way younger.

She doesn't know what to do with these crazy wish-products (although her sudden ability to speak Italian is pretty cool), but she's got an even bigger problem. Kayla's most recent birthday wish was to get a kiss from gorgeous, funny, cool Ben. This would be perfectly fine, except that Ben is now her best friend's boyfriend. And the one thing Kayla's never wished for is to lose her best friend forever.

For a funny and light-hearted look at how much everyone changes as they grow, try this book.

Anna, the (Not So Friendly) Ghost

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake is not your average boy-meets-girl story—the boy, Cas, is a seventeen year old ghost hunter, and the girl, Anna, is a vicious spirit who murders anyone who enters her house. Sounds scary, right? But beneath the horror-story shell is a beautiful, sad, and moving tale about the struggle of choosing between one's obligations and desires.

 Theseus Cassio Lowood, nicknamed Cas, inherited a knife called the athame when his ghost hunter father was gruesomely murdered by a mysterious spirit. With the athame, Cas kills ghosts that are still wandering the earth, even though he isn't quite sure exactly what kind of afterlife he's sending them to.

It's summertime and the reading is easy...and kinda sleazy

I have no problem admitting this--when the temperature reached 84 degrees inside my house, I put down the William Faulkner book I was dutifully trying to reread for the sake of my brain and reached for my latest fluff pick, Vixen by Jillian Larkin.  This book puts "historical fiction" in the camp of hot summer read!  The time is 1923, Chicago, land of flappers and mobsters, lavish parties and serious segregation, complete with flasks of whiskey in your garter and guns in your trunk.  Each chapter tells the story through alternating viewpoints of three young women; there's Gloria, the naive heiress engaged to the most sought after guy in the city, her jealous friend Lorraine, whose goal is to become the fiercest flapper around, and  "country cousin" Clara, who covers up a past more shocking than anyone could imagine.

The Catastrophe of a Broken Heart

In The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg, sixteen-year-old Brie Eagen is told by her boyfriend that he does not love her—and literally dies of a broken heart. Now in the afterlife, Brie must go through the five stages of grief with help from Patrick, another lost soul, before she can finally rest in peace.