Author Archives: SSBRC Former Member

The Beast is an Animal

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The Beast is an Animal is a fantasy novel with a theme that felt fantastically dark like most fairy-tales. Here is a quote from the book: “Alys, in fact, had never been afraid. Her favorite nursery rhymes were the scary ones. The ones about The Beast sucking out your soul and leaving behind nothing but gristle and skin. Those were the ones Alys liked best.”

The story was engaging, suspenseful, creepy, scary, unfair, with a setting that felt very historical.  The book opens with a scenario that is reminiscent of the best classic fairy tales: twin sisters, born in a small suspicious village, are abandoned by their father in the woods.  They grow into something not quite human that need to feed on souls to survive.  Alys and the other children in the village are spared by the twins and taken in by a nearby village. Fear of the soul eaters and of the Beast rules village life, but the Beast is not what they think he is and neither is Alys.

This young adult novel will appeal to readers who enjoy dark fantasy, fairy tales, and historical settings.

 

A Dog in the Cave: The Wolves Who Made Us Human

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A Dog in the Cave: The Wolves Who Made Us Human combines history, paleontology, biology and medical science to  paints a picture of how man and wolves co-evolve together like no other animals on Earth.   The fossilized discovery, in 1997, of the prints of a boy and his dog walking through the Chauvet cave in southern France revealed carbon-dating much earlier than previously thought about the domestication of dogs from wolves. The author also details differences between wolves and dogs, what we’ve learned about how dogs think through MRI exams, how law enforcement, search/rescue and therapy dogs are trained, and more.  It is a wonderful science book that is so “readable” and touching I forgot it was a “science” book.  Anyone who loves reading about dogs will love this real-life dog story.

In Over Their Heads

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In book two of this series, the war continues with between the robots. Erin and Nick are two human children raised by robot parents. Erin and Nick, with Ava and Jackson, the illegal robot children in which the parents made, take their robot parents on the run to escape from the killer robots. The family arrives in the forest near a maze of caves where they meet Lida Mae.

The robot father connects to the internet which allows the killer robots to track their location. When the robots come for the family, the parents shut down so they can’t be tracked which leaves the kids on the run through the caves. They discover a cavern that is for robots only. Ava connects and learns there are baby robots in the cave that have the ability to grow as humans do. Eventually the killer robots surround the kids within the cave and prepare to kill everyone, human and robot. However, Erin comes up with a plan to connect her robot sister, Ava, to a killer robot and reprogram the killer robot with kindness. Because the killer robots are all internet connected, they all reprogram to see the good in the world.

The Year of the Garden

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When eight-year-old Anna Wang is given several packets of seeds and a copy of The Secret Garden by an elderly neighbor, she becomes intent on growing a garden of her own in the yard of her family’s new home. She meets Laura, also a new girl in the neighborhood, and together they start the work of plotting the land and turning the soil.  In this prequel to The Year of the Book, you can join Anna in a year of discovery, new beginnings, friendships, and growth.  Patrice Barton’s softly blended monochromatic illustrations match the delicacy of the text. Fans of Anna and Laura’s adventures will enjoy seeing the beginning of the girls’ friendship.

 

Monster Science: Could Monsters Survive (And Thrive!) in the Real World

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This book discusses whether different monsters (Frankenstein, vampires, yetis, sea monsters, etc.) could exist. “If you’re thinking this book will tell you monsters are definitely, no-doubt-about-it real, you’re out of luck. Instead, it will give you information to help you decide for yourself what is fact and what is fiction…”

The text gives the history to how these monsters came to be well known and then includes information on why a person might act like a zombie for example. The illustrations would appeal to a younger set of students, but the text is written for an older student base. It is broken up with text features such as headings, text boxes, and monster facts. The end of each section includes a short quiz and there is a lengthy index in the back of the book.

While this topic appeals to many of my students and I think the book will be a popular check out, I think it is a book that students will read bits and pieces.

The Darkest Magic (Spirits and Thieves # 2)

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The Darkest Magic is the second book in what will be a trilogy titled Spirits and Thieves. This series is a spin-off of Morgan Rhodes very popular six book Falling Kingdom series. The Spirits and Thieves series will appeal to those who enjoyed the Falling Kingdom series, as it provides insights into the backstory of that series. The Darkest Magic does not stand alone. The reader must read A Book of Spirits and Thieves for The Darkest Magic to make sense. Once the reader reaches for The Darkest Magic, she enters a world of high fantasy.

The first book is of modern day sisters, Crystal and Becca, from Toronto, Canada, who find a book of magic that sends Becca’s spirit to Ancient Mytica. This is a powerful book and there are enemies who would kill them for it. In the second book, the sisters are reunited in modern-day Toronto, but they have to deal with the dangers from the Ancient world, and the danger of the evil Hawkspear Society (a cult-like group), that will do anything to find the sisters and obtain the book.

This is a very exciting contemporary saga that will engage YA readers of fantasy and adventure.

How To Disappear

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How to Disappear is a thrilling mystery told in the dual narration of the hunter (Jack) and the hunted (Nicholette). Nicholette, a popular HS cheerleader who has never been in trouble, witnesses the murder of a young woman in the woods near her house. Jack, a straight-A student athlete about to graduate from HS, is from a family of criminals. In fact, his father was a hit man and his older brother is in jail for armed assault. But once the murder occurs, Nicholette goes on the run to get away from the murderer, and Jack’s brother forces him to do what he can’t do himself: track down Nicholette and kill her. If he doesn’t, Jack’s mother’s life is in danger, as is his own.

The rest of the book is a cat and mouse game between Nicholette and Jack. There is mystery, adventure, and forbidden love.

The Edge of the Light (Whidbey Island Saga # 4)

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The Edge of the Light is the fourth and final (according to the jacket) book in the Whidbey Island Sage. If it is true that this is the last book in the series, then I encourage you NOT to read it, as it will leave you frustrated and feeling incomplete. The major plot threads are not resolved. The reader doesn’t have any inkling of what will happen to the main character, even though the author built intrigue with the storyline of an investigative journalist having tracked her down. The reader is left hanging, as if there were to be a fifth book.  IF there is a fifth book, then I would encourage the reader to start with book one and continue through to the conclusion. It’s just that book four does not conclude the story.

This series will appeal to those who are familiar with western Washington state and the Puget Sound area. Set on Whidbey Island, the story centers on a group of teenaged friends facing a number of issues:  A grandmother with nice real estate that is being exploited by her daughter while the grandson, Seth, tries to protect her; Seth’s girlfriend, Prynne, who he wants to stay with but is worried about her drug use; Derrick, a refugee from the war in Uganda who is trying to locate his sister, Rejoice; Jenn, who is experiencing romantic feelings towards her teammate Cynthia, but worrying how her Christian conservative mother will respond; and then there is a Becca. Becca can read people’s thoughts and tries to make sense of what they think and say. She tries to solve their problems without letting them know how much she actually knows.

The plot is full of the issues and challenges these teen friends experience: elder abuse,  Alzheimer’s disease, drug use, lesbian relationships, and, of course, the paranormal abilities of Becca and her quest to keep this secret.

If a satisfactory conclusion wasn’t absent, this would be a fun read for YA mystery fans.

Gemini

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Gemini, by Sonya Mukherjee, takes on the difficult struggle of conjoined twin seventeen year-old sisters Hailey and Clara. Joined from the waist down, at their spine, the girls cannot be surgically separated. Now seniors in high school, they each have their own dreams and aspirations, and these don’t match each others, nor their mother’s. Told from dual points of view, the reader feels the struggle of each girl, and witnesses their self discovery and self acceptance.

There are few fictional books on this subject. One by Sarah Corssant is, I feel, more realistic (case in point: many conjoined twins don’t even live to the age of 17). Nonetheless, this is an intriguing and heart wrenching story.

Just Kill Me

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Just Kill Me, by Adam Selzer, misses the mark. While the story starts off with the intriguing warning of the main character Megan finding the letters of D, I, and E remaining in her alphabet cereal, the rest of the premise is lacking. Megan, employed by a ghost tour company in Chicago, helps produce more ghosts by killing near-death people in a nursing home; in essence mercy killings. Implausible as this is, it’s even effective in that the murders are all talk without action: nothing is shown. This is the same problem found with the character development: there are references to bi-sexuality, but without action. This book just doesn’t engage the reader in connecting to the characters or to the plot.