Authors of this self-help book are both Harvard graduates who have crafted a fine book of guidelines for parents, students and school staff for how to succeed in all the many aspects of college/university choice and acceptance.  Any student in 10th or 11th grade ought to examine this book with their parents at their side because it provides so many practical and proven tips on testing, ratings, applications, essays, recommendations, visitations–just to name a few.  Each chapter begins with key points that will be covered, and there are highlighted text boxes that show examples of various points throughout.  A rather exhaustive book, my suggestion to readers is to break it down and refer to various chapters as needed:  pre-college planning, preparing an essay, how to prepare for the interview, what makes for a good recommendation and how to garner one, etc.  Humor helps break up the intellectual tone of the book, i.e., ice cream colleges and “No-No” topics for essays.  I disagree with the authors’ remark that there is a ton of financial aid available due to recent economic cut-backs.  Resources, sample worksheets that can be printed and written on and an index are included.

Michael Carroll’s success with his Quantum Prophecy series continues to spill over with this second book of a trilogy that is a prequel to the 1st series.  The evil Krodin was gone, or so the superhumans Roz, Abby, Lance and Thunder thought 3 weeks earlier when walked away into their separate lives again.  But overnight everything changes.  The U.S. is now run by Chancellor Krodin.  Martial law is in place and each of the main characters will be chase all over the U.S. by Krodin’s forces once they begin using their superhuman powers.  This section of the story is a bit challenging to read as a stand alone.  Though Carroll does give background via character’s conversations and has flashbacks to the previous book, each chapter also houses at least two shifts of scene, sometimes three.  For a few pages Abby will shooting her arrows to crash a hovercraft and then Lance will be in jail for alledgedly lying to a police officer. Carrol is a master of creating suspenseful cliffhangers — great to keep a reader going, but slightly frustrating that the next chunk jump around so much, like from Max’s setting in the citadel to Roz’s scene with Victoria.  It’s difficult to have to wait until it’s Max’s scene again.  Still, any cartoon superhero fans will probably love this prose rendition of a superhero tale.  With not a single love interest or use of foul language, it can easily span upper elementary to high school audiences as an additional purchase if you already have the Quantum Prophecy series.

Flyaway grabbed me from the start and I didn’t stop until the final decision was made.  Stevie is a junior in high school with too much on her figurative plat and very little on her real plate.  Her mother’s “profession” gets her harrassed at school and her mother’s personal choices keep Stevie’s mind racing as to her mother’s safety.  With issues no high school student should have to deal with, but probably too many of our actually do, Flyaway is a fierce account of one girl’s mental fight to do what is right just for her.  Helen Landalf does not shy away from any of the issues she brings up.  Drugs and alcohol abuse keep this title for the older young adult audience, but I particularly like the brutal honesty that comes from all of Landalf’s characters.  Stevie is not an angel herself, but she will make the right choices to lift herself to better places in the end.  This is highly recommended for high school libraries.

The honest, evenly balanced research and writing of Denver Nicks in Private Bradley Manning, Wikileaks, and the Biggest Exposure of Official Secrets in American History is refreshing.  Nicks assessment of situations, inferences from thousands of both email transcripts and personal interviews, and wry writing style give a fair critique of both t Manning and the U.S. government’s responsibility for the leak to happen at all.  Woven throughout this battle, of course, is the entity of Wikileaks itself, with Julian Assange at the helm.  Readers will not only get a history lesson, but two biographies to boot.  Nicks braids the story of Bradley Manning, from his entry into the Armed Forces to his detention at Quantico and beyond, with that of Assange, a hacker turned self-righteous solicitor of information and money, though his rule over Wikileaks ironically turns out to be more autocratic than one would think Wikileaks would allow.  Much interesting information is given about the positive connotation of the hacker community in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.  Had Bradley Manning been born 20 years earlier and had found a safe haven with his sexuality, his intelligence would have gotten him much farther in the “Information should be free” world.  But Manning has manic periods brought on by so many reasons, all of which are fairly and tastefully explored by Nicks. And his choice to pursue a military career is the perfect storm.  This text holds a wealth of information and should be in all college and public libraries.

Pinned presents a refreshing twist on the girl meets boy theme – overcoming disabilities.  Autumn is the only female on the wrestling team.  Autumn has no confidence in her academic ability and is working below grade level.  Autumn’s parents take her off of the wrestling team because her grades. She can pin an opponent in a wrestling match but she faces opposition from Adonis, the team’s manager and an honor student who is wheel chair bound, when she tries to pin him down for tutoring, friendship and romance.   In addition to this dynamic, Sharon Flake brings in other realities, such as the wealthy, well educated parents of a friend of Autumn’s expecting so much of their child that she cheats her way to good grades vs. Autumn’s parents who try to show her that her education can allow her to achieve more than the hard life they have been living.  Autumn is a strong female character trying to do the right thing throughout the story.  Flake’s award winning realistic narrative writing style thrusts this plot line even further.  Many students will enjoy Pinned.  It is highly recommended!

Piper knows she’s cynical.  Falling in love is not something she aspires to do. In fact, she usually walks away before she can every really get to know a guy.  Enter her two best girlfriends with a love potion plan to find boyfriends by Feburary 14th.  The fact that her single mother of three owns a floral shop and that Piper works for a candy shop owner only makes the weeks leading up to Valentine’s day a stressful combination of angst.  But the character Heather Hepler develops in Piper is surprisingly insightful, respectful, and not as melodramatic as the chic lit cover filled with candy “consternation” hearts might lead one on to believe.  Piper gets her man, but does she really want him?  Her soul mate might just be closer than she imagined.  The predictability of the ending is one small flaw. Another is the “thrown in” conflict of Piper’s real father coming into the picture.   This read is more about realizing that repressed feelings can put all relationships at risk until the eventual implosion or explosion that is necessary to move on.

The cover, featuring a handsome shirtless lifeguard, gives the reader the impression that The Lifeguard will be a romantic beach read. But the reader may be disappointed. The characters are poorly defined; for instance the reader learns next to nothing about the lifeguard, Pilot, other than that he is handsome and has supernatural healing powers. Sirena, the main character, doesn’t articulate what it is about Pilot, other than his good looks, that has her so obsessed with him.  It may just be the supernatural “presence” that read people can’t understand.  And everything about her is extreme — the high to low roller coaster of her emotions makes for a bumpy ride.  The best character is Pilot’s grandfather, from whom Sirena learns the most about life.  The plot defies believability but the novel likely will appeal to the most die hard romance fans.

Shift is the sequel to Shade and is the second book in the Shade Trilogy. Shift takes up two months after Shade ends and continues the story of Aura, her dead boyfriend Logan, and a new love interest Zachary. This paranormal love triangle romance is full of action, dangerous and sexy entanglements with twists and turns. An intriguing, steamy romance that will have the readers turning the pages with anticipation.  Note: This is a very mature Young Adult novel with erotic images.

The final book in the Avatar Chronicles trilogy, Edda‘s story follows immediately upon the previous books, Epic and Sage. As very little back story is presented in Edda, it is best read after the first two books. The main character, Penelope has known no world beside the video game universe of Edda her entire life. She is the only human avatar in a land of electronic beings, and has been virtually abandoned by the humans of her planet. The main plot of Edda concerns the threat of war emerging between Edda and Saga. Secrets come out about Penelope’s past, and loyalties are tested.

This fantasy contains the same main characters as the first two books and makes it easy to keep track of the characters over the course of the series.

The sequel to Trickster’s Girl, Traitor’s Son continues an intriguing adventure story, full of non-stop action and interesting characters, including a likable teenaged hero. Blending magic and science with Pacific Northwest Native mythology, this fantasy novel will appeal to teenage readers.