Category: Reviewed by Chrissie

Seraphina’s father, a high ranking official, was extremely overprotective and wished to keep her hidden away as much as possible.  She assumed it was because her mother had died in childbirth and somewhat forgave his overbearing nature, but that didn’t mean she was pleased with his strict rules — especially the rule forbidding her from playing music.  When she found her mother’s old flute, she taught herself how to play and then played in front of some party guests to force his hand with music lessons.  Serafina did not understand why this caused him to become so enraged and to fear for her safety, but she was pleased that he at last conceded to let her study music with tutor named Orma [a dragon in human form].  The lessons improved her skill so much that she eventually became apprentice to a famous musician and then even became a tutor for the princess.  When Seraphina discovered the secret that drove her father’s fear, she began to understand that working with such high-ranking people put her in grave danger, but it was too late.  At that point, she could only hope to keep safe and to protect the people she cared about.

It wasn’t exactly easy to be an independent teenage girl in New York City in 1911, but Aurora Lewis wouldn’t let societal norms dictate her life.  She refused to give up on her musical studies to attend a “finishing school” because she was determined to play violin in a symphony someday.  When she arrived at violin lessons one Saturday morning, though, she found the studio a mess and the window open — despite the winter chill in the air.  Looking down from the window, she found her teacher dead on the sidewalk… and was accused, by street hooligans, of having pushed him!  Although the police cleared her when they deemed his death an accident, Aurora wasn’t satisfied with that result and decided that she and her friends would have to solve this murder themselves.  This book was well written, fast-paced, and full of interesting musical and historical facts.

Even though the rest of her family has psychic abilities, Blue was born without the ability to do more than to amplify the powers of others.  Because of this amplification, Blue is always expected to be present for the parade of souls on St. Mark’s Eve.  At this parade, her mother records the names of the people who are marching — because they will die sometime in the next year.  And, though Blue has never been able to see anyone before, she both sees and hears a Raven Boy named Gansey.  Blue has always had a policy of avoiding Raven Boys [a.k.a. students of nearby Aglionby Prep] because they usually mean trouble.  But, she is both inexplicably drawn to Gansey and curious whether she saw him because she is his true love or the reason for his death.

Jordan Klein loved living in New York City and was less than pleased when she found out that her family had to move to Texas for the entire summer.  Why?  Her Uncle Jacob got caught trying to smuggle “contraband” [bibles] into China and was advised not to leave the country until charges were officially dropped.  Since Jordan’s father, Eli, was a professor of religious studies, he was asked to be the substitute pastor for his brother’s small-town church in Texas.  Jordan and her mom were both upset about leaving NYC for three months but figured Eli would probably realize he made a mistake and head home after only a couple of weeks.  Upon arrival, Jordan didn’t think she would ever get used to her temporary home… but she soon made some friends and found herself less anxious to leave town.  As readers might expect, the summer was life-changing.  Jordan learned a lot about herself that she may not have discovered if not for this move.  What I didn’t expect, nevertheless, was the crazy twist at the end or just how funny most of this book would be.  (I’m talking, laughing out loud so often that I had my coworkers staring at me during lunch funny!)  If you’re looking for a story that asks big questions without weighing you down, you should definitely check this one out.

If you’re into mystery and suspense, and you aren’t worried about potentially getting creeped out and/or ending up with nightmares, this could be the book for you!  Evie O’Neill has a gift — she can “read” people’s pasts just by touching an item they’ve used.  The only problem is that Evie used this gift as a party trick, and she ended up making a local big shot very angry.  Her parents decided that the easiest course of action would be to ship her off to live with her Uncle Will in New York City until things blew over.  Little did they realize that Evie was thrilled to be heading out of Ohio and into a big city where her flapper style and sassy attitude would be better appreciated!

Uncle Will, aside from being Evie’s new guardian, also happens to be the the curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult (a.k.a. the “Museum of the Creepy Crawlies”).  Because there’s an occult-based serial killer on the loose, Will’s expertise is called upon by the NYPD.  When Evie manages to tag along to one of the crime scenes, she ends up touching a shoe buckle of the victim and sees something about the murderer.  She is sure that her gift could be used help in the investigation… but how can she help without revealing her secret?

15-year-old Evie Spooner is a bit awkward and wishes she could grow up a little bit a lot faster.  She wishes she could be more like her mom, Beverly, whom she sees as a beautiful (albeit over-protective) mother and housewife who is capable of making practically anything look elegant.  Being a housewife is more of a recent thing for Beverly, though.  During WWII, Beverly had to work in a local department store to help support her family, but her husband/Evie’s step-father is back from the war and is able to take care of his family again.  Joe’s appliance stores are doing really well, and he is happy to be back home in Queens, but the sudden appearance of a war buddy [Peter Coleridge] gets Joe acting strangely.  Apropos of nothing, he decides to take Evie and Beverly to Palm Beach.  The town is mostly shut down because they’re there during the wrong season, but they manage to find a room at Le Mirage — where they end up meeting a glamorous couple, Mr. and Mrs. Grayson [also from New York City].  Secrets slowly unfold, as Evie sees and hears things she shouldn’t…  But, by the time Evie figures out what’s going on, she is already caught in the middle of a web of lies.  This is a great mystery, especially for people who enjoy historical fiction.

Victor Frankenstein and his twin brother, Konrad, have shared in many adventures with their cousin, Elizabeth, and their friend, Henry.  On one such adventure, they discovered the Dark Library — filled with ancient books about dark magic and alchemy.  When their father found out, he forbade them from entering the library again.  After Konrad fell ill with an unidentified malady that the doctors’ treatments and medicines could not cure, nevertheless, Victor decided to seek an ancient remedy in the books of the Dark Library.  Full of action, adventure, and mystery, this back-story to Shelley’s Frankenstein is a gothic thriller that will probably even appeal to reluctant readers.

This book was *so* creepy, but so well done.  Imagine Stepford wives drawn, by magic, from the bodies of seals.  The basic storyline is that the men of Rollrock Island hire a witch named Miskaella who uses her magic to “make” them wives from the seals who visit their beach.  Once the woman has been drawn out of the seal, her husband only needs to keep her seal skin hidden away so that she cannot leave.  The seal-women are beautiful and obedient, but they desperately miss their lives and families in the sea.  The human-born women all leave the island in disgust, but the men don’t seem to be fazed because they would rather have the beautiful creatures who bow to their every whim.  I loved how the story was told from the perspectives of multiple people, including Miskaella herself.  Not quite as dark as Lanagan’s Tender Morsels, but a dark tale nonetheless.

Imagine a world in which people were promised a “cure” that could take away all heartache.  Peace and happiness for all as long as everyone has a simple procedure?  If it sounds too good to be true, that’s probably because it is.  Lena has been raised to believe that love is a disease [Amor Deliria Nervosa] and that life without love is the safest and most stable way to live.  People don’t fall in love and get married anymore — they get paired based on government-imposed ratings and compatibility of interests.  It’s safer and easier to just fall in line, but Lena has a hard time forgetting the mother who could not be cured and whose last words to her, before committing suicide, were “I love you.”  Only a few months before her own procedure, Lena has a chance encounter with a young man named Alex.  Despite government assurances that all “invalids” [non-cured people living outside of society] have been taken care of, she’s pretty sure Alex *is* an invalid.  And when she starts experiencing symptoms of the Deliria, she also starts to question everything she’s ever taken for granted.  Is love really a disorder?  Does the government really have everyone’s best interests at heart?  And, most importantly, should Lena go ahead with her own procedure or follow her heart?

Adam Strand can die; he’s killed himself plenty of times, and in plenty of different ways…  He just can’t manage to stay dead.  Doctors can’t figure it out, and the people in his town have actually gotten so used to Adam trying to kill himself that it seems to register as more of a nuisance than a shock when someone finds him dead.  People basically throw him in the back of their car or truck, schlep him home, and leave him in the care of his parents until he wakes up alive again.  The thing I found most interesting is that Adam wasn’t necessarily depressed so much as he just didn’t care enough to think life was worth the bother.  It’s pretty impressive that Galloway managed to write such a philosophical story without coming off as pretentious.  If you’re into dark humor and books that make you think, you should definitely acquaint yourself with Adam Strand.

Period 8 is a class like no other.  Regardless of how they get along outside of class, everyone is equal in Period 8.  The teacher, Mr. Logsdon [a.k.a. Logs], has a lot to do with that.  His only rules are that everyone has to be honest and that nothing leaves the room.  Students are encouraged to share or discuss anything they wish, but they are also allowed to just listen to the others if they don’t wish to talk.  When one of the Period 8 students — Mary “Virgin Mary” Wells — goes missing, everyone is worried.  She never misses school, and her dad is known for being insanely strict, so the fact that she went missing AND that her dad waited three days to report her missing has people feeling very unsettled.  Paulie Baum [a.k.a “Paulie Bomb”] is acting strangely too.  And even though Paulie is known for ALWAYS telling the truth, Logs can tell he is holding something back.  Could Paulie know something about Mary’s disappearance?  And, if he does, why wouldn’t he say?

If you’re looking for a story that relates to teens’ lives without talking down to them and seamlessly combines everyday situations with a mystery/thriller scenario — while appealing to guys and girls alike, no less! — look no further.  This book was everything fans of Chris Crutcher have come to expect with a little extra thrown in — fast paced, lots of action, and so many twists and turns that I honestly couldn’t guess them all before the story’s conclusion.

It’s the summer before senior year and Jude has a job at the local beach.  It sounds like a pretty sweet deal, but flipping burgers can be pretty tedious no matter the locale.  Apart from working at the beach, Jude doesn’t do much else.  His mother is still extremely depressed over the loss of his little sister, Lily, who drowned in the family swimming pool seven years ago, and trying to deal with his own grief while walking on eggshells around his mom is practically full-time work.  Jude has some friends with whom he sometimes hangs out, and he occasionally plays guitar, but he usually finds escape in running.  Unlike his father, who has gadgets to help him precisely track his running, Jude likes to run barefoot and without a plan.  Running away from it all seems to be the only way he can find happiness… That is, until he meets Becka.

The grief in this book is so biting and real that I actually found myself flashing back to when I lost people I loved and cared about.  Aside from simply being a really well-written story, I think this book would work well as bibliotherapy for teens who are dealing with grief of their own or trying to understand someone else who is grieving.