The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, 2012 Dutton Publishers

     Hazel has cancer in her lungs. She requires supplemental oxygen to survive, even on a level far below that of normal people. When she meets Augustus Waters through a mutual friend at Support Group she is instantly stunned by his charisma and the fact that he's staring at her.
     Augustus asks Hazel to hang out immediately. He's different than most of the guys she's known: confident in his insecurities, charming, arrogant, but he still understands that life cannot be taken too seriously. In his own way he's fascinating, and thus begins a whirlwind romance.
     They share everything from books to music, stories about their illnesses, families, friends; Hazel and Augustus become the best of friends. When Hazel tells Augustus her questions for the author of her favorite book, and how the author won't respond, Augustus makes it possible for her to ask her questions.
     As his illness progresses, Hazel and Augustus' relationship both deepens and transforms. Hazel acknowledges that it is because of Augustus that she understands her favorite novel even better--that she understands love better.
     The relationship John Green describes in The Fault in Our Stars is not the usual relationship depicted in fiction about cancer. It is a real relationship between two teens facing the mystery of the future; facing the possibility of death.

The Indian in the Cupboard

The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks, 1980 Avon Publishing

     When Omri receives an old cupboard for his birthday he is surprised by the cupboard's magic. Using an old key, Omri brings to life a miniature Iroquois Indian figurine. The Indian, Little Bear, is disappointed to be in Omri's world and becomes demanding, but he and Omri become friends.
     Omri shows his best friend, Patrick, the magic cupboard and Patrick wants to bring one of his figurines to life. He brings Boone, a cowboy from the old west, to life and the bickering between cowboys and Indians becomes more than a social memory.
     However, Omri refuses to turn Boone back to plastic until it is nearly too late. Little Bear shoots him with an arrow and the little man nearly dies. After some scrambling Boon survives, but it is some time before the men trust each other.
     With the power of life and death in his hands, Omri faces some difficult choices. He learns the value of friendship and the 'softer feelings' his older brother teases him about. From wanting everything to turn out how he imagines to understanding the responsibility for doing what's right or best for a friend, Omri learns much from his miniature companions.

Halo

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto, 2010 Feiwel & Friends

     Today's world isn't what it used to be. It is much less Godly than ever before and Bethany Church, along with her sister Ivy and brother Gabriel, is sent from Heaven to help bring balance to the world. The angels land in a small town and integrate into daily life.
     Ivy, a seraph, volunteers in the community. Gabriel, the archangel, teaches music at the elite public high school where Bethany is a student. Unlike her removed siblings, Bethany has no problem fitting in with human life. She is the most human of the three angels and begins to fall into the normal patterns of her classmates.
     She even falls in love: Xavier is a unique young man for the modern world. He is the swim team captain, class president, valedictorian, and his family is Catholic. But at the edge of their idyllic world is Jake Thorn. Bethany can't figure out what it is about Jake that bothers her so.
     As Jake tries to lure her away from Xavier, Bethany clings to the relationship and tries to avoid Jake. She even breaks all the rules and reveals her identity to Xavier as their relationship progresses. Neither Ivy nor Gabriel is happy with the decision, but bring Xavier in on their divine mission. The three angels take their mission seriously and fight for peace in their small town and beyond.
     The story has strong Christian elements but is a typical coming of age story. Bethany begins to explore the human world and to experience emotions angels cannot feel. She questions what it means in terms of her angelic identity, but is firm in her belief in God's love.

Bloodlines

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead, 2011 Razorbill Publishing

     Bloodlines is a spin-off of Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series. It is the first novel in its series and follows Sydney Sage. She and her family are Alchemists, a group of humans who have taken it upon themselves to prevent vampires from preying on humans and taking advantage of the discrepancies between human and vampire abilities.
     Sydney is like any other human girl, except for her place among the Alchemists, and her enhanced abilities. Somewhere in her past she helped to establish Lissa Dragomir as queen of the Moroi, a "less disgusting" type of vampire. In Mead's world, there are two types of vampires: the undead dhamphir, and the not yet dead moroi. While the Alchemists find the Moroi acceptable so long as they remain isolated from humanity, the dhamphir are to be destroyed at all cost.
     When Sydney is dragged out of bed in the middle of the night to play babysitter to Lissa's sister Jill at Amberwood Prep, a boarding school in Palm Springs, California, neither Jill nor Sydney are happy about the decision. But as soon as they think things are starting to settle down, Sydney discovers things are rarely as simple as they seem. Something vampire is lurking around Amberwood Prep and Sydney is going to discover the truth.
     The conflict between what Sydney sees as her duty to protect human-kind and the responsibility she has to keep Jill alive and prevent civil war makes her unsure of herself. When she allows herself to see the humanity in her new vampire companions, and even to see how an alliance--a lasting alliance--could stop all she's been fighting for her entire life. Bloodlines is a young adult novel, more appealing to teens.

The Hope Chest

The Hope Chest by Karen Schwabach, 2008 Random House

   In 1920 the world was changing. Violet only saw her brother come home from World War I shell shocked and bed-ridden and her sister leave home for New York City and the chance to become a nurse. Violet stayed home with her sometimes harshly ignorant father and her mother, who was mourning her son's loss.
     One day Violet discovered letters her sister had written and her parents had kept from her. Incensed, the eleven-year-old fled to New York to meet with her older sister. When she arrived Chloe had already left the city to help in the women's suffrage movement. Violet continues to look for Chloe, and accepts the aid of a young black girl, an orphan sent north for training as a maid. The pair go to Washington, DC then on to Tennessee where Chloe is fighting for votes to ratify the 19th Amendment.
     Violet's parents say Chloe has become "The Wrong Sort of Person" but Violet finds herself becoming more and more like Chloe with each new experience. Violet stands on the brink of listening to her parents and living their ideals, and becoming her own person with thoughts and political opinions of her own. This story follows that transition, with historical photographs and material to show readers where in the scope of history Violet fits. Elementary readers will enjoy the fast-paced action and even learn something about the fight for Women's Suffrage.

The Rising

The Rising by Kelley Armstrong, 2013 Harper

     Maya Delaney and her friends are paranormal experiments. Maya is a skin-walker, able to transform into a cougar. Her best friend Daniel is a benandanti or demon hunter with powers of persuasion and a "super-shout". Their friend Corey gets visions and has a power of charm, it seems all of the teens in their small town have some sort of power. But Salmon Creek is long gone and the friends are on the run from two powerful Cabals who want to control their powers.
     After escaping a forest fire, kidnapping via evacuation helicopter, being chased by the Cabal, losing four of their group, meeting and escaping Maya's biological father, and attending their own funerals the three friends are hoping for any help they can find. When Maya's twin brother shows up the trio isn't sure whether or not they can trust him. Ash has his own issues, but when Maya is captured to allow his escape he meets up with Daniel and Corey.
     The side effects of each teen's transition are surfacing; Corey's headaches are becoming debilitating and Maya is regressing into blind rages where she will attack anyone and everyone. They need the Cabal and its research to stabilize, while Maya is trapped in the Nasts' compound she realizes and recognizes the need. But she still tries to escape. Her biological father, who works for the Cabal, helps Maya, her boyfriend Rafe, and their friend Hayley escape.
     He suggests a plan of negotiation that involves finding another escaped group of paranormal teens. But it takes more than just a call to get their cooperation and even more to evade another capture. Maya and her friends are tired of running, but they will not concede without getting at least part of their lives back.
     Maya, Daniel and the rest of the kids from Salmon Creek have lived pampered lives, but they still know how to fight back and want to maintain their independence. Rather than let the Cabal take care of them, they hope to become more than simply experiments; they are real people and have hopes and dreams. Maya discovers more about her own life, her relationships, and her hopes for the future while running than while in the protective bubble of the Cabal's influence. In the final book of the Darkness Rising Series, Maya discovers who she is, who she wants to be, and how to use her circumstances to her own advantage. The book is focused toward teen readers.

Dead Witch Walking

Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison, 2004 Harper Voyager

      Rachel Morgan is a runner for Inderland Security--the I.S. for short--hunting down and arresting the bad guys. But when she decides to get out and start her own firm, the I.S. is not pleased. Rachel's vampire partner, Ivy, and pixy backup, Jenks, follow her and the trio become partners in Vampiric Charms. But in the midst of the changes, the I.S. puts out a contract for Rachel and the demon Algaliarept begins chasing her down.
   Rachel and Ivy move into an old church, renting it from Piscary, the city's master vampire. To thwart her death threat, Rachel moves to take down Trent Kalamack and his illegal Brimstone trade. Trent is a powerful inderlander, holding a seat on Cincinnati's city council but of indeterminate origins, and when he catches Rachel sneaking into his compound as a mink he captures her and forces her to fight in the underground rat fights.
     Before she ends up in the fights, Trent keeps Rachel in his office where she slowly starves herself (she doesn't want to eat poisons or something that will affect her magic) until Trent's new secretary feeds her carrots from her own lunch. Rachel learns about the inner workings of Trent's compound and discovers other, more unsavory business dealings than just illegal Brimstone.
     Rachel is even more determined to escape the rat fights and take Trent down. She discovers the reigning champion is another human-turned-rodent and together they arrange to escape. But even she realizes that she'll need stronger magic to complete the task. She considers black magic and the rat, a human named Nick, helps her get into the restricted books at the local university.
     Just as Rachel and Nick find a book that might be helpful Algaliarept appears to kill Rachel. Nick manages to command him to return both of them to the church where Jenks' wife Matalina and Keasley, the mysterious witch across the street, patch Rachel up. Ivy goes to the Federal Inderland Bureau (the F.I.B. is the human-run equivalent of the I.S.) trying to get Captain Edden to go after Trent.  Edden cannot touch Trent, but Rachel makes another foray into his compound and finds security that prevents Trent from killing her. Trent is unhappy that his attempts at damage control fail and continues trying to get Rachel under his control.
     Rachel Morgan has her own ideas about how the world should work; though she plays within the rules she gets results the "good guys" can't always get. Her tenacity and independence are remarkable, yet they are what also pushes her into the vat of trouble she inevitably finds. Rachel is a strong woman living in a difficult world and surviving. Mature readers will be able to understand more of the gray reasoning behind some of Rachel's exploits, and some content is more suitable for older readers
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MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors

MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors by Richard Hooker, 1968 Pocket Books

     This post is going to be a little different because of the different media encompassed. I was excited about finding the MASH book because I've been watching the television show since I was a kid. It was fascinating to see the transition of the story: the movie, and television show, were based on this book. I hadn't noticed when I saw the movie or in watching the show--I guess they didn't credit the author unless he or she was associated with the screen production too--so I was surprised when all three of the renditions were similar.
     The show follows Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, a Captain in the US Army stationed at a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital situated near the front lines. He lives in "The Swamp" with a rotation of four other officers and makes it through the Korean War by drinking and flirting outrageously with any and all women he comes across. Yet, he is still one of the best doctors in Asian campaign, with an honest care for the well-being of the people around him. Hawkeye and his friends' hi-jinks illustrate the futility of war while still showing their humanity: their pranks and shows of temper are how they maintain dignity in the midst of one of the most brutal situations man faces.

     The movie is a precursor to the television show and based on the novel. A dark comedy about the same characters and problems as in the novel and television show. The 4077 MASH calls in two replacement doctors and gets Hawkeye and Captain "Duke" Forrest. The two encounter their new tent-mate, Major Frank Burns, who is extremely religious and an inferior surgeon to Hawkeye and Duke. A new surgeon arrives, "Trapper" John, whom Hawkeye knew in college. Hi-jinks ensue and Burns is sent stateside. Meanwhile, the unit's dentist confesses to the chaplain that he is considering suicide. He comes to the Swampmen (for they again live in a tent named "The Swamp") for a quick and easy way to finish it. The three men suggest a "black-pill" quick acting poison and prepare a Last Supper-like going away party for the dentist. The black-pill is a sleeping pill and the dentist's confidence is renewed when he spends the night with one of the nurses, negating his worry of inability to perform. The movie then includes Trapper and Hawkeye's journey to Japan to save a congressman's son. Through blackmail and political implication they escape court-martial and run into a friend of Hawkeye's from college. The story ends with a football game between the 4077th and 325th MASH units. Both sides have ringers and the 4077th manages to win through a combination of cheating and trickery. Soon afterward Hawkeye and Duke are discharged and sent home.
     The book is much like both the movie and the television series. Character outlines vary and some characters are combined to create those who appear in both the movie and television show. I found the personifications between the book and shows enlightening. Alan Alda as Hawkeye in the show has always struck me as the perfect character, but in reading the book I realize how much the two are intertwined. Donald Sutherland as Hawkeye in the movie is a good imagining, but he doesn't have as much of the carefree rake in his personification as Alda's Hawkeye does. Yet the Hawkeye of the book isn't quite as much of a womanizer as in the television show. The relationships between characters, though, are spot-on. How they interact and react to each other, in both the show and movie, mirrors a relationship in the book that creates the community the characters can exist within.
     Despite the differences in characterizations between mediums, the MASH characters are powerful examples of humanity in times of trouble and chaos. I enjoyed all three tellings of Richard Hooker's story, though they are definitely adult entertainment. What if all franchises had this similarity threading through them?

Nights in Rodanthe

Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks, 2002 Warner Books

     When her daughter, Amanda, begins to lose touch with reality after her husband’s death, Adrienne begins to tell her about a relationship from the past.

     Three years after her divorce Adrienne was watching a bed and breakfast in Rodanthe, South Carolina, when she met Paul. Paul’s wife had filed for divorce and his life began to fall apart. When he stayed at the Inn in Rodanthe, and met Adrienne, Paul was on the way to see his estranged son in Ecuador. The two met and were attracted to each other; the connection was different than either of their marriages and, in the middle of a terrible storm, became lovers. Paul was only scheduled to stay for five days. During that time Adrienne and Paul shared their lives and declared their love for one another.

     Adrienne’s story for her daughter didn’t seem relevant to Amanda’s situation, but after their five days were over, Paul continued to Ecuador to see his son. Adrienne was his inspiration to become a better parent and they planned to meet again. They wrote love letters back and forth, continuing their relationship. Adrienne offered some of the letters to Amanda as proof of Paul’s love.

     The sudden end of her mother’s relationship doesn’t inspire Amanda to jump back into life, but her memories of her mother at the time of its end remind her that her children are waiting for her. Adrienne’s love story becomes the force pushing Amanda to get back to her life and her boys, who depend on her.

     Adrienne’s story is about the love between two people later in life, unlike many romances which focus on young love and people just starting out. It focuses on love as it blooms, changes and is lost. Nights in Rodanthe is a romance novel that features the death of a loved one, which may be difficult for young readers. It is aimed toward an adult audience. 

Spellcaster

Spellcaster by Claudia Gray, 2013 HarperTeen

Nadia Caldani is a witch, but shhh... don't tell anyone.
     When her mother abandoned Nadia, her little brother Cole, and their dad, Dad decided it would be better to make a new start in the small town of Captive's Sound, Rhode Island. But what he can't see is the barrier that causes them to crash their car as the Caldani family comes into town for the first time.
     Nadia can feel the magic throughout town, draining the small town of its life force. Especially the young man who somehow knew to rescue them from the storm and wreck on their arrival. Mateo's family is known for their Cabot Curse, which led one member from each generation of his family to see the future and go insane from the visions. Nadia has haunted Mateo's dreams, mostly dying, and when he meets her his first instinct is to avoid her. But his next instinct draws him closer.
     When a sinkhole sucks her car into the ground, Nadia unwittingly reveals her Craft to Verlaine. But unlike most people, Verlaine isn't put aside by the assurances that magic couldn't possibly exist, and when the two try to see the town's future Verlaine is excited by the prospect of becoming Nadia's Steadfast -- her partner and close friend in magic, lending power to her spells. When Mateo enters and the magic turns to him the young women are shocked: men cannot hold power, they cannot be told of magic, and they definitely cannot become a Steadfast!
     The three find something wrong in their dying town and band together to try and solve the problem. Along the way they discover that magic has touched everyone in town, but why and where did the magic come from? Nadia uncovers an ancient evil bent on unraveling the powers that are a part of Captive's Sound. When that evil turns out to be Mateo's oldest friend, life is completely turned upside down.
     Mateo and Nadia's relationship seems to heat up, their friendship with Verlaine becomes stronger (though why the rest of their classmates either ignore or are cruel to her continues to elude them), and Nadia's powers seem to be progressing enough to defeat their enemy. Through the new friendships in this new town Nadia regains confidence in her Craft and her family's new start seems to be just the ticket.
    Betrayal and abandonment feature significantly in Spellcaster. In turn, companionship and mutual respect (leading to love) become the antidote for the evils assaulting Captive's Sound. Nadia begins as an outcast by choice, but when she is drawn into society she becomes a support for the failing structures. There is a definite sense of what is right and wrong, sometimes it is charmingly naive, however Nadia and her friends discover what they are willing to lose and what they are willing to die for. The tale works well for middle school through high schoolers and lovers of Gray's other books.

The Black Stallion

The Black Stallion by Walter Farley, 1941 Random House

     Alec Ramsey is traveling home from a visit to his uncle in Arabia when his steamer is caught in a storm and sinks. The only living beings to survive are Alec and the powerful Arabian black stallion who wasn't happy to be on the boat to begin with. The boy and the horse survive when Alec manages to get the Black free from his stall, then catches hold of the halter-rope when he plunges into the sea. Alec clings to that rope when the stallion swims to a desert island where the two are stranded for some time.
     They are rescued and Alec brings the Black home with him. He befriends the retired horse trainer, Henry Dailey, who lives nearby and together Henry and Alec begin to train the Black for racing. The Black, however doesn't have proper documentation and cannot race other than as a mystery mount in a race between champions.

     Alec and Henry train and train the Black. They enter him into the champions’ race with Alec as jockey. Until the end it is a close race, but Alec’s love for the beautiful horse helps him to beat the favored champions.

     The relationship between Alec and the Black is the cornerstone of The Black Stallion. The two begin as distant companions, survivors of a similar trauma. In the end they are inseparable and their connection is unheard of in racing circles.

     The Black Stallion is a classic, read by generations of young readers internationally. It is the first in a prolific series continued after Walter Farley’s death by his son. 

The Sleeping Beauty

The Sleeping Beauty by Jacqueline Navin, 2001 Harlequin

     When Mr. Adam Mannion, Esquire, hears about a mysterious lady hidden in the wilds of Northumberland he goes north is search of her fortune and her pedigree. The woman is purported to be beautiful, charming, rich, and a recluse.

     Lady Helena Rathford has hidden in her father’s home since an accident crumpled her confidence and gave her vindictive servant the ammunition to keep Helena under her thumb. When Adam arrives and convinces Lord Rathford to marry them, his invasion into her private sanctuary is unbearable.

     At first the mysteries around Helena and the Rathford home are a fence between Adam and making the Northumberland estate his home. However, as time goes on and he begins to know the people and the property, he falls in love with not only his new properties, but also his wife.

     However, things are not as they seem in Northumberland. Something is working to place the blame for mysterious events on Helena. And while she and Mannion think they are becoming closer and closer their world is falling apart.

     When Helena’s history takes over their future, Mannion discovers how far he will go for the woman he loves.

     For a romance novel The Sleeping Beauty is mild, yet it does have some explicit scenes making it suited for high schoolers and older readers. The plot itself is somewhat of a mystery mixed with the sleeping beauty fairytale. 

Beastly

Beastly by Alex Flinn, 2007 HarperTeen

     Kyle Kingston is your typical spoiled brat. He enjoys coveted good looks—blonde hair, blue eyes, chiseled body, and above average height—his father’s money, and the arrogance that goes along with his elevated social status. Kyle takes pleasure in tormenting his less popular classmates. When he pushes the new girl too far, she turns him into a beast.

     But not an animal like a lion or bear, or even some combination of animals; Kendra turns Kyle into a sasquatch-esque creature with hair all over his body, claws, and the roar of a wild animal. He is given two years to find a girl who can love him despite his appearance, and to seal the deal with a kiss.

     Kyle is stuck in his beauty-dependent mindset and unsure of how he could possibly beat this curse. But when his father abandons him with the maid, Kyle negotiates for a tutor and everything he could want to live his isolated life.

     After a year Kyle begins to change.

     He finds a passion for gardening, and—when a man breaks into his greenhouse—a new friend who might break the curse. Lindy hates Kyle at first—he kidnapped her from her home and her father and the school she fought so hard to get into—but after a while she begins to enjoy her new home.

     Like most “Beauty and the Beast” tales Kyle and Lindy find their happily ever after, though in a non-traditional way. Their story isn’t Disney’s version but neither is it the darker Grimm horror story: Kyle and Lindy are teens in the modern world, complete with an online support group and pressures they must fight daily in their relationship.

     Beastly focuses on building a relationship based on caring for another person despite appearances or ability, and showing that caring through actions and behaviors. Readers as young as middle school may enjoy the story. 

Balthazar

Balthazar by Claudia Gray, 2012 HarperTeen

     After rescuing Bianca from Evernight Academy, Skye Tierney starts to have visions of death. Each time she encounters the scene of a violent death, whether it was a murder, suicide, or something as painful as a heart attack, Skye witnesses the event through the eyes of the victim. She reaches out to friends from Evernight with the hopes that her problems will be solved. However, the vampire sent to help her discovers there is more going on with Skye than anyone realized.

     It appears that Skye’s psychic abilities have given her blood unique properties: she can allow vampires to experience life again. When Lorenzo, one of Balthazar’s former companions, has a taste he brings Balthazar’s sire to the scene. Redgrave will stop at nothing to get Skye’s agreement, and if it hurts Balthazar in the process, so much the better.

     Balthazar finds a position at Skye’s school to be a nearby bodyguard. But when the drama in her life rises to the surface, vampires are not the only thing Balthazar wants to protect her from. When their relationship heats up, Skye’s so-called friend spreads a rumor that Skye is sleeping with her History teacher (a technically true rumor). In that unguarded moment Redgrave kidnaps Skye and Balthazar is forced to rely on some unlikely allies to save her.

     In the end, Skye faces the prospect of her hometown becoming the battleground for vampires fighting over her blood. With little left to chose from, Skye manages to embrace her new psychic abilities and hope for a future with the only man she’s truly loved.

     Balthazar has beaten himself raw over the centuries with guilt for his sister’s death, and the death of his first love. When Skye captures his attention and heart, he doesn’t know how to deal with the imbalance between his desires and what he should do. It takes her near-death to make him see that there is more to his undead life than the guilt at his death.

     Unlike the Evernight books, Balthazar deals with Skye and Balthazar’s journey, their relationship, and the aftermath of Lucas and Bianca’s happily-ever-after. Skye has been changed by her experience and Balthazar is learning to live again. Each has emotional trauma they work together to get through, while facing incredible odds. Their story is about overcoming fear, fighting for what you believe in, and survival even when you want to give up. The book is meant for high schoolers, with some intense sexual tension and implied amorous activities.

Insurgent

Insurgent by Veronica Roth, 2012 Katherine Tegen Books

     After the Erudite-controlled simulation destroyed half of Abnegation Tris Prior watched as her father was gunned down in an effort to allow her to escape. She and Tobias Eaton, Four as he was known to the Dauntless, and her brother Caleb escape the city to the Amity compound. Amity has restrictions on the refugees--Tris and her group are not the only survivors--restrictions Tris and some of the other refugees have trouble with.
     War is brewing and the peace-loving Amity do not want to get involved. Johanna Reyes, elected spokesperson of the Amity explains their stance to Tris, Tobias, and Tobias' father Marcus, the only remaining member of the former government.
     After a particularly painful fight between Tris and Peter, the refugees decide to leave, only to expedite their plan when the Erudite come for them. Tris and Four escape but are met by the Factionless where Tris learns Tobias's name is a powerful tool.
     They are taken to the Factionless headquarters where Tobias's mother (long assumed dead) is alive and leading the scattered groups. The Factionless are waiting to rise against the system which has kept them isolated and starving for several years. Tobias's mother wants him to join her in the fight, but he is hesitant.
     Meanwhile, a wedge forms between Tris and Tobias as he refuses to see what she points out and his refusal begins to tear at her confidence. As their individual emotional burdens grow, they each begin to keep secrets which drive them further and further apart. Marcus claims Jeanine, leader of the Erudite, knows information the Abnegation was responsible for and she attacked her fellow factions to keep hidden. Tobias doesn't believe his father's claims and dissent grows even greater between father and son.
     The Dauntless faction splits into two groups, half allied with Erudite and half with the Factionless for their final showdown. The Factionless-Dauntless alliance is simply concerned with destroying all power that Erudite holds over society and the knowledge that allows their dominance. Tris goes to Amity when it appears no one wants to consider that the attack plan may be flawed or even wrong. Her goal is to save the innocent lives and to retrieve the information that allows their world to continue, as well as what Marcus is sure Jeanine is hiding.
     With a small group, Tris manages to get to the one computer terminal housing the mysterious information but must confront something much more dangerous and painful: the chance she has lost Tobias forever.
     Insurgent deals with the continued conflict between Dauntless and Erudite as they vie for power. The darkness of humanity is illustrated throughout the story, but so is the power of conviction. Despite the titles and perceived traits of the individual, Insurgent shows how each person has a variety of skills and abilities, and how isolation not only breeds contempt but also distrust. Isolation becomes the barrier to success before an attempt is even made. Readers as young as middle school will enjoy the story, though there are moments of intense violence and light intimacy. This is the story of rebellion and how relationships are how we survive conflict.

Affair

Affair by Amanda Quick, Bantam Books 1997

     Charlotte Arkendale and Baxter St. Ives have one thing in common, their search for a murderer. Charlotte is a resourceful woman, on the shelf in Regency England at twenty five years old and in business looking into the background of potential suitors for women. One of her recent clients is murdered and Charlotte believes it must have been one of the suitors she recently rejected.
     Baxter St. Ives is the bastard son of an earl, a gentleman with a passion for chemistry and a logical investigator. When his aunt asks him to look into her friend's murder the path points to Charlotte. He engages himself as her man-of-affairs and bodyguard, but it quickly becomes clear Charlotte is not the murderer.
     As the pair continues their investigation they discover a passion neither expected. They become lovers as well as partners.When their quarry attempts to break the connection between Charlotte and St. Ives they begin to think their murderer is not a rejected suitor, but something much more dangerous.
     To allow Charlotte to move in society and to provide a plausible reason for the significant amount of time she spends with St. Ives, the pair announce their engagement. The only people aware of the engagement's fraudulence are those aware of the murder investigation: Charlotte's sister and housekeeper, and St. Ives's aunt. So when they are attacked and their relationship is challenged, the motive seems to be completely separate from their investigation.
     When a villain from their separate pasts reappears with a plan to upset the status quo and destroy them both in the process, Charlotte and St. Ives realize that their feelings are more powerful than either thought at first. They manage to find the murderer and the story is wrapped up leaving few questions and several hopes for Charlotte and St. Ives's joint future.
     Affair is a romance novel, more appropriate for more mature readers and generally aimed at women. There are explicit scenes, however the general story arc has merit aside from the romantic fantasy.

A Lady of High Regard

A Lady of High Regard by Tracie Peterson, 2007 Bethany House Publishing

     Mia Stanley is a well-bred young Christian woman in mid-nineteenth century Philadelphia. Her life seems charmed: she plays matchmaker for her sisters and friends, and enjoys the company of the admirable Garrett Wilson, while choosing to work for the Godey's magazine. When Mia discovers the plight of Philadelphia's women, her sympathies are engaged and the simple mission for Godey's Ladies Book becomes a passion that ultimately threatens everything she holds dear.
     In an era where women and children's working conditions are being challenged the wives and widows of Philadelphia's seamen are forced to pay exorbitant amounts and non-existent debts. The women cannot afford to feed their families and maintain the roof over their heads with their menfolk gone for years at a time and the debt collectors turn to other forms of payment: kidnapping children into indentured servitude, or coercing liberties from mothers with nowhere else to go. The sheltered Miss Stanley is introduced to this downtrodden world when her editor asks her to try and help the women.
     At first, working for the magazine and helping the women is just another adventure, one becoming more and more difficult for society to accept. But when Mia's closest friend, Garrett, looks into the situation he quickly discovers the difficulties are more than just the cycle of poverty. Though Mia discounts the danger, believing God will protect and bless her for the work she does among the less fortunate, Garrett finds the main perpetrator is more dangerous than Mia will accept.
     While committed to her activism and the surrounding events, Mia begins to discover that her feelings for Garrett aren't always what she assumed them to be. Finding a match for him brings her more anxiety and jealousy than the pleasure of finding love for her friends has. Garrett realizes the love he has always had for Mia is not that of a sister as he always assumed. Neither is willing to speak of their desires for fear of rejection until the matter is taken from their hands.
     While mainly a story of romance, A Lady of High Regard deals with the changing social climate of the mid-nineteenth century: young women from the heights of society begin to venture outside the home into activism and the worksphere, women and children's labor conditions become a major issue in politics. But the changes cannot make up for the corruption throughout all levels of society. Mia is a passionate woman living the values her Christian upbringing has instilled in her, fighting the dictates of society even while trying to live within them. It is a story of persistence and caring for fellow humans, despite differences of class and wealth.
     Once the reader gets into the story, it is a fairly quick read. Mia's story is inspiring with characters one can relate to, familiar language, and an easily adopted cause. A Lady of High Regard is a read for fluent readers: high school or older will get more from the story than younger children who may not be able to connect to the main conflicts.

The Calling

The Calling by Kelley Armstrong, HarperTeen 2012

     Maya Delaney has discovered a secret within her genes--she is a skin-walker! After evading a forest fire and bogus rescue team in The Gathering, Maya and her friends are kidnapped by the same shady corporation. They escape when their evacuating helicopter goes down of the shore of Vancouver Island. Again the group of teens is fleeing a mysterious corporation, hoping to assure their parents they're still alive.
     The lives Maya and her friends cherished prove to be projections based on the genetic experiments run by the town's corporate owners, the St. Clouds. Supernatural abilities begin to manifest as the friends run further from the safe haven of their pasts.
     Gradually their group is picked up, one by one, and the friends must deal with the losses of not only their lives, as shocking truths come to light, but also their possible futures. They manage to return home to find the town deserted and abandoned. But the shock is softened when one of their own is returned. But all is not what it seems: betrayal is behind every tree and Maya must make decisions that could mean salvation or cost her friends their lives.
     This second novel is all about betrayal and the power of friendship in unsteady times. As they fight for survival, Maya and each of her friends must choose: are they willing to give up preconceived notions about each other to ensure they make it, and will they trust each self-sacrifice means survival and eventual rescue? The Calling is a fast-paced read meant for high school readers, complete with romance, betrayal, and suspense.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling, 1999 Bloomsbury

     After nearly being killed by a book, Harry Potter is seeing strange shapes in the shadows. First a cloaked figure then a large, shaggy dog, but things are getting out of hand when one of the strangely cloaked figures attacks him while Harry and his cousin, Dudley, are in a public playground. Harry is sent an owl from the Ministry of Magic and scolded for his use of magic in front of a Muggle.
     When Aunt Marge comes to visit she, like the rest of her family, demeans Harry's parents and Harry himself. In a fit of rage Harry unwittingly uses magic to inflate her like a helium balloon and escapes in the aftermath. He is picked up by the Knight Bus and travels to Diagon Alley where he runs into the Minister of Magic himself. Fudge asks Harry to spend the rest of his summer in Diagon Alley where he may be protected and looked after.
     As he takes the train back to Hogwarts with Ron and Hermione, Harry discovers that Fudge wanted him accounted for because Sirius Black, Harry's Godfather and a convicted murderer has escaped from Azkaban Prison. Nearly everyone assumes Black plans to murder Harry and the Ministry has sent Dementors to patrol the school and surrounding areas.
     The Dementors are soul-sucking hooded creatures capable of stealing an individual's happiness and making them relive their worst memories. When one appears on the train, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts' Professor Lupin defends the trio and helps them recover with chocolate. It is not the first or last time Harry encounters the Dementors: he falls nearly fifty feet during a Quidditch match when a group swarms him. The problems urge Harry to take lessons from Lupin on a patronus charm, which repels the creatures.
     Third Years are offered the opportunity to visit the nearby town of Hogsmeade, but when Harry doesn't have permission from his guardian he is confined to the grounds. Fred and George Weasley, however, have other plans and deliver into Harry's possession the Maurader's Map. The Map was created by Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs in years gone by and shows the location of any person within Hogwarts grounds, as well as passages off campus. Harry uses the map and his father's invisibility cloak to sneak into Hogsmeade where he meets up with Ron and Hermione. On one such trip Harry overhears several professors speaking about Black: how he betrayed Harry's parents, his true relationship to Harry, how he murdered not only muggles but friend Peter Pettigrew, and how he is thought to be working for Voldemort.
     The boys' relationship with Hermione is strained when she reports Harry's Christmas gift of a state-of-the-art broomstick (to replace his Nimbus 2000 after it was destroyed by the Whomping Willow), and only made worse when Ron thinks her cat ate his rat. But when Hagrid needs their support, the friends reconcile to be there for him as Buckbeak the Hippogriff is executed for attacking Malfoy (but not without reason).
     Harry, Ron, and Hermione go to the gamekeeper's cottage where they hear the axe of Buckbeak's execution. As they prepare to leave Ron's rat flees and Ron chases after him, only to be dragged down a tunnel beneath the Whomping Willow by a large black dog that has been following Harry about.
     Hermione and Harry follow where they discover Sirius Black with Ron. Lupin interrupts their standoff to explain the situation. Lupin is a werewolf and his friends became animagi, wizards who could transform into a chosen animal, so they might spend time with their friend. James Potter became a stag, Sirius Black became a large black dog, and Peter Pettigrew transformed into a rat. That rat became Scabbers, Ron's pet. Old feuds break out among the three remaining friends and Pettigrew escapes. Harry, Ron and Hermione must hurry to make it back to the castle as Lupin transforms into his were-self and Sirius chases him away from the children. They run into several Dementors and wake in the hospital wing.
     Dumbledore explains that Black is awaiting the Dementor's Kiss, which sucks the soul out of a person's body, and Harry and Hermione must go back with Hermione's Time Turner to save the day. They manage to save Buckbeak and themselves and arrive back in their hospital wing beds when Dumbledore returns with the news that Black has escaped.
     The trio's third year at Hogwarts is full of caution and the results of misrepresented facts. Though Black was not the one to betray the Potters, he feels guilty for being unable to stop them. The guilt has sentenced him to twelve years in the wizarding world's high security prison, a punishment beyond his perceived crimes. Yet when the truth is revealed, he relieves himself of that guilt to become the man James Potter made godfather to his only son. Without Harry's search for the truth and Sirius' insistence he must repay the debt to his only remaining family, Sirius Black might have continued to live in a self-imposed prison.
     This story illustrates the power of forgiveness and how strongly guilt can hold a person in thrall. It is aimed at young adults from middle school age through adulthood. Though some concepts of time travel can be difficult for young readers to understand, the ideas behind them and that the travel supports are simple and easily explained.

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan, 2006 Miramax Books

     Percy Jackson is having nightmares. First he dreams his best friend Grover, a satyr, is being chased by a cyclopes and needs his help. But when he wakes and goes to school, Percy is in danger himself: giants are attacking and he is saved by his half-brother Tyson, a cyclopes in human disguise. Annabeth, the daughter of Athena and Percy's other best friend, brings Percy and Tyson to Camp Half-Blood, just in time to rescue the camp from two rampaging bronze bulls.
     Not only is the camp under attack, but Thalia's tree has been poisoned and the wards protecting the camp weaken as it does. Chiron, the centaur camp director, is blamed for the poisoning, fired, and the demigod Tantalus is released from Tartarus to replace him.
     When Percy dreams Grover has the Golden Fleece, Tantalus sends Clarisse (a daughter of Ares) to retrieve it to repair Thalia's tree. Hermes comes to Percy, Tyson, and Annabeth to send them after the Golden Fleece as well, he even provides them with travel gear and the trade winds. Poseidon sends three hippocampi (aquatic horse-like creatures) to take them across the sea.
     The hippocampi take the trio to the Princess Andromeda, a cruise ship owned by Luke Castellan and the Titan army. They escape only to run into the Hydra. It nearly kills them when Clarisse appears sailing the confederate ship CSS Birmingham and saves them. The group then sails for the Sea of Monsters in the Bermuda Triangle when the CSS Birmingham is broken up by Scylla and Charybdis. Tyson and Clarisse are presumed dead and Percy and Annabeth are shipwrecked on Circe's island spa and resort--where Circe turns Percy into a guinea pig. Annabeth rescues him and they sail away. They continue to the Sea of Monsters, but must pass the island of Sirens. Annabeth begs Percy to tie her up and let her listen to discover her true desires. He concedes, but forgets to take her knife and it is Percy's turn to save Annabeth.
     They reach Polyphemus's (the cyclopes who has captured Grover) island, are reunited with Tyson and Clarisse, find the Golden Fleece, and rescue Grover. But before they finally escape Polyphemus confronts them. He sinks their ship and the hippocampi return to ferry the group to the mainland. They rush back to Camp Half-Blood, but are kidnapped by Luke who admits to poisoning Thalia's tree clearing Chiron. Percy is injured when he and Luke grapple for the Fleece, and Percy is rescued by the Party Ponies, centaur friends of Chiron's.
     When they arrive at Camp Half-Blood the Golden Fleece removes the poison from Thalia's Tree, but also ejects Thalia (Zeus's daughter) who was turned into a tree when she died protecting the camp to prevent her soul from entering the Underworld. The adventurers realize it was Luke's plan all along and Thalia's return could affect the Great Prophecy.
     Despite their difficulties in working together and their parents' hatred, Clarisse, Percy, and Annabeth work together to save their home. Their journey resembles the Odyssey and Odysseus' journey through the ancient world, though there is more at stake in terms of the fate of the world. The petty disagreements such as who uses which weapon during training fade into the background when the demigods' world is threatened--they work together to achieve something greater than themselves.
     Like Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters is directed at a younger audience. Middle elementary readers will enjoy the quick pace and the introduction to classical mythology.

Grim Tuesday

Grim Tuesday by Garth Nix, 2004 Scholastic Books

   Just as Arthur Penhaligon returns home, the phone Dame Primus gave to him in Mister Monday begins to ring. Dame Primus herself is on the line telling Arthur six months have passed in the House since he left and Tuesday has found a loophole that allows him to take over the lands Arthur has wrested from Monday. Arthur must return to the House straightaway to reclaim his inheritance, but before she may explain how the line goes dead.
     Arthur manages to get into the Far Reaches, Tuesday's domain, where he is mistaken for an indentured worker. He and Japeth, a former Thesaurus, fall behind when their press-gang moves to another region and are picked up by Suzy Turquoise Blue, Arthur's friend from his first adventures through the House. Suzy has brought tools to help them break into Tuesday's tower and rescue the second part of the Architect's will and the Second Key.
     Suzy and Arthur make it into Tuesday's tower through the glass pyramid which protects it and find the Mariner, the second son of the Architect and the Old One. The Mariner is held in Tuesday's service through blackmail and helps Arthur retrieve the Will. But when the Will revokes Tuesday's power, he demands the Key instigating a competition between Arthur and himself over which the Mariner presides as judge.
     The competition is to create something unique and original: Tuesday creates a magnificent tree and Arthur creates a xylophone and plays his own tune. The tune proves to be more creative than Tuesday's replication of a secondary realm sculpture. Arthur is declared winner and rushes off to repair damages to the Far Reaches.
     At the buttress between the Far Reaches and the Nothing Arthur finds an upper house denizen, who is believed to be Superior Saturday's servant Dusk, meddling in Arthur's newly claimed lands. A fight ensues which Arthur wins and the shadow of Trustee interference blooms over Arthur's time in the House. When he returns, Dame Primus has united parts one and two of the Will and names Arthur Lord of the Far Reaches, then takes over stewardship so that he may return home.
      Arthur makes the decision to slow the process of becoming a denizen  so that he may return to his family. Dame Primus reverses the effects of the first Key and Arthur is admitted to the hospital when he does arrive home. He awakens to an invitation from Drowned Wednesday under his hospital room pillow.
     Tuesday is greedy, his entire lifestyle revolves around more and more until the world he is to care for is falling around his ears. Like the other Trustees in the Keys to the Kingdom, this flaw is his downfall making him unworthy for his position and allowing him to misuse his power. For Arthur, defeating Tuesday is only one more step toward achieving his inheritance from the Architect. Grim Tuesday is followed by Drowned Wednesday in the Keys to the Kingdom Series and is good reading material for readers as young as fifth grade.

A Princess of Mars

A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burrroughs, A. C. McClurg 1917

     After the American Civil War, John Carter leaves Virginia for the deserts of Arizona and the silver lodes found throughout the region. When Carter and his partner find a deep silver vein they try to make it to town for supplies to mine their claim, but carter and his partner are set upon by Indians. Carter ends his partner's misery and they pursue him, but before the Indians can kill him, Carter hides in a cave where deadly fumes end his life. 

     Carter finds his specter fascinated by the glowing star Mars and is suddenly upon the Red Planet. Upon mars, Carter has superhuman strength and ability. When he encounters a green warrior race, Carter uses those abilities to rise through the ranks. He becomes a chief, despite being a prisoner. 

     He blends into their culture until the green men capture the red-skinned martian princess Dejah Thoris. She is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen and Carter falls in love with her. When they escape the green men it appears they can live and love together, but that is only the beginning of their adventures. 

     John Carter becomes a great hero upon Mars, but returns to Earth where he lives for another 10 years. During his final time on Earth, Carter writes his story as we read it, and twenty years after his first journey to the Red Planet he vanishes. 

     Burroughs's story is imaginative and shows how a race of people so like ourselves could be so different. The Martians of Carter's visit are living breathing characters in a growing and evolving landscape. The early twentieth century language of A Princess of Mars makes reading the story difficult for readers still beginning to understand the intricacies of English, making it a suitable read for advanced readers and adults. 

The Gathering

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong, HarperTeen 2011

     A year ago life was perfect for Maya Delaney in small town Salmon Creek: she and her two best friends were inseparable and enjoying summertime on Vancouver Island as always. But this year things are different. Serena, captain of the swim team, drowned last summer and neither Maya nor Daniel have gotten over what happened. Their small town still mourns her, until other things, strange things, start happening.
     First Daniel begins to get vibes about people and places, that prove to be right. Then cougars keep showing up around Maya's house, and won't go away. Then Rafe shows up. He starts dating around, breaking one girl's heart after another in their small town. But he's looking for one thing--Maya's strange paw-print birthmark.
     After he convinces her to date him, Rafe explains to Maya that she was part of an experiment; the birthmark on her hip is the sign of a shape-shifter and the St. Cloud company (the company which owns Salmon Creek) conducted experiments to activate the genes which allowed her to shift. He then introduces Maya to Annie, his older sister and another shape-shifter. Annie has mastered her ability to become a cougar, but as she transitions she loses her higher functioning. Annie was becoming the cougar she turned into and Rafe searched for Maya hoping she and the St. Clouds could help Annie.
     One night Annie shifts and escapes into the forests surrounding Salmon Creek. Rafe is worried for his sister, but becomes terrified when the forests catch fire. Maya, Daniel, and Rafe search for Annie, but encounter a group of men who claim to have set the fire as a distraction to search the St. Cloud laboratories in town. After nearly being captured, Maya, Rafe, Daniel and several other teens from Salmon Creek escape  both the fire and the men who set it in an evacuation helicopter.
     The originally well-adjusted Maya is thrown into chaos when Rafe drops the news on her that her birth mother abandoned her because of her shape-shifting abilities. He also tells Maya that her mother kept her twin brother when Maya was put up for adoption, furthering her confusion. Maya's adopted parents loved her as their own and until Rafe she never wanted to know about that other life she could have lived. Her other shock is that Serena was murdered--though Maya is not as surprised as others in town. The sleepy town they once thought they lived in turns out to be a hotbed of lies and the teens of Salmon Creek must come to grips with their rapidly changing lives.
     Like every teen, the students of Salmon Creek are changing and learning how to cope with those changes. They deal with peer pressure, the pressure to perform both academically and in extra-curricular activities, and with growing up. Armstrong's novel chronicles the beginning for Maya and her friends and is followed by The Calling and The Rising. The books follow her previous trilogy to form The Darkest Powers Series and are appropriate for high school readers and anyone experiencing the transitions from one life-stage to another.

The Red Pyramid

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan, Hyperion 2010

     When estranged siblings Sadie and Carter Kane are reunited for their semi-annual visit there is something odd about the family trip to the British Museum's Egyptian Wing. When their father breaks apart the Rosetta Stone to release five ancient Egyptian gods their entire worlds fall apart. Julius Kane is possessed by Osiris and captured by Set, the god of chaos. Sadie and Carter are swept away to New York by their Uncle Amos before the magicians from the House of Life may capture them.
     In New York Amos's house is the New York base of the House of Life, and full of mysteries, along with some out-of-the-norm pets: Khufu, a baboon, and Philip of Macedonia, an albino crocodile. Amos explains that Sadie and Carter are the Blood of the Pharaohs--descended from ancient royal lines. But before they can begin to train as magicians of the House of Life Amos vanishes and their home is under attack. Sadie's cat, Muffin, transforms into the cat Goddess Bast before they children's very and leads them to the safety of a portal. However, before they can truly escape, Bast is attacked by the scorpion goddess Serquet. The two are rescued by Zia, a magician from the House of Life.
     Zia brings Sadie and Carter to the House of Life headquarters where they meet Iskandar, the Chief Lector and Head of the House, who invites the Kane children to train there. Both Sadie and Carter begin to spirit travel in their dreams: Carter has visions of Set planning to destroy North America and conquer the world, and Saide has visions of the Egyptian Pantheon and their struggles to maintain Ma'at--the order of the universe. After a particularly restless night at the House of Life, Zia leads Sadie and Carter to a test which will determine their expertise. Before they can finish though, Iskandar is found to have died after two thousand years as Chief Lector, and his replacement, Desjardins orders their execution for housing Isis and Horus. Zia sends them on their path to end Set's plan, but the House of Life is hot on their trail.
     In the end Sadie and Carter are faced with life-altering choices and must surrender to their destinies to save the world from Chaos. Blending human creativity with the power of the gods, they change the course of history and set the stage for an even greater battle. Sadie and Carter's story examines and challenges the ideas of fate and convention, the House of life is mired in convention refusing its members the chance to defeat the enemies who truly challenge Ma'at and use all the resources available. Sadie and Carter learn the value of friendship and family ties as they discover their true motives and shed the false motivations to find themselves.
     This is the first in a new series from Rick Riordan chronicling the adventures of Sadie and Carter Kane as they discover more about themselves and their ancestors in order to help balance order and chaos in the universe. The book is appropriate for readers as young as third grade.

City of Ashes

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare, 2008 McElderberry

     After discovering she is a Shadowhunter and that her mother had lied to her for the greater part of her life, Clarissa Fray is avoiding her new-found brother and the world he represents. Clary stays with Luke, her werewolf godfather, in his home while her mother is in the hospital in a coma. Simon, Clary's best friend, has professed his feelings, and the two try out a relationship of something more than friendship; somewhat unsettling for Clary as she still has feelings for Jace (her long lost brother).
     Clary's silence is unsettling for Jace--he is torn between how he should care for his younger sister and how he does care for her. He begins to hunt demons to take the edge off, rather than because it is his job, and the Lightwood children begin to worry. Things escalate when Isabelle and Alec's mother Maryse Lightwood returns and banishes him from the institute.
     Leaving the Institute, Jace goes to a downworlder bar where he picks a fight with Luke's werewolf pack. When one of the Lycanthrope children is attacked by a mysterious figure, the pack calls on Jace to help. When Jace refuses, wallowing in self-pity for being kicked out of his only home and Clary's silence, Luke intervenes and stops the pack from murdering him. Luke convinces Clary to talk to Jace and the two convince him to return to the Institute and speak to Maryse.
     The Shadowhunter's Inquisitor comes to investigate Jace's involvement with Valentine at the end of City of Bones. She is a cold woman and shows an extreme dislike for Jace from the get-go, when Jace's arrogance angers her, the Inquisitor locks him in cells in the underground Silent City of the Silent Brothers. While he is there, Valentine steals the Soul-Sword of Raziel the Angel using a fear demon to kill the Silent Brothers. Coupled with the murder and draining of several downworlder children, Jace, Clary, Simon, Isabelle, and Alec piece together Valentine's plan to turn the Sword against the Nephilim and give it power over demons.
     In their quest to rally aid, the group enters the faery realm. Jace and Clary discover their father had done something to give his unborn children special capabilities, though the two deny anything special. When she is tricked into eating some of the fairy food, Clary is nearly trapped, but the queen offers her freedom at the "kiss she most desires." Simon thinks the kiss is from him, but it is when Jace kissed Clary that she is freed. The turn of events causes a rift between Simon and Clary, who had been becoming closer and closer.
     Simon storms away when they return to the human realm, only to be brought to the Institute by Raphael, the leader one one of New York's vampire clans. Simon had ingested some vampire blood during his time as a rat, and when he broke into the vampire nest, Raphael's clan attacked him and began the process of turning him. They bury Simon and watch the transformation of his vampire re-birth. Clary and Simon begin rebuilding their relationship and Clary gives up her contact with Jace as penance for her part in Simon's new status. While they're trying to figure out how to tell his mother, Maia (one of Luke's pack) is attacked on Luke's front lawn. Clary calls the Shadowhunters and Magnus Bane to heal her, but Luke is injured when the demons sent after Maia catch him and Magnus must help him as well. Jace and Clary hurry to Luke's rescue and fight his assailants, who flee when they catch a glimpse of the Mark Clary recieved from her mother in a dream.
     When the two return to the house talk turns to Clary's use of the runes: the opening rune she used in the Silent City was much too strong to be a simple opening rune, yet it was. She puts forth the idea that her special ability was the ability to put more power into the runes than they possessed on their own, and to create new runes. Clary creates a "fearless" rune and the group tests it on Alec, who declares to the world that he is dating someone, but Magnus silences him when he begins to say who. Alec wakes and is defensive, claiming not to remember anything--a sign the rune worked.
     They decide to turn in for the night while Maia and Luke heal, but Jace sneaks away on Raphael's demonic motorcycle to meet with Valentine on a ship in the middle of the river. He promises Jace not to kill his loved ones if Jace will return to him, but Jace refuses. When he returns to the other Shadowhunters, the Inquisitor accuses him of siding with Valentine and threatens to kill him if Valentine doesn't return the Mortal Cup and Soul Sword. Jace tells her his father won't make the trade, but the Inquisitor insists a father's love will trump his desire for power--she hopes to take revenge for the death of her child.
     Maia leaves Luke's home, but on her way to visit Simon, the fear demon attacks her and brings her to Valentine. Meanwhile, Valentine comes for Simon. Clary, Luke, Jace, and Magnus go after Maia and Simon and manage to rescue Maia. But when Jace finds Simon, he has already been drained of blood. Jace allows Simon to drink from him and restore his life, then joins the fray on the ship's deck. The Inquisitor and New York's Shadowhunters join the battle against Valentine's demon army. The Inquisitor stops Jace in the middle of the battle, and is surprised when she sees a star-shaped scar on his shoulder. She nearly immediately gives her life for him causing him to question her change of heart.
     When Clary is kidnapped by one of Valentine's demons, Jace follows. Valentine declares he knows Jace joined the fight against him because of his not-quite-brotherly feelings for Clary, revealing that he knows the fear demon took her form at their first encounter. In return Jace tells Valentine that their second encounter ended with the demon's death in the form of Valentine himself. Jace gets Clary's stele to her, allowing her to blow the ship apart at the seams and end the battle.
     Clary falls into the river, to be plucked out by nixies sent by the Faery queen. They return to shore where dawn is quickly coming. Simon discovers that Jace's blood allows him to survive the daylight, unlike his fellow vampires, and life returns to some semblance of normal. Luke and Clary discuss his feelings for her mother, and Clary convinces Luke that it's beyond time to reveal those feelings to Jocelyn, despite her comatose state. She follows a similar path with Jace, but before she can tell him, Jace says he will only love her like a brother, breaking her heart. Befoer she can process the hurt, however, one of Clary's mother's companions from Idris says she knows how to wake Jocelyn.
     Throughout the battles and tangled love connections, Clary Fray learns to deal with her new-found family, especially the strange feelings she has for her brother. Her story is one of self-discovery and learning to take control of her own life, she fights for what she believes in and uses what power she has discovered to care for those who she loves. Clary is a role model for any young woman to take as an example; though her relationship with Jace is questionable, there are hints of life not being quite as it seems. Clare's City of Ashes is a vivid read and plays into the supernatural genre well. An ideal audience are high school aged readers, like the main characters, however any lover of supernatural fiction will find something enjoyable in the telling.

Rampant

Rampant by Diana Peterfreund, 2009 Harper Teen

     Astrid Llewelyn is a pretty normal sixteen-year-old, for a girl whose single mother lost her promising career as a scholastic researcher to become a single mother obsessed with man-eating killer unicorns. Astrid has grown up thinking her mother was crazy, hearing the terrifying stories about the creatures and their powers, and hearing the lament that unicorns are extinct. Until Astrid meets one who gores her boyfriend, nearly killing him.
     When the small goat-like creature nearly kills Brandt, Astrid's world is turned upside down: not only is her crazy mother not so crazy, but she insists that Astrid travel to Rome to learn to hunt unicorns. With her life falling apart, Astrid agrees to her mother's plans and travels to Rome. While there she meets several other young women who fulfill the strict requirements to become a Unicorn Hunter: female, virgin descendants of Alexander the Great.
     Each of the young women are from one of the great Hunter families and Cory, Cornelia Bartoli of the Leandrus line, insists that each of the families possessed a talent that is inherent in the young women's DNA and therefore they are skilled just as their ancestors were. She is gung-ho about the mission the Cloister has reclaimed and ushers the new recruits through an orientation immersing them in the new unicorn-inhabited world they must acknowledge and thrive in.
     In contrast, Astrid and her cousin Philippa are determined to have some fun on their trip to Rome and sneak out of the convent several times to meet their new friends Seth and Giovanni. In between learning to be hunters and trying to discover as much about unicorns as possible they actually manae to form some sort of relationship with the two young men. Neil, the Hunters' guardian, trainer, and big-brother, is furious when he discovers Phil's field trips--afraid of losing any Hunters. But isolation from the world they grew up in makes it difficult for the girls to cohabit after several weeks. On their first sanctioned outing the young women run into a re'em, large as an ox, and discover their abilities are in no way a match for such a massive unicorn. Somehow they succeed but it signals a shift in the attitude of the Hunters.
     Soon afterward Neil and the girls discover their corporate sponsor, Gordian, has broken contact and vanished. Before the Huners know what to do about it, they lose one of their own to an over-amorous boyfriend. The rage she feels when Seth forces Phil pushes Astrid to roam the city, but before she can exact her revenge Astrid passes out on a park bench.
     That night she dreams of a conversation with Bucephalus, a conversation which is continued when Astrid nearly dies during a battle with the kirin. Bucephalus explains that the extinction of Unicorns was an agreement allowing both Unicorns and Hunters to live peacefully for hundreds of years. Their re-emergence was a breach of the contract and Bucephalus required the aid of the Hunters to bring the rebel kirin back under control. He also gives Astrid clues on how to speed up the emergence of the Hunters' abilities to make them a match for the upcoming battles. Bucephalus gives Astrid the opportunity to let the other Hunters believe she has died.
    She calls Giovanni to help her back to the Convent and arrives in just enough time to stop the Hunters from breaking apart and giving up their fight. She encourages them toward the inevitable clash between the rebel kirin and the Hunters where they discover their contact at Gordian has one final betrayal in store.
     Rampant blends unicorns into our world as if they always existed. It deals with ideas of destiny and duty as results of self-discovery and how being robbed of those choices can either destroy or strengthen the victim. Concepts of sexuality and rape are addressed in terms that can both simplify and complicate the ideas for young readers. However, it is handled in a manner many young women encounter.
     The story is a flair of "what would happen if unicorns really existed in our world?" and is done very well. Rampant is aimed at middle and high school readers, though anyone who enjoys fantasy can enjoy it.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling, 1999 Bloomsbury Publishing

     Harry returns to the Dursleys' house for the summer after his first spectacular year at Hogwarts. Very few things have changed: Harry is still at the beck and call of his aunt, uncle, and cousin, but he has been moved from the cupboard under the stairs to the upstairs second bedroom. While the Dursleys are hosting a dinner party a house-elf, Dobby, appears to Harry and attempts to warn him away from returning to Hogwarts. However Dobby's methods only cause more problems at the Dursley home encouraging Harry to return to school at the earliest opportunity.
     That opportunity is presented when Ron, Fred, and George Weasley steal their father's flying car and break Harry out of Number 4 Privet Drive. Harry spends the rest of the summer at the Burrow with the Weasley family.
     Preparations for school go awry when Harry mispronounces Diagon Alley and the Floo network (magical transportation from fireplace to fireplace) sends him to the dark-arts center, Knockturn Alley. Hagrid rescues him and returns Harry to the Weasleys in Diagon Alley. Harry and Ron's family meet Gilderoy Lockheart--a famous wizard taking up the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts--who insists upon a picture with Harry for the papers. Returning to Hogwarts is again difficult for Harry and Ron when the barrier onto the Platform refuses to let them through; they borrow the flying car again, following the train, but crash into the Womping Willow when they try to land it. They manage to make it to Hogwarts, but Mrs. Weasley sends Ron a Howler proclaiming her displeasure to the entire banquet hall and threatening to yank him out of school if he misbehaves.
     Harry, Ron, and Hermione discover that his fame is all Lockheart is willing to talk about and his classes become monuments to his accomplishment, rather than teaching opportunities. Things get even stranger than normal at Hogwarts when Mrs. Norris, the caretaker Filtch's cat, is petrified and someone writes in blood on the wall "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened, enemies of the heir beware." The trio does some research and discovers Salazar Slytherin had created the Chamber of Secrets during the building of Hogwarts, it houses a monster only the heir can control.
     Harry comes under suspicion when he speaks Parseltongue at a meeting of Lockheart's dueling club--Slytherin was known for his ability to speak Parseltongue. When Harry finds Nearly Headless Nick and an annoying Gryffindor first-year petrified he becomes the number one suspect. Harry and his friends suspect Malfoy and disguise themselves as Crabbe and Goyle to test their theory. Malfoy is not the heir, but he reveals the chamber was opened fifty years before. Things are quiet but soon a mysterious journal appears in a flooded bathroom. Harry writes in the journal and it writes back: it houses the spirit of Tom Riddle, a student who, fifty years previously, falsely accused Hagrid of opening the Chamber of Secrets getting Hagrid expelled.
     It isn't until Hermione is petrified and sent to the Hospital Wing that the boys learn what the creature is or how it travels the castle. The basilisk slinks through Hogwarts at the beck and call of the heir and those lucky enough to escape its direct glance are simply frozen in place rather than immediately killed. But with Hermione lost Harry and Ron hurry to find Hagrid, hoping to discover the heir before he or she can do more damage to the school. Before they can speak to him, Hagrid is taken to Azkaban prison for opening the Chamber and releasing its terrors on the school. His only advice is to "follow the spiders" as they flee Slytherin's creature. Harry and Ron follow the spiders into the Forbidden Forest where they come across Aragog, a giant spider and pet of Hagrid's. Aragog points them to the girl killed fifty years before, a girl found in a bathroom. The only answer is Moaning Myrtle, a ghost living in the bathroom where she died.
     Harry and Ron drag an escaping Lockheart along with them as they enter Myrtle's bathroom. Using Parseltongue, Harry opens the chamber, but must leave Ron with an incapacitated Lockheart when he causes a cave-in with Ron's broken wand. Within the chamber proper, Harry discovers a semi-solid Tom Riddle over Ginny's prone form. Riddle tricked Ginny into opening the chamber and acting for him until he was strong enough to reform and take over his inheritance. Riddle calls the basilisk to kill Harry, who cannot fight back as he cannot look at the creature.
     Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, appears with the sorting hat and blinds the basilisk, infuriating Riddle. The phoenix drops the hat and it produces Godric Gryffindor's sword, giving Harry a chance against the giant serpent. He defeats the creature, but is bitten by one of its poison fangs. Fawkes's tears heal Harry's wound, but Riddle is solid and attacks him. Harry stabs the journal with the basilisk fang and it bleeds ink as Riddle disintegrates into nothing.
     Harry and Ginny return to the cave-in and, with Lockheart and Ron, the school where they reunite with the Weasleys. Ron and Harry are commended, the basilisk's victims are revived, and all returns to normal. Harry confronts Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father, for slipping the journal to Ginny and tricks him into releasing Dobby the house-elf, earning Dobby's eternal gratitude. Harry reluctantly returns to the Dursley home for the summer holidays.
     In this second novel, Harry encounters a crisis of identity: while he knows he is not the perpetrator of the crimes, his entire school is not so convinced and the evidence against him grows. Harry must deal with the difference between what he knows to be true and what the people around him believe, yet he manages to maintain his sense of self, listening to his mentors' advice--we are a sum of our choices, rather than our abilities. Dobby's appearance and the accompanying prejudices mirrors challenges of race and personhood that appear throughout our society, as do the issues of magical and non-magical beings and their access to the magical world. One major theme that is magnified through Lockheart and Riddle's Diary is the acceptance of information without looking into motivations or biases. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is about muddling through appearances and deciding whom to become based on personal wants and desires, rather than the dictates of society. The ideal audience is older elementary to middle school, though anyone can find something enjoyable in the story.