A Promise to Believe In

A Promise to Believe In by Tracie Peterson, 2008 Bethany House Publishers

     When the Gallatin Girls' father is accidentally killed while some of the local ranch hands are celebrating their weekend the three young women are left to run their Boarding House along the stage's path without a man's guidance or protection. In rural Montana that could spell disaster, but the Gwen, Beth, and Lacy Gallatin are headstrong ladies and women of strong character. They continue to operate their father's business while they struggle to deal with their grief.
     The situation is only compounded when Gwen's dead husband's brother shows up on their doorstep demanding to see the hussy who married his brother then let him die in a measles outbreak. Hank Bishop stays with the girls hoping to find the property his brother had stolen, but the longer he lives and watches them, the more he understands Gwen isn't the gold-digging minx he imagined. He comes to admire the women: Gwen mothering her two sisters and holding the family together covering up the belief that she is destined to kill those she loves, Beth's saucy side hidden beneath the innocence of a lady, and Lacy's forthright attitude and stubborn quest to find their father's killer.
     When he finds his family's property and returns it to Mrs. Bishop, Hank must leave the women and land he's come to love. During his absence the greedy neighbor slowly tries to push the Gallatin women and their respectable values out of their home and the growing town. The wilds of Montana grow less wild in leaps and bounds while Gwen Gallatin and her sisters cling to what is theirs.
     With their Christian values and frontier grit, the Gallatin girls are compassionate and persistent. They care for their community, even when the community doesn't care for them. They stick together and stick to their beliefs. Gwen, Beth and Lacy Gallatin are women ahead of their time yet also women of their time seeking love and family through the plans of their Heavenly Father. Readers of all ages will enjoy A Promise to Believe In.

The Two Towers

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1954 George Allen & Unwin

     The Fellowship of the Ring has traveled beyond Rivendell and been separated. Merry and Pippin are taken by Orcs to their headquarters, but escape into the forest and meet the Ents (large tree-like creatures) and wage battle against the Orcs who have decimated the forests. Glimli, Legolas and Aragorn follow Merry and Pippin until they encounter the Riders of Rohan led by Éomer and are swept away to Gondor.
     Samwise Gamgee and Frodo Baggins separate from the rest of the Fellowship and sneak into Gondor to dispose of the Ring.
     Saruman, the corrupted wizard, rules the Orcs at Isengard and follows Aragon and his companions by magic. When Gandalf reappears to them as the White Rider, a white wizard resurrected from his death in The Fellowship of the Ring, he guides the companions to the Golden Hall of King Théoden where he points to the king's adviser as Saruman's spy.
     When they confront Saruman at Isengard Aragorn, Glimli, and Legolas are surprised to discover Merry and Pippin. The hobbits connect Gandalf with the Ents who want to help the fight against the Dark Lord Sauron. During the battle at Isengard King Théoden's cast out adviser attempts to kill Gandalf with a magic seeing-stone Pippin looks into the stone and gives Sauron the ability to follow him throughout Middle Earth.
     Sam and Frodo meet Gollum, the creature Bilbo stole the Ring from in The Hobbit, and force him to lead them through the marshland to the edge of Mordor. The trio encounters Boromir's brother Faramir and his men who offer to help their mission. Gollum leads Sam and Frodo into the lair of a giant spider, an encounter which ends with Frodo kidnapped by Orcs and Sam in possession of the Ring.
     The Two Towers bridges the re-emergence of the Ring and it's journey into Mordor. The break up of the Fellowship allows different factions of Middle Earth to become engaged in the struggle between submission under the Ring and the people of Middle Earth's freedom. Teens and adults alike will enjoy this classic.

Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings

Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings by Helene Boudreau, 2010 Jabberwocky

     School is almost out and that means pool parties and other summer adventures, but first Jade has to make it to the end of the year. When she has her first period and her father suggests Epsom salts as a cure for cramps no one expects Jade to come out of the bath with a fish's tail.
     It turns out Jade's mother, who mysteriously drowned last summer, was a mermaid and Jade has inherited the mermaid gene. But if she was a mermaid, how did she drown?
     With all the chaos of discovering her tail, finding out her mom has been held prisoner for the last year, and a new attraction to a familiar face, Jade's relationship with her best friend seems to crumble. Can Jade keep it all together in time for everything to get back together?
     With the exception of her tail, Jade is just like any other teen--trying to fit in while dealing with the changes life brings--and like other teens she learns to adapt to the changes. Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings is aimed at younger teens, fans of the paranormal in reality will enjoy the book.

Anthem

Anthem by Ayn Rand, 1938 Pamphleteers, Inc.

     In the novella Anthem by Ayn Rand society has become compartmentalized to survive chaos. Children are taught to exist for the greater good, and individuality is stripped from existence. One man, labelled Equality 7-2521, discovers a secret tunnel where he finds solitude and writes. His alone-time violates all laws of society and, though he comes to enjoy the solitude, Equality 7-2521 begs forgiveness from the Council.
     In his solitude Equality 7-2521 writes of his childhood; how he was cursed with a terrible curiosity, how he fought with the other boys, how he preferred some people and things to others, he writes of how he tried to conform, but failed.
     When Equality 7-2521 was ten years old he, with the rest of the children, watched the execution of a Transgressor--one who had discovered the word "I". While he was burned alive, the Transgressor showed no pain, but made eye contact with Equality 7-2521 and the youth took it as a signal of his apprenticeship to the Transgressor. When he was made a street-sweeper rather than a scholar Equality 7-2521 was glad for the chance to atone for his sins.
     The youth begins to experiment and develops a light bulb which he wants to display at the Council of Scholars when it convenes in his city. He also finds himself falling in love with "the Golden One", a young woman who makes him think of the Palace of Mating. Equality 7-2521 arrives late to his sleeping place one night and is sent to the Palace of Correctional Detention, when he refuses to tell where he's been he is tortured and held captive until the World Council convenes in town.
     Equality 7-2521 is rejected out of fear and barely escapes with his invention and his life. He flees to the Uncharted Forest where he finds freedom. The Golden One follows him and they discover individuality is not the danger the ruling Council touts it to be. They make their lives together and plan a future where man understands the spirit of individuality and supremacy of the ego.
     Ayn Rand's tale explores the destruction of the singular human being, an integral part of our society. While the concepts can be confusing (the first few times I read the story I had difficulty getting through to Equality's discovery of the individual) it extrapolates on the idea of socialism taken to the extreme--all of existence is dictated by the good of the many and little is done to advance society because the advanced are kept at the level of their less fortunate brethren. Anthem is a philosophical read for high schoolers and adults. It is a short story, but ideologically weighty.

Witches of East End

Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz, 2011 Hyperion Books

     After the Salem Witch Trials Joanna, Ingrid, and Freya Beauchamp were forbidden from using their magic, and in the last three hundred years they've refrained. But the limitations are beginning to chafe; they want to help people. Joanna has powers of renewal and destruction; her daughter Ingrid can see into the future and weave down-home magic with her knot-work; Freya, Ingrid's sister and Joanna's younger daughter, crafts love potions.
     When Freya falls for a local magnate the whirlwind romance seems like many she's experienced over the years. However it's Bran's brother Killian Gardiner who satisfies Freya's appetite for romance, excitement, and fuels her adrenaline rush. And Freya isn't the only one discovering romance: Ingrid finds an unusual attraction to a local police detective.
     With the joy of a new relationships the women discover themselves taking risks with their magic--one simple charm becomes another and soon the trio are practicing forbidden skills. Through the magic they discover forces at work in North Hampton, a grey mass over the ocean and unnatural nature around the town. Joanna seeks out her estranged husband in New York City for help with the situation.
     Chaos whirls around the town faster and faster, until Johanna and Norman discover it is the byproduct of Killian and Bran Gardiner's age-old battle over Freya and the breakdown of the boundaries between worlds. Memories of eternity return to the Beauchamps as they discover their history as Norse gods and goddesses.
     Though their lives are those of normal people, the Beauchamp family are immortal and personify their realms of power--Joanna is a mother with power over life and death, Ingrid is a librarian dealing with the daily lives in the community, and Freya is a bartender at the local pub.
     Both Ingrid and Freya live their lives anew, each rediscovering her magic and her heritage in each generation. As they learn to navigate the changing world each young woman makes mistakes and questions her place. Witches of East End is a book for older teens dealing with the struggles of women navigating life, love and age-old relationships cast into shadow by the near destruction of the Earth.

Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse

Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan, 2007 Hyperion

     When Annabeth and Artemis are kidnapped Percy and the campers at Camp Half-Blood team with the Hunters to find the two young women. The story starts six months after The Sea of Monsters when Grover finds two strong demi-gods at a school in the Northeast: Bianca and Nico di Angelo. They discover that the vice-principal is a Manticore and interested in the two demi-gods.
     Percy attempts to stop the Manticore from kidnapping the di Angelo children and is poisoned by one of his scorpion thorns. He is too weak to fight and is brought along with the demi-god children to the edge of a cliff where the Manticore's allies plan to collect them. Percy sends a message through his empathy link to Grover and the satyr comes to the rescue with Annabeth and Thalia.
     Suddenly silver arrows rain down on the Manticore and the Hunters of Artemis reveal themselves. The part-human-lion-scorpion monster attacks Percy and Thalia and Annabeth attacks him with her knife. The two fall off the cliff. Artemis appears and reveals plans to hunt a monster capable of killing the gods. She sends her hunters to Camp Half-Blood while she hunts and Thalia joins the crew leaving her brother in the care of Camp Half-Blood. When they return to camp Thalia and Percy are forbidden from rescuing Annabeth.
     After Chiron announces the camp would play Capture the Flag with the Hunters the campers scatter to prepare. Percy goes to the Oracle with a dream of Annabeth holding up the sky in the place of Atlas. The Oracle doesn't respond, but later goes to the Captain of the Hunters--she never leaves the Big House. It is determined Thalia, Bianca and several other members of the assembled groups will quest to save Artemis and Annabeth.
     Percy is kept at Camp Half-Blood, until a dream reveals Artemis has taken Annabeth's place and the questers only have until the Winter Solstice to rescue them. He wakes to find Blackjack (a pegasus) in his cabin asking him to rescue a sea-cow whom Percy names Bessie.  To stop Nico from following, and to further his own goals, Percy takes off on Blackjack to follow the quest.
     The quest encounters skeletal soldiers created from dragon's teeth, dirt, and blood; the Nemian lion; Apollo; the Erymanthian Boar; skeletal soldiers again; and Talos, a mechanical monster that Bianca defeats but that kills her when it lands on electrical lines. All the while they are moving westward and arrive at Hoover Dam to discover a girl who can see through the mist: Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Rachel helps Percy escape the skeletal soldiers and meet his friends, and the group escapes.
     In San Francisco Percy wrestles Nerus, the old man of the sea, and discovers Bessie is the creature Artemis searches for. With help from Dionysus and Posiedon they manage to get the sea-cow back to Camp Half-Blood. The troupe continues to where the earth meets the sky on Mt Tam to rescue Annabeth and Artemis. Percy fulfills his part of the prophecy and the demi-gods trick Atlas back into his prison between earth and sky. After a meeting with the gods on Olympus the heroes return home to Camp Half-Blood.
     Riordan's take on Greek Mythology in the modern world is fascinating, not only in how he interprets the creatures of the past into today's terms and technology, but in how he brings the characters to life with his stories. Percy's destiny still looms before him and his friends are but a single battle from being taken from him, but the son of Poseidon fights for the continuation of his world. Percy, Annabeth, and Grover stand up for each other and defy both fate and authority to protect their friendship. The Titan's Curse is aimed at older elementary readers and may be enjoyed by readers of all ages.