A Tale of Two Castles

A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine, 2011 HarperTeen

     Elodie leaves her family on an island from the distant reaches of the kingdom to become a mansioner - acting is her dream! But when she arrives the troupes aren't accepting new apprentices. The resident dragon of Two Castles, Meenore, takes her under ITs wings and the two begin an uneasy relationship.
     While still trying to get used to the size and sights of Two Castles (it's the largest town she's ever seen) Elodie battles to be Meenore's apprentice to the best of her ability. The dragon is particular in every aspect of ITs life, but Elodie does make progress: when the Count, an ogre set to be engaged to the Royal Princess, seeks Meenore's assistance Elodie is placed in his castle in the guise of a kitchen maid.
     For twelve-year-old Elodie every day is another act in the play of her life: will she be able to discover who the traitor is and will she be able to continue her work with the dragon Meenore?
     Younger readers will enjoy the surprise of a mystery solved and characters who easily fall into their pre-determined categories. This story is a children's book with themes of persistence and independence woven into the story of a girl trying to pursue her dreams.

The Siren

The Siren by Kiera Cass, 2016 HarperTeen

     At nineteen Kahlen has always been an obedient child, her father takes pride in his little girl and her mother appreciates her daughter's beauty which reflects back her own looks. When a sudden shipwreck and strange music drives Kahlen's family into the ocean the young woman is frightened and cries out for rescue.
     Eighty years after her sinking and transition from girl into Siren, Kahlen has become weary of her duty. In exchange for one-hundred years of feeding Her, the Ocean has turned Kahlen and her fellow Sirens into somewhat invincible creatures. In the late twentieth and early twenty-first century there are four young women serving the Ocean's need while She serves humanity.
     The young women follow the tradition of sirens before them: calling humans to the ocean and their deaths with voices of beauty granted by the Ocean Herself. They must not reveal their secret, and any who hear their voices must be given to the Sea. She becomes a kind of mother and a kind of overbearing warden.
     Kahlen has become restless in the years - the faces of her victims haunt her dreams. She blames herself while still caring for her sisters and the Ocean which they feed. While staying in Miami Kahlen keeps her silence, but also finds friendship with a young man studying at the local college. She understands there can be no relationship, but when Akinli can see past her extraordinary beauty and strange silence Kahlen connects with him.
     She knows there can be no relationship because she cannot speak to him, and cannot reveal her secret to the one boy she wants to share it with. When their separation creates a rift between Kahlen and her sisters, and between Kahlen and the Ocean, the girl must discover if her love for this strange boy is enough to risk the wrath of the Ocean for her wayward siren.
     The Siren is a story of acceptance and what one young woman is willing to do for love: of her chosen family and of a young man she barely knows, but with whom she shares a strange connection. Kahlen's story is as passionate as Cass's Selection series on a both simpler and more grandiose scale. Teen and Young Adult readers will enjoy this story of star-crossed lovers appropriate for even younger readers of romance. Kahlen and her siren sisters briefly approach the abuse known to young women around the world throughout the ages and the virgin-whore paradox which is rampant throughout mythology.

Mystic

Mystic by Jason Denzel, 2015 Tor Books

     Generation after generation has competed to become High Mystic and each time the competitors are nobles, until Pomella AnDone is invited to join. Pom has never been trained in the Myst; she has no idea what the silver creatures she, and only she, sees are; she is enjoying the annual summer festival when the Green Man of legend appears and invites her to join the competition for High Mystic.
     The daughter of the local Baron threatens if Pomella does not achieve apprenticeship she will be declared Unnamed - an outcast without status and without name. Pom is terrified, but when her best friend sneaks in Pom's window that night she discovers a significant portion of the town supports her. Thus begins Pom's journey: she leaves for the High Mystic's stronghold, with the help of an old friend, Sim, she escapes the Baron's guard, and finally arrives at Kelt Apar to meet the other potential apprentices.
     When he parts from Pomella, Sim attempts to return home, but so far across the barony Sim is in a position to escape life as  simply a commoner - he could travel to one of the cities and become anything. But Sim's hopes are dimmed by his affections for Pomella, he decides to visit her at Kelt Apar and decide his future from there - he too will be Unnamed if he leaves then returns to the Barony.
     Pomella is thrust into a bickering of politics and attentions when the three nobles discover their compatriot is a commoner. She tries to rise above their expectations and to fight her own self-doubt as the trials progress. Sim is captured on his way by the Black Claw and the Mystic who has hired them on this journey. He fights to stay alive while the band travels deeper into the Mystwood toward what he doesn't know, but it has something to do with Pom.
     Denzel's debut novel is high fantasy at its finest: a magical quest, betrayal, friendships created and destroyed, and a side-line romantic plotline. Pomella AnDone is not a normal teen, yet the most difficult obstacles she faces are internal. Older teen and adult readers will find Mystic fast-paced with unexpected turns as ti follows Pom and Sim through the Mystwood.

Mary, Bloody Mary

Mary, Bloody Mary by Carolyn Meyer, 1999 Gulliver Books

     Princess Mary Tudor is the daughter of Catherine of Aragon and King Henry VIII of England. She is his only legitimate child when her story begins and she is betrothed to the young King of France. When Anne Boleyn catches her father's eye he requests an annulment from Queen Catherine which would make Princess Mary a bastard and remove her social standing. Mary is sent from court to Ludlow and the queen is sent to the north.
     When the king makes a drastic move and separates from the Catholic Church to form his own church, then become its leader, he finally gains the power to divorce Catherine. Henry marries Anne and their union is followed by a daughter, Elizabeth. The king creates a Dual Oath which forswears the Catholic faith to declare Henry the head of the church and Anne's children the heirs to the throne.
     Anyone who refuses to swear is declared a traitor, but Mary has a promise to her mother to uphold. Anne comes after the deposed princess to strengthen her position, but Mary survives while hundreds of Catholic citizens are slaughtered for their faith.
     Meyer's novel is based in history and looks at one of England's most tumultuous eras from the vantage of a young woman at the center of the upheaval. This portrayal of Bloody Mary Tudor imagines the events which shaped her entire life and how they affect teenaged Mary. Middle level readers can relate to a girl who feels like such an outcast as her life changes drastically.

The Death Cure

The Death Cure by James Dashner, 2011 Delacorte Books

     Thomas has escaped the Maze, survived the Scorch, and after one last test he and his friends will be free and cured of the Flare. The survivors have been whisked away to WICKED's compound where the last tests will take place.
     The group is allowed to spend time together, but Thomas has been separated and placed in isolation. With no way to tell time the young man begins to lose touch with reality, it takes a force of will to maintain his grasp of reality. Finally the rat-faced man who met the boys before the journey through the Scorch comes to tell Thomas of the next steps.
     Thomas and the rest of the survivors from both Group A and Group B will regain their memories; WICKED tells them this will help them all understand why they joined the experiment. Thomas, Minho, and Newt refuse to go through with the procedure. The Rat Man explains some of the survivors are immune to the Flare, others are not, escape would be worthless as the immune are despised outside the compound. But the trio are adamant; they flee to Denver, Colorado where a large group who have yet to be infected lives.
     Thomas hopes the trio will be able to save the rest of the experiment survivors, but first they have to get WICKED, and its locator chip, out of their heads. While searching for the man who can remove the chips Thomas and Minho discover Newt is among the infected and as he helps them brainstorm a plan the disease takes his mind. The authorities take Newt to a city filled with people in varying stages of the Flare.
     Again, Thomas is gripped by the need to save his friends and when he and Minho risk going into the Flare-infested city to find Newt the extent of the infestation finally strikes them. Thomas hopes there is a place the survivors from the Maze to finally find peace, but any resolution will mean going back to WICKED's base and facing the demon in its lair.
     Teen and young adult readers will be interested in the conclusion of the story in the Maze and of the Flare; some romantic tension remains, with a focus on making the right choice.

The Benedict Bastard

The Benedict Bastard by Cate Campbell, 2014 Kensington Books

     Margot Benedict Parrish has fought for every privilege she now enjoys as a female doctor in 1923 Seattle. After the drama of her younger brother's betrayal and subsequent incarceration in Walla Walla Sanitarium Margot and her husband Frank take a short vacation to visit his parents in Montana. Preston is not finished with his family, especially his sister. He continues to implore his shell-shocked mother to bring him the sapphire he believes holds a magical sort of power. His parting shot at the family is news of a Benedict child out in the world without the protection of his family.
     The reader meets Bronwyn Morgan of the Port Townsend Morgans. Preston seduced the young woman and, though she had no idea of the mechanics, impregnated her. Bronwyn's child is taken from her and sent to a well-known Seattle children's home. When she searches for the son who was taken from her she encounters first Margot at the children's home, then the rest of the Benedicts when she saves little Louisa (Dick and Ramona's daughter) from drowning in a wading pool.
     The Parrishes are enjoying their vacation in Montana, living the simple life and meeting local people. Margot learns from Frank's mother the various folk remedies and problems women faced without a nearby doctor and Dr. Benedict has a chance to show her in-laws her skill.
     While Margot and Frank are on vacation Mrs. Edith Benedict kidnaps Bronwyn from Benedict Hall and takes her to visit Preston in Walla Walla. Until she stands in his presence Bronwyn still believes Preston had died in the fire which destroyed Margot's original clinic. When the two do meet Preston's fury drives Miss Morgan from the Sanitarium.
     Bronwyn's presence confirms the family's fears - Preston has fathered a Benedict child who is missing in the Greater Seattle area. When Mrs. Benedict suffers a hysterical fit Dickson calls his daughter home to care for her mother and assess Preston's situation. The Parrishes cut their vacation short and return to Washington to support the family.
     The Benedict family has faced challenge after challenge despite the money Dickson Benedict has accumulated. Dick, Ramona, Margot and Frank are faced with holding the family together while Edith and Dickson face what could be the loss of their first grandson. When hope blooms they feel Bronwyn should be consulted on the fate of her son; yet still worry she could take him away.
     Three years after their story began the Benedicts have been confronted by their youngest son's psychopathy, they have lost and discovered members of the clan. The family has grown stronger as it has grown larger, yet the question remains: will the Benedict Family simply endure or will they thrive? The final installment of their story is not meant for younger readers with issues of birth control and race laced throughout the tale.