Doomed Queen Anne

Doomed Queen Anne by Carolyn Meyer, 2002 HMH for Young Readers

     Anne Boleyn changed the course of history when Henry Tudor VIII broke with the Catholic church to be able to divorce his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Based on true events Anne joins her sister Mary at the court of Queen Catherine when Mary is rumored to be the mistress of the king. 

     Henry has tired of his wife and when he tires of his mistress her sister engages a campaign to become the king's second wife. Anne has always been antagonized by her older sister and largely ignored by her parents--she is not a beauty and even has two signs of a witch: a sixth finger and mole on her neck. Still, the king is infatuated. 

     Anne convinces Henry to request an annulment from the Pope, but he is denied. Henry then breaks with the church and declares his first marriage invalid clearing the way for a second wife: Anne Boleyn. The court hates her for her ambition and calls her a witch, Henry defends his wife until the child she bears him turns out to be a girl. 

    Three years of marriage and no son try Henry's patience and he begins to lose interest in his queen. When the Seymours place Jane in the king's sights Anne senses her position becoming more precarious. Her earlier ambitions come back to knock Anne from her throne: Jane Seymour refuses to be simply the king's paramour and even Anne's sister accuses her of adultery. 

     Anne lives out her days awaiting execution for treason in the Tower of London. History remembers her as the second of Henry VIII's six wives and the mother of Queen Elizabeth I. Written for young adult readers, some material in Doomed Queen Anne may be inappropriate for middle-grade readers. The story does have several inaccuracies but is an entertaining story. 

One for the Money

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich, 1994 Charles Scribner's Sons

     Living in Trenton, New Jersey, isn't all flowers and sunshine for Stephanie Plum. She's lost her job as a buyer of a lingerie house and has been searching for work nearly six months when she hits a dead end. Admitting to her over-involved family that she's unemployed drives Stephanie to blackmail her cousin into a job as fugitive retrieval specialist: Stephanie becomes a bounty hunter - and her first assignment is Joe Morelli.
    Joe was every girl's dream back in high school, and after he took advantage of seventeen-year-old Stephanie Plum he hasn't been one of her favorite people. In fact, Stephanie is looking forward to catching the cop-turned-fugitive. Despite the consensus she won't catch him, Stephanie is confident she'll find the charmer, especially for the $10,000 that'll keep her off the streets, and more importantly, out of her mother's house.
    As she searches for Morelli, Stephanie discovers just how green she is. With help from Ranger, another bounty hunter and Vinnie's best, Stephanie makes a couple collars to keep her going. Some luck and downright brazen bravado lead to several encounters with her new target, and Joe is not happy. But something doesn't add up in what happens and the mob seems to be after Morelli too.
     The two team up to find out who is trying to frame Morelli and Stephanie picks up a stalker in local boxer Benito Ramirez. At first, it looks like the abusive and misogynistic boxer's antics are unrelated to Morelli's problems, but the beating of Lula, a prostitute who gave Stephanie information on Morelli's case, points to an unknown connection.
     Stephanie's naivete and bumbling belie her tenacity and grit as she is nearly killed more than once and faces a man who refuses to acknowledge her agency in the face of his wants. Though she may not appear to be the sharpest knife in the drawer, Stephanie Plum gets to the bone and learns she's got the moxie to make it in this new career. The first in the series One for the Money is an adult novel with violence, mature humor, and intense situations.