May Bird and the Ever After by Jodi Lynn Anderson

What happens when you fall into another world? Alice could tell you all about Wonderland.

Likewise, May Bird could tell you all about the Ever After.

May Bird is a bright, independent and imaginative young girl whose best friend is her hairless cat, the aptly-named Somber Kitty. One day, she receives a mysterious letter which prompts her to visit the nearby woods. Little does she know that she's about to go on the trip of her life -- among the no-longer-living!

With the help of Pumpkin - a timid ghost who has, without her knowledge, been her long-time guardian - she navigates the strange land. The Ever After is part Beetlejuice, part Oz, and sometimes a little scary for May, but her bravery sees her through.
Somber Kitty also fell into the Ever After, but he was separated from his owner. While May Bird tries to find a way home, Somber Kitty attempts to find her by following her scent. Somber Kitty is absolutely adorable and simply meowvelous. His determination and loyalty make his part of the story just as important as hers.

May Bird and the Ever After by Jodi Lynn Anderson is the first in a trilogy. The second, May Bird Among the Stars, comes out this fall; the third title has yet to be released or announced.

I can't wait to find out what happens next!

Go Ask Malice by Robert Joseph Levy

During Season Three of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, viewers were introduced to Faith, a bold Slayer who loved breaking the rules and testing the limits. A fan favorite, she appeared on the spin-off series Angel on multiple occasions, then came back to BtVS during its final season.

Faith was one of my favorite characters. She was memorably portrayed by actress Eliza Dushku. Many fans wished she had her own spin-off. Those who were loyal readers of the official BtVS/Angel original books also wished for a book that focused solely on Faith.
The book Go Ask Malice is supposed to be Faith's diary, chronicling the time of her callling, and found in the ruins of Sunnydale after the series finale.

This means that, from the get-go, the reader is supposed to believe that Faith would 1) keep a diary; and 2) carry it around through multiple moves, from Boston to Sunnydale to Los Angeles, then prison, then out of prison, then back to Sunnydale. I tried to suspend disbelief for the sake of the story, but I couldn't.

I never stop reading a story once I've started it, but this was really hard to get through. Since it was a diary, it was written in first person, but it didn't sound like Faith's voice to me. I constantly wanted to correct it. It wasn't one hundred percent wrong.
Little tidbits were thrown at readers here and there - things and people Faith had said on the show in passing were made into plots and crucial characters - but overall, it never felt right.

For a better taste of Faith fiction, try the short story written by Christopher Golden and Thomas E.
Sniegoski in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds:
Prima's Official Strategy Guide. It is brief but powerful, and you'll be wishing Golden and Sniegoski wrote a full Faith novel instead.

The Last Days by Scott Westerfeld

Vampires really do exist.
The apocalypse is nigh.
And the band played on.

Scott Westerfeld follows up Peeps, his bestselling vampire story, with The Last Days. I thoroughly enjoyed Peeps, and when I discovered that there was to be a sequel, I was very excited.

The Last Days was quite different from what I expected. Instead of following the typical sequel format and employing the same main characters and same narrative style as the first story, Westerfeld opted to introduce five new main characters, each of which shares his or her view of things in alternating chapters. While Peeps falls into the category of dark comedy and seems more controlled and steady, The Last Days is an apocalypse story which feels more dystopic and chaotic.

The tale begins innocently enough: Best buds Moz and Zahler have been fooling with guitars for years now but never really had a serious band. All that changes when they meet Pearl, a musical genius who brings serious talent to the group. She also brings along her friend Minerva, whose very prescence simultaneously unnerves and intrigues the boys. The band is rounded out by Alanna Ray, a paint-can drummer with an inner metronome and hidden afflictions.
Minerva is inflicted herself, being a peep who has struggled with the disease and spent months locked up in her room, cut off from the world. It is with Pearl's help, then that of the band, that she re-connects with the world; it is due to her peep status that the book begins to tie-in with its predecessor.

When Cal, the protagonist of Peeps, finally showed up, I cheered out loud. The action kicks in, the beasts are unleashed, and the ultimate showdown between good and evil becomes more dependent on music than violence. An interesting tale - though I must admit, I prefer Peeps.

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

Boy meets girl.
Boy likes girl.
Boy gets infected.
Boy helps save the world.

Nowadays, a unique spin on the classic vampire story is hard to come by. Thankfully, Scott Westerfeld delivers with Peeps, which drips with snarky dialogue, well-researched diseases, and fresh twists.

In this novel, vampirism isn't a curse; it's a disease. There's no big Dracula-esque bloodsucker, but there are plenty of rats and cats. Cal learns all this and more when he moves from Texas to the Big Apple, meets a girl, and gets infected. Instead of getting the full-scale disease, he is a carrier, a peep, slang for parasite-positive.

Ultimately, Peeps is about science and natural selection, rather than horror and campfire tales. This dark comedy will make readers laugh and think - two great elements of escapism. Peeps is a fast-paced story which is as catchy as the disease it details.

Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies) by Justina Chen Headley

Patty doesn't think she fits in anywhere, not even in her own family. She has a strict Taiwanese mother, an absentee white father and a college-bound older brother. As far as she can see, the scoreboard reads world = 100, Patty = 0. She is dragged with her mother to meet a fortune teller who reads her belly button
(!) while everyone else is rocking out at the high school dance. She has to go to math camp while everyone else has fun summer plans. In other words, everyone else wins at life, while Patty comes up empty.

Patty's story is not just for hapas - read the book to discover the definition! - and not only for biracial teens. It has many levels of appeal. I recommend Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies) by Justina Chen Headley to a wide variety of people - both genders, various races, all thoughtful teens, and all astute adults, especially parents. This is a story for anyone who has wondered about an absent parent or struggled with a strict parent. This is for the smart kids who wonder why their parents keep testing them and making them prove themselves. This is for the kids who look different from their classmates on the outside or simply feel different on the inside. This is for anyone who considered his or her own personal secrets, lies, and truths.

The Last Apprentice: The Curse of the Bane by Joseph Delaney

Mr. Gregory has an apprentice named Tom Ward. The spook (a person who takes care of dark creatures) is out sick and Tom must catch a ripper for him. A ripper is a dark creature who sucks on the blood of a human. Risking his master's brother's life, Tom catches the ripper and puts it to rest. With all this done, Tom goes back to his master. A little while later, news comes that Mr. Gregory's brother is now dead. The spook and his apprentice go to the funeral in Priestown, (a town that is full of priests who hate spooks because they "sell their spirits to the devil), but only because there is a dark monster in the catacombs under the church. On the way to the funeral, the Quisitor makes an appearance with a cart full of fake witches to try and burn at the stake. On that cart is one of Tom's friends, Alice. Tom can do nothing but go into the funeral. Some time later the spook is taken into prison for being a spook. Tom goes to rescue them and, to do that, must go into the catascombs near the bane. So he does and gets almost all the prisoners out but a few. After that he goes back into the catacombs. On his way out he found the spook sitting in front of the golden gate which is a gate that kept the evil shape-shifting bane locked up. Tom was tricked and it really was the bane he was talking to. Alice comes up out of nowhere and spits on the bane. The bane hates women so he fled. Tom and Alice went out the gate. That night the bane tried to get Tom to give it some of his blood to eat. Tom said no, so the bane tried Alice. Alice gave her soul to the monster and let it out past the silver gate. It’s the day of the burning and Alice and Tom go and save the people from burning with the banes help. Since Alice gave it her blood, it gave her three requests and that was one. The spook and they set off and figure out how to defeat the bane. They do defeat the bane in the end.

I really enjoyed this book because fantasy is one of my favorites. I enjoyed reading about the dark creatures in this book – they were interesting, really creepy and gave me chills. Tom was very spunky, Alice was quirky and Mr. Gregory was queer in a good way. I’d really like to know more about his past. The setting of the story was very religious, with Priestown being full of churches and priests. This was a contrast to the characters, who were dark and spooky. The wording was easy to understand, but it kept me interested for the duration of the story. There were a few places where I was confused because I didn’t read the first book (this is the second in the series) and I recommend that people read the first book before reading this one.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 9
Reviewer Age: 13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Shippensburg, Pennsylvania United States

Fugitives of Chaos by John C. Wright

The five orphens of chaos have had their memories erased, and now they are going back to the schedule they had before they tried to escape. Then Amelia remembers everything that happened to her and her friends, and knows their memories have been erased. The five know they have to try to escape the school and recover their memories, and this time they are better prepared to face their enemy. Their escape seems to be working but then Colin attacks Boggins and disappears and Amelia is taking by Mr. Glum into his underwater lair. The five eventually reunite with one another, and all of their memories are retrieved, but they learn that their absence from the world will mean the distruction for all, and if that realization is not enough to freak them out they also have to deal with someone trying to kill them.

I liked the characters in the book, and how even though they are completely different from each other, as in they are different species and have completely different attitudes, they are able to work together to save each other. I really liked how the author had Amelia use physics throughout the book and I liked the friendship between the five chaoses and how they children never stopped trying to save each other. I liked that the author used the Greek gods as characters in the book, because its interesting to read of these gods and goddesses, that once were considered everything and now are considered a myth, be put in a world where the majority of people don't belive they ever existed. The author also did a good job in putting the story of Aphrodite's and Ares' relationship in the story. I liked this book better than the first book, though. The first book ended on a kind of sad note because the kids were getting their memory erased and their only hope at remebering was really small, but the at the end of this book they've escaped from the school and they're boat to freedom is coming and just ends on such a more optimistic note than the first book. All in all it was a very good book and I can't wait to read the next in the series.

Content:I would consider this book for a mature reader, because there is a part where a naked guy is described and also there is a little violence in it.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8
Reviewer Age: 14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Tucson, Arizona U.S.A.

Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

Claire Danvers is one of those exceptionally bright students who is able to get out of high school early. But instead of letting Claire go hundreds of miles away for college, her parents send her to Texas Prairie University in the small town of Morganville, Texas. Claire’s dorm situation is absolutely awful, the most popular girl, Monica, is out to hurt her, even kill her. So Claire moves off campus and becomes the fourth roommate in the Glass House. Her three roommates, Eve, a goth girl who was kicked out by her parents, Shane, a perspective love interest to Claire, and Michael, a boy who sleeps during the day and comes out at night, quickly fill Claire in on the situation at Morganville-it’s a town run by vampires. After learning the truth Claire fights to stay alive, which isn’t easy when the roommates have secrets of their own.

When I first got this book I didn’t think I would like it that much since I’m not really into vampires, but this was one of the best suspense books I have read in a while. It is a thrilling page-turner that I just couldn’t put down. Even though it is suspenseful there is a bit of a love story going on, too. The only part I didn’t like was the cliff-hanger ending.

Content:mature reader

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 9
Reviewer Age: 15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Erlanger, Kentucky United States

In the Company of Ogres by A. Lee Martinez

This book is about a witty and extraordinarily mediocre protagonist called Never Dead Ned. Although as is said in the book, Occasionally Dead Ned would be more specific, but that doesn't have that certain ring to it, does it? Ned can die well enough, it’s just the staying dead part that seems to get him. Every time Ned finds himself six feet under a mysterious Red Women resurrects him with her magic. Ned gets a job in book keeping him well and alive, but when he gets a dreaded blue slip, he is unwillingly promoted to commander of the infamous Ogre Company. When he gets to Ogre Company he meets the elite of the group. They include the binge smoking en- er uh treefolk, a red hot salamander named Sally, a giant extremely rare two headed ogre, a moonstruck Amazon, a very motivate siren, a blind oracle who can now only hear and smell the future, orc who looks like a goblin, yet another suicidal goblin, and many more. As more and more of Neds deep and disturbing past, and as the Ogre Company gets more and more motivated this story spirals upwards to the climax of a battle against an endless demon hoard, and only Neds hidden power can save those he loves, and everyone else besides...

This book is a deep, engrossing, can’t put it down comedy that will keep you reading and laughing till the very end. The character's personalities and the jokes throughout the book will keep you laughing. This book uses hilarious jokes and character interaction to riotous results. One of the funniest parts of the book is the total disregard for the death of a goblin. The goblins lifespan is measured in months, only rarely years, so when an ogre just happens to step on a goblin and kill him, before anyone even bats an eye. The goblins are given the most dangerous and stupid jobs thinkable, like training giant reptilian birds called rocs, which really just amounts to getting eaten until the rocs get either full or board. This book is a must read for anyone wanting a laugh.

Content: This book should be approved by a parent before reading due to slightly suggestive content, cursing, and violence.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 10
Reviewer Age: 13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Fayetteville, Pennsylvania USA

Shan Serafin

In Seventeen, author Shan Serafin introduces readers to Sophia. She's a seventeen-year-old taking college classes for the summer in New York City with her two best friends (extroverted, smart, blonde bombshell Shauna and Shauna's brother, introverted, brilliant, and unique JP) and a bunch of strangers. That doesn't sound so bad, but Sophia's life isn't going the way she wants. She isn't as smart as either of her friends, as beautiful as Shauna, or any of it. She's not sure life's worth living, so she sets an ultimatum: show me a reason to live or I'll kill myself in seven days.

Seventeen is a brilliantly written story, and one that is not often told. Most of the characters, but especially Sophia and JP, are very real. I had a hard time seeing Shauna as three-dimensional, though. The writing is breathtaking, and it's a story that will really draw the reader into it; it's a page-turner! The ending is surprising, and sad but certainly not what you'd expect. This is a very unique book that shouldn't be missed!Content:This book is probably best suited for more mature readers.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 9
Reviewer Age: 15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Asheville, NC USA