The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, if you love the Barry Lyga books about serial killers, Libba Bray's The Diviners, and Ripper by Stefan Petrucha, Acceleration by Graham McNamee, you will totally love this book!!! The title is great too; the teens who are Naturals can read emotions, profile people (killers), etc. Cassie is a natural at profiling people, her mother was a psychic and trained Cassie until she was murdered five years ago. After living with relatives and not really feeling the love; she is approached by the FBI to become part of their Naturals team that helps solve cold cases. But when bodies start turning up that mimic her mother's murder, Cassie and the Naturals jump in to try and stop the next murder, will it be Cassie? I could not put this book down. It has the perfect amount of suspense, and crazy to keep you turning the pages, it took me one day to read this book! I am looking for a sequel!

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The Journey of Hannah Woods by Helene Forst

The Journey of Hannah Woods by Helene Forst
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was so happy to receive this book from the author; what a compelling, satisfying read. Hannah Woods is the kind of protagonist the reader will enjoy getting to know. When we meet first meet her, she is inwardly freaking out at her father’s funeral. As a fourteen year old, Hannah lets the reader know she is suffering from panic attacks, hears voices cruelly putting her down, and relies heavily on drugs. After the funeral, this Hannah will leave the only home she has ever known and go to live with grandparents she didn’t realize she had. It is in this “new” home with down-to- earth grandparents, and a very strong, knowledgeable network of doctors where Hannah begins her epic journey. We learn from Hannah that she did not have a loving father or mother (they were very neglectful), was constantly under the care of nannies, home-schooled by tutors, and had only one person she could count on as a child, the head housekeeper, Winnie. Nothing was normal in her life; Hannah grew up alone, afraid, and always anxious. What I really loved about Hannah as I read this book was her positive attitude. She may have been terrified, but she did not give up hope. On the cusp of adolescence, she must attend high school, participate in class, and meet friends while she withdraws from heavy duty drugs and lives a normal life. It is this Hannah who learns how to surf, play volleyball, ice skate, become active in a Save the Earth Club, and begin to heal, express herself (through poetry) and learn how to savor life and love. I enjoyed the authentic characters Forst provides in Hannah’s loving, working grandparents, high school friends Emma and Eli, and remarkable Drs. Weinstein and Hope. This book was a journey for the reader and Hannah, and one I am very happy I made. As Hannah explores her new life in Crystal Cove, the reader is learning what it is like to have Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, fears, and anxieties. The reader roots for Hannah as she fights valiantly to control her life without drugs and learns to welcome the real Hannah Woods, “perfectly balanced” and “courageously dreaming.”

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The Collector of Dying Breaths by M.J. Rose

The Collector of Dying Breaths: A Novel of Suspense by M.J. Rose
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this advance e-book which traverses between the worlds of Catherine de Medici and her perfumer of the 1500s and present day. Jac has just lost her brother, Robbie, to a quick, devastating death. She is not sure if her brother has been murdered or died due to some other cause. Before Robbie died, he was living with stepsiblings, Serge and Melinoe, working together with them on how to take one’s last breath and reincarnate them. Jac is approached by the stepsiblings to continue Robbie’s work. Jac worked with her brother in his perfume business for the last two years even though she also has her own career and TV show in mythology. She has an uncanny nose for smells and an ability where she can “become” people in the past; she lurches out of the present and flashes into the famous perfumer’s (René le Florentin) life of intrigue in the 1500s. As Jac and Griffin, the love of her life, try to authenticate Robbie’s formula (based on René le Florentin’s diaries and notes) time and circumstances begin to close in on Jac, ; is her life in danger? Spanning two time periods, the lush and harsh world of Catherine de Medici’s reign and the present where everything is in chaos, Jac wants to bring her brother back, but will she succeed in making the elixir? For a sumptuous read of gothic proportions, The Collector of Dying Breaths, offers passion, beauty, love, hate, murder and much, much more.

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The Ring and the Crown by Melissa de la Cruz

The Ring and The Crown by Melissa de la Cruz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Disney Hyperion for this advance ebook! The Ring and the Crown is a grand sweep of magic, nobility, power, love, death, and lots of longing. Even though the book is chiefly about two childhood friends, one a princess and one a daughter of the Queen’s Merlin, it revolves around a the London season where a grand ball takes place deciding many lives and which empires will come together to live in peace. There is a very large cast of characters and there were so many dramas taking place behind closed doors and in plain sight. Since nobility and riches reign, the stories of have new wealth, old wealth, and families looking rich but are almost poor, make for salacious reading. Princess Marie doesn’t want to rule or marry Prussian Prince Leopold but wants to run away with her guard. Aelwyn, her best friend and like a sister to Marie, has just returned to London and will join an order of mages and practice magic for the rest of her life, like her father, the Queen’s Merlin. When Marie entreats Aelwyn to help her like she has her whole life, Aelwyn can’t say no to her friend. Does Marie know what she is asking of Aelwyn? The brothers, Leopold and Wolf, are princes from Prussia. Marie is to marry Leopold so their kingdoms can forge peace, but Marie has never liked Leopold since childhood; she has always been better friends with Wolf. And it is Wolf who meets Ronan Astor on a ship sailing from New York to England and they become very close indeed, without ever revealing their names to each other. Ronan is coming to England to find a wealthy husband and save her family from becoming paupers back in New York. There is so much depth to this book, the pages just keep turning as the London Season bursts forth with secrets, trysts, and devious machinations in the castle and hidden dungeons of the royal monarchy. I can’t wait for the next book in this series; I want to know more about the characters, their world and the future that magic will play in their worlds.


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The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson (audio book)

The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved the voice of the person who narrates this audiobook as the main character, Leon Leyson, who is saved from death (and others in his family) as a result of OsKar Schindler's compassion during the Holocaust. Even though this is a child's book, it will appeal to all readers, young and old. Highly recommended!

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The President Has Been Shot by James Swanson

"The President Has Been Shot!": The Assassination of John F. Kennedy by James L. Swanson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this book as part of the 2014 Hub Challenge and my Goodreads group nonfiction title for the month of March. I loved James Swanson's narrative voice; the images and the extensive research he did to present a compelling read about a great man and his horrible assassination and what his family and the world were deprived of as a result of his life being cut short. There is an extensive bibliography consisting of books and websites and further reading. This is a must read book, both students, teachers and adults will respond to Swanson's engaging portrayal of John F. Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, and their world.

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Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell (Audio Book)

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I listened to this as part of the 2014 Hub Challenge and just like the book I read a year ago, I LOVED Rebecca Lowman's Eleanor and Sunil Malhotra's Park. Their voices, inflections all brought back to me how much I loved this book and ached for both characters. I can see why it won Amazing AudioBooks. I am not a fan of listening to books but I couldn't stop because Eleanor and Park became people to me, just like I became a part of their world in the book. I would love to see a movie made out of this book! If you have read or listened to this book, I recommend you do it sooner, rather than later. Rowell's depiction of Eleanor's family is so stark compared to Park's and (being a teacher)you know teens live in these families, worlds, dramas, etc. and hopefully reading and listening to these books will help teens when they see other characters have those struggles too.

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Call the Shots by Don Calame (paperback)

Call the Shots by Don Calame
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I re-read this book in paperback as part of the 2014 Hub Challenge. In this third humorous boy book, the hilarious trio of Cooper, Matt and Sean have come up with another wacky idea to gain notoriety with girls (they think) of producing a scary movie to win the prize money and help Sean who has to give up his bedroom since his mother is pregnant. Worse than living with his twin sister is listening to her call him gay, which he is not; he is just sensitive and a little bit weird. Calame is at his best with characters like Uncle Doug, Nessa, crazy Nick and Evelyn. Crude, lots of boy humour (sexual) and lots of laughs.

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Courage Has No Color by Tanya Lee Stone

Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles, America's First Black Paratroopers by Tanya Lee Stone
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to the 2014 Hub Reading Challenge and the webinar hosting the nominees to the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award, I was able to read this book and thoroughly enjoyed viewing Tanya Lee Stone talk about her research for this book. Thhis book is packed with photographs, interviews and quotes from the Triple Nickels themselves and others in history. Students need to read this noteworthy book about WWII and the trying times for African Americans who wanted to serve in the war for their country and were constantly relegated to menial tasks, inferior accommodations and segregated facilities. This book is a tribute to the steadfast African American soldiers, and paratroopers in Walter Morris' words, "We succeeded where we were not expected to succeed. And we overcame the pitfalls that were put out there. We overcame. And it's a warm feeling to know that, that color has nothing to do with it. It's what's in one's hearts. One's spirit. And that...should be a lesson to all of us. We should have, and we will have, a colorless society one day. And that will be the crowning jewel in this great country's history."

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Wild Cards by Simone Elkeles

Wild Cards by Simone Elkeles
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read the Perfect Chemistry series and loved it. Wild Cards will appeal to guys and girls, those who love romance and even the reluctant readers. Derek and Ashtyn, the main characters are believable teens; they have personal "stuff" that has dogged them. Derek lost his mom to cancer and will not play football as a result of being at practice (and not with her) the day she died. Ashtyn's mom and sister left; her dad is gruff and never there for her and hates that she plays football. The way Simone Elkeles alternates the chapters (love it) with Derek and Ashtyn's voices will draw in teens and keep them turning the pages because the day they meet they definitely have an attraction (they chose to ignore it), even though they drive each other crazy. The ending is great due to Derek and Ashtyn finally caring enough about each other to express and talk about it. But even more, Elkeles has family become involved in a very good way to help those who need it. I am not going to give anything more away; just read it! A great romance and realistic fiction book!

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Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina

Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I re-read this book as part of the 2014 Hub Challenge. I am so happy to see it continues to garner awards like The YALSA Quick Picks and The 2014 Pura Belpre Award Winner!!!Thanks to Rory and the Goodreads Group, YA Reads For Teachers (And Any Other Adults) for this MUST read book, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick your Ass by Meg Medina. From the first sentence, “Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick your Ass” (just like the title) to the last sentence, “And I’ve found my rhythm at last-strong and simple, constant and mine,” I was riveted and sickened by Piddy Sanchez’s plight of being in a new school and being threatened by a bully on the first day. Piddy doesn’t know Yaqui and therefore is clueless about why Yaqui is out to get her. Yaqui has a group of girls who terrorize Piddy at school and at her after school job. Worse to come is the brutal fight when Yaqui and her terrorists surprise Piddy on her way home from school, beat her to a pulp, and film the fight as they tear off her shirt. Piddy never tells her mother what has happened (she tells her mother she fell on the steps) but she does confide in her aunt and makes her swear not to tell anyone. As a result of this fight, Piddy loses herself. She begins to fail her classes, cut school, and her personality begins to change. What will happen to Piddy? This is a book for all high school students; one girl’s life was drastically changed as a result of the continued harassment she endured. I highly recommend it for all readers (plus reluctant readers and those who enjoy urban fiction), teachers, and parents. The author suffered through something similar in junior high and this book reaches out to teens and helps them find their dignity again.

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Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this book again as part of the 2014 Hub Challenge. Thank you to my librarian friends for giving me this book as a retirement gift!!! I love Ruta Sepetys; she has written two fabulous historical fiction books (first Between Shades of Gray) and both books with strong female protagonists who must make some very difficult decisions and feel very overwhelmed by their circumstances.
In Out of the Easy, Josie has lived in Louisiana, has a mother who is a prostitute and could care less about her own daughter. Since the young age of ten, Josie has lived in an apartment above a book store and it was the owner who saves her by giving her lodgings (she works in the book store with his son, Patrick)fostering a love of books, an education. When Josie has graduated high school, a very well-to-do man enters the book store and buys 2 poetry books for his wife. Jo feels a deep connection towards this man and she keeps the check he paid for the books with because she has a fantasy that he could be her father.
When he dies suddenly on New Years Eve, Josie thinks there is more to it. She has her beloved friend, Cokie, try to glean more information about his death. Another job Josie holds is cleaning the house of prostitution where her mother works. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the Bayou traditions and superstitions, Josie's fortitude and her self consciousness about her heritage and worth. Sepetys' cast of characters are compelling from the prostitutes to the boys who want to know her better and including her worthless mother and evil boyfriend, Cincinnati. You will be plunged to the depths of despair for Josie but her optimism and endurance will keep you turning these pages and rooting for her!!!

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Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I re-read this book as part of the 2014 Hub Challenge. The awards this book has won and continues to win speak to its popularity as a book all teens and adults should read! Fifteen year old Lina’s life in Lithuania changes drastically when the Stalin regime brands her family, “thieves and prostitutes.” They are rounded up and forced from their homes and their land to the deprivation of Russian Siberia. Separated from her imprisoned father; Lina, her mother, and little brother, each try in their own way to survive the brutality of the Russian soldiers and the harshness of their environment. In the twelve years that they are brutalized, fall ill, and starve; thousands die, but it is through a determination to live to see their homeland, that drives these deportees to triumph through the hell of their imprisonment. If you loved The Book Thief, this book will speak to how the world must never let this kind of genocide ever occur again.

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Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowsi

Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Don’t Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski
Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children’s for this advance e-book, I loved it! The title fits this book perfectly; a group of students from Room 10B get their flu shots (with lots of hemming and hawing) at lunch. Imagine their shock when they begin to hear what their friends are thinking, yes, thinking!!! Mlynowski’s book is funny (imagine hearing one of the thoughts, “will anyone see me picking my nose?”) full of teen angst, relationship highs and lows, and the beginnings of friendship and love. The cast of characters is pretty large and that is a good thing because the teens are all so different; lots of great plot lines. As the teens learn to deal with their ESP (they refer to themselves as Espies) they decide to keep it a secret within their group; they have daily meetings with Pi (Miss Control Freak) taking the role of leader. Mackenzie and Cooper are dating and everyone (but Cooper) finds through her thoughts that Mackenzie cheated on Cooper with Bennett. Cooper’s telepathy kicks in later than the groups and he is especially chagrined with the lies and secrets of his family and friends. Tess loves her best friend Teddy; when they go the movies, she hears he is very interested in someone else, Sadie. Tess also hears her friends and family think she needs to lose weight. Olivia is a quiet, shy girl who really enjoys the telepathy because she has so many friends now and lands her first boyfriend, who knew? But things heat up as their eyes begin to turn purple and the school nurse has been replaced with a red-headed nurse (Pi hears her thoughts and she is looking for all the Espies, uhoh).Mackenzie’s Sweet 16 Party holds lots of surprises. What will happen next? This book will appeal to all teens, reluctant readers and voracious readers. I couldn’t put it down, Mlynowski’s collective use of the Espies talking to the reader (they know everything!!!) really keeps the pace of the book moving, surprising, and fun. Realistic fiction with a touch of the supernatural, just perfect for teens!


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