Burn by Patrick Ness

Burn by Patrick Ness
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an interesting book awesomely Narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt. I loved the audiobook version of this historical fiction book that also weaves in drag0ns, humans, goodness/evil, Russia and satellites. I loved Sarah and Jason both good, kind, honest teens who are hated by the locally racist sheriff because Sarah' mom was black and Jason's parents are Japanese. But life in 1957 is not always fair and Sarah's dad hires a dragon to burn their fields. But this blue dragon is highly intelligent, has a message for Sarah, and has evil forces working against them. When Sarah, Jason, the sheriff and the dragon clash, something awful happens, and that brings an assassin into the picture too. Malcolm is a Believer, who has been groomed to kill someone. He is great with knives and dangerous. As he falls in love with another man; another no no from the racist sheriff; they run away together and are pursued by law enforcement. I loved this book until they arrived in a new alternate universe and then the story just got bogged down bringing the reader up to speed in the new world. Evil was raging here and with Covid I find some books and what happens in them really turn me off, just like this book.

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Top Sellin YA Books at Baker & Taylor

Top-selling books at Baker & Taylor in October for teens:
Top Titles for Teens
1. Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins
2. Dead End in Norvelt, by Jack Gantos
3. The Hunger Games (paperback), by Suzanne Collins
4. Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins
5. The Hunger Games: Movie Tie-in Edition, by Suzanne Collins
6. Where Things Come Back, by John Corey Whaley
7. The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green
8. The Hunger Games (hardcover), by Suzanne Collins
9. The Returning, by Christine Hinwood
10. Why We Broke Up, by Daniel Handler

The Orange Houses by Paul Griffin

The Orange Houses by Paul Griffin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


It took me awhile to get around to reading this book, but I was determined since it was listed on 2010 Best Books for Young Adults...

All of the characters were important, even Shanelle and her gang as Griffin tells of harsh urban life in the Bronx, where three people's lives intersect, they become friends, and the environment just crushes people. I want to say this book has a redemptive ending, but it falls a short---but that is just life and Griffin wants us to know about living on the mean streets of an urban, decaying city. Each chapter covers one of the friends; Jimmi Sixes is a schizophrenic war veteran who has love in his soul for poetry and the beautiful artwork of Tamika and Fatima. Tamika is hearing impaired and uses a bad set of hearing aids which she likes to "turn off" rather than listen to the loud, nasty insults and jeers of those who taunt her. Fatima is fresh off the boat from Africa where she has lost most of her family and she knows she has to be almost invisible to stay off the radar of the immigration police. Jimmi befriends Fatima, gets her a volunteer job at the veterans hospital when she is not selling newspapers and introduces her to Tamika. It is true friendship that develops between Fatima and Tamika. But Tamika is taunted, pushed and chased by bully Shanelle and she gets more and more in her gang to "take care of Tamika." Fatima meets her at school and walks her home but life is about to take an even nastier turn. For a look at real life on the streets of New York, Griffin's book does not disappoint.



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The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Lauren, thank you so much for highly recommending this book! It was so right up my alley with what I truly love to read. Maggie Stiefvater crafted such a great story with a believable storyline about "water" horses, orphans, the rich vs the poor and a romance that slowly grows between Kate "Puck" Connolly and Sean Kendrick, a horse-whisperer of the carnivorous sea horses. The island of Thisby is a hard scrabble place that needs the tourists the annual Scorpio Races brings, to survive. Puck and her two brothers have lost their parents to the flesh eating horses and life has been very difficult since then for them. Whereas Puck and Finn love the island, older brother Gabe has announced he is leaving with his two friends, because he can't take it anymore. Sean Kendrick and Puck alternate telling their stories. Sean Kendrick loves his Capill uisce, Corr and Puck loves her quarter pony; and it is Sean who stands up for Puck as the first female rider, against those islanders that challenge her. I really disliked both Mutt Malvern and his father. I wanted to like Mr. Malvern, but I could see that he was like Sean Kendrick (poor) but he was never going to let Sean or Corr go. I saw true evil in Mutt and it was difficult to read when he tried to "hurt" those associated with Sean Kendrick. But it was the slowly moving, delicate relationship of Puck and Sean that I applaud. Stiefvater takes two people who are animal lovers and through deliberate situations, moves them from strangers, to acquaintances, to friends and then a mutual respect and love. Highly recommended!



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Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I loved this book! A great romance, coming of age in a foreign country, and the theme of belonging resonated with me and I think teen girls will enjoy the Anna, Etienne St. Claire, Toph, Bridget, Josh and Rashmi, and Meredith dynamics. Both Anna and Etienne have problems with their dads; Anna's dad decides to send her to a Paris boarding school when she would really rather stay in Atlanta with her best friend, Bridget. and her blossoming romance with Toph. After taking 3 years of Spanish, Anna really feels like an outsider. Meredith makes her feel a part of their crowd from day one and Anna begins to feel "at home" thanks to her friendship with Meredith, Josh and Rashmi, but it Etienne she is drawn to and he seems to always sit next to her, make her laugh and get her out to see Paris, the movies, and the eateries ---even though he does have a serious girl friend, Ellie. It is when Etienne finds out his mom has cancer, when Anna and Etienne are the only ones spending Thanksgiving at the boarding school that Anna really begins to believe they have a chance at romance. I really enjoyed Anna's love of movies (it was great knowing all the great old movies) and she reviews them on her blog. Perkins has a way of creating so much harmony between Etienne and Anna, but then she does an even better job of creating lots of tension. I couldn't stop reading, I wanted to find out if they were ever going to have that KISS!



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Impossible by Nancy Werlin

I have been thinking about this book a lot, musing about the characters and how society is being portrayed in this book. School, family, and friends were always important, a love of home and loyalty to oneself and others was always present in Werlin's world. I thought Lucy was such a strong character who worked hard as an athlete, was a good daughter to Soledad and Leo, a fast friend to Sara and like a sister to Zach as they grow up, and someone who knew what she was about...Even as the past and the curse on her family hurtles in to destroy the calm and security in her life. But in Lucy's world, everyone comes to her aid, doesn't judge her and asks "what can we do to help?" Pure evil manifested itself in Padraig Seeley---he had disdain for the simple beauty of their home, he mocked their goodness, but soon their "magic" is able to defeat him and oh how sweet it is! So what did I learn from this book? I felt that Lucy was sooo loved, she was able to use this strength to free her "family" from this wretched curse and live happily knowing that maybe her life wasn't what she would have chosen----but it was "pure joy-to have the normal problems of being a married teenage mom of a newborn. And count my blessings."