Chime by Franny Billingsley

Chime by Franny Billingsley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I love my kindle but I wish just with this book, that I was looking at the cover as I read it each day. This cover is revealing and might have helped me understand a little more about what was going on in this supernatural fantasy of redemption, loss, and re-finding oneself. Billingsley does a fabulous job of crafting the odd Swampsea world of seventeen-year-old, Briony Larkin, the narrator, who feels responsible for her twin sister Rose's accident, her stepmother's paralysis, and totally hates herself (for many other reasons). Briony is convinced she is a witch who speaks to the Old Ones, and if discovered by the Chime and the townspeople, she will be put to death. When twenty-two year old Eldric with his good looks and fun loving way with children and Rose, arrives in Swampsea, Briony enjoys their jokes and banter together as he urges her to be a Wolf-girl, teaches her to box and forms the Fraternitus Bad-Boyificus. But it is the unreliable, self-abhorrent thoughts of Briony that drive this story and her belief that she must stay a witch to save her sister from the swamp cough that has taken lives and threatens Rose as well. The swamp contains great fantasy elements with the Boggy Mun, Mucky Face, Brownie, the Dead Hand and the Dark Muse; Briony can see them all. I enjoyed seeing the relationship of Briony and Eldric develop slowly and it is Eldric's unwavering loyalty to Briony that saves her during her trial and helps her love herself again.




View all my reviews

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

Stay With Me by Paul Griffin

Stay with Me by Paul Griffin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Loved, loved, loved this book! I loved Paul Griffin's Mack Morse and the slow way he is drawn to CeCe (even though her older brother Anthony sees them together)but this is a very tough book to read; at one point I was so unsettled, I was unsure if I wanted to continue to read. I am so glad I did! Mack has a record, he doesn't look you in the eye, and he has a father who is mostly drunk (that is why mom left)but Anthony sees the good in Mack and it is this good that the reader must constantly go back to because Mack is his own worst enemy in some ways. But the things I loved the most about Mack is his LOVE for pit bulls and the uncanny way he has of calming them and his deep, abiding love for CeCe. Their relationship was so beautiful; they tell each other their secrets and give of themselves totally for each other. I needed to remember this throughout this story because when bad things happened (and they happened alot)I was plunged to the depths of despair for this 15 year old boy, who is not a student due to dyslexia, and can't seem control his rage on his own. It is the wonderful pit bulls that Griffin uses to heal Mack and CeCe and later her family. The other characters like CeCe's mom and Vince are so real. Vince sees Mack as a dog trainer and works to make Mack believe he can truly succeed in this profession. CeCe's mom is a mess; she loves her family but handles stress by drinking, coloring her hair and baking most bad cornbread. What I liked about Griffin's characters is that they all see the goodness in Mack even if he doesn't see it in himself and it is this abiding belief in him as a person they love and believe in that must sustain them all. I think this urban fiction will appeal to girls, guys and the reluctant reader. Also the dog lover, especially those who love the pit bulls, despite their bad rap. This book is a romance, realistic, and a stunning YA novel I will be recommending to my students.



View all my reviews

The Orange Houses by Paul Griffin

Animoto Digital Book Trailer

Neary Notes: The Orange Houses by Paul Griffin

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.



View all my reviews

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!



View all my reviews