I can’t say enough how much fun I am having with all the classic mash-ups that have been coming out. I’ve read a bunch of them, including Little Vampire Women (reviewed in an earlier post) as well as Pride & Prejudice & Zombies (the book that, I feel, started the genre on its successful spiral). So when I saw Jane Slayre at a bookstore, I knew I had to have it.
Summary: As in the original Jane Eyre, Jane is an orphan being raised by her wealthy but cruel aunt Mrs. Reed. However, Mrs. Reed, in Jane Slayre, is a vampire – as are her spoiled children. Jane is forced to keep their hours, sleeping during the daylight hours and rising only after dark. After a punishment for a “misdeed” almost results in her death, Jane is relieved to be sent away to school where she will no longer have to worry about being consumed by one of her cousins as a midnight snack.
At Lowood, the school to which Jane is sent, all seems better at first. Granted, the food is not much and the conditions aren’t first rate, but it is a charity school. Jane is simply glad to be away from her family’s cruelty; even more so when she makes her first real friend, Helen. Unfortunately, not all is well at Lowood and Jane finds herself being trained in the art of zombie slaying by Miss Temple, her mentor. The man who runs the school, besides being very stingy with funds for food and clothing, is reanimating girls who die and turning them into zombie servants (An idea Jane was already familiar with, as her Aunt Reed had one, and now Jane knows from whence she came). Jane & Miss Temple work together to free the corpses of these girls from their slavery and to end these horrible experiments.
The mash-up continues to follow the original plot through the remainder of the story, with the addition of vampires to fight and an additional affliction for Mr. Rochester’s first wife, Blanche. If you were a fan of the original (but not a purist) you will enjoy Jane Slayre. If you didn’t enjoy the original, but you like a good monster tale, then I also suggest you give Jane Slayre a try.
Themes:
Personal Courage
Love
Independence
Age Appropriateness:
Grades 7 & up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: none
Violence: Mild
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
I finished The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate this afternoon as I relaxed outside on my new hammock and enjoyed the end of my spring break. My husband gave me an occasional odd look (accompanied by a raised eyebrow) as I chuckled to myself at the antics of Calpurnia and her large family. I had heard a lot about this book, and it truly did live up to all the good things I heard.
Summary: Calpurnia Tate is not your typical turn-of-the-century girl. In Texas in 1899, most young ladies her age are looking forward to a life that includes being wooed, married, and raising a houseful of children. Calpurnia detests domestic chores, is terrible at knitting and tatting, and would much rather help her six brothers take care of the family’s animals. But her mother dreams of a proper “coming out” for her only daughter, and is determined to train Callie to be a proper lady.
That long, hot summer of 1899, Callie really gets to know her grandfather; a quiet old man who she & her siblings all live in awe (and a little fear) of. She starts joining him on his forays to the river, where he collects specimens for scientific study. She assists him in his laboratory, where he is trying to create palatable liquor out of pecans. (This leads to some of the funniest moments in the book.) He introduces her to Darwin’s theories (which he leaves her to decipher on her own). And together, they make a discovery that just might make them immortal.
All the while, Callie also handles other pitfalls; dealing with the fact that three of her brothers all have a crush on her best friend, chasing away her older brother’s unworthy love interest, and showing enough progress in her domestic pursuits to pacify her mother. Will a new century bring the change Callie hopes for, or will she be doomed to a life she doesn’t want?
Themes:
Family expectations vs. personal dreams
Change
Individuality
Family
Scientific discovery
Age Appropriateness:
Grades 6 & up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: some mild
Nudity/Adult Content: none
Violence: No.
Summary: Calpurnia Tate is not your typical turn-of-the-century girl. In Texas in 1899, most young ladies her age are looking forward to a life that includes being wooed, married, and raising a houseful of children. Calpurnia detests domestic chores, is terrible at knitting and tatting, and would much rather help her six brothers take care of the family’s animals. But her mother dreams of a proper “coming out” for her only daughter, and is determined to train Callie to be a proper lady.
That long, hot summer of 1899, Callie really gets to know her grandfather; a quiet old man who she & her siblings all live in awe (and a little fear) of. She starts joining him on his forays to the river, where he collects specimens for scientific study. She assists him in his laboratory, where he is trying to create palatable liquor out of pecans. (This leads to some of the funniest moments in the book.) He introduces her to Darwin’s theories (which he leaves her to decipher on her own). And together, they make a discovery that just might make them immortal.
All the while, Callie also handles other pitfalls; dealing with the fact that three of her brothers all have a crush on her best friend, chasing away her older brother’s unworthy love interest, and showing enough progress in her domestic pursuits to pacify her mother. Will a new century bring the change Callie hopes for, or will she be doomed to a life she doesn’t want?
Themes:
Family expectations vs. personal dreams
Change
Individuality
Family
Scientific discovery
Age Appropriateness:
Grades 6 & up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: some mild
Nudity/Adult Content: none
Violence: No.
The Haunting of Derek Stone by Tony Abbott
I don’t often review a whole series together, but The Haunting of Derek Stone by Tony Abbott is the kind of series that really needs to be read all together. Although the author gives a quick review in each book in case you are picking up the middle of the series, these snipets of information also make the reader want to go back and see how Derek reached this point, if they haven't read the previous book(s). The flow of the action is so quick in this series that you really must keep reading – there is almost no down time in the entire series!
Summary: Derek Stone used to be an average, slightly overweight, fourteen-year-old boy living in New Orleans. That was before he discovered that the evil dead are coming back into the world of the living to try and take over. That was before his father and brother died in a train crash and were both translated – their bodies taken over by dead souls. Derek’s brother, Ronny, is now Virgil, a good soul that has come back to fight the forces of evil. It’s a good thing, too; Derek can use all the help he can get!
The action in this series is non-stop. Every time you think Derek and his companions are going to get a break, the Legion catches up with them and the havoc begins anew. As the story continues and the walking corpses multiply, Derek gains more allies and learns the truth about himself. Who is he & how can he stop the Legion from destroying the living world? What will he have to sacrifice in order to save a world full of people who don’t even know they are in danger? Can he stop The First & close The Rift? Will he survive? And can his life ever be normal again?
If you’re going to start this series, make sure you have all four books. They are quick reads, and each leaves you wanting to know what happens next!
Themes:
Good vs. Evil
Courage
Lotalty
Age Appropriateness:
Grades 6 & up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: none
Violence: Yes. Many battle sequences.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
I love spring break – a chance to get caught up on my reading! Today I sat down and read (a truer account would be that I devoured) Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson. It’s been on my pile to read for a while, and I am so glad I finally picked it up. Her previous historical fiction novel, Fever 1793, is so good that I have to replace it on a yearly basis because it either gets worn out or simply not returned. Chains is just as good, with the same feeling of urgency within in. You root for the main character, Isabel, all while feeling her frustration and despair.
Summary: Having already suffered the loss of her mother a year earlier, Isabel finds herself, along with her little sister, Ruth, passed down as mere property when her owner passes away – despite the fact that there is a will that states that both girls are to be set free. The Spring of 1776 is an uncertain time in the colonies, and the lawyer who holds these vital papers is elsewhere, unreachable due to a military blockade.
Isabel & Ruth are quickly sold by this new master to a Loyalist family with a home in New York. Isabel, renamed Sal by her new owners, is placed in the dangerous position of spying on her master and his friends in order to help the Patriots. She is pulled into this world by Curzon, the young slave of a Patriot. Through the course of the story, the relationship between these two young slaves in a country fighting for its freedom develops from one of distrust to one in which one must depend on the other for survival.
Throughout the story, the reader feels for Isabel as she tries to protect Ruth, who is only five years old and suffers from “fits” (epilepsy), is punished for being “insolent” and tries to find a way to free herself and her sister. Isabel also becomes a hero to others, helping keep prisoners of war fed and alive in deplorable conditions. I often felt that I was holding my breath along with Isabel; afraid that she would be caught in one of her many dangerous excursions.
Halse has deftly woven her characters into the tapestry of history, creating a story that will have readers delving into the book to discover how Isabel’s story will end. But Chains is not the end of her story – I’ll be picking up Forge to see what happens next!
Themes:
Freedom
Courage
Age Appropriateness:
Grades 6 & up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: none
Violence: mild
Summary: Having already suffered the loss of her mother a year earlier, Isabel finds herself, along with her little sister, Ruth, passed down as mere property when her owner passes away – despite the fact that there is a will that states that both girls are to be set free. The Spring of 1776 is an uncertain time in the colonies, and the lawyer who holds these vital papers is elsewhere, unreachable due to a military blockade.
Isabel & Ruth are quickly sold by this new master to a Loyalist family with a home in New York. Isabel, renamed Sal by her new owners, is placed in the dangerous position of spying on her master and his friends in order to help the Patriots. She is pulled into this world by Curzon, the young slave of a Patriot. Through the course of the story, the relationship between these two young slaves in a country fighting for its freedom develops from one of distrust to one in which one must depend on the other for survival.
Throughout the story, the reader feels for Isabel as she tries to protect Ruth, who is only five years old and suffers from “fits” (epilepsy), is punished for being “insolent” and tries to find a way to free herself and her sister. Isabel also becomes a hero to others, helping keep prisoners of war fed and alive in deplorable conditions. I often felt that I was holding my breath along with Isabel; afraid that she would be caught in one of her many dangerous excursions.
Halse has deftly woven her characters into the tapestry of history, creating a story that will have readers delving into the book to discover how Isabel’s story will end. But Chains is not the end of her story – I’ll be picking up Forge to see what happens next!
Themes:
Freedom
Courage
Age Appropriateness:
Grades 6 & up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: none
Violence: mild
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Clarity by Kim Harrington
Clarity, the debut novel by author Kim Harrington, gives teen girls a great mix of romance, action, and suspense with a touch of the supernatural thrown in. I enjoyed this novel and look forward to more offerings from this author – I think that the characters in this book could support a series.
Summary: Clarity “Clare” Fern is used to being considered a freak in the Cape Cod tourist town where she lives with her mother & brother. They all have special abilities; Clare is a psychic who can touch an object and sense the thoughts and feelings attached to it. Her brother can communicate with ghosts. Her mom reads minds. They do readings together out of their Victorian house during the busy tourist season.
But this particular summer will not be the usual boring tourist season. A murderer is on the loose in Eastport and Clare has been asked to (unofficially) help work the case with the new police detective’s very handsome son, Gabriel, and her ex-boyfriend, Justin, whose Dad is running for re-election as mayor. As the bodies start to pile up and Clare’s brother, Perry, becomes the prime suspect, Clare finds herself torn between two very attractive guys who are distracting her from finding the real killer.
Add to all this a splash of high-school mean girl tormenting, snobby upper-crust townies, and another psychic competing for the tourists’ business, and the Fern family is in for a bumpy ride! Can Clare solve the case? It will take more than just her abilities to do so; fortunately she’s also got common-sense and a big heart.
For fans of the recent spate of supernatural mystery fiction for young adults, Clarity is a treat to be enjoyed. The characters are pretty well developed, and again I feel that a series centered around Clare and her family could develop them even further and build a good fan base.
Themes:
Loyalty
Friendship
Love
Being different
Age Appropriateness:
Grades 7 & up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: very mild
Nudity/Adult Content: mild
Violence: mild
Summary: Clarity “Clare” Fern is used to being considered a freak in the Cape Cod tourist town where she lives with her mother & brother. They all have special abilities; Clare is a psychic who can touch an object and sense the thoughts and feelings attached to it. Her brother can communicate with ghosts. Her mom reads minds. They do readings together out of their Victorian house during the busy tourist season.
But this particular summer will not be the usual boring tourist season. A murderer is on the loose in Eastport and Clare has been asked to (unofficially) help work the case with the new police detective’s very handsome son, Gabriel, and her ex-boyfriend, Justin, whose Dad is running for re-election as mayor. As the bodies start to pile up and Clare’s brother, Perry, becomes the prime suspect, Clare finds herself torn between two very attractive guys who are distracting her from finding the real killer.
Add to all this a splash of high-school mean girl tormenting, snobby upper-crust townies, and another psychic competing for the tourists’ business, and the Fern family is in for a bumpy ride! Can Clare solve the case? It will take more than just her abilities to do so; fortunately she’s also got common-sense and a big heart.
For fans of the recent spate of supernatural mystery fiction for young adults, Clarity is a treat to be enjoyed. The characters are pretty well developed, and again I feel that a series centered around Clare and her family could develop them even further and build a good fan base.
Themes:
Loyalty
Friendship
Love
Being different
Age Appropriateness:
Grades 7 & up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: very mild
Nudity/Adult Content: mild
Violence: mild
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Playing For Keeps by Joan Lowery Nixon
This week I reached into my huge pile of books to be read and pulled out Playing For Keeps by Joan Lowery Nixon, whose mystery The Séance I read a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed. Playing For Keeps was just as good; suspenseful and tense with pretty good character development for a YA mystery offering. It was also a quick read which I was able to finish in one sitting.
Summary: Just when Rosie thinks she is going to end up grounded for the rest of her life by her mom, her paternal grandmother, Glory, shows up needing a roommate for a Caribbean cruise. Leaving unfinished business with her mother at home, Rosie finds herself whisked aboard ship where she discovers that her grandmother’s real purpose was to get her to spend time with a friend’s very nice grandson, Neil, who is clearly not Rosie’s type with his Hawaiian shirts and knowledge of trivial facts.
Before the trip can become a total failure, though, Rosie finds herself in the middle of an international mystery involving a retired Cuban baseball player and his nephew, Ricky, a refugee fleeing his island home.
In order to keep Ricky from being sent back to Cuba where he will be punished for fleeing, possibly even killed, Rosie gets help from Neil and her new friend, Julia, whose parents fled Cuba many years before. Together, the four teens must manage to outsmart a Cuban policeman, the ship’s security crew, and their own families to make sure Ricky gets the chance to make it to American soil and ask for political asylum.
The story involves romance, espionage, and a lot of tense situations. There is murder, suspicion, and lots of situations where the reader and the characters aren’t sure who can be trusted. Rosie’s guilt about her fight with her mother is also laced throughout the story, and as she realizes what other people face (through Ricky’s plight) she comes to regret her previous choices somewhat. Playing for Keeps is a satisfying story with a fun ending that doesn’t leave any glaring loose ends.
Themes:
Freedom
Morality (What is right?)
Standing up for your beliefs
Age Appropriateness:
Grades 7 & up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: mild kissing
Violence: mild
Summary: Just when Rosie thinks she is going to end up grounded for the rest of her life by her mom, her paternal grandmother, Glory, shows up needing a roommate for a Caribbean cruise. Leaving unfinished business with her mother at home, Rosie finds herself whisked aboard ship where she discovers that her grandmother’s real purpose was to get her to spend time with a friend’s very nice grandson, Neil, who is clearly not Rosie’s type with his Hawaiian shirts and knowledge of trivial facts.
Before the trip can become a total failure, though, Rosie finds herself in the middle of an international mystery involving a retired Cuban baseball player and his nephew, Ricky, a refugee fleeing his island home.
In order to keep Ricky from being sent back to Cuba where he will be punished for fleeing, possibly even killed, Rosie gets help from Neil and her new friend, Julia, whose parents fled Cuba many years before. Together, the four teens must manage to outsmart a Cuban policeman, the ship’s security crew, and their own families to make sure Ricky gets the chance to make it to American soil and ask for political asylum.
The story involves romance, espionage, and a lot of tense situations. There is murder, suspicion, and lots of situations where the reader and the characters aren’t sure who can be trusted. Rosie’s guilt about her fight with her mother is also laced throughout the story, and as she realizes what other people face (through Ricky’s plight) she comes to regret her previous choices somewhat. Playing for Keeps is a satisfying story with a fun ending that doesn’t leave any glaring loose ends.
Themes:
Freedom
Morality (What is right?)
Standing up for your beliefs
Age Appropriateness:
Grades 7 & up
Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: none
Nudity/Adult Content: mild kissing
Violence: mild
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