Mary's Review: Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews

It's hardly a surprise that V.C. Andrews was a painter before her foray into the world of fiction. Her prose is ornate and flowery, though thankfully not so dense as to be impossible to slog through. The story of Flowers is what made her famous, and a disturbing adventure it is. After the death of their father, Chris (14), Cathy (12), twins Carry and Cory (5), and their mother are forced by debts to seek aid from their mother's estranged but loaded parents. Seems Mom wrote herself out of the will by marrying her half uncle, thus making her children "Devil Spawn". In order to win back her father's love, she hides away her children, with the grandmother's assistance, in the attic, promising they will be there no more than a day. Of course days turn to weeks, months, and years, and the four are forced to rely on each other to hold out. One can imagine how this all takes on a rather creepy angle. Squirmish factor aside, the tale is both heartrending and horrific, enrapturing despite its often slow pacing. Although there are four other novels concerning Cathy, Chris, and the Foxworth family, this one is by far the best and (luckily) stands on its own two feet. The reputation, for once, doesn't disappoint.
Final Verdict: 5Q, 3P

Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

DJ has never minded being a farm girl. In fact, when her dad’s hip made it impossible for him to work the farm, DJ took over. Her grades may have slipped, but the cows don’t care about an F in English as long as you milk and feed them on time. Besides, cutting, baling, and hauling hay makes a girl pretty strong and who cares about traditional male/female roles anyway. Her dad’s found solace in the kitchen and Food Network and his brownies are pretty good. And the fact that she grew up with three brothers, the oldest two being star football players, means she knows a little bit about training and playing rough. But when Brian Nelson shows up with family friend’s request that she train him for football season, DJ suddenly does mind. What difference does it make that she isn’t the typical girly-girl and why does it suddenly bother her that no one, including herself, is talking and everyone is keeping secrets? And who says this Dairy Queen can’t be a star on the boy’s football team?

Can't get enough? Want to know more about DJ's adventures? Check out the sequel The Off Season.

Forever in Blue: the fourth summer of the sisterhood by Ann Brashares

Once upon a time there was a pair of jeans that magically fit four best friends perfectly. The pants have seen Lena, Tibby, Bridgit, and Carmen through three summers and now through an entire year of college, a year that never found the four girls together all at once but have kept them close none the less. In typical sisterhood fashion, the jeans will again accompany the girls on their summers apart. Lena is using her art to discover a new love and perhaps forget an old one; Tibby’s love of film and relationship with Brian seem to be drifting off course; Bridgit digs up more than ancient artifacts on an archeological dig in Turkey; and Carmen delves into the world of theater and learns a thing or two about the darker side of friendship. Will the pants survive another summer Forever in Blue?

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Imagine yourself sitting in a movie theater. The lights go dark and the curtains go up. You see a black screen and then the white light appears and with it, images that will unfold a fantastic story. The story of a young boy, Hugo Cabret, who lives alone in a train station, winding clocks so no one notices that his uncle, his last living relative is missing, and stealing food to stay alive. Hugo carries with him a small notebook of sketches and dreams of one day being able to repair the peculiar machine, a mechanical man, his father was enamored with. While Hugo has a lot of responsibilities, he is still just a young boy who dreams of having a normal life and he can’t seem to stop himself from stealing toys from the old man in the toy booth. One day Hugo gets caught and the one thing he loves, that notebook, is taken from him. Why won’t the old man give it back and what mysteries could the special machine hold?
Don’t be alarmed by the size of this book. Selznick’s unique novel combines the elements of a picture book, graphic novel, and film and guides the reader on a magnificent journey through the train station and The Invention of Hugo Cabret. It contains more than 284 pages of original black and white drawings and leaves you wanting more.

Thr3e by Ted Dekker

“You have 3 minutes to confess your sin. If you don’t, I’ll blow your car to smithereens.” This was not the phone call Kevin, a first year seminary student, was expecting to hear as he drove home from class. Kevin has no idea who this person that calls himself Slater is but decides to take him seriously. Kevin barely has time to get the car off the freeway and into a parking lot before it goes up in flames. The phone calls continue and Slater’s demands escalate. Kevin must either admit his sin or solve a riddle in order to save innocent lives. Who is Slater and what is his obsession with the number Thr3e? And what sin has Kevin committed that could trigger a game such as this?

When Zachary Beaver Came to Town by Kimberly Willis Holt

“Step right up and get a peek at the fattest boy in the world. That’s right, folks, 643 pounds. Don’t miss this once in a lifetime opportunity right here in Antler, Texas.”
It was the hot summer of 1971 in the small town of Antler, Texas. The summer that 13 year old Toby will never forget. The summer he learns about truth about love, life, war, and death. The summer that begins with a stop at the Dairy Maid parking lot to witness the sideshow attraction in a white pull-type camper trailer, billed as “The Fattest Boy in the World”. The summer When Zachary Beaver Came to Town.

Jessica's Review: Fast Women by Jennifer Crusie

The book Fast Women by Jennifer Crusie is a book about secrets, cheating husbands, and finding what fits in life. The main character is a fiery redhead who has recently been divorced but has found new life in a rundown old PI building. She completely revamps the place stepping on toes the entire way. Little does she know that sooner or later someone has to crash and burn and they aren't going down alone. Murder, intrigue, mystery, false love, and true love, are scattered throughout the book. I loved it and would recommend it to anyone who's into a nice little mystery and can sit out in the sun and read on any summer day. It kept me guessing but was believable at the same time.
Rating: 4Q, 4P

Dane's Review: Junky by William S Burroughs

So yeah, it's been tough cause a whole bunch of drug based novels were pushed on me right B4 the end o' school. I mean each one was interesting, but time is always an issue. TBH (to be honest), this book caught me at first but couldn't keep me, about 1/2 - 3/5 through I had to set it down because even the great metaphors couldn't make rereading most paragraphs, because they are so hard to follow, worth it.
The basic plot is about a drug abuser, named Josh or James?, (can't really remember). He was doing some pretty hardcore drugs to begin with, but honestly he doesn't seem like he's going anywhere in the end. He ends up traveling and mostly the book is about his endeavors but it just got tiring, TBH.
I really would only recommend it if you have the time to kill and can stomach hard to read literature, as all William Burrough's writing is pretty tough to read.
Rating: 2Q, 3P

Emily's Review: Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl

Okay. I admit to being a pretentious jerk and only picking up this book first because A.) it reminded me of Donna Tartt's Secret History and B.) someone said Pessl wrote line Nabokou. I am still a pretentious jerk because I thought it wouldn't deliver on either point, and it did, but I still set out to hate it on principle.

I am now redeemed, because I freaking LOVE this book. It's just -Oh, man! So trippy! So well-written! SO AWESOME! And Marisha Pessl is too pretty for her own good. Seriously, Google her. GORGEOUS.

Okay: so Blue van Meer, a super-intellectual high school senior, travels the nation with her witty (sometimes nasty) college professor father. At her new high school, she falls in with a vicious clique and the mysterious teacher who leads them. Did I mention the teacher is dead by the first chapter? The rest of the book explores Blue's relations with her new "friends", and what happened-well, what seemed to have happened-that lead to Hannah Schneider's death, and its consequences. Political science, terrorists, AP classes and art: it's an unexpected mix. I definitely recommend Special Topics in Calamity Physics.

Rating: 5Q, 4P

Mary's Review: X/1999 by Clamp (Manga)

Put aside for a minute the fact that 1999 has come and gone and the apocalyspe has yet to come down upon mankind. That tidbit will serve no good here. Since Clamp began their odyssey in 1992 the possibility was quite plausible. Knowledge in hand, the plot goes as follows: Kamui Shiro, age 15, has returned to Tokyo following the death of his mother. There he is united (despite his best efforts) with childhood friends Fuma and Kotori, the brother and sister living in a local shine. Kamni's reluctance is quickly explained: bad things seem to happen to those involved with him: Kamni's mother died in a fire, and both of Fuma and Kotori's parents met their respective gruesome deaths; their mother when Kamni lived there as a child, and their father upon his return. Kamui, it seems, has two potential destinies: either he can save the world and preserve humanity's existence; or he can bring about change, resulting in humanity's dowfall but the salvation of nature. A nice, eco-friendly message there. That's what it all comes down to here, as well as some musings on destiny. Good things first: X/1999 has beautiful art, detailed and grim (though some volumes also have beautifully detailed death scenes not suited to the less iron willed gut), and compelling characters, a few of which have come in from other manga (readers of Clamp School Detectives and Tokyo Babylon will be pleased). There's even a little romance through it all, from plain romance, to is-it-hate? type relationships. But...there are also the expected smattering of problems. Although most of the time the year ceases to matter, the first volume of "X" seems particularly dated. A bad idea to afix dates to anything unless the date is long past. Also, after the initial look "X" takes 5 long volumes to set itself up. Lots of exposition for the patient reader before there's much action to speak of, and then begins the deaths. Lastly, "X" just seems to...stop after 18 volumes, with no conclusion to speak of, though one gets the feeling that with two more volumes things might have wrapped up. Alas, it was not to be, and two years have passed with nary a word. But in some ways the journey is worth it for its own sake. And there's always that small, small hope...
Final Verdict: 3Q, 3P

**This title is available through InterLibrary Loan**

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

Ever heard of Dolly, the 1st cloned sheep. Well, in the future, she’s not the only one. Imagine a future where you could be live forever, or at least into your mid 100’s, all courtesy of your clone. Don’t worry about heart, lung or liver failure because you’ll be able to get a new one, a perfect match. That’s right. Your clone is created for the sole purpose of keeping you alive. When it is born, or rather harvested from the womb of a special cow, its intelligence is destroyed leaving the clone to be viewed as an animal rather than human. It sounds harsh but that’s the price for eternal life. There is one clone who has been saved. Matteo Alacran (Matt) is the clone of the El Patron, the leader of a country called Opium, a strip of poppy growing fields wedged between the US and the former country of Mexico. El Patron wasn’t always a rich, powerful drug lord. He lived a miserable life of poverty and that is why he has always given his clones a happy, healthy childhood. So happy in fact, that Matt has no clue that he is a clone, until the 148 year old El Patron needs him for more than just company. Now Matt will find out what it really means to be part of the House of the Scorpion.

A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb

Do you believe in the existence of the afterlife? Where will you go when you die? Heaven or hell? What if you don’t end up in either place? What if you are stuck on Earth, a purgatory of such, where you must haunt people or places but can never touch or talk to anyone? An existence where you can love but no one can love you or even see you. This is Helen’s life. She died 130 years ago but is stuck between Heaven and Hell, right here on Earth, as a Light. She has had many hosts, the current Mr. Brown, whom she cares for deeply but can never touch or communicate with. She has come to accept her reality until one day a boy in Mr. Brown’s English class looks at her and actually sees her. That is because this boy is not your typical teenager. He is really a shell who has been inhabited by one of Helen’s kind, a ghost named James. James unlocked for Helen a world she never thought possible, a world where she might finally be able to touch and communicate with others, a world where she can love, a world that will unveil the answers to how and why she became Light and how she can finally be free.

Emily's Review: The Aeneid by Vergil (and translated by many!)

Okay, I confess. This is a weird choice. I have but one way to defend myself, and that is to mention that I've been translating The Aeneid since last fall. Why, Emily, you ask, would you translate an epic poem from the original Latin? And why, Emily, would you recommend it to us?
Well, as I am a dedicated Latin student, Plus, The Aeneid is a lot more awesome that it sounds.
After the Trojan war, the last few Trojans flee the Greeks, carrying with them the household gods and the memory of their homeland. The prince Aeneas leads the way. They have to find a new homeland and found a race destined to rule the world--the Romans. Because this is like The Odyssey with twice as much action, sex, and gore, the Trojan fleet obviously faces extreme peril on their journey (and even more when they reach their destination). The goddess Juno hates them, they don't know what to do, and their leader is a whiny brat. Characters like Dido, the overly passionate Carthaginian queen who falls for Aeneas, and the vicious warrior Turnus (called a second Achilles) liven the narrative, which is already...well, awesome. Seriously. It may be old, but that doesn't mean it's not exciting. Plus, YOU don't have to read it in the original language (like I did). Pick up one of the more recent translations and you won't regret it.
Rating: 5Q, 5P ---I am SO not exaggerating.

Mary's Review: Lord Loss by Darren Shan

Shan's pulled out all the stops on this one, at least as far as names are concerned. This reviewer happens to believe that any inane soul guilty of naming their child "Grubsitch" should be shot on-sight for the good of mankind, but that is not the point. Grubsitch "Grubbs" Grady is narrator and hero, and so the name serves to be...distinctive, if nothing else. Lord Loss begins with a bang, a very gory bang, as Grubbs witnesses the murder of his older sister and parents by the titular demon's familiars. Shan always has had a talent for colorful descriptions of gore. From there the story becomes rather start-stop interest wise, not choosing to remain on a steady increase of intensity until around midway through the book. Shan's forways into exposition would be more inksome if they failed to pay off later, but after some 16 Shan books this reviewer has yet to see it happen. The lovely thing about Lord Loss, for the casual reader, is that the book does not necessarily require the reading of the rest of the current ongoing story. The plot within wraps up nicely enough, and though another of Shan's Demonata books (Slawter and the upcoming volume as well) feature Grubbs as well (with Demon Thief involving a younger version of Grubb's uncle Dervish) those books could be considered "stand alones" as well. Shan has promised to tie the novels together at a later point, but for now we give Lord Loss: 3Q, 4P.

Jessica's Review: Dave Barry is Not Making This Up by Dave Barry

This book was good although not your typical read. There's not a plot, climax, hero, or villain, at least not in the normal sense. This book is a collection of articles written by the award winning Dave Barry that are based on anything from getting lost in the Bermuda Triangle, to the all time hated elementary school science fair. From the dedication in the beginning to the last word of the last article on the last page, Barry keeps the reader entertained and in fits of hysterical laughter. I'd recommend this book to people interested in a journalist who relates to the readers, even on topics a little out there.
Rating: 4Q, 3P

Dane's Review: Leaving Dirty Jersey by James Salant

Okay, this book is NOT, and I can't emphasize that enough, for any of the following people: anyone who dislikes or disapproves of drugs, drug use, profanity, violence, sex, or anyone who isn't comfortable with graphic descriptive literature or is squimish. I know, not the most "wowing" of intros from yours truly, however I'm sure that many of you are adult enough to handle some more intense reading. Heck, I know 14 year olds that are more mature about sex than people in their twenties. So yeah, it's like this: drugs are bad, nuf said, but I had to read some drug stories for a class, I hope you like reading about me btw, and this book is like James Frey's Million Little Pieces, with maybe less shock. Reminded me of a book called Junky, albeit an easier read.
So Jimmy, "Jim", he's out of rehab or GSL or whatever they call it, and he's staying clean of drugs like a good kid would, has himself a place to stay down in Cali (California). He & Luke & Wendy are doing well, his cohorts are, were, using drugs like him. But like most addicts, when confronted with the choice of using again, don't have as much will as they would like to believe. It's a story of meth and all the side drugs he does, connections he makes, and stories he has. I have a hard time describing the book without some profanity myself. The scary part is that it's all so real, how he and his friends are constantly paranoid, or making or breaking themselves. The sheer nonchalantness and calousness in all of the charaters is frightening. But when Wendy gets sent to prison, Jim has quite the time working his way around the town, borrowing money, cause it's always about the money, from his parents, stealing and living to feed his drug addiction.
It's awfully hardcore reading about his paranoia and loss of his mind. And with all that aside, it's pretty much one of the best books I've read in a long, long time. I recommend it only to those who think they can handle the most lewd of things, because Mr. Salant isn't shy when it comes to this novel.
Rating: 5Q, 2P

Josh's Review: The Black Tattoo by Sam Enthoven

The Black Tattoo by Sam Enthoven is a book that really doesn’t live up to its title. With a title as cool as The Black Tattoo, it is a bit of a downer that the book really doesn’t talk much about a black tattoo. Instead you are pulled into a world of secret societies and a battle with an age old demon, The Scourge. Charlie and Jack are best friends through thick and thin. One minute they are walking down the street and the next they are training in martial arts and learning to fly. One morning Charlie wakes up with a mysterious moving black tattoo and from then on it becomes a struggle for the existence of the universe. Sam Enthoven writes a good beginning to a book but the middle and the end seem to need a bit more developing, a little more explanation than “That is the way it has always been”.
Rating: 2Q, 3P

Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli

**This title is on the nominee list for the 2007-2008 Soaring Eagle book award**

The first thing I remember was running, hugging stolen bread to my chest despite the shouts of "Stop! Thief!" Then another boy was dragging me and running. He was much bigger/older than me. He had been going after the bread too, but I was quicker. His name was Uri. We split the bread and he asked me my name. "Stopthief," I said. He took me to meet the others in a stable. They teased me about my size, and my adopted name. Was I a Jew? they asked. How old was I? I asked what a Jew was and the one-armed boy said a Jew was less than a bug, less than anything. I was a Gypsy, they decided. And laughed and threw food. And then we heard the explosions and the clouds were brown and black and we ran to a small building in an alleyway and into the cellar. It was home, at least as much of a home as I would know for a long time. I didn't understand much of what was going on. The bombing, the hatred of the Jews. When the Jackboots and Flops lined us up and screamed and poked at us, I thought of the stone angel so silent and still. I pretended that I was the stone angel and that I could not move. It was all a game to me. When people ran, I thought it was a race and was determined to win. I was innocent, and young, and small, and quick. I entered the Ghetto in Warsaw because I wanted to. And escaped each night to pillage for food through an opening too small for anyone else. I never got caught. And, I survived in my ignorance and innocence. Unlike so many others. (This booktalk was written by Sam Marsh, Booktalking Colorado).

Josh's Review: Give a Boy a Gun by Todd Strasser

If you are a guy and can't find anything to read or nothing interests you then read this. Give a Boy a Gun is a FICTIONAL book about two sophomore boys who are at the bottom of the food chain when it come to school. Written in a the format of interviews from several people who knew the boys, this book paints an accurate picture of what happens before, during, and after a school shooting. Brendan and Gary are two boys who are the dregs of the school. Ridiculed and laughed at by the jocks, these boys finally get fed up. This book shows what can happen when it all becomes too much and people snap under the strain of having to put up with being the butt of everyone's jokes. This book, while providing excellent reading material, also provides startling facts and phrases taken from various magazines, newspapers, and surveys about guns and guys.

Rating: 4Q, 3P

Josh's Review: Lady Friday by Garth Nix

The latest installment in the Keys of the Kingdom series. Lady Friday once more picks up the story of Arthur Penhaligon and his struggle with the House and the Morrow Days. Lady Friday has sent out a letter to Arthur which is either a cunning trap or a golden opportunity. Meanwhile, Arthur's friend Leaf is being held captive by Lady Friday on her remote mountain in one of the Secondary Realms. Garth Nix once again writes an amazing story. However this book seems to have lost some of the fire that has been in the last four books. With two more books to go in the series is it going to be a downward spiral or is this the low point in a fabulous tale?

Rating: 4Q, 4P