What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang

Eva and Addie are considered to be “hybrids, “ or two souls that are housed within one body. As hybrids grow, they are supposed to “settle.” One soul takes the dominant lead and the other just fades away. But doctors have run their tests and despite the whispers surrounding them, Addie was said to be “healthy” and Eva was gone. Yet, Eva never really left Addie, they just got really good at hiding it. That is until an opportunity arrives for Eva to move again, but are the risks in their best interest?   

Kat Zhang has written a very gripping story.  I was literally on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen to Eva and Addie.  There is some really beautiful character development in What's Left of Me, the author really gets you wrapped up in these two souls making them so realistic.  Eva and Addie read like two sisters, each with their own personality and voice.  It's a feat difficult enough when your talking about the two girls, but then Zhang adds in other characters who possess the same trait, not a small feat.  I guess that's why I really became vested in what would happen to Eva and Addie as they are picked up by the government and placed into an institution. For you see, hybrids are thought to be dangerous to society and must be dealt with.  What's left of Me is full of action, suspense, mystery and left we wanting to know where Zhang is taking things next.  

Whats Left of Me was provided by Martina Boone at Adventures in YA Publishing as a part of their One Million Visitor Blog Celebration, a big thank you for opening my eyes to more YA books.  http://childrenspublishing.blogspot.com/

ETA: Review copy donated to public library. 

Lips Touch Three Times by Laini Taylor

As a part of Adventures in YA & Childrens Publishing's Million Visitor Blog Celebration there were tons of giveaways for authors and readers alike.   I was lucky enough to win two books selected by Martina Boone,  Laini Taylor's Lips Touch Three Times and What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang (which I plan to review next.)  If you haven't checked out their blog yet you really should, there is tons of information on publishing, guest blogger's and tips on writing and workshops.  http://childrenspublishing.blogspot.com/ Thank you again Martina.  

Lips Touch Three Times consists of three separate stories with a short graphic illustration prior to each that highlight specific plot ideas.  At first, I wanted to see the graphic illustrations placed on the cover.  Yet, there is something about the red lips that stands out and says YA to me.  

The first story is called Goblin Fruit.  It is about Kizzy, who has yearned to be "one of those girls, the kind with perfect hair and ankles that stood out in a crowd".  Instead, she comes from a family who isn't seen as "normal."  One full of old traditions and superstitions.  Kizzy should have listened more closely to her grandmother and heeded her warnings about how Goblins tempt you with their fruit.  Yet, when new boy Jack Husk comes to town, Kizzy is blinded to her fate.  Of the three stories, this one was my least favorite.  I was rooting for Kizzy the whole time, but felt more like I was watching a slasher movie and kept screaming at her "don't walk into the cemetery ".  Yet, I really felt for Kizzy and perhaps that was what the author was going for.  

The Second story is Spicy Little Curses Such As These.  It begins in Hell where an English women (Estella) and Demon are coming to an agreement regarding 22 kids in Kashmir lives in exchange for a curse being placed on a child (Anamique) that makes her voice the most beautiful thing you ever heard but if you hear it you die.  As Anamique grows, she has kept her "voice as a bird in a cage,"  that is until James finds her diary and falls madly in love with her. This was my favorite story.  I love the beautiful prose and little details that Lani Taylor added to the story.  

The Third story is Hatchling.  Of the three, it is the longest with more time spent on character development and world building.  Hatchling is about a young girl who finds out she is from another world, one her mother has been trying to protect her from for her entire life.  Yet this world has a queen who raises children as her pets and she wants the child back.   

Overall, Lani Taylor's fascination with ancient fairy tales and folklore from the British Raj and Persian religion of Zoroastrianism really stand out.  One can easily tell that she must have done lots of research into these areas but at the same time has her unique spin on them as she weaves into each story the theme of a kiss.   
ETA: Review copy donated to public library. 

East by Edith Pattou

Anyone who reads my blog can tell there are a few things that I really enjoy reading, Fantasy, Mythology and Fairy Tales.   Well there are others too, but basically give me one of the above three and I am one happy person.  I especially enjoy  when my fairy tales are written with the authors own spin on them.  East by Edith Pattou  is just that, a retelling of a Scandinavian folktale called “East of the Sun West of the Moon.”   So, picture your at an end of year book swap looking for books for your child and you hear  "this is something I know that you would like to read."    After seeing the cover, I had to agree.   

Synopsis from Goodreads, "Rose has always been different.

Since the day she was born, it was clear she had a special fate. Her superstitious mother keeps the unusual circumstances of Rose's birth a secret, hoping to prevent her adventurous daughter from leaving home... but she can't suppress Rose's true nature forever.

So when an enormous white bear shows up one cold autumn evening and asks teenage Rose to come away with it-- in exchange for health and prosperity for her ailing family-- she readily agrees.

Rose travels on the bear's broad back to a distant and empty castle, where she is nightly joined by a mysterious stranger. In discovering his identity, she loses her heart-- and finds her purpose-- and realizes her journey has only just begun."

Overall, East is a beautiful story.  The beginning was a tad slower to read, the author needed this time to get into Rose's mysterious fate, which worked out O.k. for me, but I enjoyed the action more when White Bear finally comes into the story.   Rose and White Bears story are told in the alternating voices of Father, Rose's brother Neddy, the Troll Queen, White Bear and Rose herself.  I found this style worked for me for this particular story.  It gave me a good sense of the various characters and enabled various takes on the situation.  Having White Bear initially speak via poems was also a nice touch.  One of the intriguing concepts in East is the use of compasses and maps.  They played heavily once Rose went on her journey.   Rose comes off as a strong, independent young woman eager to travel to new places and meet different people.   Edith Pattou states that she decided to turn the winds in the original tale of "East of the Sun West of the Moon" into " people who represent the four different points of the compass."  These people end up being guides for Rose, with each person representing the direction and characteristics of that direction.  The other aspect of East that I appreciated was the amount of research that must have gone into the story.  There are  details about weaving, compasses, map making, historic landmarks from Norway, mythology, and the great white bear, to name a few.  All which made for a wonderful story.    

Tunnels by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams

Tunnels is the first book in the series by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams. Tunnels is broken down into three parts.  The first is Breaking Ground and centers on 14-year old Will Burrows and his archaeology father.  Dr. Burrows and Will have spent many a day excavating below the streets of Highfield,  even finding an underground railroad.  But, when Dr. Burrows begins to behave secretively and then ends up missing, Will enlists the help of his best friend Chester to try and figure out what is going on.  Beneath the Burrows home, Will and Chester find a passage behind a bookshelf.  Slowly they begin to clear it out and find themselves at a doorway into something unknown.   Section two is The Colony and begins around page 164.  For me, this is where the action begins to happen as Will and Chester find themselves in an underground city and end up getting captured.  Will also learns of his link to The Colony.  While Will is set free,  Chester is never allowed to return to the "topsoil."    In Section three,  The Eternal City, Will attempts to rescue Chester while looking for his father.    The story leaves room for a sequel but it resolved one of the main plot points that I kept hoping would not be left for book two.  Overall, I really liked my first jaunt into "Subterranean fiction" Or what Wiki calls " a subgenre of adventure fiction which focuses on underground settings, sometimes at the center of the Earth or otherwise deep below the surface."  Who would have known?  I still have so..so...much to learn. Silly me, thought it was science-fiction. 

Preview a Book Online: The School for Good and Evil

So who out there is familiar with the First Look Program by Harper Collins?  It doesn't exist anymore but is was my original first stop when I began reviewing books.  They were the ones who also helped me to find my way to Goodreads.  Now,  HarperCollins has changed it into a Browse Inside feature, which I am kinda liking.  It's a nice way of seeing whether a book is a match for you or not.  This was the book on offer at the moment.  The first six chapters are available to read and preview.  Here's the link if you want to check it out. http://browseinside.harpercollinschildrens.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780062104892

I'm not going to go into much detail about what it's about, I think the name kinda says it all.  I for one really love the cover.  I saw an interview with Soman Chainani, who said he grew up watching Disney movies and I'm paraphrasing when I say that it had an influence on him writing this story.  I can really see that reflected in the cover art and I'm not just saying that cause of the castles in the background (but the one on the left does make me think of Cinderella).  Overall, I think this book will be popular with middle graders who enjoy fairy-tale retellings.  

House of Secrets by Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini

 House of Secrets begins with the Walker family trying to find a new house.   Mr. Walker recently lost  his job after an "incident" in which he carves a symbol onto one of his patients.   While house hunting,  the Walkers are offered Kristoff House by a real estate agent at a drastically reduced price.  Famous author Denver Kristoff built the house but now it is being sold to a family in need.  It seems like everything is looking up for the Walker family but the Kristoff House does have its secrets and even mysterious statues and shadows are lurking around. When next door neighbor Dahlia shows up, the family soon finds out that she is the daughter of Denver Kristoff.  Dahlia is also very unhappy with the Walker's moving in.  She transforms herself into a Wind Witch and uproots the house into a whole other realm.   The children soon find themselves in the world of Denver Kristoff's books in which a British World War I pilot, giants and pirates make up the characters that they meet.  It is up to the Walker siblings Cordelia (8), Brendan (12) and Eleanor(15) to find a secret book that Dahlia wishes to possess in order to save their parents and themselves.   

After seeing the gorgeous cover and  accompanying illustrations, I knew there was something that spoke mystery and adventure to me.  Yeah, I know the title House of Secrets says that too, but that is seriously one creepy looking house.  I also really wanted to know why the pirates are on the roof and how the house ended up in the water.   Plus when J.K. Rowling calls it " A breakneck roller coaster of an adventure," I  just had to check it out.  House of Secrets is defiantly an adventure story filled with action that feels like watching a movie.  Given Chris Columbus' background in the movie industry, it seems only natural that it would possess that quality.  I did find the intermingling of current American culture (Cell phones, Playstation and even TV/Music icons) into the story line a little off putting at times but I see that this was mostly to add humor.  I think my only issue is whether this book is more Middle Grade or Young Adult?  I think that what I found is that it is very subjective.  My criteria for what is middle grade usually centered around the idea that it is roughly for children 8-12 years old, with length that is somewhat shorter but the focus is on the main characters.   I  purchased House of Secrets out of the middle grade section and as of June 9th  it comes in as tenth on the New York Times best sellers list for Middle Grade. So it probably brings to mind why the concern over middle grade versus young adult.  First,  House of Secrets comes in close to 500 pages but does length usually guide which category it fits in?    If ages of the main characters were any indication of category, the Walker siblings  cover that spectrum too.   Then there is the action itself which moves it from middle grade over into the young adult category for me.  Common Sense Media states "House of Secrets can get gory, too, with talk of live autopsies performed by the pirate captain, a couple of fatal stabbings, kids removing an arrow and stitching up the wound themselves, and an eyeball pierced by an arrow and then plucked out intact."  Ultimately, for me House of Secrets kind of grays the line between the two but personally I really enjoyed the story for its adventure.   Yet, parents may want to check it out for themselves. For a great review check out this one over at the New York Times House of Secrets and Lokis Wolves review by Marjorie Ingall

Coming up next:  Tunnels by British authors Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams.  

Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin

Rump was brought up in a world where names are not given to mountains, kingdoms, roads, animals or woods, instead only reserved for people.  Names are considered to be powerful and hold your destiny.  Unfortunately, Rump's mother only gave him half a name before dying after childbirth. For this reason, Rump believes that he need only find his true full name and his destiny will be revealed to him.  On Rump's twelve birthday, he finds his mothers spinning wheel hiding among the wood pile.  Rump believes that finding the spinning wheel will help him find the other half of his name and unravel his destiny.  Instead, he learns that he will "cause a heap of trouble" first. 
Why I picked this book should be pretty obvious, cover love and fairy tale re-telling, yep I'm in.  Of course I was first drawn to this book by the beautiful cover.  (That makes two books in a row where covers instantly drew me in.)  I love the golden hue of the words Rump and the women in the window with the spinning wheel adds such a nice touch. Ahh,  but those pixies on the cover are very misleading with their glitter.  They are so not the way they actually are in the story.   I also really wanted to read this story because I love the TV series Once Upon a Time and well fairy tales can be such fun when they get all twisted up and retold in a special way.  I will be the first to admit that I knew only a few things about Rumpelstiltskin before going into the story.  I knew him as Rumpelstilzchen from the German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm.  I knew the fairy tale entailed a miller promising the king that his daughter could spin straw into gold and Rumpelstilskin came to help her in exchange for a promise of her first born baby.  In the versions that I knew, Rumpelstilskin appeared evil and villainous to me.  Which in the case of Liesl Shurtliff's version, Rump just isn't. He even takes all of the jokes about his name in stride.   I really enjoyed this retelling because it contained all the elements of the original tale, spinning straw into gold and taking of a baby, but combined them into a rather cute tale.  I also loved the theme that magic comes with consequences, a predominant theme in  Once Upon a Time too.   In Rumps case magic comes in the form of bargains with the miller.  Yet, the millers bargains  never seem fair and although Rump tries to pay the price in gold, he may just need to find a way to make a fair trade.  Overall, loved the story and the characters and look forward to any new books to come by Liesl Shurtliff.  My Copy for review was from the Public Library. 

Up Next:  House of Secrets by Ned Vizzini and Chris Columbus