Trials of Death

At the end of this book I was dying for the next one, but when I got to the bookstore they were all out of book six! And I've only just bought it yesterday. I can't wait to continue this series.

Summary: In order for himself and Mr. Crepsley not to be shamed (because Darren was blooded so young), Darren must endure the trials of initiation. Vicious tests that full vampires use to test themselves. Darren must complete five ridiculous tests, drawn at random. He must pass the tests, because the penalty for failure is...death. But what is to happen, when his Little Person friend jumps in to save him in the middle of his test? And what about all these rumours of vamaneeze travelling to Vampire Mountain?

Other: Even in death may you be victorious.

Favorite Parts:
1. Darren almost gives up, but then survives the water maze! That one had me a little claustrophobic. I don't do drowning.
2. Darren's training for the second task--crossing a cavern full of sharp stalactites and stalagmites--funny and exciting.
3. Darren's allies cook up a plan to allow him time to recover from the third test before his fourth test... brilliant!!
4. The very end!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But I won't tell you what happens.

Vampire Mountain

Book Four takes place several years after the first three books, but seeing as he's a vampire, he's still basically a little kid. While all the books end with "To Be Continued..." and you want more, this one was serious when it said "To Be Continued..." I read books four and five in the same afternoon, they were so good.

Summary: Darren and Mr. Crepsley are headed to Vampire Mountain for Council Meeting. But the trek there is a proving ground for vampires and it's a long hard trek. Not only that, but along the way Darren and Mr. Crepsley see signs of the Vampeneeze.

Other: Mr. Tiny is really creepy and I would really like to know what his deal is. In this book you learn about the Little People, and everyone's favorite, Lefty, from book Two, surprises everyone by.... speaking!!

Favorite Parts:
1. Darren fights a deranged bear!
2. Lefty finally speaks!
3. Darren fights a vampiress.
4. The end that left me begging for more!

Mister Monday

I've been meaning to read this one for a while. I thought I would breeze right though it (it's not a very hard read), but it took me days. I enjoyed it, but I'm not that excited for the next one. Part of the reason it took me so long might have been Christmas, being sick, and trying to spend time with the family, but needless to say, other things just kept being more important (which I think says a lot). I may read the next one, but I'll be getting it out of the library.

Summary: Basically, there is a will, which is a will in the traditional paper sense, but it also has cognitive thought. It is a will for everything that exists or has ever existed. It has been torn into pieces. In this book, the first part of the will is freed and it throws Arther into an adventure where he must realize the first part of the will.

Other: I don't have anything against Garth Nix. I loved the Seventh Tower series.

Favorite Parts:
1. Arthur's first day at a new school and he has an asthma attack and almost dies.
2. Arthur meets the Old One.
3. Arthur makes himself a player instead of a pawn.

Do Princesses Really Kiss Frongs?

I found this book in a pile of children's book when I was hanging out in my friend's room. (You could assume I'm the snooping sort, or I could tell you that they were sitting out, just calling to me.) It looked cute so I opened it and it almost made me wish I had a niece to read it to. Almost.

Summary: A young girl and her father go on a hike and through couplets she asks him various things about Princesses. The gist of it is that whatever she's doing is the answer, because she's his little princess and he loves her.

Other: It's very cute, and told in couplets. I had a lot of fun reading it. The pictures are great. There are lots of little details in the pictures that made me laugh. At the end of the book was a search and find sort of game. It showed a page of objects and you had to go back and find them throughout the book. If I, at age 21, had fun with it, than young girls certainly will as well.

Favorite parts:
1. The dog chases the bee.
2. The dad is overwhelmed by the amount of stuff his daughter wants to take on the hike.
3. The shadow scares the girl.
4. They meet a boy hiking with his mom... cute!

I'd Tell you I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

I've been dying to read this book, but I'm a broke college student so I had to wait until I found it in paperback. Last week, I was successful and I took it home excited to read it. But it was exam week and I had to put it off. On the second to last day of exams I decided to read a chapter of it. Needless to say, I didn't study much for my last exams.

Summary: Cammie Morgan is a sophomore at boarding school. They say that the school is for girl geniuses, but it's really for future spies. This year she finally gets to start learning about covert operations, but on an undercover assignment for class she meets a boy from town and falls for him. But she can never tell him who she really is. To make matters more complicated, the headmistress (Cammie's mother) has made a controversial decision to accept a student into the sophomore class. The girl isn't very nice and even better, she's rooming with Cammie and her friends.

Other: This book has all the nice details that made me fall in love with the Harry Potter series. For example, the girls learn fourteen different languages, and in order to make sure that they sound like naturals they speak a different language and dialect at each meal. A sign outside the dining hall will say "English-American" or "Chinese--Mandarin", etc. It's the little touches that made me fall in love with this book. Also, it is pretty exciting, but it's not superficial. I cried at a few parts.

Favorite moments:
1. The school gets a new young, hot teacher and all the girl go ga-ga.
2. The Red-Alert makes the new students crazy--you'd think that a red alert meant danger, but it meant that the whole school needed to appear like it was a normal school! The details are amazing.
3. During the practical CoveOps final Cammie gets mock-kidnapped (but it's really realistic). Her townie boyfriend sees it and comes after her to save her, not knowing that she's already escaped and working with her whole class to retrieve a disc. He crashes through the warehouse wall with a fork life. Brilliant.

The Clue of the Tapping Heels

The final Nancy Drew mystery in my top three, however, I'm excited to read the rest of them. But I've got lots of different things for you all first, so don't worry. This won't turn in to a shrine to Nancy Drew.

Summary: Nancy's goes to stay with an old woman who breeds cats to help solve the mystery of who keeps tapping in her walls all over her house at night. What else happens? There is a cat thief, a stalker, a grumpy neighbor, a secret room, and Nancy brings down the house with her amazing tap dancing in the play she's acting in.

Other: Nancy borrows Ned's car in order to avoid a stalker, but it doesn't work. I guess it's the thought that counts.

Favorite Parts:
1. Ned punches the stalker.
2. They find the neighbor unconscious in the backyard.
3. They discover the secret room and the diary!! This is why I loved this book so much in the first place.
4. Everyone falls in love with Nancy, because she risks her life to climb into the rafters and retrieve a prize-winning cat. For a smart girl, Nancy's always been a bit thick.

Sector 7

Another picture book, from award-winner David Wiesner. This book was lent to me by the same friend who lent me Flotsam. I like Flotsam a lot more, but this one is great as well. At first I thought it was going to be the cheesiest thing I ever read (well, kind of) in my life, but it was such an enjoyable book.

Summary: A young boy goes on a school trip to the top of a very high building to look through binoculars. But it's really cloudy that day and the boy ends up making friends with a cloud. When the wind comes to take the could away, the boy goes with him to Sector 7, where clouds get their assignments. There the boy helps the clouds transform themselves into all sorts of crazy shapes (like fish). The people in charge at Sector 7 aren't happy about this and send the boy home on a much older cloud. He is very sad when he discovers his friend the cloud back on the roof. This time the cloud escorts the boy to his world.

Other: This book is terribly fun. I wish I had a cloud for a friend.

Favorite parts:
1. The boy turns all the clouds into amazing shapes.
2. The boy tries to hide the cloud under his coat and looks very suspicious when he starts floating.
3. At the very end all the wonderfully shaped clouds come and amaze the city.

The Myster at Lilac Inn

This book is one of my top three Nancy Drew mysteries, the other two being The Clue of the Tapping Heels and The Haunted Bridge. I probably read this book more than any other book I've ever owned in my life. I also blame it for the fact that I love to buy lilac scented products.

Summary: Nancy goes to visit her friend at the Inn she and her fiance just bought. But Nancy soon realizes that all is not okay and bad things keep happening at the Inn, which include her friends family diamonds being stolen, someone impersonating Nancy, and a bomb in Nancy's cabin! Can Nancy solve the mystery and help save the Inn?

Other: I forget how much actually happens in the Nancy Drew books. There's always a lot going on, so I'm never bored. However, Nancy is way too perfect. In the last book she was a great golfer, in this one she's great at scuba diving, in The Clue of the Tapping Heels, she knows Morse code, is a great tap dancer and an actress. When does it end? I hate girls like Nancy in real life. Also, the picture is for the audio edition, but I read it, so I have no idea if the audio edition is good or not.

Favorite Parts:
1. Nancy goes to a department store to report that her charge card has been stolen and they think she is trying to get out of paying her bill.
2. After recovering the diamonds, they bring them to be appraised only to learn that they are glass!

Calalyst

Laurie Halse Anderson is such a good author. I love her books, and she is such nice woman. I met her at a book signing about six years ago (and have a signed copy of Speak which I am still excited about). This book did not disappoint me. I devoured it! Read it in one sitting.

Summary: Kate Malone is a senior. Life is complicated, but everything looks good on the outside: She has kept her family going after her mother died, is a great cross country runner, and battling for the number one spot in her class, as well as having an equally smart and motivated boyfriend. To deal with life, she runs late into the night instead of sleeping, but soon the running won't even be able to help her make sense of everything: she's about to lose control. Ignoring the concept of a safe school, Kate only applied to MIT, and doesn't get in. As if that weren't enough, the girl next door, who beat her up every day in middle school, moves in with her family (her dad being the local preacher and the inviting sort), when her family's house is burned to the point where it is unlivable. Her whole life is about to change, and she's going to have to learn to face her problems and fears and grief.

Other: Laurie Halse Anderson does not shy away from the real world. She deals with the main problems, but everything is not resolved at the end. It is not really a "happy" book and it deals with everything from death to incest. Even though Anderson usually writes about heavier themes, her writing is fun and easy to read. You will cry when you're reading it. I was sobbing. My poor roommate was trying to sleep.

Favorite Parts:
1. Any time Kate describes something using current technology as a metaphor is great. It was a great touch, adding to her character while at the same time making it interesting to read.
2. Mikey's diaper overflows and goes everywhere!
3. Kate teaches Mikey to sing the elements of the periodic table.
4. When Teri tears the house down, it tears my heart apart.

The Haunted Bridge

I love Nancy Drew. I grew up on them. My mom read them when she was a girl and she saved them and gave them to me. I read them all the time when I was young, so I started reading immediately when i found a box of them in the basement. This is one of those series where it doesn't matter what order you read them in, so I started with this one, because it was one of my favorites. It's in my top three Nancy Drew books.

Summary: Nancy and her friends, Bess and George, accompany Carson Drew to a resort where he is working on a case. Nancy says that she'll help him on his case, but at the same time, she picks up a mystery of her own--a haunted bridge. Soon she discovers that the two may be connected. Along the way she plays in a golf tournament, meets a rather annoying man with a knack for changing his penmanship, and gets the boys to come for a visit.

Other: The good thing about this one, is that regardless of the fact that I must have read it a million times as a kid, I couldn't remember the end, so I was pleasantly surprised with the happy ending. However, being older as I read this, Nancy really is pretentious and whiny goody-two-shoes. It kind of annoyed me. However, once I got over that, I was able to enjoy the rest of the book.

Favorite parts:
1. Nancy wins the golf competition, even though she is injured.
2. Nancy finds a mysterious chest with a beautiful compact inside.
3. At the end long lost lovers are reunited (I'm a sap, what can I say?).

Flotsam

A friend had this in her room and I picked it up to look at it. She said it was great, but I had my doubts. I have a hard time loving books for this age group. But I was so impressed with this book. It is one of my favorite all time books I think. The summary will give away the whole book, just so that you are aware.

Summary: A boy is at the beach with this family, collecting things that wash up and examining them under his microscope. He finds normal things like crabs and starfish and shells, but then he finds an underwater camera. Getting the pictures developed he sees the most amazing things from under the ocean. But the last picture is special. It is a picture of a kid holding a picture of a kid holding a picture of a kid... etc. When he uses his telescope he discovers that the pictures go all the way back about fifty or sixty years. Not to break the chain he puts new film in the camera and lobs it out to sea, but not after adding his picture holding the special picture of all the children who have discovered the joys of the ocean.

Other: This is a picture book. There are absolutely no words in it, but it is a better told story than half the books out there for this age group.

Favorite parts:
1. All of the pages that were pictures from under the ocean were amazing.
2. The pages that showed the chain of children who have found the underwater camera were great.

Binky Brothers and the Fearless Four

This is the first time I'm posting about a non-young-adult fiction book. I'm going to be branching out more. I'm sorry that I haven't posted in a week, exams were brutal (but went surprisingly well). Expect lots of updates this week in books of all genres (maybe).
Binky Brothers and the Fearless Four is totally vintage, but I don't think I would call it classic. I used to read this when I was younger. I'll probably read it to my nephew, but it doesn't snow where we live, so he probably won't understand it.

Summary: There are two brothers, Pinky and Dinky Binky (I know!). Pinky, the older one wants to build a snow fort and won't let Dinky or the new kid join his secret club. Pinky doesn't like the new kid and the snow fort somehow gets ruined. Pinky is sure that it is the new kid, but Dinky says he was playing with the new kid the whole time.

Other: On second thought, I won't read this to my nephew. This is the most ridiculous book I've ever read. Pinky and Dinky? Are you kidding me? (Pinky because he has red hair and Dinky because it fit better than his real name.) Also, it's not really a mystery, just a boy who is jumping to a lot of conclusions. The pictures were okay, it too a while to get used to them, but I think I kind of liked them.

****SPOILERS****** (not that it matters, because you don't want to read this book)

Favorite Parts:
1. Dinky charges Pinky and his friend ten cents each for him to solve the mystery for them, and it turns out he was part of it to begin with, so he wasn't so much as solving the mystery as just confessing. Way to go Dinky.
2. A case of mistaken identity: Bobby, the new kid, isn't really Bobby the new kid, because.... she's a girl, named Roberta. The other Bobby (Robert) is her twin brother.

Tunnels of Blood

This series only gets better! I think I might read the rest of them straight through over Christmas break (along with everything I pick up at the used book store!). Although I do wonder about the cover. He looks so normal on it.... but he's a half-vampire... and dressed like a pirate through out the whole book.

Summary: Darren, along with his master Mr. Crepsley and his best friend, Evra (the snake-boy) head off to the city so that Mr. Crepsley can secretly kill a "vampaneze"--a vampire who is so bent on killing that he has removed himself from the race of the vampires. But Darren and Evra follow Mr. Crepsley and soon Evra has been kidnapped and Darren has found himself in the middle of another terrifying predicament.

Other: I really want to learn about the Little People at the Cirque. I hope we hear more about them soon! Also, Shan always adds these ridiculous sentences to the ends of his chapters like "I wish I had turned back then" or "I didn't know it was all going to end in death!", etc. I love love love it.

Favorite parts:
1. Darren gets a girl friend! Every part that has Debbie in it is amazing!
2. The final battle between Mr. Crepsely and the Vampaneze.
3. Darren eats a fork.

Knocked Out By My Nunga-Nungas

This is book three in the series, and I must say that it wasn't as good as the first two. It was still funny, but I enjoyed the first two much more. I'm hoping it was just that I was entirely too tired to enjoy it. I'm still excited to buy the fourth.

Summary: Georgia goes on vacation in Scotland with her parents and misses her new boyfriend, Robbie (the Sex God) terribly. But when she gets back he doesn't have a lot of time (his band is in the process of being signed to a real label!) and she can't keep her lips off of Dave the Laugh.

Other: Georgia needs to buy a bra... maybe in the next book?

Favorite parts:
1. Georgia turns around to kiss Robbie and he jumps back because he is afraid of getting knocked out by her nunga-nungas.
2. Dave the Laugh tells Georgia that he is in love with her and she doesn't know what to say until she sees that he has put on a clown nose and is just joking.
3. The sex kitten gets preggers!
4. Georgia becomes top in French class because of the hot student-teacher.

So You Want to Be A Wizard

This is a book from the eighties, but I just discovered it. It was hard for me to read about wizards having grown up with Harry Potter. I'm a huge fan of the Harry Potter series, so it was a struggle to read this book and ignore my other experiences in J.K. Rowling's wizarding world. That and that fact that I'm afraid I'm becoming a "quote whore" and not saying anything bad about the books I'm writing about. That being said, this book was good. It was a lot different than a lot of the books I read from our current decade, but that doesn't make it bad. It definitely reminded me of Madeline L'Engle (who was one of my favorite authors when I was younger!).

Summary: Nita finds a career book in the library about becoming a wizard. Reading the oath the book opens this new world up to her. She meets Kit, who has had a similar experience and together they try a spell. "There are no accidents" and the spell doesn't go as planned. They call up a magical being, "Fred", who tells them that the Book of Night with Mood, the one thing that holds the universe together, has disappeared. Together the three must save it and save their world!

Other: This is a classic good vs. evil story. I really enjoyed it, although it seemed a bit didactic at some points (the point is that you have to give bad people the opportunity to change or else they are trapped being a bad person). Since it is something that is part of my life, I feel like I have to say something about Christianity. I think that the involvement with magic in this novel is much more real than in the Harry Potter series, but it also has a good message. As long as parents talk to their kids, I don't see this book being a threat to Christianity.

Favorite Parts:
1. Kit makes friends with a mean car, who is pretty much the Rambo of living cars.
2. Nita does a spell so that nothing will hit her before some girls beat her up. She pretends to be in pain, but as the girls walk away she jumps up and tells them to never hit her again.
3. Nita talks to the old tree in her backyard!
4. Nita and Kit meet a parrot who can tell the future.
5. Fred blows his quanta to save the world.

The A-List

Well, I picked this up randomly over Thanksgiving, because I never bring enough to read. I think it is a subconscious thing so that I always have an excuse to go the book store. My cousin told me this was great and of the books I've read in this genre I definitely felt it was the best told story. I related to it, there were real issues. In short... it was great.

Summary: Anna is a prim and proper, prep school girl from New York City. But tired of her good-girl life, she makes a move to California. It takes her two days to get involved with the movie star scene and all their drama. Can this new Anna handle it?

Other: This is probably one of the best-written books I've read so far with this target audience.

Favorite moments:
1. Anna meets Ben on the plane from New York when he helps her avoid the creepy man sitting next to her. At the wedding later he shows up (as fate would have it) and ends up embarrassing them.
2. When you find out that every character ever has their eyes on Ben.
3. Anna gets food poisoning and throws up on everyone. They deserved it and it felt good.
4. Anna finds her Dad smoking weed.
--I'm going to stop there, because I realized I could go on forever, and I don't want to give away too much of the good stuff!

Best Friends For Never

I love this title. I wish I had come up with it. This series is entertaining. I don't know if I've been jaded by television, but I'm delighted that this book isn't trashy or tacky at all, but it still manages to entertain me.

Summary: Claire still isn't "in" with Massie, but things are getting better. The two start a bet that cuts to the core of their fashion values, throw a boy-girl party, enter a fashion competition (together!) and go after the same boy.

Other: I know my plot summary sucks. A lot happens in this book. It's about relationships, so it's hard to define one action as being the center of the plot.

Favorite Parts:
1. Massie, desperate for new clothes, wears her Halloween costume to school, which causes all sorts of trouble including: All the school girls ripping their clothes, rumors at the boys schools, and a new policy on uniforms!
2. Massie and Claire work together and come up with an awesome uniform that includes.... Keds!
3. All the parts that involve Massie and Claire's fashion bet: Massie can't buy anything new and Claire can't wear anything more than once.