Bloodhound (The Legend of Beka Cooper, Book 2) by Tamora Pierce
Random House Books for Young Readers, 2009, 560 pp., $18.99

Fantasy
ISBN: 978-0-375-81469-3

In this sequel to Terrier, Pierce explores a rougher, less magical side of Tortallan history through the journal of Beka Cooper, junior Dog in the Provost’s Guard. Beka’s restless tenacity in the hunt runs her afoul of city authorities and criminal leaders alike when she is sent to the neighboring town of Port Caynn to investigate an influx of counterfeit coins that threatens the economic stability of the entire kingdom. Beka must stay focused on her investigation while retaining her cover and navigating her romance with a handsome gambler who may or may not be involved in the counterfeiting ring she is bound, by law and by personal commitment, to sniff out.

Bloodhound retains the element of fantasy that captivated fans of Pierce’s earlier Tortallan legends, but its focus on the coarse realities of city life makes Beka’s tale even more relatable to modern readers well-versed in the crime—drama genre.

Nicole Barrick
Nashville, TN

Everlost by Neal Shusterman
Simon Pulse, 2007, 394 pp., $17.99

Fantasy/Adventure
ISBN: 978-0-689-87238-9

Have you ever pondered if that brightness at the end of the tunnel is a light of love or flames? What if, on your way to discovering the truth, you were detoured to a place that was a shadow of our world? “Nick and Allie’s lives didn’t quite flash before them; there was no time.” After colliding on their way to the light, these teenagers are prematurely blasted through the black walls of the tunnel, only to wake nine months later in a familiar, yet foreign land.

Tribes of children wander between fear of the soul-stealing monster, McGill, and safety with Mary, Queen of Snots, in the ghost structure of NYC’s Twin Towers. Everlost is a place where fortune cookies never lie and standing still means sinking to the Earth’s core. Neal Shusterman’s harrowing tale explains how regardless of what people believe, the universe has its own ideas.

Justin Garwood
Nashville, TN

Geek Charming by Robin Palmer
Speak, An Imprint of Penguin Group, 2009, 338 pp., $7.99

High School/Relationships/ Friendship
ISBN: 978-0-14-241122-3

Dylan Shoenfield is one of the in-crowd at posh Castle Heights High. Her boyfriend is cool and her friends are oh-so-popular. Dylan leads the school in fun and fashion. Her life changes when she drops her fashionable bag in a fountain and it is rescued by Josh Rowen, a film geek, well outside the popular crowd. Dylan agrees to be the subject of a movie he is making as part of the application process to film school. Dylan finds herself becoming friends with Josh, who moves into Dylan’s popular crowd. But Dylan’s world comes crashing down when a cut of Josh’s film footage shows her as a spoiled, selfish diva.

Dylan is faced with tough decisions about her place at Castle Heights High School in this frothy appropriation of the princess and the frog fairytale.

Melanie Hundley
Nashville, TN

If I Grow Up by Todd Strasser
Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2009, 222 pp., $16.99

Adolescence/Gang Life/Violence
ISBN:978-1-4169-2523-1

The first word of the book’s title is highlighted—as well it should be. Nothing in the Fredrick Douglass Project is guaranteed except poverty, the drug market, and dodging bullets from guns of rival gangsters. No one knows this guarantee better than DeShawn, who must face the tribulations of school life versus gang life and the difficulties of teenage pregnancy while trying not to die on the streets like his mother did.

DeShawn knows what happens to those who let the mean streets become their playground, battlefield, and in some cases—their death. She must make a decision: become more involved in school and find that ticket out of Fredrick Douglass or become engulfed in the culture of the gang. The choice is not easy.

This book is suitable for 6th graders and up and illustrates how tough life can be and how hard the choices are that must be made . . . or else.

Cord McKeithen
Baton Rouge, LA

King Lear
by William Shakespeare
Adapted by Richard Appignanesi, Illustrated by Ilya
Amulet Books, 2009, 208 pp., $10.95

Drama/Graphic Novel
ISBN: 978-0-8109-4222-6

Setting the story in the same time and milieu of Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales , the adaptors of this drama take on the grand task of translating a complex tragedy into the manga (Japanese comic book) format. The alternative setting highlights political dimensions of the story, with Lear being an Iroquois chief who marries his daughters to British dukes and a French king. The adaptors succeed in capturing the frenetic quality of Lear’s madness, particularly in the famous storm scene, as well as conveying the emotional range of many characters, chief among them Lear’s daughters, Goneril and Regan.

This book should please both students and teachers. There are definite action movie features injected into the tragedy, but the original language is preserved throughout, and there are helpful scaffolds, such as full-page, color character descriptions, a plot summary, and a brief biography of Shakespeare.

Stergios Botzakis
Knoxville, TN

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
Adapted by Richard Appignanesi, Illustrated by Emma Vieceli Amulet Books, 2009, 208 pp., $10.95

Drama/Graphic Novel
ISBN: 978-0-8109-4323-0

This book succeeds in translating Shakespeare’s romantic comedy into the popular shojo manga (Japanese girls’ romance comic) format. The simultaneous matching up of sisters Beatrice and Hero with friends Benedick and Claudio are presented in accessible and fun ways. The format works well in portraying the back-and-forth repartee of Beatrice and Benedick while also being well suited in playing up the soap-operatic qualities of Don John’s villainous machinations.

Along with the illustrations, the adaptors preserve the use of Shakespeare’s original language, albeit in word balloons. The cartoonish pictures go a long way in carrying the story, but there are also a few other built-in teaching tools, such as the full-color character pages that front the story and two pages at the end of the book that contain a full plot summary as well as a capsule version of Shakespeare’s life.

Stergios Botzakis
Knoxville, TN

Once Dead, Twice Shy (Madison Avery, Book 1) by Kim Harrison
HarperCollins, 2009, 240 pp., $16.99

Fantasy
ISBN: 978-0-06-171816-8

Finding out your dad arranged for the cute guy you were beginning to like to ask you to the prom is bad. Finding out in the middle of prom is worse. As prom nights go, Madison Avery doesn’t think hers could get any worse. She finds out that it can when she flees her prom (and the date her father arranged) and survives a horrible car crash, only to be killed by a guy with a large sword. As she’s dying, she grabs the guy’s necklace and then wakes up several hours later in the morgue. She meets Barnabas, a light reaper, and he helps her get acclimated to her new life. She rescues souls from dark reapers, battles with timekeepers, and meets angels and seraphs—all the while trying to fit in at high school.

Melanie Hundley
Nashville, TN

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Demigod Files by Rick Riordan
Hyperion Books, 2009, 151 pp., $12.95

Fantasy/Adventure
ISBN: 978-1-4231-2166-4

This companion book to the series Percy Jackson & The Olympians, set in the modern United States and based on Greek mythology, is set up as a field guide for avid fans. Percy Jackson, the 12-year-old son of Poseidon, continues his adventures with the Olympians in 3 short stories, accompanied by interviews with Camp Half-Blood (hence, the demigod designation) residents, his sidekick Annabeth’s trunk, a camp map, plus puzzles and games for those who await the publication of the fifth and final volume in the series.

Percy uses his wits, an arsenal of special powers, and his engaging personality to conquer dragons, monsters, and other challenges that lurk in and around 21st century New York City. The clever illustrations and captions add to the fan’s appreciation of this clever, action-packed fantasy series and is a must-have for Riordan’s many admirers. A preview of the upcoming series closer is included.

Judith A. Hayn
Little Rock, AR

The Pharaoh’s Secret
by Marissa Moss
Amulet Books, 2009, 320 pp. with 40 illus., $15.95

Mystery/Identity
ISBN: 978-0-8109-8378-6

Talibah means “seeker of truth,” and her name frames the plot of this tale of intrigue and adventure set in modern Egypt. Talibah and her younger brother Adom accompany their Egyptologist father on a research field trip. While there, the teen heroine becomes tangled up in a mystery surrounding an unusual queen who ruled as a pharaoh. She seems to be disappearing from the ruins around Luxor along with her high priest protector.

Talibah and Adom combine wits and ingenuity to overcome ancient curses, curious relics, near drowning, a poisonous scorpion, and a deadly cobra, along with an evil uncle as they help the female pharaoh resume her place in history. At the same time, the two discover a link with their Egyptian mother, who died mysteriously. The author includes notes that detail her interest in ancient Egypt and the grief of losing a loved one.

Judith A. Hayn
Little Rock, AR

Running for My Life
by Ann Gonzalez
Westside Books, 2009, 238 pp., $16.95

High School/Family/Mental Illness
ISBN: 978-1-934813-00-3

Ann Gonzalez dedicates Running for My Life “to the many teenagers who are handed unfathomable challenges and who, nevertheless, find their way to freedom.” Gonzalez gives us an intimate look into the life of one of these teens with Andrea McKane, a fourteen-year-old girl who, despite the odds, learns to live with courage and strength. In addition to the typical problems of a teenage girl, Andrea must cope with her mother’s schizophrenia, a disease that transforms the mother she loves into an abusive stranger. While she longs to cling to the comforts of her stuffed bunny and happy childhood memories of her mother, Andrea must confront the pain of her mother’s illness and learn to stand on her own.

Gonzalez clearly understands the complex issues of growing up in today’s world. Running for My Life provides an example of one teen whose bravery shines as she lives day to day.

Lindsey Bollinger
Nashville, TN

Seattle Blues by Michael Wenberg
Westside Books, 2009, 236 pp., $12.99

Family Relationships/War
ISBN: 978-1-934813-04-1

It’s 1970 and thirteen-year-old Maya is a kid sorting a lot out on her own. Sent by her mother to live with her grandmother, Maya wants to know why she had to leave the life she knew, a life made even more challenging when her father goes missing in Vietnam. At first angry and sullen, Maya wants to rebel against her grandmother, until she discovers a part of her family’s history that she’d never known before, and she realizes that she has a lot to learn from both her mother and grandmother.

Well-intentioned, Seattle Blues is weakened by an inconsistent writing style and an underdeveloped voice for Maya. The many challenges that Maya faces, from race riots to autism, seem forced, making the narrative cumbersome. This novel is best recommended for students who are already interested in the story’s emphasis on the redeeming power of music.

Catherine McTamaney
Nashville, TN

Struts and Frets
by Jon Skovron
Amulet Books: An imprint of Abrams, 2009, 304 pp., $16.95

Friendship/Self-discovery/Music
ISBN: 978-0-8109-4174-8

For Sammy Bojar, it’s not about fame; it’s about the music. He doesn’t want to front a band that makes it big. He just wants to be part of a band that makes great music. But making great music while kicking off a more-than-friends relationship with his longtime best friend Jennifer, worrying about his grandfather’s deteriorating sanity, and trying to keep his other friendships intact can get complicated.

I can’t imagine a title that better describes both the music at the heart of this novel as well as what it is to be a vulnerable, hopeful, and talented young musician than Struts and Frets . Jon Skovron’s debut is, at turns, funny, sad, inspirational, and honest. And woven throughout is the music—driving Sammy and driving the story.

Nate Phillips
Nashville, TN

The Sweet Far Thing (Book 3) by Libba Bray
Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2008, 848 pp., $10.99

Fantasy/Friendship/Adventure
ISBN: 978-0-440-23777-8

In the last installment of Libba Bray’s trilogy, Gemma Doyle and the young ladies at Spence Academy are restless. Gemma has finally unlocked the door to the realms, and thus, for her friends, unlocked the hope for independence and enchantment. Although she enjoys bestowing magic on her friends, the pressure to create peace in the realms as well as the academy becomes daunting. Gemma’s mysterious visions soon force her to navigate uncharted territory in both worlds, compelling her to make meaningful decisions and explore the darkest corners of her past.

The conclusion to Gemma’s adventures can be enjoyed without reading Bray’s preceding novels. Young women will appreciate the character’s struggle to accept responsibility for her actions, conform to societal conventions, and please her peers. In the end, Gemma’s true magic resides not in her spells, but in her capacity for self-reflection, a power all readers are likely to covet.

Caroline McCoy
Nashville, TN

Troy High by Shana Norris
Amulet Books, 2009, 272 pp., $15.95

High School/Relationships
ISBN: 978-0-8109-4647-7

Nothing quite depicts the intensity of a high school football rivalry like Greek mythology. Shana Norris has brilliantly recast the entire ensemble of Homer’s Iliad to fit the contemporary setting in her novel, Troy High . The battlefield has transformed into the football field, and the beautiful Helen of Troy is now Elena of Troy High. The Trojans and the Spartans are now football teams. Readers will be seduced by the watchful observer, Cassie, who narrates the story with a simply honesty and takes you page by page into this vengeful tale of pride, love, and glory.

Matthew Lukach
Nashville, TN

Wings by Aprilynne Pike
Harper Teen, 2009, 294 pp., $16.99

Fantasy/Fairies/Friendships
ISBN: 978-0-06-166803-6

Laurel grew up in a beautiful forest area; she was homeschooled by her parents and spent all of her spare time in the forest or by the river. When she was fifteen, her parents decided to move into town and enroll her in high school. She has trouble getting used to being surrounded by people and being cooped up inside. Her new life is not at all what she expected. She feels as though she is completely different from the kids around her. In fact, she felt different even before she grew wings.

David, one of the few friends she does make, discovers that her cells are more plantlike than human. Laurel returns to the forest where she feels safe and meets the mysterious Tamani, who tells her she isn’t human at all; she’s a faerie. Laurel must not only choose between David and Tamani, she must also save her forest from the trolls.

Melanie Hundley
Nashville, TN