Genre: Mystery

Game

In this second installment, the basic setup of the story has not changed. It is Jasper hunting a serial killer, this time the Hat-Dog killer who has been terrorizing New York. Jasper is brought on as a consultant by the NYPD. Outside of that story arc Jasper also has to deal with the fact that his famous serial killer dad, Billy Dent, has escaped from prison and is now on the loose!

Seventeen-year-old Jazz, the son of the world’s most prolific serial killer, is called to New York. The NYPD needs Jazz’s help finding the Hat-Dog killer, who has been terrorizing New York. Along with finding the killer, Jazz also must help find his father, Billy Dent, who has escaped from prison.

Jazz brings his girlfriend Connie to help with the case. Soon, Connie is receiving mysterious information about Jazz. Connie drags in Jazz’s friend, Howie. All three teens are trying to help find the killer. To solve the murders, Jazz must work with a hardened New York cop and an FBI agent seeking revenge on Billy Dent. By the end of the novel, Jazz and his friends have only just begun unraveling the mystery of his father, the killing game, and everything involved with the killings in New York.

Game keeps readers’ attention better than the first book in the series, I Hunt Killers. The engaging story gives the perspective of the people tracking the killers as well as the perspectives of the killers themselves. Even with all this information, it’s still a mystery as to what’s going on. Lyga keeps giving almost enough clues to figure out the mystery, but readers just can’t piece it all together.

Unlike the first book, we get a slightly expanded POV cast. Jasper’s girlfriend Connie and his best friend Howie are also featured and have a few mysteries of their own to deal with in their hometown.

One of the novel’s most gripping elements is the number of twists that keep arriving. Similar to the first book, it’s difficult to predict what’s going to happen because of the insanity of it all. Jazz is dealing with serial killers, and their minds are nearly impossible to understand. Each event that unfolds seems like it’s as bad as it gets, but another gruesome murder or unforeseen twist always comes up.

Game features relatable characters; Connie and Howie both face problems with their parents and peers that normal teenagers would go through as well. The novel is an exciting, engaging read with an excessive amount of profane language and gore. The mystery will keep readers interested as they try to understand the clues. Readers will want to use caution since Game is a gory, brutal story told in a fittingly brutal way.

Sexual Content

  • Jazz has recurring sexual dreams throughout the novel that include sentences like, “his fingers glide over the warm, supple flesh. . . his skin on hers. . .”
  • When they were talking, Jazz “kissed the back of [Connie’s] neck.”
  • Connie considers Jazz a, “sexy, brooding boyfriend who didn’t realize exactly how sexy and brooding he was.”
  • Billy has a career of, “raping, torturing, and murdering mostly young women.”
  • Howie orders, “dirty movies on pay-per-view.”
  • Howie thinks that his hemophilia means that girls are, “much less willing to get naked and sweaty with him in the way nature prescribed.”
  • When they are alone in a hotel room, Hughes urges Jazz and Connie to “use protection.”
  • When Connie and Jazz are in bed together, she tells him, “We’re just gonna get real close and mess up one of the beds, is all.”
  • One of the serial killers, “rapes the women, makes up for it by castrating the men.”
  • Jazz wishes, “he’d thought to bring condoms.”
  • Jazz thinks about Billy’s voice, “urging him to sucker Connie’s legs apart and slide between them.”
  • When Jazz and Connie are sleeping together, “he kissed her and she kissed back just as urgently and fumbled with the drawstring on his pajama bottoms and reached for him there. . .” Jazz doesn’t allow it to escalate any further.
  • Connie tells Jazz that she “brought condoms” and “knew [they’d] be alone here.”
  • Connie thinks, “they were ready for the next step, and once she knew that, she was desperate for it.”
  • Connie calls their time in bed together, “a late-night/early morning grope-fest.”
  • Jazz remembers how he and Connie were, “reaching for each other. Familiar touches gone explosively unfamiliar, explosively craved.”
  • Jazz opens his email to find, “spam and porn links from Howie.”
  • Jazz tells Connie, “Your boobs are pretty big.”
  • Howie says he will “sleep with” and “knock up” Samantha.
  • Connie theorizes about a serial killer. “Maybe tough chicks make his little pee-pee hard.”
  • Connie asks that Howie, “stop thinking with the contents of [his] jock strap for a second.”
  • Connie also asks that they, “just stipulate that [Howie] made a killer double entendre with ‘rubbed off.’”
  • Howie makes an innuendo. “Because you know what they say about guys with big feet.”
  • A serial killer has his “underpants dropped to his ankles” and “his turgid junk gripped in one hand and waving proudly.”
  • Hughes tells Jazz, “no one had to clean up [the killer’s] grungy spooge.”
  • Billy asks if Connie likes to “go all ghetto in bed” with Jazz.
  • “Jazz did wonder about Morales’s breasts.”
  • Jazz wonders, “Would it be terribly stereotypical – as a guy and as a potential future serial killer – to steal a pair of used panties?”
  • Howie thinks about, “Billy Dent doing his own sister.”

Violence

  • The book opens with a killer who “decided on the left hip” and “began to carve” a woman he took captive.
  • There are numerous descriptions of violent events, including a killer who, “had removed the eyelids first” and “opened [Jerome’s] gut.”
  • In addition to the actions of killers, gruesome descriptions of dead bodies are provided, including the image of a serial killer reaching into, “a blood-slippery mass of intestines from the thing’s [victim’s] open cavity” and a body “slit open from breastbone to waist, the gaping wound of her gut revealing the shiny-slick loops of intestines.”
  • Howie, a hemophiliac, recounts a time when kids were, “poking bruises into [his] arms.”
  • When a police officer enters their house, Jazz’s grandmother yells at Jazz to “gut him!”
  • Jazz has memories and dreams that involve, “the knife meeting the flesh. . . then parting it.”
  • Descriptions of crime scenes include things like “lots of mutilation” and “maiming,” as well as more specific details like “disemboweling.”
  • Jazz compares serial killers to Jeffrey Dahmer- “drilling holes in the heads of corpses in an attempt to make sex zombies.”
  • A victim has, “her throat slit with a precision Jazz couldn’t help but admire.”
  • Multiple victims’ “genitals had been excised.”
  • “A crude dog had been carved into [a victim’s] shoulder.”
  • “Slashing wounds gave way to multiple stab wounds, choking, and – later – disembowelment.”
  • When comparing two rape scenes between a “hat” killer and a “dog” killer, an “ME found less vaginal tearing and few bruises than the hat.”
  • A serial killer “killed,” “gutted,” and “de-eyed” one of his victims.
  • An ME describes how a victim has “been enucleated,” which he explains, “means her eyes were taken out.”
  • An ME recalls a story where “some toes were missing and we found them in the victim’s throat.”
  • A killer “leaves their [his victims] guts in a KFC bucket.”
  • Jazz is shot, and there is a descriptive scene where “blood had matted around the wound,” and pours bleach “right on the wound… to clean it.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Jazz says that Billy inhaled “a pot smoker’s hearty toke.”

Language

  • There is a large amount of profanity in the novel, including: dumbass, hell, damned, bastard, jackass, freaking, mofo, crap, smartass, poop, dyke, bastard, fucking, pissed, hardass, bitch, BS, goddamn, moron, and sumbitch.
  • “We have every terrorist in the world gunning for this city . . . You want to know how many of them have succeeded? I’ll give you a hint: It starts with Z and ends with a fucking zero.”
  • Connie says, “Jesus, Whiz. Talking to you is better than yoga sometimes.”
  • Connie threatens Jazz by saying, “I’ll kick your ass so hard you’ll poop from the front.”
  • Jazz offers to let Howie, “tattoo [his] freakin’ ass.”
  • Hughes says that Morales is “a dyke, you know.”
  • Howie thinks of himself as a “stupid, joking, horny, useless bleeder.”
  • One of the serial killers refers to women as “whoresluts.”
  • As he attempts to heal a bullet wound, Jazz yells, “Oh, Jesus Christ!”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Samantha claims, “There isn’t a hell in the universe hot enough for [her] brother.”
  • Whiz reminds Connie not to take “the Lord’s name in vain.”

by Dylan Chilcoat

 

Blue Water Hues

Paramedic Ashley Grant moved to a Caribbean island hoping for a laid-back life. When Ashley responds to a fire at a beach resort, she recognizes the victim. The victim’s cousin, Darlene, pleads for help. But there are people who don’t want the two women asking questions. As Ashley learns more about the murder, she becomes a target herself. Will Ashley be able to learn the truth or will she be silenced forever?

 Blue Water Hues is a solid mystery that takes the reader into the heart of Ashley’s investigation. Darleen takes Ashley around the small Caribbean island where Ashley finds plenty of people to question. The fast-paced story keeps the reader guessing until the very end. Many of the characters are fearful, and they do not want Ashley digging into the murder. This fear adds suspense and leaves the reader guessing until the very end.

 Blue Water Hues is part of Orca Publishers Rapid Reads collection. Readers who do not have a lot of time will find the story’s straightforward plot, easy vocabulary, and interesting characters the perfect fit. Since the story is only 160 pages, the characters are not well developed. However, the mystery drives the story and will keep the reader entertained.

Sexual Content

  • A customer was angry that it rained during his vacation but still had to pay the hotel bill. He posted a “review that said the maids were servicing customers in guests’ beds.”

Violence

  • A woman is murdered, but her death is not described.
  • A man is shot in the chest and his chest, “was drenched in blood.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Ashley goes to a house where, “men stood on the porch, drinking from cans of beer.”
  • Ashley goes to a restaurant where “four men . . . had a pile of beer bottles collecting in front of them.”
  • Ashley goes out to dinner and has a glass of wine. A man at a table next to Ashley complains about the wine.
  • A group of people goes out to dinner and a man orders a beer.

Language

  • Heck is used twice.
  • Someone says a man is, “a mean son of a bitch.”
  • Someone asks, “What the hell is going on with her, man?”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • The town only has one ambulance, and the drivers, “pray it doesn’t break down.”
  • An ambulance worker is going to be late for a date. He tells his partner, “My date doesn’t mind waiting. She knows I’m doing the Lord’s work.”

 

The Lonely Dead

For years, doctors have told Adele that she has schizophrenia, that the ghosts she sees are just a figment of her imagination. Adele is tired of living in a drug-induced fog and decides to ditch the drugs. But now the ghosts are back. When Adele finds her ex-best friend’s body and her ghost, she realizes the dead aren’t really dead and only she can talk to them.

When Tori’s body is found in a shallow grave, the police focus their investigation on Adele. As the prime suspect in the murder, Adele decides to find the killer, which means working with Tori’s ghost. When Tori begins questioning others, danger comes from all directions. Will she be able to find the murderer or will the murderer silence Adele forever?

The Lonely Dead has an interesting premise but lacks suspense or any sense of urgency. Adele lacks personality and common sense. In her search to find the killer, the clues come too easily and she makes unwise choices. It is difficult to believe that she would trust a murder suspect just because the suspect is good-looking. Even though Tori’s death should add a tragic tone to the story, it is hard to feel sorry for the self-centered girl who was mean to everyone and lacked self-control.

The story teaches about the dangers of alcohol and the importance of being aware of one’s surroundings. However, the author takes the idea of a blackout too far. Tori does not know who killed her because she blacked out, and Adele wonders if she blacked out and then killed Tori. Not only is this unrealistic, but Adele’s confusion borders on the absurd.

Adele is surrounded by turmoil; both her mother and grandmother died due to mental disorders, her harsh grandfather gives her little support, and she is friendless. The story focuses too much on Adele’s inner monologue as well as her past struggles. Instead of being interesting, the family’s background takes away from the murder mystery and adds little to the story. To make matters worse, the police, the student teacher, and the psychologist are all portrayed in a negative light.

One good point of the story is the focus on Tori’s bad behavior. Adele points out that Tori hurt people when she ignored them. Adele said, “You might not ever have laid a hand on them, but it still hurts when someone acts like you’re not even there.” You may want to avoid The Lonely Dead since the murder mystery lacks interesting characters, surprises, or a sense of urgency.

Sexual Content

  • Adele goes to kiss a boy. “My improvised plan is to cover his mouth with my thumbs and then kiss them. It’s a game kids used to play. . . And instead of kissing my thumbs, I press my lips against Charlie’s warm, soft ones.”
  • While playing hide and seek at a party, Adele ends up in a closet with Tori’s boyfriend, Luke. They kiss. Adele, “found my mouth suddenly pressed against his. We weren’t making a sound, but it was like everything inside of me was singing and shouting. I was alive and kissing. . . Under my hands, his shoulders were taunt with muscle. My nose filled with his sharp smell that was at once familiar and not. His mouth tasted like beer.” Tori finds them.
  • At the party, Tori was “dirty dancing with some of the guys, even at one point dropping the straps on her dress and flashing everyone.”
  • Someone says that Tori was “all over Ethan” even though he has a girlfriend.
  • Tori implied that she had a sexual relationship with a student teacher and “that it was her idea.”
  • One of the character’s dads was cheating on his wife, so she kicks him out of the house.
  • Luke kisses Adele. She thinks, “Luke’s lips are so soft, but then they press into me hard. I freeze. My heart pulses in my ears. My skin feels tight. It’s like I’m drowning, like there isn’t enough air.”
  • Adele kisses Charlie. “I put my arms around him. Then I close my eyes and press my mouth to Charlie’s. Just as I remember, his lips are soft and warm, and he tastes like peppermint.”

Violence

  • The story revolves around discovering who murdered Tori. When Adele finds the body, she discovers a “dark line that runs across her throat. She wasn’t choked with hands, but with something like a thin rope. Other, shallower red marks run from just under her chin to the hollow of her throat. Tori must have clawed her own skin, trying to save herself. On the back of her neck, the dark line ends in two purple-red oval bruises.”
  • Tori said her father never “leaves bruises,” but “he’s pushed me a few times when I made him mad. Once he grabbed me and wouldn’t let me go to a party.”
  • Adele meets the ghost of a prostitute that was killed by a customer. The ghost tells Adele, “The guy who did it was one of my regulars.”
  • When Adele’s grandfather discovers that Adele has stopped taking her medication, he slaps her. “My mouth falls open as the blood rushes to my stinging skin.”
  • A girl accuses Adele of killing Tori, then pushes Adele. Someone throws something at Adele. Luke steps in to protect Adele, and fists are thrown. “Then Luke hits him square in the nose. Justin staggers back, blood slicking his upper lip.” A girl slips and hurts her arm.
  • The person who killed Tori tries to kill Adele. “He shifts his grip, and the leash tightens even further, making me cough.” Adele hits the person in the throat and is able to escape. There is a chase and Adele is able to hit the person with a board. “It hits his head with a sound like a cantaloupe falling to the floor.” The person is arrested.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • When Adele is walking through the park, a girl calls out to her. Adele thinks, “I’m afraid of homeless guys, of drunk guys, of guys who might try to drag me into the bushes. Not of some girl who knows my name.”
  • Adele wonders if her friend is drunk or on drugs.
  • Adele sees ghosts, but her doctor and grandfather think she is schizophrenic. She is supposed to take pills to keep her from being delusional. Adele doesn’t like taking drugs because they “bleed the color from everything. How they make me feel dizzy and drowsy and sick to my stomach.”
  • Adele attends Tori’s party, where teens are drinking alcohol. The ghost of Tori doesn’t remember much about the party because she was drinking “shots.” When Adele saw Tori at the party, “she had a glass in her hand, and half of those times she was shouting ‘Shots’ then tossing down her drink.” The class discusses the dangers of drinking including alcohol poisoning and blackouts.
  • A class assignment asks students to think about Dwight. He “drinks on weekends, he turns into a different person. He is belligerent and aggressive, and often gets into fights.”
  • At the funeral viewing, “cigarette and even pot smoke lingers in the air, and a few of my classmates are tipping back flasks I’m pretty sure hold more than just water.”

Language

  • Oh God and Oh my God are used several times as exclamations.
  • Hell is used three times. For example, when Tori finds Adele kissing her boyfriend, she yells, “What the hell? What the actual hell?”
  • Crap, damn, and pissed are used once.
  • Tori calls Luke a jerk.

Supernatural

  • Adele can see and talk to ghosts of people and animals. The dead are tethered to their body by a cord that runs to their bodies ’ skull. Tori says that some ghosts, “who’ve been here a long time say that folks from really old graves keep getting fainter and fainter. A couple have just disappeared. And people who’re cremated—they say you never see them at all, even if the remains are buried here on the grounds.”
  • Adele meets the ghost of a girl who died on the Oregon Trail. The ghost tells her that wolves would dig up the graves. While on the trail she saw, “an arm lying in the wagon ruts. Just an arm. We never could find the grave from which it came.”

Spiritual Content

  • Tori wonders if she is in “limbo.” But Adele tells her, “I think the Catholics did away with that.” Then Tori asks, “So is this hell? Being stuck here with no one to talk to besides you?”
  • After Tori dies, she realizes how painful it is to have people ignore her, and she says, “Maybe God has a sense of humor.”

I Hunt Killers

Jasper Francis Dent, who goes by Jazz, is the son of a famous serial killer who has been imprisoned for four years, but still has lasting effects on the boy’s life. Although Jazz is plagued by memories of the teachings his father gave to him, Jazz was almost adapting to living normally. He took care of his grandmother and had a best friend and girlfriend.

However, a serial killer imitating his father causes Jazz to change his life drastically. Instead of following in his father’s footsteps, he uses the inner workings of a serial killer’s mind to try to find out who is committing the murders. Jazz has to deal with reporters constantly hounding him, a sheriff who won’t let him look into the investigation, and a killer who is always one step ahead of everyone else.

I Hunt Killers has an exciting premise that hooks readers instantly. The story immediately throws Jazz into a crime scene surrounding a dead body. The gore and violence that the book opens up with are present throughout, but so is the thrill Jazz experiences trying to discover who committed the crime. The characters are well developed, unique, and convincing.

Jazz’s character is relatable because of his complexity and his competing desires. The reader is given a glimpse into Jazz’s thought process and is allowed to see his torment. Jazz wants to do good, but also struggles with the darker parts of himself, those parts that might be like this father. The themes in the book seem somewhat forced at times, but also provide messages related to independence, persevering through difficulty, and breaking cycles of abuse.

The book contains a somewhat predictable story, although the characters are unique and compelling. The story is written in a very approachable way, utilizing understandable language that clearly and quickly conveys Lyga’s message. At times, it seems like Jasper almost magically discovers clues to his victim. It is difficult to believe that a thirteen year old would reach the conclusions he does. This results in many of the revelations in the story feeling somewhat forced, and the twists feeling less surprising.

I Hunt Killers is a dark, disturbing, character-focused mystery in which the plot is often overlooked in favor of humor or graphic violence. Its story is predictable, but is otherwise an enticing read. The story shows the horrific nature of brutal crimes. Readers will want to take caution before picking up I Hunt Killers because of the subject matter, the graphic crime scenes, and the mind games that are played throughout the story.

Sexual Content

  • Many of the dead bodies in the book, including the first one, are found naked.
  • Jazz thinks of a time he and his girlfriend spent “tangled up” at their hideout.
  • Jazz says that another character’s reaction “felt like he’d just seen a nun do a striptease.”
  • Jazz mentions having a pistol pointed at his “thirteen-year-old junk” in a memory from when his dad was first apprehended. He is seventeen at the time the book takes place.
  • Howie wonders if the killer was just “having sex and stuff” and suggests that the killer’s girlfriend might have just hit her head and had a heart attack, resulting in him abandoning her at the scene.
  • Howie perks up at the mention of “cleavage” while a dead body is investigated.
  • Howie and Jazz contemplate whether or not the killer “did stuff” to his victim.
  • Jazz and Connie kiss several times. Their kisses range from a “quick kiss on the lips” to “kissing and groping” that includes descriptive visuals such as “the soft insistence of Connie’s plush lips, to the warm of her tongue” and “a long, lingering kiss that warmed him [Jasper] all over.”
  • Connie and Jazz spend the beginning of rehearsal “feverishly kissing and groping back in the wings.”
  • A character is suspected to have “entertained some R-rated fantasies about the girls in his class.”
  • Jazz says that “if you were in a room alone with her [Harriet Klein], you’d feel it.”
  • Gramma Dent accuses Jazz of “Putting [his] thing inside them [whores]!”
  • Jazz explains how serial killers often “jerk off” after revisiting crime scenes, which Howie says “ruined masturbation” for him.
  • Howie calls a toe ring “sexy.”
  • Jazz thinks about how he is obsessed with sex. “He was terrified of sex. Like every teenage boy, he was obsessed with it, of course, and wanted to have as much of it as humanly possible…”
  • When Connie sits on Jazz’s lap, “he felt himself respond to her weight in his lap the only way a teen boy should respond.” Then, Connie adjusts herself in Jazz’s lap and grinds “her butt into his groin in that special pleasant/painful way.”
  • Connie mentions how people dream about “having sex with a supermodel.”
  • A character whose initials are “VD” reminds Howie of “venereal disease.”
  • Jazz remembers how a female character’s breasts had pressed against him when they hugged.
  • When Howie is hospitalized, Jazz asks jokingly if he wants “a hot nurse and a stripper pole.”
  • Jazz recounts that one of Billy Dent’s victims was “sexually assaulted, invaded both vaginally and rectally.”
  • Jazz suspects that the killer used “a sex toy or something” on one of his victims.
  • Jazz says to Connie, “I bet I could warm you up,” implying sex. Connie “shifted, locking her ankles together.”
  • Jazz thinks that “any straight male snuggling with Connie would be desperate to get those jeans off.”
  • Gramma Dent, upon seeing a horde of reporters outside her home, believes they are enemy warriors and yells that “They’re gonna rape mongrel babies into me!”
  • Howie suggests to Jazz that he “stick [his] tongue down her [Connie’s] throat.”
  • Billy Dent asks if Jazz has “a little piece of tail [he] like[s] to bang,” and if “girls. . . line up for a taste of [his] dick.”
  • Billy Dent talks to his son and asks, “are you always the one buyin’ the rubbers? Hmm? Or maybe she’s on that pill? Cause you can’t always trust ‘em, Jasper. You look at them rubbers real close-like, see?”
  • Billy asks Jazz to “Tell Dear Old Dad your little pussy’s name.”
  • Billy describes a victim with “Perfect little titties.”
  • Billy says to Jazz “I’m glad you’re getting’ your dick wet.”
  • Billy is suspected to have left semen and committed rape at a murder scene.
  • G. William searched Jazz and placed a hand “uncomfortably close to the family jewels.”

Violence

  • The book opens up with a police scene surrounding a dead body, and it is made clear that this will be a common theme in the novel.
  • There are multiple instances of body bags being opened or used to store/view bodies. “Two cops approached the corpse with a body bag hanging limp between them… he focused on the struggle with the body bag.”
  • Jazz often imagines entering violent scenarios with different characters.
  • The killer’s specialty is to sever his victim’s fingers. Removed fingers are referred to as excised digits.
  • Billy Dent killed over one hundred people, whose deaths are frequently referenced.
  • Jazz experiences memories of his father describing his methods to commit murder. “Good boy. Good boy. (one cut, two cuts) Just like that.”
  • Vivid descriptions of dead bodies are provided. “Dead female Caucasian… Found at least two miles from anywhere in any direction. Naked. No apparent bruising. Missing fingers.”
  • Billy Dent kept trophies from his victims.
  • Jazz has what looks like the “biggest god-damn pistol in the entire universe [pointed] right at [his] thirteen-year-old junk.”
  • The experimentation process of serial killers is described as they try new methods of violence. “And they experiment. Cutting off the fingers…”
  • G. William threatens to shoot Jazz.
  • Jazz “was certain that the next day would have seen G. William dead by his own hand” if Billy Dent had not been found.
  • Jazz imagines cutting a finger off.
  • Jazz says that the death isn’t just “Joe-Bob McHick smacking around his girlfriend and then leaving her to die.”
  • An autopsy is performed on a corpse.
  • Jazz imagines G. William drawing his service revolver and putting “two slugs into his center of mass.”
  • A joke is made about pointing an excised finger.
  • Howie is a “type-A hemophiliac, which meant that he bled if you looked at him too hard,” and experiences large amounts of bleeding in the novel.
  • Jazz beat up Howie’s bullies.
  • Jazz experiences a bloody nose.
  • A reference is made to Hannibal Lecter, the cannibal villain.
  • Jazz thinks a crime would be easier to identify if there had been “some sort of savagery before death—torture, cutting mutilation…”
  • Victims are strangled.
  • During the investigation of a body, eyelids are peeled back.
  • Howie’s face bleeds profusely from a nosebleed.
  • Genocide and famine are referenced.
  • A body is nailed naked to a ceiling in a church. “Her head lolling downward, her limbs bearing the weight of her body. When the reverend who found the body called the police, the skin and muscle were already coming loose.”
  • An angered parent of a victim threatened to kidnap Jazz and perform his father’s crimes on him.
  • Eyes are removed from a corpse and fed to cats.
  • There are multiple references to famous serial killers.
  • Gramma Dent often threatens people with a shotgun.
  • Jazz imagines a character having a “Glock or Magnum” in their purse.
  • Jazz’s grandmother smacks him multiple times.
  • Billy Dent disjointed a corpse.
  • Billy Dent is said to have raped and abused his victims as well as killed them.“He tormented them. Tortured them. Raped them and abused them.” More details are given later on when Billy Dent’s victim is described as “Sexually assaulted, invaded both vaginally and rectally.”
  • Jazz imagines ripping out a character’s larynx.
  • Jazz wonders why Billy has not been shanked in prison, as well as why he hasn’t committed suicide.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • G. William is said to very rarely drink.
  • Jazz gives his grandmother a “poor man’s sedative” so that he can go out without her arguing.
  • Jazz also puts a “powerful tranquilizer” in his grandmother’s breakfast for a similar purpose.
  • Jazz’s grandmother is sedated and held captive by the novel’s antagonist.
  • Jazz “clambered down the fire escape like a monkey on crystal meth.”

Language

  • There is an immense amount of profanity including crap, Christ, God, Devil/Satan, Hell, idiot, moron, badass, douche, goddamn, demon, piss, whores, ho, bastard, ass, hellfire, jackass, smart-ass, butt, buttocks, damn, BS, pussy, titties, dick, bitch.
  • When Jazz tells G. William that he had been spying on the crime scene at the beginning of the book, “G. William slammed a fist on the desk and swore.”
  • A killer leaves behind his victim’s middle finger while taking other digits.
  • Doug Weathers is called a “bottom-feeding moron.”
  • Jazz and Howie say “bros before hos.”
  • Gramma Dent uses the “hellfire o’ Jesus” as an exclamation.
  • Jazz exclaims “Jesus!” at one point.
  • Connie gasps “Oh my God.”
  • Billy Dent is said to have “a real PhD in slinging high-grade horse manure.”

Supernatural

  • Witchcraft and witches are mentioned as a part of the Salem Witch Trials that took place in The Crucible.

Spiritual Content

  • G. William is said to have “catholic guilt.”
  • The Devil/Satan, demons, Heaven, Christ, and God are mentioned as slurs, although not in actual religious contexts.
  • Jazz describes faith as “being certain of something without any kind of evidence.”
  • Howie says that he “deftly avoids the crushing throngs of heathens.”
  • The Crucible is being performed by Jazz’s drama group, and he acts as a reverend in the play during the witch trials that were performed in Salem by the Puritans.
  • A quote from The Crucible says “Theology, sir, is a fortress; no crack in a fortress may be accounted small.”
  • A quote from The Crucible says “Man, remember, until an hour before the Devil fell, God thought him beautiful in Heaven.”
  • Gramma Dent has a collection of “religious dogma.”
  • Billy Dent says that “Cain slew Abel, all under God’s eye” as justification for his murders, specifically of Jasper’s dog Rusty.
  • Jazz asks that “God bless Ginny Davis.”
  • Billy Dent describes the sound of someone dying as “sacred an’ holy.”
  • Gramma Dent cries out “Praise God!”
  • Jasper’s grandmother recalls how she had “said all her Hail Marys” when she shifts into the persona of a young girl.
  • Billy Dent claims he is the god of his victims.
  • Jazz says Billy “had been a god” that he worshiped, although later states that Billy “had been a devil, not a god.”
  • Billy sighs “as if asking the Good Lord.”
  • A serial killer believes that Billy Dent, a serial killer, is a god, and that Jasper is a “child of divinity.”

by Dylan Chilcoat

 

Big Trouble

Friday has found a home at her exclusive boarding school, but she’s unprepared for her father being a guest professor. However, her father isn’t the only new arrival. A Norwegian princess has just arrived, just when a thief called the Pimpernel is causing chaos across campus. Can Friday avoid her father, rein in a royal brat, and discover who the Pimpernel is?

The third installment of the Friday Barnes Mystery Series will entertain readers with its page-turning mystery and the reappearance of some lovable characters. Although Melanie’s best friend and possible love interest Ian reappears, new and interesting characters are added. Many of the characters are portrayed in an exaggerated, stereotypical way, which adds to the story’s humor. For example, when Friday catches a girl eavesdropping, the girl replies, “. . .we’re preteen girls. We’re supposed to have a cavalier disregard for the sensitivities of our peers.”

Melanie’s brother, Binky, makes an appearance and wants to know how to attract a girl. His interactions with Friday are heartfelt. Middle school readers will relate to his dilemma. Binky adds a welcome dose of romance to the story.

Like the previous books, Friday focuses on several smaller mysteries that end up all coming together for a big reveal at the end. Even though the story’s ending is mostly predictable, readers will still enjoy discovering how Friday used her power of observation to solve the mysteries. Friday doesn’t shy away from using large vocabulary words or feel like she needs to hide the fact that she is smart.

Black and white illustrations appear every 4 to 8 pages. The illustrations help bring the quirky characters to life and show some of the story’s action. Although the Friday Barns Series does not need illustrations to get readers to turn the pages, they add a nice touch and are often humorous.

Although Big Trouble can be read as a stand-alone book, readers will enjoy the story more if the previous books in the series have been read. Big Trouble will keep readers entertained with new mysteries and new characters. Friday’s curious personality and search for the truth will captivate readers and keep them turning the pages.

Sexual Content

  • When Friday says she doesn’t think Ian is a thief, Melanie asks, “Because you love him even more than you love Marie Curie?”
  • A magazine prints a picture with the heading, “Secret Smooching at Swanky School’ and a grainy black-and-white photograph of Princess Ingrid kissing a boy. Melanie is upset that the boy was Ian and yells, “How dare he kiss another girl just because she’s beautiful, rich, and royal.”
  • While looking at the picture of the princess and Ian kissing, Friday notices his messed up hair. “Maybe Ingrid ran her hand through his hair,” said Friday. “That is something kissing people are known to do.”
  • When Ian tries to explain that he wasn’t kissing the princess, Friday doesn’t believe his story. Ian replies, “What interest would I have in being chivalrous? It would be more to my advantage if everyone thought I was the type of guy who made out with European royalty on a polo field.”
  • One of the boys decides to wear clothes to show off his muscles. He hopes to attract a girl by being “eye candy.”

Violence

  • Friday’s uncle, “accidentally hit the lady who sang the national anthem.” He says the lady, “burst onto the ice with a bunch of spectators to try to punch our goalkeeper . . . He’d just let in a home goal, so they were feeling emotional. Fists started flying, and my fist just happened to connect with her nose.”
  • A dog “launched himself at Uncle Bernie’s bottom.” He is not seriously hurt by the resulting bite.
  • One of the characters talked about how during a race someone tried to stop people from winning by putting down banana peels. It didn’t work, and “the winner punched Rajiv in the nose and kept running.”
  • During the race, a boy “whipped off his size 14 shoe and threw it at Patel. It hit him neatly on the ankle, causing him to trip and slam into a vending machine.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Friday’s father calls someone a buffoon.
  • Melanie calls Ian a rat.
  • Friday says that a thief is “an idiot with a get-rich-quick scheme.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

 

Paper Valentine

In the last six months, Hannah’s life has been turned upside down because Hannah’s best friend Lillian died and is now haunting her. Not only is Hannah struggling to understand the self-destructive behavior that led to Lillian’s death, but she is also grappling with changes in her elite friend group. When Hannah runs into bad boy Finny, she can’t decide if she should stay away from the boy with a bad reputation or if she should explore her growing attraction to him.

Then, when someone begins murdering young girls and leaving behind paper valentines, Lilian’s ghost encourages Hannah to look into the crimes. As Hannah discovers gruesome details about the murders, the ghosts of the dead girls begin appearing. But why do they appear when Finny is near? And by investigating, is Hannah making herself a target for the murderer?

Over the course of the book, Hannah struggles with depression and dealing with the death of Lillian. To make matters worse, Lillian has changed in death. Lillian criticizes Hannah for spending time with her friends, even though they were Lillian’s friends when she was alive. Lillian is mean to Hannah and says things like, “Hannah doesn’t like to live in real life. Hannah just wants to pretend that we all live in happy fairy-land, where everyone is super-best friends and no one is a heinous bitch and nothing bad is ever going to happen.” Although much of Hannah’s behavior seems week, she is like many teenagers who struggle with wanting to fit in.

Paper Valentine does an excellent job showing the complexities of people. Although most people think Finny is just a delinquent, he also has a streak of kindness. Hannah is able to look past Finny’s ‘bad boy’ image and see his good side. In addition, Hannah realizes that she and Lillian, “were always trying so hard to be perfect . . . when the funny thing was, we didn’t have to.”

Paper Valentine bounces from topic to topic, including the desire to be perfect, depression, eating disorders, child abuse, and ghosts. None of the topics are dealt with in detail and will leave the readers with unanswered questions. The conclusion was predictable, typical, and lacks insight into the mind of the killer. Those looking for an excellent murder mystery may want to bypass Paper Valentine. Despite its flaws, Paper Valentine is an enjoyable, unique story that junior high readers will enjoy. Paper Valentine is a fast-paced story that has a bit of a scare factor due to the ghosts. Readers will enjoy looking for clues to discover the murderer, and Hannah and Finny have some sweet moments.

Sexual Content

  • While watching the news, someone makes a comment about the news correspondents. “I bet they make out like hyenas as soon as Jim Dean starts giving the weather report.”
  • A boy that Hannah knows “used to go out with Lillian in junior high and now sometimes made out with Angelie.”
  • A boy at school would “grab girls around the waist when they walked by his table in the cafeteria last year and say things like, ’Want to sit on my lap and talk about the next thing that pops up.’”
  • When Hannah picks out some lipstick, she’s afraid her friend will think the “colors are perfect for a disco-clown hooker.”
  • When Hannah thinks of pressing her hips against Finny, “the thought of this is electric, beating in my chest like a birthday wish, dark and warm and secret.”
  • Finny and Hannah kiss several times. The first time, Finny “bends his head and kisses me, just once, then lets me go. When Connor would kiss Angelie in the halls last spring, he did it like he was trying to suck the chocolate off the outside of a Klondike bar. It could last hours. This is more like seeing a star fall—thrilling and soundless and then over.”
  • When Finny kisses Hannah a second time, “his tongue brushes the curve of my bottom lip, grazing the hollow underneath, and something leaps and fidgets in my chest. . . I want him to never stop.”
  • When Hannah goes to Dairy Queen, a girl she knows was “leaning against the side of the little brick building, frantically kissing Austin Dean.”
  • A boy asks, “Hey, do you think if I bleached my hair and started vandalizing street signs or something, Carmen would let me near those exquisite titties?”
  • While in a public place, Hannah kisses Finny so that her friends will see. “He doesn’t react right away, but then his hands move to my hips.”

Violence

  • When someone was bothering Hannah, Finny came to her aid. “Finny had Connor by the collar of his shirt and was holding him so their foreheads were almost touching, but he didn’t say anything. He just leaned over me while Connor yanked on Finny’s wrist, trying to get loose. . . With his hand on the back of Connor’s neck, Finny held Connor away from me. . .”
  • Hannah talks about the murder of Monica Harris. “One of the city garbage collectors found her out in the parking lot behind the Bowl-A-Rama in her pink polyester jacket, beaten dead with a piece of two-by-four and her own ice skates.”
  • Hannah looks at the crime scene photos and sees, “Her face is shockingly white—dead white—and there are dark finger-shaped bruises all over one shoulder. In the blue evening light, the bruises look black. Almost as black as the blood that’s splashed in the weedy grass around her.” The photo is described over five paragraphs.
  • When Finny was younger, a dog bit off his finger. He also has cigarette burns on his back. The abuse is not described.
  • While in elementary school, Hannah was mean to Finny, and he washed her face with snow. “The snow was weeks old, crusty with ice, and when he scrubbed my face with it, the crystals were so sharp they made me bleed.”
  • A boy is in foster care because “his dad was using him for a punching bag.”
  • Hannah and a group of people find a dead body. “I’m looking into the face of a girl, and there’s blood in her hair and splashed down the side of her neck. There’s a smell. . . Her face is pale blue in the light. . .” The scene is described over three paragraphs.
  • The murderer tries to kill Hannah. “He turns and grabs me by the shoulders, slamming me hard against the wall of the bridge. . . When I try to squirm away, prying at his fingers with my free hand, he gives me a shake that nearly pops my shoulder out of its socket. . . That’s when he slaps me. . .” The murderer hits Hannah’s head with something heavy. She is injured but survives. The scene takes place over a chapter.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • A shop owner “runs off prints of scowling tattooed drug dealers and drunk, disorderly frat boys standing against a dirty wall outside one of the college bars.”
  • The Qwick-mart has “smashed beer bottles” on the ground outside.
  • Hannah remembers when Lillian was younger and “took that bottle of Sour Apple Pucker from her mom’s liquor cabinet, and we drank it in the back of her garage.”
  • Lillian thinks her mother, “spent the last three years drinking a perfectly decent chardonnay on the couch and waiting for me to stop being so dramatic.”

Language

  • Profanity is used often. Profanity includes ass, asshole, bastard, bitch, crappiest, damn, fuck, goddamn, pussies, hell, shit, shitty.
  • Thank god, Jesus, and God are used as exclamations. For example, Hannah’s friends tell her, “God, you’re such a weenie sometimes.”
  • Finny tells someone, “Don’t be a douche.”
  • Ghost Lillian calls a boy a pervert.
  • When a girl’s thong is showing, someone says, “Damn! That is just too much ass for those jeans!”
  • Finny took a stolen bracelet away from a boy and gave it back to Hannah. When she asks if the boy was mad, Finny replies, “Do I give a shit? He can fucking deal with it! I told him that maybe he’s free to act like a total dick any other time, but not to girls and little kids. Not when he’s with me.”

Supernatural

  • Hannah’s friend is a ghost. Hannah narrates, “Ghosts are the kind of thing you go your whole life with everyone telling you they aren’t real. I believe in them anyways, because the world is full of things that no one actually understands. Mostly though, I believe in them because my best friend died six months ago and now she’s with me all the time, materializing silently out of the shadows, creeping closer, reaching out.”
  • Several times, Hannah uses an Ouija board to talk to the spirits of the murdered girls.

Spiritual Content

  • The murderer tells Hannah, “As far as those little bitches knew, I was God.”

 

 

 

Under Suspicion

When the police show up at Highcrest Academy, Friday isn’t expecting them to take her to the police station. She has to clear her name with the help of a vagrant she meets. Life is no easier once she gets back to school, as she quickly jumps in to investigate a quiche back-off scandal as well as discover why holes are being dug everywhere.

The second installment of the Friday Barnes mystery has many of the same characters. Friday’s best friend Melanie spends all of her time sleeping, skipping out on classes, and obsessing over Friday’s love interests. Melanie’s nemesis Ian is willing to do anything to earn a scholarship, even framing Friday for a crime she didn’t commit. Many of the characters are portrayed as rich kids who are willing to do anything, including lie and cheat, to win. Besides the cast of characters from the first series, cute boy Christopher makes an appearance, which gives Melanie another boy to tease Friday about.

Throughout the story, Friday focuses on several smaller mysteries that end up all coming together for a big reveal at the end of the story. Throughout the story, Friday uses her power of observation to solve mysteries. Although Friday is socially awkward, she is clearly a genius who isn’t afraid to show that she is smart. Friday understands her weaknesses, which include social interactions. Even though the girls at the school ignore her, she is still willing to help them when they are in need.

Black and white illustrations appear every 4 to 8 pages. The illustrations help bring the quirky characters to life as well as show some of the action in the story. Although the Friday Barnes Series does not need illustrations to get readers to turn the pages, they add a nice touch and are often humorous.

Unlike many children’s books, the Friday Barnes Series doesn’t shy away from larger vocabulary words. Friday is a genius, and her vocabulary includes words like laboriously, repugnant, extrapolate, and fastidious. Even though readers may not understand all of Friday’s references and words, this doesn’t take away from the book’s enjoyment. Friday’s curious personality jumps off the page. Even though the reader knows that she will solve every case, there are plenty of surprises. Friday Barnes Under Suspicion is the perfect mix of dry humor, action, and suspense.

Sexual Content

  • When Friday and Ian are arguing, Melanie says, “You should write down some of this witty banter so you can read the transcripts to your grandchildren one day.” Another person replies, “I didn’t know Barnes and Waincott were planning to start a family.”
  • In order to get Friday to run, a boy grabs her hand. “Friday was surprised. No boy had ever held her hand before. It didn’t tingle like in the romance novels, but it did feel nice in an inexplicable, visceral way.”

Violence

  • The school gardener is found unconscious. He was hit in the head with a tool “but only because someone took the tool and swung it at him. . .”
  • Someone threatens to break Friday’s arm. He says, “I know that if I used my knee as a fulcrum and your forearm as a lever, I could snap your elbow like a dry twig.” He then uses a zip tie to secure her on the top of a lawn mower grass catcher.
  • Someone soaks Friday’s hat in gasoline and “produced a lighter from his pocket and set Friday’s hat alight.” Then the person, “threw the flaming hat through the broken window, then calmly walked back to where Friday was tied up.” The fire alarm went off and the school was evacuated.
  • When someone swung a spade towards Friday’s head, Ian tackles the person. “Ian had knocked him over and they were wrestling among the rosebushes.” The person brandishes gardening sheers at Friday and Ian. When the person goes to flee, Malcom, “burst out from the bushes at the edge of the forest and came sprinting down the slope towards the lawn mower. . . Malcom pivoted himself up and raised his fist to deliver a blow.” Friday yells at Malcom, who stops himself from hitting the person.
  • Malcom tells a story about someone who, “tried to trick an eighty-five-year-old lady. . . Little did he realize she was a retired professional wrestler. She hit him over the head with her walking frame, then held him in a leg lock until the police arrived.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Twice, someone calls Friday an Idiot.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

The Impossible Crime

Mac is an ordinary kid who likes to play video games. While at the arcade, the Queen of England’s corgi appears with a note stating, “pick up the phone.” The Queen of England needs Mac’s help. Someone is planning on stealing the Crown Jewels. With the help of beefeater Holcroft, Max tries to keep the Crown Jewels safe. But when they disappear from a locked room, Mac must use all of his knowledge to discover not only who did it, but why.

The Impossible Crime uses humor, riddles, and corgis to teach readers about English history. The fast-paced plot has several of the same interesting characters as Mac Undercover, but isn’t as outrageously funny as Mac Undercover. However, readers will enjoy the silliness of the story, the dialogue between Mac and the Queen, and the surprise ending. As the story unfolds, readers will learn historical facts, geography, and different meanings of words. Each new fact is integrated into the story in a seamless manner, which makes learning fun.

Mac tells his own story with humor and uses lists and reputation to help readers follow the mystery. The Impossible Crime will entertain even the most reluctant readers for many reasons. Short sentences and simple vocabulary will help readers build confidence. Every page contains large black, green, and orange illustrations that add to the humor of the story. The illustrations and text work together to provide clues, create humor, and keep the reader interested to the very end. The Impossible Crime is a fun, easy-to-read book that is a great choice for any reader. It is also a perfect book for parents to read aloud to their children; the short dialogue is a great opportunity to use different voices for the characters.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • In 1671, Colonel Blood tried to steal England’s crown jewels. When Edward took Colonel Blood to see the jewels, “Colonel Blood threw the cloak over Edwards’s head! The men tied up the god Keeper like a sheep in a sack. Then they hit him with mallets. . . Then they stabbed him.’”
  • Holcroft goes after Mac with an axe. “He turned to me and brandished his axe. . . I backed into a corner of the library as Holcroft slowly came towards me.” Mac orders Holcroft to put the axe down and he does.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Mac asks a man, “what the heck are you doing?”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Dreaming Dangerous

Brassmere Academy is the only home Plum has ever known. Hidden deep in the woods, Brassmere is home to orphans who have extraordinary abilities. Each night when Plum lays down to sleep, she travels into dream worlds, where her best friends Vien, Gwendle, and Artem meet her. While dreaming, the friends go on exciting journeys and fight dangerous monsters.

During a dream, Artem tells Plum, “They’re coming for us. One by one, until they find the one they need.” When she wakes up, Artem is missing. No one knows where Artem has gone. Plum is convinced that the adults at the school cannot be trusted.

Plum, Vien, and Gwendle search for their friend. As they find clues in both the dreaming and waking worlds, they uncover many secrets. Plum has always considered the director, Dr. Abarrane, a trusted adult, but now she wonders what dark secrets he keeps. Brassmere has always kept the children safe from the outside world, but is the real danger inside Brassmere’s walls? Will Plum and her friends be the next to disappear?

Told from Plum’s point of view, Dreaming Dangerous quickly jumps into the mystery of Brassmere Academy. Right from the start, the reader understands the strong bonds of friendship between the four friends. The friends travel into the dream world, where they encounter imaginative worlds full of monsters. Plum spends an equal amount of time in the real world and the dream world, which adds drama but also may cause some confusion.

Dreaming Dangerous is a compelling story that has the perfect amount of suspense and scare factor for younger readers. Readers will be drawn into the story because of the interesting dream world, the children’s abilities, and the mystery surrounding Brassmere Academy. The ending of the story shows the violent death of Plum’s mother and the evil nature of Dr. Abarrane. However, the death is not described in gory detail. The only negative aspect of the story is the abrupt, confusing conclusion that leaves many questions unanswered.

Many readers will be drawn to Dreaming Dangerous because of the well-develop characters, monsters, and mystery. The fantasy story is at times creepy and frightening. For readers who like Gothic-style mysteries, Dreaming Dangerous is an easy-to-read, fast-paced story that will entertain until the very end.  

Violence

  • While in a dream, Plum falls. “Sword pointed downward, Plum leaned into the momentum of the drop, landing hard on the head of some giant, scaled creature. An alligator, she suspected. She jammed her sword between its eyes and it thrashed and roared. . . Blood stained her sword and her shoes. . . The giant alligator would not die quickly . . . a set of sharp teeth had snared her ankle and pulled her underwater.” Plum’s friend appears and saves her. The battle with the alligator happens over four pages.
  • While in a dream, Plum sees a monster. When she asked the monster a question, “its mouth became so wide that it was big enough to devour a girl like Plum in a single bite. And that’s what it did. . .” She falls down the monster’s throat and lands in a town.
  • The gargoyles that stood guard over Brassmere came to life. The gargoyles flew towards the school. “One of the gargoyles was barreling through the overarching glass window of the grand foyer. The other had scaled the side of the building that housed the dormitory, and its giant swinging tail was shattering the windows. . . All the birds and insects in the wallpaper had escaped and were buzzing and flapping at the ceiling and remaining windows, trying to find a way out.” No one was injured.
  • Plum wakes up Melinda, who was in a trance. When Plum touches her, “Melinda raised her head and looked at Plum, her mouth curled into a vicious snarl. And then, Plum was airborne, flying backward by the metal in her boot buckles and the buttons of her coat, until she hit a wall, hard, and everything went dark.”
  • In a dream, Plum sees the young Dr. Abarrane kill a woman and take her baby. When the woman tries to argue, “Dr. Abarrane didn’t bother to argue. He pulled the trigger . . . the woman had fallen to the ground. Dead. The baby screamed and fell into a fit of tears.”
  • Dr. Abarrane chases after Plum and Artem. He tried to inject Plum with a syringe, but “a metal tray hit him in the side of the head, hard. All it took was one blow and he was down.” The kids were able to escape.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Plum is given a “strange purple liquid” through an IV. The liquid makes her sleep, and she is unable to wake from her dream.
  • After Artem disappears, Plum finds him in a building that looks like a hospital. When she finds him, he has an IV “that dripped in a bag over his bed. Plum recognized that odd purple liquid; it was the same thing Dr. Abarrane had given to her that morning. . .”
  • Plum overhears a nurse talking about the death of a boy. The boy was given “three doses of blue. . . The immediate effects were an increase in physical strength and energy.” The fluid killed the boy.

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • The orphans who live at Brassmere Academy all have special abilities. The main characters share their dreams. Some “could bend and move metal if they concentrated.” Others could “charm animals” or “communicate with their thoughts.”
  • While in a dream, Artem “could always breathe underwater.”
  • While in a dream, Plum and the others travel to a town. Plum thinks what they saw “happened in the past, and somehow I was able to see it.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

Bad Mermaids Make Waves

Beattie, Mimi, and Zelda planned to spend the summer on land with temporary legs, but their trip is cut short when they receive a message ordering them to return home. The queen of the Hidden Lagoon, Arabella Cod, has been fishnapped. It’s up to the three friends to figure out what has happened to Arabella. When they return to the Hidden Lagoon, they discover that some seriously bad mermaids have taken over. With the help of a talking seahorse, the three go on a dangerous journey to discover who has fishnapped Arabella. Will the three be able to avoid the bad mermaids and chasing piranhas? Can they discover who the true villain is?

Readers looking for a fast-paced and silly mermaid mystery will be drawn to Bad Mermaids Make Waves because of the beautiful cover and the fun black-and-white illustrations throughout the story. The illustrations bring the magical mermaid world to life and help readers visualize the many crazily outfitted characters.

As Beattie, Mimi, and Zelda swim through the mermaid kingdom looking for clues, they interview those who may have had a hand in Arabella Cod’s disappearance. The mystery solving is more silly than serious and the three spend much of their time being chased. Bad Mermaids Make Waves will satisfy readers who like riddles, puns, and seriously silly fun.

The three main characters and a talking sea-horse, Steve, interact in hilarious ways. Another added bonus is the news-like articles from Clamzine and The Scribbled Squid that are dispersed throughout the story. The Scribbled Squid writes, “gossip and lies and things you should definitely buy,” while Clamzine gives snapshots of important characters in a fun way.

Bad Mermaids Makes Waves weaves mermaids, fashion, and mystery into a silly story that will engage reluctant middle school readers.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Arabella Cod is fishnapped by a human.
  • Piranhas chase the three mermaids. Mimi uses fin-fu, which is “a little like human kung fu, only with fins” to battle the piranhas. Mimi “was doing a weird single-finder chopping move and pinging them away.” The piranhas finally swim away.
  • The mermaids chase someone who stole a car. Beattie jumps on a shark and chases the car. “The shark lunged and snapped down. The clam car shot forward . . . the shark lunged and crunched! She opened her eyes just in time to see the robber mermaid shoot out of the car and down the alleyway.”
  • The mermaids sneak into someone’s house to investigate. When they are caught, Beattie gets stuck in the door that was shaped like fish lips. In order to get Beattie unstuck, “Mimi casually turned and fin-fun chopped the fish lips. The entire sandcastle crumbled into a pile in one dusty explosion of sand.” The mermaids then escape.
  • Someone fishnaps Goda Gar. “There on the bow was Goda Gar, being tied up with seaweed streams and carted off by the chomping piranhas.”
  • The three mermaids are captured. When a seahorse tries to help them, a shark “bit down hard on Steve. . . Beattie cried as the wriggling little sea horse went limp and floated down toward the mermaids in a trance below.” The seahorse’s “shell top is ruined,” but he’s okay.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Someone used a “powerful magic, old magic, dark magic” to control the mermaids. Somehow the mermaids’ nails are stamped with piranhas, which allows the piranhas to track them.
  • Someone found the Ruster Shells, which are “two magic shells with crocodiles carved on them.” When mermaids see the shells, they fall into a trance and do everything they are told. Whoever wears the shells can control others.

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

 

Tell

David isn’t sad that his stepfather is dead. However, he didn’t expect to become the prime suspect of his murder. The detective investigating the case is convinced that David is keeping secrets—and he’s right. David knows the truth about his stepfather’s death. But can he convince the police that he’s not guilty of shooting his stepfather and leaving him to die?

Tell, published by Orca Book Publishers, is specifically written for teens who want to read short, high-interest novels.  The story focuses on David and his struggles with his stepfather, Phil. The easy-to-read story shows the harsh realities of life without going into graphic descriptions. Even though David tells his own story, the mystery of his stepfather’s death leaves the reader wondering if David is actually the murderer.

The suspenseful story has a dark undertone. David struggles with his brother’s death, his mother’s deceit, and his stepfather’s manipulation. As David interacts with his mother, her uncaring and lying nature becomes obvious. In the end, Tell shows that sometimes the monsters in people’s lives are the ones living under their own roof. The sad ending can lend itself to some good discussion between parent and child.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • David’s brother, Jamie, “drowned when he was eight years old.”
  • David thinks Phil intentionally let his brother die. David said, “Phil could have saved him. Phil was right there. He was a good swimmer. He could have saved Jamie, but instead, he did nothing.”
  • After Phil goes to an ATM, a man approaches him. “Phil shoved him away and swore at him. He turned away from the guy. Then I saw the guy take out a gun. He pointed it at Phil . . . The guy shot him.” When David approached Phil, “he was making a sort of gurgling sound . . . Then Phil stopped making that noise. . . and I ran.” David didn’t get Phil help because Phil didn’t help his brother.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Throughout the story, people talk about how David’s stepfather would drink beer. Sometimes he goes to the bar and drinks. He would also play poker with his friends and they would drink beer.
  • David said that Phil carried the picture of his dead brother around because “he got a lot of sympathy from it. One time he told me he got a lot of free drinks too . . .”
  • Jack, a friend of David’s mother, “took a quick gulp of beer” while he was talking to Dave. Jack is also seen drinking beer several times in the story.

Language

  • Profanity is used a few times. “Ass” is used once. “Damn” and “pissed” are each used twice. When Phil gets home from work, his stepson would act up, which “really pissed Phil off. . . “
  • A character said Phil could be a “jerk.” Later, David said he “wanted his mom to know what kind of jerk she married.”
  • Phil calls David a “pain in the ass.”
  • “Oh my god” is used as an exclamation once.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Girl at the Grave

When Valentine was a child, her mother murdered a wealthy man. After her mother was hung at the gallows, Valentine was left in the care of her neglectful father. Forced to learn to care for herself, she lived in a ramshackle house and spent most of her time alone.

Now Valentine is a senior at the prestigious school, Drake Academy. Even though she has earned excellent grades, her mother’s death still haunts her. An outcast among the other students, Valentine relies on Sam’s friendship especially when a local man is murdered and people begin whispering that Valentine may be a murderer like her mother.

As Valentine searches for the truth behind her mother’s death, she soon finds that powerful people will do anything to keep their secrets. Unexpectedly, Rowan Blackshaw, the son of the man her mother murdered, begins spending time with her. Because of Rowan’s interest in Valentine, the other members of her school begin to include her in their group. Valentine longs to be accepted by society, but is acceptance worth burying the secrets of the past?

The first chapter grabs the reader’s attention by setting up the mystery, hinting that Valentine’s mother might have been innocent. Valentine and her two love interests are all well-developed. Because the story is told from Valentine’s point of view, the reader has the ability to understand and care about her struggle. Rowan’s character is an unexpected delight because he does not conform to the rich boy stereotype.

As Valentine begins to unravel the mystery of her mother’s death, her discoveries show the different motivations of some of the characters, which adds interest. When Valentine’s father and another woman disappear, the town sheriff, Valentine, and other town people seem uninterested in their disappearance, which seems unrealistic. The lack of drama that surrounded their disappearance made the discovery of their deaths anticlimactic.

The middle part of the book spent so much time on the love triangle that the mystery faded into the background. The ending of the book contained several surprises, which highlighted how far people will go to protect those they love. The fact that Valentine chooses to follow an unexpected path instead of marrying the boy of her dreams is an added bonus. In the end, what drives the story is Valentine’s personal struggle. Even though the story lacks danger and suspense, Girl at the Grave is an entertaining book that is worth reading.

Sexual Content

  • When Valentine pulls away and won’t let Sam kiss her, he says his brothers, “think I’m a right fool, letting you lead me around on a leash. They kiss a different girl every week.”
  • Valentine learns that her father “has a woman across town. When he’s not home, that’s where he is.”
  • Valentine spends time with Rowan. Once while he was at her house, he “reached around my waist. . . I tilted my head, making room for him at my shoulder, and he lingered there . . . If I moved at all, he would do the rest. I felt him wanting it, his lips poised over my skin, his heart only inches from mine. But my body sways with uncertainty.” They don’t kiss.
  • Valentine and Sam kiss twice. The first time, “I leaned forward and touched my lips to his in the kiss that should have happened a long time ago . . . our lips soon warmed and softened, our heads tilting into one another, his arms sliding around me.”
  • Rowan and Valentine kiss several times throughout the story. “He leaned closer and brushed his lips against mine. Just a touch, then drew back. . . Then he kissed me again—and this time our mouths immediately molded to one another, warm and perfectly fitted, as if our lips had been made for this purpose, for this tasting and breathing and exploring one another.”
  • When Valentine tells Rowan she loves him, he kisses her. He “drew me into his arms, kissing me before I could catch my breath. A desperate kiss. A starving kiss. . .”

Violence

  • Valentine’s mother shot a man. She was hung on the gallows three days later. Throughout the story, Valentine revisits the memory. When Mr. Blackshaw was shot, the sound of the shot came from “everywhere, jolting my bones and filling my nostrils with the burning stench of gunpowder. . . I see Mr. Blackshaw sway on his feet, looking startled, then topple slowly backward, landing hard on the walkway, his arms sprawled.
  • Valentine remembers when her mother “hangs by her neck from a rope, her head tilting and her eyes staring fixedly, her hands clasped behind her back. Her boots dangle motionlessly at the bottom of her best black dress.”
  • When Valentine was younger, the Frye boys would torment her by “chasing me in the schoolyard. . . They’d tied me to trees and stolen my mittens.”
  • Valentine finds Mr. Oliver on the floor with a gash in his head. Valentine, “held his cold cheeks and felt his life sliding away beneath my hands, his face sagging, his body relaxing.” Later, she finds out he was poisoned.
  • Mr. Fry hits his wife and kids. Valentine thinks, “I’d seen what a punch from one of his enormous fists could do; Sam had outgrown them, but not Mrs. Fry and the younger boys.”
  • Valentine finds her father’s dead body. He is “on his back, staring upward, his eyes wide but seeing nothing. Icy and damp, both frozen and thawed.” Later she finds out he was poisoned, probably when someone gave him “a swig of liquor.”
  • Birdy’s body was next to Valentine’s father’s body. “A dark gash split the back of her head, separating her thatch of short hair.”
  • A woman attacks Valentine. “She grabbed a kitchen knife and lunged. . . She lunged with a furious screech . . . her knife sliced my upper arm.” They both grab for the knife and fight for control of it. Valentine pushes the woman, and “she stumbled back with a cry, blood flowing from a deep gash above her eye.” The woman falls, “hitting her head with a loud crack, then she crumpled to the floor.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Alvina Lunt’s “drunken father had broken both legs.” While he was in the hospital, Alvina learned about the unfair treatment of “lunatics.”
  • Sam takes his mother to visit her brother. When his brothers took his mother, “they got drunk and beat up the neighbor.”
  • Someone calls the doctor a “drunken fool.”
  • When Valentine was ill, Mrs. Blackshaw drugged her, so she would keep sleeping.

Language

  • Sam calls someone an “arrogant ass” twice.
  • Someone tells Valentine that she was “spawned by that tramp of a woman.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Devotionals are part of the school day on Fridays. During devotionals, Mr. Oliver reads from the Bible. “Man in his natural state . . . unassisted by the grace of God.”
  • When Valentine finds Mr. Oliver, she prays, “Father who art in heaven. . . Please, God. Please help Mr. Oliver.”
  • One of the characters could not get pregnant, and “she’d pleaded with the Lord for twenty years before her precious Philomena arrived, and her husband’s death soon after had only magnified the value of the blessing.”
  • When Valentine’s mother is hung, Mr. Oliver tells her, “But take comfort, for your mother confessed her sins. She is in God’s hands now, and he knows all.”
  • Some men think having a woman run a bank “is against God’s law.”

 

Bob

Five years ago, Livy told Bob to hide in a closet. Since then, he’s built a Lego pirate ship sixty-three times. He’s played chess with a Lego pirate monkey. He began reading the dictionary. And he’s wondered why Livy hasn’t come back.

It’s been five years since Livy visited her grandmother in Australia. Once she’s back, she knows she’s forgotten something very important. She’s forgotten all about Bob.

Bob, a short greenish creature, hasn’t forgotten about Livy, but he has forgotten who he is and where he came from. Five years ago, Livy promised to help him find his home. Now that Livy is back, they work to solve the mystery of where Bob belongs.

Each chapter switches between Livy’s point of view and Bob’s point of view. Hearing the different perspectives of each character adds interest and allows the reader to peek into each character’s world. Younger readers will relate to Livy, who is afraid to stay the night at her friends’ houses and struggles between growing up and remaining a child. Bob adds an interesting perspective showing how Livy has changed since they parted five years ago. In the end, Bob realizes that “Livy’s not just Old Livy or New Livy, she’s every age she’s ever been, and sometimes they get jumbled but they are all there.”

The simple writing style and beautiful pictures will engage even the most reluctant readers. Bob has spent much of his time reading the dictionary and uses his knowledge to explain the meaning of words in a fun way that is completely integrated into the story, so readers will learn new words without feeling like they are sitting through a vocabulary lesson. The story contains short paragraphs, lists, and dialogue that break up the test and keep younger readers interested.

The mystery of where Bob came from and what he is adds interest. The friendship between Bob and Livy will touch reader’s hearts. Bob and Livy are well developed; however, the other characters lack personality and added little to the plot. The ending is a surprise and wraps everything up nicely. Not only does Bob show the value of friendship, but he also realizes that “All the things I choose to put in my head are what make me, me. I plan to choose wisely.”

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Livy carries a black pawn from a chess set to help her remember Bob. When she doesn’t have the pawn. She forgets Bob.
  • Bob is a well dweller. They live in between wells and are responsible for bringing the rain. Well dwellers are “tied to the earth and the sky . . .”

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

#Prettyboy Must Die

After his first failed mission, Peter Smith goes undercover at an exclusive school in Colorado. Peter is supposed to be keeping a low profile. When Peter goes out for a late-night run, a classmate snaps a picture of him and posts the caption “See Prettyboy run.” When the picture becomes a viral sensation, Peter knows he’s in trouble. Before the end of the day, Peter’s school is under attack as a terrorist wants revenge. This former-foster-kid turned CIA operative will have to use all of his skills and training to stay alive.

Told from Peter’s point of view, #Prettyboy Must Die starts out with action and intrigue. However, right from the start the plot is over the top and unrealistic. The action continues throughout the story, but there are too many scenes where Peter and his friends unrealistically knock out an adult, professional, or mobster.

Having the story told from Peter’s point of view did not necessarily improve the story’s appeal as he is arrogant and doesn’t believe that others can be an asset. Peter doesn’t think girls can be accomplished and smart, which is shown several times, including when he thinks the hacker cannot be a girl because she is pretty. Girls are portrayed in a negative light once again when a group of girls don’t worry about the danger they face; they just want a picture of #prettyboy.

#Prettyboy Must Die is not a serious spy book, but it is a fast-paced story that leaves the reader wondering who can be trusted. For those looking for an easy-to-read, fun story, #Prettyboy Must Die is a good choice. Even though the violence is not described in detail and is appropriate for younger readers, there is a wide range of profanity that is used often. If you loved Aly Carter’s Gallagher Girls series, you may want to leave #Prettyboy Must Die on the shelf.

Sexual Content

  • Katie changes her clothing in front of Peter. He thinks, “It takes me a second to realize I probably shouldn’t be staring like I’ve just seen the promised land . . . But I can’t help but comment because, you know, Katie. Half-naked. ‘Hey girl, as much as I’d like to, this probably isn’t a good time.’”
  • Peter thinks about a date with Katie, “. . . I remember our one date, our first kiss, and I want to kiss her again. . .” Later in the story, he asks Katie, “Are you sure you didn’t know who I was when I asked you out? Because the way you kissed me. . . I mean, after the movie, in your car—”
  • When Katie sees a black SUV and realizes it has come to pick her up, she kisses Peter. “. . . I damn near forget about Sveta, Rogers, and the entire universe. I hold her like it will be the last time. She kisses me again like it’s only a preview of more to come.”

Violence

  • The CIA raids an arms dealer’s hideout and a man is killed. “Marchuk Sr. is now on the floor three feet inside the house, knocked that far back by the shot that has to have killed him instantly.” The raid is described over four pages. During the raid, Peter is shot.
  • When a classroom is taken hostage, the chemistry teacher tries to tackle Bad Guy #2. The bad guy puts the teacher in a “choke hold. Before I can even process what’s happening, the bad guy is already done with Mr. Valaquez, who he lets slump to the floor, unconscious. Or worse.”
  • Someone kicks one of the bad guys. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out where, considering all the moaning.”
  • A bad guy hits a school employee and Peter hears “the sound of a fist hitting bone.” Later in the story, Peter sees a teacher who is hiding, and “I throw a left hook across his face and knock him the hell out. . . I’m pissed he’s in here hiding out instead of heading back to his class. . .”
  • When Peter tricks a bad guy into coming into a classroom. “That’s when I land the steel baton against his pterion, the weakest point on the skull, immediately incapacitating him. Or possibly killing him.” He takes out two other bad guys in the same way.
  • Katie is captured and a bad guy beats her. “. . . Officer Andrews is holding Katie by one arm, or more like holding her up.” Peter is tied to a chair and when he struggles “he hauls off and lands a right cross that feels like a sledgehammer against my face.” Later, as the bad guy is talking to Peter, he hits him in the face. Katie saves the day with, “A brutal kick to his junk . . . she hooks her foot around his ankle, sweeps his legs out from under him, then straddles his back. I’m certain it’s an image I won’t soon forget—girl of my dreams on top of the guy who wants to kill me.”
  • When the bad guy begins to recover from “the ball-kick she (Katie) gave him and is starting to squirm . . . she grabs Marchuk’s hair and slams his face into the floor, knocking him out.”
  • Peter attacks a bad guy. “. . . I land my fist against the side of his head. . .and kick him in the jewels. That brings him to his knees, but I know it won’t be for long.”
  • Peter and Katie go after a bad guy and he threatens to shoot them, but Peter shoots first. “When the bullet hits his left knee, he goes down before he can get off a single round. I hear the sound of metal against bone. Maglite against skull.”
  • Someone tries to use a drone to kill Peter and Katie. “Just as Katie takes off running, I hear a car come over the ridge, followed by a loud thump. I turn back in time to see Sveta on the car’s hood, her phone flying through the air. . . The car screeches to a stop and Sveta slides off and onto the ground, moaning. For a brief moment, I regret that she’s still alive.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • A character said, “My layabout son takes nothing seriously, is only concerned about spending my money on women and drink.”
  • Peter gives the principal tickets to the game. After the game, the principal tells Peter, “I damn near went broke on stadium beer, but that’s what I get for celebrating a little too hard.” Later in the story, he tells Peter, “I’d been sick all morning, hungover. . .”
  • When Peter overhears someone say bank robbers are in the school, he thinks, “the average bank robber does so on impulse and out of desperation, usually some loser meth-head needing a hit.”
  • Katie injects several bad guys with carfentanil, a drug that is “ten thousand times stronger than morphine, so it acts quickly, and it only takes a drop or two.”
  • Peter and his friend are captured, and “then the crazy chick starts singing a kid’s chant to figure out which one of us she will shoot first.” Before she can shoot them, “Katie falls through the ceiling and onto the psycho’s back.”
  • When a bad guy crushes a boy’s hand, Katie fires her gun, but the bullet accidently hits Peter. Peter wants to know why he isn’t dead and Katie tells him, “It doesn’t shoot bullets. It was supposed to shoot nerve gas. . .”

Language

  • Profanity is used often and includes: ass, asshole, damn, dickhead, fucking, goddamn, hell, and pissed off.
  • When a teacher sees three incapacitated bad guys, he said, “Jesus H. Christ—are those terrorists?” Then he asks Peter, “Who the hell are you?”
  • “Oh My God” is used as an exclamation several times. For example, a girl says, “Oh my God. I sit two rows over from him in calculus. . . How did I not notice how hot he is?”
  • Peter sees a classmate and thinks, “I see Carlisle’s resident douche.”
  • When a teacher is looking for a bug, Peter thinks, “Despite the crazy that is happening all around us, watching The Douche have a near breakdown is fucking hilarious.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Dream a Little Dream

Liv is used to strange and new things. For all of her life, she has bounced from city to city as she moved from one place to another. This time she and her sister, Mia, are packing up their belongings for England because their mother has garnered a teaching position at Oxford University. Little does she know that this move will be the strangest yet.

Liv finds herself thrust into a world of gossipy blogs, a rich new family, and vivid dreams that make her question her reality. She soon finds herself entangled in bizarre dreams in which she is led to the most popular boys in school, one of which is her new “brother.”  Before she can even adjust to her new life, she is swept away into deals with a demon to free the boys from a terrible fate. Liv’s curious mind drives her closer to the heart of the mystery of the dreams as she searches for the truth underneath all of the madness.

Dream a Little Dream is an entertaining and suspenseful novel that leaves readers on the edge of their seats as they wonder what will happen next. Many of the characters are introduced at the same time, which causes confusion.  However, the story has a creative and engaging premise that is very enjoyable. The reader is able to discover this new world along with Liv and relate to her confusion, fear, and curiosity. The book has a surprising plot twist that adds to the enjoyment of the novel, but what follows that event leaves much to be desired. The attempt to leave room for a sequel ruins the ending and causes the reader to be confused rather than curious about the next installment in the series. Additionally, the novel describes how characters conduct rituals to make deals with a demon, which may be concerning to some parents.

Sexual Content

  • Liv’s mom has a relationship with an English lawyer, who makes her happy. They are described as kissing a few times, but nothing more than that.
  • Florence is described as having, “voluptuous breasts.”
  • The school blog wrote about sports and said, “Aesthetically speaking, those sloppy shirts they wear are the worst (even polo kit has more sex appeal), but all the same I don’t object to the sweaty sight of our four musketeers.”
  • In one of the “dreams”, Henry and Liv hold hands. They also discuss kissing, but only briefly.
  • In reference to Jasper’s dreams, “Most of the people in his dreams are stark naked.”
  • Liv’s mom talks about how when she was fifteen, she “was sitting up at night writing poetry. I was unhappily in love. . . At that age you fall in love with someone else every three weeks.”
  • Liv tells Anabel that she looks like Botticelli’s Venus, to which she responds, “Yes, but only when I’m standing around in a seashell with no clothes on.”
  • Anabel says that Arthur is the great love of her life and that, “it was like a tsunami rolling over us. I knew we were meant for each other, I knew he was the man I’d been waiting for all my life.”
  • Mia and Liv jokingly say that they have an “Operation Marrying Off Lottie” in which they will find their au pair a soulmate so she’ll have something to do when they don’t need her anymore.
  • Grayson and his girlfriend Emily kiss at a party intensely to the point which Liv thinks that it is, “kind of embarrassing to watch.”
  • Liv and her friends walk into a cinema and find a couple in the top row of seats in the dark. The man “began frantically adjusting his clothes . . . he came storming down the steps, his shirt still unbuttoned.” When the woman comes down, Arthur says, “How nice to see you again, Mrs. Kelly . . . and give your husband my regards if he happens to be at the party too.”
  • The four boys repeatedly ask Liv if she is a virgin. It is later revealed that she is.
  • Anabel breaks the rules of the game by having sex. She then has to forfeit and her dog is killed by the demon. It is later revealed that she killed her own dog with poison in order to trick the boys.
  • In the dream world, Henry and Liv kiss several times. They are not described in detail, but are usually described as “soft kisses.”
  • A gossipy girl talks about Arthur and says, “I get goosebumps whenever I set eyes on him. But Henry Harper is totally sweet too. And sexy.”
  • Henry and Liv make out during her sixteenth birthday party. “For a few seconds I forgot to breathe, then I felt my arms rising and going around his neck of their own accord to draw him closer. We weren’t kissing cautiously now, but much more intensely.” They all so make out during a school dance. “I’ve no idea how he did it, but when he kissed me nothing else mattered.”

Violence

  • When Liv went to a middle school in Berkeley, California, a girl gang, “had threatened to force my head into a toilet.” They later actually do shove her head into a toilet and it is described in detail in one of Liv’s dreams. These bullies also say that they squash people’s hands in doors.
  • In a dream, Henry sees his old cat. “He looked just the way he was when I last saw him: all-over blood and with his guts coming out . . .”
  • In one of her first vivid dreams, Liv repeatedly hopes that Lottie won’t show up with a hatchet.
  • In a nightmare, there is a group of enraged basketball fans. Liv says, “It sounds like they are going to kill him any moment now!” The mob begins to chant, “Burn him now, burn the traitor. Burn him now, not a day later!”
  • Liv jokingly remarks about London and says, “Street gangs indulging in shoot-outs the whole time, sex fiends lurking in front gardens, and isn’t that Jack the Ripper just coming around the corner.”
  • During a ritual, Liv, Grayson, Arthur, Jasper, and Henry all take turns cutting their hand with a hunting knife and dribbling their blood into a Chalice full of red wine. This scene is described in detail over several pages.
  • Liv has many dreams about Hamlet after she sees the play, and in these dreams, there are references to the stabbings and deaths of many of the Shakespearean characters.
  • During her sixteenth birthday party, Liv requests that Mia stop her from looking like a “lovelorn sheep” in any way that she can. Mia decides to distract her anytime she looks at Henry in that manner. “I was black and blue around the ribs and had been hit by assorted flying objects: several chestnuts, a spoon, and a blueberry muffin.”
  • Arthur intends on offering Anabel as a human sacrifice in the dream world in order to satisfy the demon. This never happens, but later in the novel, Anabel captures Liv with the intention of killing her as a virginal sacrifice to the demon.
  • When Liv tries to stop what she thinks is the sacrifice of Anabel, she “swung up my right foot and caught him just under the chin as I jumped. Still in the air, I turned at an angle of 280 degrees, and when I landed, my left forearm caught him in the stomach.”
  • An iron torch holder falls on Liv and she blacks out. Following the incident, she has to get several stitches.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • At the airport, Liv is stopped for suspicion of drug smuggling because a drug dog smells something in her backpack. It is just German cheese with a strong odor, but the ordeal causes Liv a lot of embarrassment.
  • On several occasions, Jasper helps himself to some of his mother’s sleeping pills in order to remain in the dream world longer.
  • Liv’s mom is accused of smoking pot when she was fifteen, but she defends herself by saying, “Nonsense. I never smoked pot until I went to college.”
  • Grayson tries to deter Liv from going to a party by telling her mother, “These parties are rather wild. I mean there’s a lot of alcohol flowing, and what with Liv being only fifteen.”
  • Liv describes Arthur’s house as looking like “a private clinic for the drug-addicted kids of millionaires.”
  • Jasper makes drinks that contain large amounts of alcohol during an important scene that lasts several pages. He is also later described as “tipsy.”
  • During a party, Arthur drinks gin straight from a bottle.
  • The British teens that Liv meets tell stories of when they were drunk on Halloween.
  • In one of Anabel’s dreams, Arthur walks toward her heroically while carrying a bottle of wine.
  • A drunk truck driver killed one of Anabel’s ex-boyfriends. The accident is not described.
  • At the school dance, Jasper “had somehow managed to get tipsy, although there were no alcoholic drinks.”
  • Anabel and Arthur leave the school dance under the guise that she is terribly drunk. They are actually setting a trap to lure Liv, so Anabel can kill her for the virginal sacrifice.
  • At the conclusion of the novel, Anabel is “lying in a hospital bed in Surrey, stuffed full of mind bending drugs and tied down.”

Language

  • Profanity is used frequently throughout the novel, including hell, bloody hell, shit, and damn.
  • “God,” “my God,” “thank God,” and “oh my God” are used frequently as swear words.
  • Grayson is described as a “stupid show-off” and later as an “idiot.”
  • Mia thinks that her aunts named Gertrude and Virginia have “shitty names.”
  • Liv strongly dislikes Persephone and says that she, “follows me around everywhere, talking to me the whole darn time!”
  • A character is called a “midget.”

 

Supernatural

  • During a ritual, Liv, Grayson, Arthur, Jasper, and Henry all take turns cutting their hand with a hunting knife and dribbling their blood into a Chalice full of red wine. This scene is described in detail over several pages.
  • Liv does not believe in “unlucky numbers any more than I believed in horoscopes, or four leaf clovers and chimney sweeps that brought you luck.”
  • The main characters of the novel conjure a demon and in return for freeing him, have immeasurable power and their dearest wish granted. “If you followed the rituals in this book, Anabel claimed, you could conjure up an ancient demon from the underworld, a demon that could help you gain immeasurable power and grant your dearest wishes.” Their immeasurable power is in the form of dreams in which they can control what happens with a simple thought and enter the dreams of others to learn their deepest secrets and desires.
  • The initial approach to conjuring the demon was not serious. “Conjuring up a demon on Halloween . . . It was fun . . . it seemed to me as harmless as telling your fortune by reading tea leaves. No one expects the tea leaves to develop an independent life of their own and come tormenting you in your dreams by night. Or go about murdering dogs.”
  • When Liv wakes up from a horrific nightmare, her family comes running to make sure that she is okay. Florence asks her, “Did you see a ghost?”

Spiritual Content

  • To upset Florence, Liv makes sarcastic suggestions as to the horrible things that she and her family might be. She says they are, “hopelessly disorganized, or a kleptomaniac, a Republican, a Jehovah’s witness, or anything.”
  • The demon that the group conjures is the “Lord of Shadows and Darkness.” Anabel believes that he is all-powerful and dedicates herself to him like a god. This devotion stems from a time period in her youth when she and her mother were a part of a satanic cult.

          by Morgan Filgas

 

League of Archers #1

Elinor Dray and her friends idolize Robin Hood. Calling themselves the League of Archers, they illegally hunt on Lord de Lay’s land. Although the game is scarce, the meat they obtain is used to feed their families and help the poor. One night, Ellie meets a man in the woods who has been shot with a poisoned arrow. When Ellie takes the man to the nunnery, Ellie discovers the man’s identity—Robin Hood. And the abbess of the nunnery is Maid Marian.

When Maid Marian’s secret is revealed, the Lord de Lay arrests Marian and blames Ellie for Robin Hood’s death. The villagers believe Ellie is a traitor to the poor and vow to hunt her down. Living as an outlaw, Ellie and the League of Archers attempt to clear Ellie’s name, free Maid Marian, and keep Robin Hood’s legacy alive.

Action-packed and full of battles, League of Archers has a strong female protagonist, who wants to do what is right. As Ellie fights to stay alive, she struggles with the need to hurt the baron’s guards in order to stay alive. Ellie truly cares about the needs of others and often wonders, What would Robin Hood do? Throughout the story, the hero Robin Hood is not portrayed as a perfect hero, but as a man who makes mistakes. Although many of his great deeds of legend are true, many of his deeds are exaggerated. However, it is clear that Robin Hood, flaws and all, is still a great man.

Despite the high-interest topic of the story, the plot is complicated and not necessarily believable. The character’s dialogue is not true to the time period, and the storyline is not historically accurate. Even though junior high readers may not pick up on all of the inaccuracies, some will question how a twelve-year-old girl was able to successfully use Robin Hood’s bow.

Friar Tuck, Maid Marian, and the League of Archers—all of them could have been interesting characters. However, none of them are developed into individual people. Ellie is the only character whose thoughts and feelings are shown, but her conflict lacks more specific details that would explain how she came to be a master archer who wants to be like Robin Hood. Ellie and the League of Archers go into battle after battle with grown guards and although the violence is not described in gory detail, there is blood, pain, and death. The many battles are what drives the suspense in the story and keep the reader interested in the outcome.

If a reader is wildly interested in the topic of Robin Hood, League of Archers will interest them. The fast-paced plot with many battles will entertain readers. Reluctant readers will want to leave this book on the shelf because the detailed descriptions are cumbersome and slow down the plot’s otherwise fast pace.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Ellie’s mother was caught poaching because they “needed to eat. But her mother was caught, dragged in ropes to the baron’s castle. The village was invited to watch as an executioner made Ellie an orphan at the baron’s command.”
  • Ellie witnesses Robin Hood being shot with an arrow. When it happens, “Ellie saw the bright red of the arrow’s fletching, and the way it pierced the stranger’s shoulder like a knife through meat. A bloom of dark blood spread across his cloak as he dropped to his knees.” The arrow was poisoned and, “the skin around it bubbled like fat atop a pot of soup.” Robin Hood dies from the wound.
  • The baron’s men enter the covenant in order to arrest the abbess. When the abbess resists, a novice is grabbed, and the baron’s guard, “pressed the flat of a knife to Ellie’s throat . . . The blade was cool against her skin.”
  • The baron parades Ellie around town, accusing her of killing Robin Hood. A riot begins, and Ellie tries to escape. When Ellie’s friend tries to defend her, a guard whips him. Later, when Ellie tries to defend herself, “the guard’s knife pierced the heavy blue dress, drawing a gasp from her as it cut into her skin. She felt a trickle of blood mingling with sweat in the small of her back.”
  • A mob of people throw rocks, mud, and horse dung at Ellie. In order to escape, Ellie grabs a guard’s wrist and “yanked the blade from his hand, then wheeled around and struck him with Robin’s bow, still clutched in her other fist. He fell sideways off the cart. . .” Ellie escapes.
  • While traveling, a friar is attacked by guards. The friar hits one guard on the head with a bottle. When three other guards appear, the friar fights back, but is wounded. In order to help, Ellie “pulled an arrow from her quiver and strung it on her bow. It flew straight and true and hit the guard in the eye before he could bring down his knife. He fell down dead. The fighting takes place over four pages. Another guard is injured when “Alice flung a knife that caught him between two ribs, then he fell.”
  • A group of drunk men tries to capture Ellie. The League of Archers helps Ellie. “Jacob yanked a pitchfork from one of the men and swung it like a scythe, forcing others to run clear. . .” A man grabs Ellie and “had wrapped an arm around her neck, squeezing until stars exploded in front of her eyes.” Ellie and the League are able to escape.
  • The gamekeeper shoots arrows at Ellie and the League of Archers. In order to save her friends, Ellie shoots the gamekeeper. “She swung the bow to the right and released the string. Her arrow slid neatly into the gamekeeper’s hand.”
  • A man grabs Ellie in order to take her into the village and hang her. “He grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and stood her up, facing the door.” The man also tied up Ellie’s friends. In order to escape, Ellie “took a breath and drove her head straight into his nose. He screamed and reeled backward, clutching his face. Blood spurted through his fingers.”
  • When trying to free one of the baron’s prisoners, the guards try to stop Ellie and the League of Archers. Someone hits a guard over the head with a club. Ellie shoots at a guard, and “one of her arrows found the meat of a man’s leg as he swung his sword at Marian’s exposed side. A second shaved a slice off a guard’s ear as he tried to hoist Alice over the side of the drawbridge. Then he dropped her, one hand lifting to feel the blood running down her face. She turned on him savagely with her knife.” In order to save her friends, Ellie lets “the arrow fly and watched as it slid into the heart of the guard lowering the gate.” The battle lasts over a chapter.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Several characters are given ale or wine to drink.
  • One of the characters makes “home-brewed liquor,” selling it to the villagers. He is often drunk.
  • Ellie and her friends go into a tavern. While there, “she watched a man slap a woman’s hip as she delivered his tankard, and another one crash down drunkenly from his chair.”
  • Ellie and the League of Archers come across a group of drunk men who are patrolling the forest.

Language

  • Someone uses “Oh, God” as an exclamation.

Supernatural

  • When talking about Robin’s silver arrow, which never missed its mark, the friar said, “I’m a religious man, so talk of magic doesn’t sit right with me. But there’s something about that arrow. There was never any questions it would find its way to where Robin intended.”
  • A woman tells Ellie her fortune by casting “a handful of dry brown bones.”

Spiritual Content

  • Several of the characters live in a convent and the life of a nun is described including going to prayer. Ellie also says the “compline prayer.”
  • The baron chastises Ellie. “‘God made us men in his image girl,’ he said. ‘You should show your betters a mite more respect.’”
  • A friar tells Ellie, “Whether he’s a saint or a sinner is not for us to say. . . We must trust in God to sort it out.”
  • One of the characters tells Ellie, “But there are some who, like you, would go to any lengths to save the abbess’s life—and I believe God is on their side. And justice, too.”
  • When a woman wants to tell Ellie her fortune, Ellie asks, “Is fortune-telling not a tool of the devil, Mother Barkbone?” The woman answers, “The devil and I walk different byways. . . I respect his power just as I respect that of God’s. But I worship the things I can see, the spirits who speak back to me. Those of the land, those of my ancestors. They guide me true and would never lead me into the devil’s mouth.”
  • Ellie tells someone who committed murder, “I forgive you. May God, too, have mercy on you.”

The Hide-and-Seek Ghost

Kaz is an ordinary ghost who hasn’t figured out how to glow. When the house that Kaz and his family live in is torn down, the wind scatters the ghosts and carries Kaz to a library. While at the library, Kaz meets Claire—a human who can see him. Together the two look for Kaz’s family and solve ghostly mysteries in the process.

One of Claire’s classmates, Eli, is known for his pranks. So when he asks Claire to help him rid his family home of a ghost, Claire isn’t sure if Eli really needs help or if he is just trying to pull another prank. Can Kaz and Claire discover if Eli’s home is really haunted?

The Hide-and-Seek Ghost brings Claire’s world and the ghost world to life with black-and-white illustrations that will help readers visualize the characters and actions. The plot focuses on an argument between Kaz’s parents and another ghost as well as the mystery of Eli’s haunted house. The multiple plots make the story choppy and may cause some confusion. Readers will enjoy following the clues to the mystery and looking at the many illustrations that show the characters’ emotions.

The ghosts in the story are not scary; however, there are several scenes where ghosts are separated from family when they leave a building and the wind blows them away. The idea of being accidentally separated from family and not being able to return may frighten some readers. A glossary of ghostly terms helps readers understand those that are used in the story.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Many of the characters are ghosts who can choose to be seen and heard by “solids” and who can glow, shrink, expand, and walk through walls.

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

CRIME BITERS! It’s a Doggy Dog World

Jimmy Bishop has a story that he doesn’t think anyone will believe, not even his best friend Irwin. Abby, Jimmy’s new dog, is a crime-fighting vampire dog. It’s true.

The other crazy things that happen to Jimmy are just as true.

Jimmy Bishop is obsessed with Stop Police—a TV show about a vampire detective. He has an older sister who teases him, two parents, and a best friend. His life appears to be pretty normal, but trouble seems to follow him.

Jimmy wakes up with a strange blotch on his face just days before school starts. Then his father has a series of job interviews and his parents hire a strange babysitter who tries to feed him fried beets in pea sauce. Then a new girl moves next door. But the most exciting and strangest event of all is when Jimmy brings home Abby, a new dog.

Crime Bitters is full of suspense, humor, and adventure. As Jimmy’s day-to-day life unfolds the reader will be captivated by the realistic characters as well as the illustrations. The story is easy to read, fun, and full of interesting facts. For example: “Fact: There are a lot of great bald people in the world. But unfortunately, none of them are in this book.”

Because Jimmy tells his own story, the reader gets a glimpse of how it feels to be bullied, how even relationships with best friends be full of strife, and how talking to a girl can be the scariest thing of all.  Crime Bitters has a fast-paced plot that will keep younger readers enthralled.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When the babysitter swats Abby on the nose, Abby goes into attack mode.  “She (Abby) crouched down, like you see on one of those nature shows, where the panther suddenly spots the defenseless gazelle . . . Then Abby jumped, right onto Mrs. Cragg’s shoulder.” Jimmy’s mother appears and grabs the dog.
  • When a man tries to take Abby, Mrs. Cragg’s tries to stop him. “Then, without another word, Mrs. Cragg suddenly ripped her own hair off her head . . . and wrapped it around Mr. Bratford’s eyes, like a blindfold.”
  • When the kids discover that Mr. Bratford is a thief, he chases them. “He pinched my cheek so hard that tears came to my eyes then put one of his pimply hands on Abby and started petting her fur. . . The next thing I knew, Mr. Bratford had picked me up by the shirt and was carrying me over to Mrs. Cragg.”
  • Abby attacks Mrs. Bratford, “In one split second, she jumped out of my arms, bared her teeth, leaped onto Mr. Bratford, and clamped her jaws around his neck . . . Mr. Bratford screamed and feel down. Abby clamped harder, and they started rolling around on the ground.”
  • Jimmy hits Mr. Bratford in the knees with a cane.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Abby is a “superhero crime-fighting vampire dog” that has fangs.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Expelled

Theo Foster’s secret Twitter account just went viral. Now he and three other teens are expelled and Theo is determined to find out who is guilty and who is innocent.

Theo forms an unlikely allegiance with the three others who have been expelled. There is Sasha, the girl he’s been secretly crushing on, Jude, the school mascot and Theo’s best friend, and lastly Parker, the quarterback. Everyone seems to have a secret that they want to hide. Can Theo discover the truth? And will the truth bring these unlikely teens together?

James Paterson creates a first-person narrative that makes the reader fall in love with Theo and his unlikely friends. Although Theo is all about saving himself, he is completely relatable and loveable. The characters in Expelled jump off the page with humor, anger, and an array of teen emotions.

Expelled explores several deep issues include steroid use and incest without going into graphic detail. In the end, the reader will learn that other people’s lives are not as perfect as we imagine them to be.  Despite the engaging story, there are several drawbacks to Expelled. There is frequent and creative use of profanity as well as sexually crude remarks. Because of this, Expelled should be enjoyed by older readers.

Sexual Content

  • Someone posted a picture on social media. The picture was of the quarterback, “drunk and shirtless . . . He’s got a bottle of Jack Daniels in his right hand and the bare breasts of an unidentified female in very close proximity to his left.”
  • Jude is a “sixteen-year-old-bisexual virgin in a Hello Kitty T-shirt.” He is bullied even though his school has a Gay-Straight Alliance club and “the rainbow flag over the counselor’s office.”
  • Parker’s friend has a dog that humps a pink pig stuffed animal. “He’s always horny in the morning,” Jude says. “Also, he and Sex Pig are in love.”
  • Jude wants to go to art school. When talking about it, he tells Parker, “RISD’s school mascot is a giant penis named Scrotie.”
  • Parker asks a computer nerd if his porn isn’t downloading fast enough.
  • When Parker is looking at Sasha’s ears, he has, “an almost overwhelming desire to kiss them.”
  • Sasha said that she has a “dick pic” that the quarterback sent her.
  • Parker kisses Sasha. “Sasha’s mouth is soft and warm, and it opens to mine. I’m going to die of how good this feels. I let go of her with one hand, and twist my fingers into her dark hair, hot and silky in the sun.”
  • Sasha tells Parker that her dad molests her. “. . .he pressed me up against the refrigerator and he kissed me. . .” When her father tries to convince Sasha that incest is okay, he said, “Greek nobles used to kidnap young boys, take them into the forest, and rape them, and no one had any problem with that.”

Violence

  • Parker thinks about someone who killed themselves from jumping off a water tower. “. . . I can’t help wondering how he did it. How he coaxed himself to the edge and then leapt into the air.”
  • Parker’s father committed suicide because he had ALS. Parker thinks of finding the body. “There was still the blood. The gun. The shattered back window of the car.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Someone dressed as the school mascot. When trying to find out who it was, the quarterback said, “I was so drunk it could have been Tinkerbell under that head.” Later the quarterback tells Parker, “I was torn up that night, bro. I did six Jager shots and woke up under the bleachers.”
  • The Shell station is where “you can shoulder-tap for beer if your fake ID sucks.” However, Parker has never tried to use his fake ID.
  • Sasha’s dad is seen drinking whiskey and often seems drunk.
  • Parker has a secret social media account where he likes to post “harmless gossip.” In one post he said someone was, “drunk enough last weekend to introduce self to own dad.”
  • When talking about the picture, Parker asks his friend if he knows who was wearing the mascot head, “and then whoever that was go so wasted he whipped his dick out in front of an iPhone.”
  • Feeling sorry for himself, Parker drinks half a bottle of Knob Creek whiskey.
  • Parker talks about how fishing usually involves beer because all you do is sit and wait for a fish to bite the bait.
  • A computer smart boy tells Parker, that if he wanted to he could, “have six pounds of heroin sent to his mother at her office.” The boy then admits it would be “tricky.”
  • Parker goes to a baseball game and one of his friends is drinking a Michelob Ultra “she bummed off a guy coming out of the 7-Eleven.” Her water bottle is also filled with vodka.
  • Sasha said her mom was into the art scene and would go to, “really fancy restaurants and snort lines off the porcelain in the ladies’ room.”
  • Parker throws a prom for those who are expelled from school. The kids that attend drink. Someone brings a keg to the party. One boy brings a case of Tecate.
  • The quarterback reveals that the coach has been giving steroids to the players. “They shot me full of chemicals like I was a prize-winning steer!” He takes his jeans down, “so I can see half of his left ass cheek, where the skin is puckered and red—a big, angry scar.”

Language

  • Profanity is used often throughout the book. The profanity includes ass, bitch, dick, fuck, goddamn, hell, piss, pussies, shit, and wiseass.
  • Parker thinks waking his friend up early was a “dick move.” He often thinks of other people as a “dick.”
  • Sasha said, “Oh, my God I don’t know why I called you a nerd.”
  • Several times Parker uses Jesus as an exclamation. For example, he said, “Jesus, you scared me!”
  • While at an expulsion hearing, the narrator thinks, “I’ve heard that some kids show up to expulsion hearings with lawyers. Probably, at the very least, they bring a pissed-off parent or two.”
  • Parker is upset that people think he posted the picture, and he would like to “kick the ass of whoever’s trying to make me take the fall for it.” Later he yells that he will “tell my side of the story. And I will make my own goddamn ending!”
  • When Parker starts asking questions about the picture, someone jokes that “Those are my tits in the picture.”
  • Parker’s mom leaves him a note not to eat all the ice cream “or there’ll be hell to pay.”
  • Parker sees graffiti that reads, “fuck school.”
  • When leaving, someone says, “later bitches.”
  • Parker thinks to himself that he is an “asshat.”
  • Parker yells at the quarterback, “You were too much of a pussy to admit you hated it (football).”
  • When Parker tells Mr. Palmieri, the school administrator, about the steroid, Mr. Palmieri says, “God fucking damn it.”

Spiritual Content

  • When talking to his mom, Parker asks her “if she felt hypocritical, seeing as how she’d been a socialist atheist at UCLA.”
  • Sasha, an atheist, tells Parker that, “my grandma used to make prayer shawls . . . with each stitch, she’d say a little prayer for the person she was making it for.”

Nemesis

The Anvil, an enormous asteroid, threatens the earth is about to devastate the world. But Min has bigger problems. Min has died – again. Every two years since she was eight, a man in a suit finds her and kills her. Where ever she hides, he finds her. After her death, she always wakes up in the same clearing in the forest outside her small Idaho town. When she returns from her disappearances, no one believes her story and there is no evidence. This year when Min is murdered, she goes on a mission to discover why.

Terrifying dreams of death haunt Noah. Anxiety is his only true friend. Noah tries to hide that he is different by blending in, going along with what others say. When Noah discovers that he has been lied to and his dreams were in fact reality, he vows to be brave and search for the truth.

When the military arrives just out of town, Min and her best friend Tack make an uneasy alliance with Noah. Although they do not fully trust each other, they are determined to find out what has been happening to them. They go on a search to discover the answers to the questions that plague them.

Told from both Min’s and Noah’s perspectives, Nemesis starts with a suspenseful story of Min being murdered and coming back to life. The reader is instantly drawn into Min’s mystery. With detailed descriptions of events, the reader can step into Min’s shoes and understand her feelings. Suspense will grip the reader, who will be surprised by the events in the story.

Nemesis brings the stereotypical high school to life, with the typical cliché groups. The language in the book is a bit over the top, with most of the characters constantly spouting a plethora of cuss words. The ending of the book is similar to Lord of the Flies and just as violent. In the end, a computer simulation talks about saving humanity, but the majority of the characters are so unlikeable the reader wonders if humanity should be saved at all.

Sexual Content

  • While with a boy Min imagines, “leaning forward and kissing him.”
  • Min and Noah kiss several times. They fall asleep on a couch and wake up next to each other. Noah, “buried my face in her neck. Our lips met again, and for a while all other thoughts fled.”

Violence

  • Two boys fight at school. Ethan slugged “Tack full in the face. . . Tack dropped to the ground like a boneless chicken breast.”
  • Min and Tack put an oily rag into a Jeep’s gas tank and then set it on fire.
  • Several natural disasters happen throughout the world during a short time period. The events are described on the news.
  • In order to save a boy’s life, the sheriff kills a soldier. “He was lying face down on the ground, a dark puddle spreading beneath him.” As the kids run, shots ring out and they know the sheriff had been shot.
  • A group of men blows up a bridge. When they attempt to surrender, soldiers shoot them. “A line of bullets tore through the liberty men, cutting them in half. They feel in a bloody mass, each body pierced a dozen times.”
  • Tack kicks a soldier “in the crotch. The man dropped, writhing in pain.” The guards wrestle Tack to the ground. “Tack bucking and snarling like a wild animal until one of them struck him on the head with a rifle butt.”
  • Soldiers are rounding up a group of teenagers. Some of the teens resist and there is a scuffle. One of the parents tries to fight the soldiers and they shoot him. “Wendell dropped to his knees, then toppled forward and lay still.”
  • The military sprays a group of teens with a “thin green mist.” The reaction of the teens as they die is mixed. “Classmates writhed on the ground, tears and mucus coating their faces. The agony was unbearable—a burning, stinging horror that tore at the skin.” One of the commanders watching shots himself in the head.
  • When Tack confronts the leader and won’t follow orders, he is stabbed in the heart. Another boy who confronts the leader is killed. “Toby strode to where Benny knelt. Shaking his head, he put a gun to Benny’s temple and pulled the trigger. . . Benny slumped to the ground, a red mess where is head had been . . . Tucker stared at the fistful of hair still clutched in his fingers, then dropped it as if burned.”
  • In order to break Min out of jail, Noah attacks the guard. “Noah kicked him in the face, snapping his head back. Toby crumpled against the wall and lay still.”
  • Hector kills himself by jumping into a canyon. Hector believed he was already dead and was in purgatory.
  • When Min is eight she is murdered. She wanders off with a man, who she thinks is her mom’s friend, and he pushes her into a ravine.
  • A man murders Min multiple times throughout the book. When she is shot, she “tumbled to the floor, struggling to breathe, blood bubbling on my lips as I stared up at the drab fluorescent lights on the ceiling. Pain tingled everything red. . . Liquid was filling my mouth, hot and wet. The hole in my chest burned like a sliver of the sun.”
  • One time when Min was killed, she is chased through the woods. She falls and is barely hanging on the side of a cliff. “A shiny black boot smashed down on my fingers. I gasp in pain as my left hand loses its grip. I swing wildly, on the verge of plummeting to the white water belong. . . A foot stomps on my right hand. Snapping bones. A rush of air. Then I’m underwater, tumbling and spinning. Liquid fills my nose. My mouth. My ears. Something slams into my side, and ropes of agony shoot down my left arm. . . Pain explodes at my temple. I see and feel nothing more.”
  • Another time Min is killed when a man hits her with a car.
  • As Min tries to flee her killer, he finds her on the side of a cliff. He throws rocks at her until she plummets “to the boulders below. I land on my back and something snaps.” He then smashes her with a large stone.
  • Noah is murdered when a man stabs him. “The A spike on agony . . . blood pumps onto the pavement. Slides down the hill. Cold. Blackness. Nothing.”
  • Noah is murdered when a man cracks his skull.  “My head caved in! But I didn’t’ die right away. I struggled, by my arms wouldn’t move. Then he hit me again!”
  • When Noah is in the bathtub, the man puts a black metal rod into the water and electrocutes him.
  • Noah is on the lake in a skiff when a boat hits him. Noah tries to swim but his left leg is missing and he drowns.
  • Noah shoots Min. “There was a smoking hole in my chest. . . Tack was screaming, his clothes spattered in red.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Drinking is mentioned several times, although none of the teens are seen consuming alcohol. One character said the guys would get “Neanderthal drunk.”  Another time, Min talks about someone who, “spends most nights outside by his fire pit, drunk off his ass.”
  • Several of the adults drink alcohol, which is revealed in the descriptions. “Mom had put away the photo albums and washed her scotch glass . . . She rarely drinks, and never more than one. But she’d refilled her glass several times . . . “ ”
  • A character has to step over two adults who drunk themselves into a stupor and then fell asleep by their fire pit.
  • After getting in a fight, tack takes Advil.
  • Tack’s father is a drunk who hits his son.
  • Noah’s father is absent for the entire story. Noah thinks his father is, “busy getting loaded in another hemisphere.” Later in the story, Noah tells his psychiatrist that his dad drank a lot after he divorced his wife.
  • A psychiatrist gives two of the characters “little blue pills” to take daily. Neither character is sure what the pills are for, but when Noah is anxious he, “wanted a blue pill in the worst way.”
  • One of the characters takes his friend’s ADHD medication.

Language

  • Holy crap, crap, damn, ass, hell, prick, jackass, bastard, goddamn, piss
  • When a min shoots Min, she “carefully extended my middle finger” and told him to “go to hell.”
  • When thinking about the man who keeps killing her, Min thinks, “Wouldn’t let the evil bastard’s shadow every moment of my life.”
  • When describing a boy, Min thinks his face, “was gorgeous until you realized what a prick he was.”
  • Tack calls other people names including, “jackass, asshole, douchebag.” He tells one boy, “everyone here thinks you’re dumber than crap, I’m the only one willing to say it. None of these people like you, Ethan. You’re a loser and a fraud, just a redneck piece of trash like me. Kill yourself.”
  • Noah said his dad was a “drunk a-hole.”
  • One of the characters thinks, “Why am I so worthless? God, I hate myself.”
  • A parent spits at a soldier and tells him, “Piss on you and your threats. I know my rights, sunshine soldier.”
  • Someone accuses Noah of hiding behind a “skank’s skirt.”
  • When Min finds the man who has been murdering her, she calls him a “bastard,” and a “son of a bitch.”

Supernatural

  • When the world was destroyed, everyone died. “Though your bodies died, the program successfully preserved sixty-four electro-chemical blueprints. These were uploaded into the mainframe on Day Minus-Four after final measurements were taken. You now exist as autonomous lines of code within the MegaCom master program . . . You still must eat and drink. You must shelter from weather, and avoid hazards. You can be injured. You can be killed”

Spiritual Content

  • When the news is announced that the Earth will not be smashed by an asteroid, Melinda’s mom said “Praise God. . . God is good. Everything is going to be okay.”
  • When the natural disasters begin, Min’s Mom mumbled about “God’s judgement.”
  • Hector, a minor character, is the leader of the youth group. When the students are gassed and come back to life, he thinks he is in purgatory. He explains that purgatory is, “a holding place. Somewhere you’re judged. And tested.” After he jumps off a canyon wall, dies, and comes back to life, Hector said, “God isn’t down with me. It was stupid for me to think I was in control. I won’t defy him again.”

If Only You Knew

Summer love isn’t supposed to be complicated. But then Joe meets two great-looking guys on the same day, and her life gets complicated fast. One guy makes her heart skip a beat, but can he be trusted? The other guy is trustworthy and totally outrageous, but is he still hung up on his crazy ex-girlfriend? With both guys demanding her attention, Jo’s not sure who to trust with her heart.

Then in a strange turn of events, someone begins stalking Jo, and she wonders if it’s connected to the horrible accident she witnessed last summer. With her life in danger, she’s not sure who she can trust. And to make matters worse, she has no job, no future plans, and no idea what her next steps should be.

At the beginning of the book, Jo’s story is slow-paced. However, suspense is added when Jo tries to solve the mystery of the accident she witnessed. Jo is a loveable character who many teens will be able to relate to—she is confused about life, love, and her place in this world. The ending leaves the reader with a surprising, sweet, and satisfactory conclusion.

Some readers may be turned off when the pastor in the book spends two to three pages preaching about the Bible. However, the characters in the book do not come off as preachy, perfect people, but as regular people—some who have a firm belief in God, and others who question God’s motives.

Sexual Content 

  • There is some kissing between Joe and her boyfriend. The scenes do not go into much detail. For example, “All I know is that somehow out lips found each other and in that instant everything else in the world disappeared and all I knew was that Sam’s mouth was on mine.”

Violence 

  • In one scene, two men try to hurt Jo and her friends with a baseball bat. Then the two men chase them with a vehicle and ram them off the road.
  • In another scene, Jo is walking when the two men (from above) follow her in their vehicle cat–calling and threatening to kill her and her friend. One of the men yells, “How ya think. . . those legs of yours will look flattened under the wheels of my car?”

Drugs and Alcohol 

  • Jo discovers that her boyfriend had been in jail. Before his jail time, the boyfriend describes the night he tried to kill someone, and while he was drunk, high, and scared, he turned himself in to the police.
  • Jo’s boyfriend also talks about how he used to, “drink too and use some drugs and stuff. . .”
  • One of the character’s father is a recovering alcoholic.

Language 

  • Jo said that she cussed, but there are no actual cuss words.

Supernatural 

  • None

Spiritual Content 

  • Throughout the book, the characters discuss their relationship with God. Some characters have a positive relationship with God, others do not.
  • In one church scene, the preacher discusses Philippians Chapter Two and how one should obey God. The pastor then goes on to explain how people should examine God’s word.
  • One of the characters talks about how she is waiting for God to bring the right man into her life.
  • At a wedding the pastor discusses the meaning of the Bible verse, “Love is patient. Love is kind.”
  • At one church service, the pastor talks about Jesus’ crucifixion.
  • In one scene the church is practicing a play that reenacts John Chapter Four, the “The Lady at the Well,” story.
  • Towards the end of the book, Jo accepts Christ and then later one of Jo’s friends explains how she cannot be separated from Christ’s love.

Haze

Seb does not understand people. He prefers numbers and computers. His parents don’t get him. When he’s at school, Guzzle is his only friend. But Guzzle isn’t always around to protect Seb from the bullies who harass him.

Things begin to change when he makes friends with Krisite, Madeline, and Jen. And things get even better when a new computer teacher, Miss Adonia, shows up. However, Guzzle doesn’t think Seb can trust Miss Adonai. Soon Seb is mixed up in a web of computer fraud, and he must turn to someone for help. But who should he trust?

Seb must also worry about Guzzle who is struggling to find peace in his life. Although Guzzle is popular at school, he does not enjoy his classes or the friends his popularity brings. To add to his misery, his mother is in an abusive relationship. Despite his struggles, Guzzle is a loyal friend to Seb.

Haze is an easy-to-read story that has loveable characters. There is enough mystery and suspense to keep the reader interested in the plot. The author adds drama to Guzzle’s life by showing his mother in an abusive relationship without adding violent detail. Part of the story revolves around a possible love interest, with a sweet ending.

The author teaches about Asperger Syndrome through Seb’s thoughts and actions. The information about Asperger Syndrome never seems preachy, but comes across in a natural and interesting way. Although Seb’s new friends don’t understand him, they are willing to stick by him, and as they learn about Seb’s Asperger Syndrome, the reader does as well.

Younger readers will be able to enjoy Haze because of the easy reading level as well as the fact that there is no violence. However, there are sexual references, cursing, and mention of drugs and alcohol that may make this book inappropriate for younger readers.    

Sexual Content 

  • When Seb is worried about going on a date, Guzzle said, “Go to the movies or something. You don’t have to talk and if she lets ya, you can touch her up in the dark.” Guzzle goes on to explain that touch her up means, “grab her boobs.”
  • When Guzzle sees Miss Adonia at a hotel with an older man, a group of her students speculate that they are “lovers” or maybe their teacher is a “sex slave.” Then a girl says, “maybe he’s her sex slave! She seems to like to be in control.”
  • Guzzle tells Seb that Kaziah is “easy” but a “bitch at times.” When Seb asks what easy means, Guzzle says, “shit, mate, sometimes you’re such a kid. She lets me touch her you know, do things.” When Seb asks if Guzzle has, “done it, all the way,” Guzzle says, “not yet. Close but.”
  • When Seb is kissed on the cheek, he thinks, “She kissed him. No fuss. No slobbery saliva. No expectations that he do anything. His first kiss. Not quite up to Guzzle’s standard. But this was better. He wouldn’t swap the world for that kiss.”

Violence 

  • On the way to school a group of boys beats up Seb. One boy tells the others that he feels, “like kickin’ butt” and he then begins to hit Seb. “Seb rarely felt the kicks and punches…but he felt humiliated. The futile anger. Couldn’t understand why they hated him so much. Didn’t know how to make them stop.”
  • When Seb gets upset at school he, “hit a couple of kids and then smashed a window with his bare fist.”
  • When Guzzle tells Seb he is leaving home, Guzzle says, “I’m pissing outta here.” Then later Guzzle explains why he is leaving, “Anus beat the shit outta mum last night. I wish she’d leave him. But she won’t. Says she still loves him.”

Drugs and Alcohol 

  • Guzzle goes to the park at night. Later Seb asks Guzzle if he was drinking. Guzzle replies, “A bit. Gotta live up to me name, don’t I?”
  • Guzzle goes down to the park and shares his last beer with Kaziah. “One kid was smoking cones through a cut up coke bottle. Kaz breathed deep on a joint, but Guzzle stuck to his cigs.”
  • Guzzle gets “rolling drunk” and talks about going to the shed, “where kids smoked, and teachers avoided duty.”
  • Guzzle says that Kaziah’s friends like to, “smoke dope and beat up anything they can get their hands on.”

Language 

  • The words “shit” and “damn” are spoken by characters.
  • When Seb tries to call someone in the middle of the night, a man answers the phone and says, “Goddam, who the hell is this?”
  • When Jen gets angry at Seb she yells, “Who the hell do you think you are?”
  • One of the characters asks her mother if she can go out with a group of people which includes boys. Her mother gets angry and says, “I knew that sleepover was a bad idea…Twenty four hours in some slut’s house and all your values fly at the window.”
  • When Guzzle’s mother’s boyfriend hits her, he yells, “filthy bitch…useless…deserve this…”

Supernatural 

  • None

Spiritual Content 

  • None

Endangered: A Death on a Deadline Mystery

Hayley isn’t a typical teenage girl. Rather than caring about prom or worrying about not getting her high school diploma, she spends her time working for her father’s newspaper.

While listening to a police scanner, she gets her first big scoop. Her hope is to discover whose blood is splattered all over a remote cabin. But instead of looking for clues, Hayley’s father forces her to participate in a research project to earn credits she needs to graduate high school.

Instead of investigating a possible murder, Hayley finds herself stuck on a boat doing research with only Ms. Cameron, a biology teacher, and Ernest, a social outcast, for company. Hayley and her group find the rare turtle they’re hunting for, but with it they find people illegally hunting it. When Hayley and Ernest try to protect the turtle, they find their lives are in danger. Now Hayley has two mysteries to deal with-and twice the danger.

Endangered: A Death on a Deadline Mystery is an enjoyable book. While the ending is no surprise, the story is engaging and interesting. Even though the bad guy is predictable, the ending is still satisfying and will make the reader smile.

Hayley is a loveable, realistic character the reader can bond with. Hayley has abandonment issues because her mother left her as a baby. She doesn’t do the “dating scene” because she’s not sure how to handle guys. She doesn’t have a normal family life. But when it comes to reporting, she is assertive and sure of herself.

Between the mystery, the hunt for an elusive turtle, and Hayley’s personal story, the book has a lot to love. Even though the story revolves around a possible death, the violence is not detailed or graphic. However, there are many references to drugs and alcohol that may be inappropriate for younger readers.

Sexual Content

  • Hayley is at work and wonders about her friends who attended prom. She was, “checking Facebook every ten minutes to see which of my friends were making out, breaking up, or getting hammered.”
  • When talking about a Herpetofaunal research project, Hayley thinks, “It sounded like a sexually transmitted disease.”
  • Hayley tells a boy she isn’t into the dating scene because, “You go to a club, or a party, and you’re out there dancing, and suddenly a guy you don’t even know comes up behind you and starts groping you. When did that become socially acceptable?” Later in the same scene, she says, “The point is, that’s what guys always say: ‘What’s the problem, baby? Why are you so uptight? It doesn’t mean anything.’ And then they expect you to have sex with them because, if it doesn’t mean anything, why should you say no. . . . And maybe it does mean something. The point is, why do guys think that they get to decide if it’s meaningful or not? When they’re not even the ones who are going to get pregnant if something goes wrong.”
  • When talking about when a girl really likes a guy, Hayley says, “Because then you sleep with him, and you put your heart into it, and half the time he doesn’t really care, he’s just using you.”
  • Hayley thinks about her father not being at home when she was little. “Dad was out chasing stories and whatever else grown men chase when they don’t have a wife at home . . . he never brought a girlfriend home. But he was late often enough. Let’s just say, it wouldn’t have surprised me.”
  • While Hayley is drinking at a bar, one of the men she is with leans toward her. “His hand, warm and heavy, landed on my thigh. I felt a throb go through my body—a throb I didn’t want to feel, not for Trevor. A burning sensation flushed from my legs through my pelvis, my breast, my neck, my lips…My body wanted to throw itself at Trevor-Forever.” Trevor kisses Hayley’s earlobe and then her lips. Drunk and upset, Hayley runs, grabs a cab, and goes home.
  • Ernest’s mother left him when he was eight. When Hayley sees Ernest’s father’s green lawn Hayley thinks, “Given the way his wife had left him for a life of probiotic lesbian farming, he probably felt sweet revenge every time he blasted a dandelion.”
  • When Alex’s thigh touches Hayley’s thigh, “a warmth spread through my leg that was more than just body heat.”
  • When Alex touches Hayley’s hand she thinks, “Every part of him I saw, I wanted to touch: the short, soft hairs at the nape of his neck, the stubble on the line of his jaw, the hair that fell in a fringe over his left eyebrow, the muscles that rippled in two long, smooth ridges down his back, on either side of his spine. I wanted to trace those ridges from the curve of his shoulders down to his hips…”
  • Alex kisses Hayley. “He cupped my cheek with his hand. His lips touched mine with a warmth that made my heart roll over and surrender.”

Violence

  • Hayley goes to the scene of a crime where “some cops had found a blood-splattered shack.” The story revolves around Haley trying solve the crime.
  • At one point Hayley thinks that the crime could have happened when a fight broke out because “someone was drunk or high or something.”
  • Hayley and Ernest get into a fight over a drill. They, “went tussling over the sand like a deranged parody of a teenage beach movie…I twisted my body to keep his pelvis away; the last thing I wanted was to feel Ernest’s groin pressed against mine.” Hayley then bites Ernest, who lets go of her.
  • Ernest and Hayley are scuba diving when they see a fishing boat trying to illegally catch a turtle. While Ernest is trying to cut the net to free the turtle, someone shoots at him. “Fragments of shot pelted through the froth. A red cloud tinted the water . . .His other arm dangled limp at his side, a ribbon of red streaming out from a spot a few inches below his shoulder.”
  • Hayley talks about covering stories about “near-fatal bar stabbings” and “drunk-driving accidents.” She said her father’s philosophy was that “if I saw the stupid tragedies that people got into with drugs and alcohol abuse, I’d be smart enough to avoid them.”
  • A woman describes how Tyler was killed. “I can hear Snake telling Gill how he just killed some kid down at the cabin…he just wanted to beat him up, teach him a lesson, and now the kid’s dead, and he needs to get rid of the body before the cops find out.”
  • An illegal exchange was taking place when two people accidently walk in. Snake is shot before he can kill anyone. “There on the flagstones beside the pickup truck, lay the drug dealer Snake. He was face-up on the ground and a dark stain spread over his chest. A handgun lay on the ground beside his outstretched arm as though it had been flung from his grasp as he fell.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Part of the story revolves around Hayley’s emotional issues because her mother was a drunken party girl and she, “couldn’t wait to get back to the party scene once I was born.”
  • When Hayley talks to two boys who saw the scene of the crime, the boys tell her, “we were kinda drinking.”
  • Tyler Dervish wanted to be part of the popular crowd, so he decided to sell drugs. One of the cops asks if Tyler sold, “E? Oxy? Coke? Weed?”
  • Hayley talks about being in a band with a couple of friends. The band fell apart when her friends, “discovered the joys of getting trashed after our gigs on vodka and party drugs.”
  • A fisherman said his grandfather, “made more money running rum. Prohibition times, it was.” He then goes on to explain how his grandfather got away with selling liquor during that time period.
  • While on a boat, Hayley thinks, “the wrong wave and it would throw us at the rockface, like a drunk smashing a beer bottle against the wall in a bar fight.”
  • Hayley goes to a bar to meet a young cop and his friend. The guys have a pitcher of beer and Hayley has a mixed drink. When one of the guys starts flirting with her, she flirts back. “The alcohol had apparently cut off my rational mind from the instinctual part of my brain.”
  • Hayley’s friend says, “I need a joint.” Hayley replies, “You need to get off that shit.” Hayley notices this friend has a mark on her arm that could be from a drug needle.
  • When going to the bad side of town, Hayley sees, “used condoms lay in the dirt beneath them. There were probably needles in there, too, but I didn’t stop to check.”

Language

  • As Hayley is trying to get information from a young cop she gives him a smile like, “Hey, I get it, my editor’s just as hard-ass as your partner.”
  • An angry fisherman tells Hayley, “You write this in your goddamn newspaper.” Later on in the story, the same fisherman uses the word “goddamn” again.
  • After getting drunk and flirting with Trevor, Hayley thinks, “Why did I have to go and make an ass of myself last night?”
  • When two boys found the crime scene they were scared “shitless.”
  • A woman calls her boyfriend a “bastard.”
  • When a fisherman tells someone that a turtle shouldn’t be taken out of the ocean, the man replies, “God, another fucking tree-hugger.”
  • Snake tells someone, “You heard him lady. Get the fuck inside!”
  • Profanity is used throughout the book, occasionally in Hayley’s thoughts, but mostly when the characters are in a stressful situation. The profanity includes holy shit, hell, shit, bullshit, goddamn, and bastard.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

No True Echo

In a strange twist of events that he doesn’t understand, Eddie relives the same day over and over. The first time Eddie lived through the day, his mother died when he was an infant and his only plan was to spend his school break climbing trees with his best friend and trying to find a way to talk to the new girl. As Eddie continues to relive the same day, he is also attempting to figure out what is causing the strange occurrence, why the new girl keeps asking about his dead mother, and if there is a way he can change the day’s events.

As Eddie navigates his unexpected time-travel, Eddie tries to figure out who he can trust. And in the end, he must decide if telling the truth is the right thing to do, even if it means losing someone he loves.

No True Echo weaves a gripping story that leaves the reader wondering what will happen next. The story revolves around Eddie (and others) being shot which adds suspense and intrigue. The shooting scenes are described with little detail which allows the reader to imagine as much or as little as they like.

However, what really drives the story is the characters. The story is told from Eddie’s point of view as well as a police officer’s point of view which adds depth to the storyline. The adults are not portrayed as perfect, but with problems of their own. Eddie’s best friend Angus adds humor. The new girl Scarlett adds suspense and a bit of romance. The interactions between the characters are realistic and emotional. In the end, the story shows that the connections people make are what really matter in life.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Eddie is shot several times, but it is not described in detail. The first time Eddie is shot, he jumps in front of a girl to protect her. “All I knew was the agony of the bullet ripping into my chest. And the shock. And the fear.”
  • Another time Eddie is shot, he “shut my eyes in agony as the bullet tore through my body, but the pain vanished as though it had never been there.” Later when discussing the shooting, he is told that “he (the shooter) knew that the timeline would be destroyed anyways, so I’m not sure that counts (as murder). He also knew I would save you.”

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • Eddie’s mom has a “large glass of wine” with dinner.

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • In this time period, people can time travel by going back into their younger bodies. At one point in the story, Eddie travels into his infant body so he can watch his mother’s death in order to determine if her car accident was an accident or a murder.

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

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