Reading Level: Young Adult

Shadowcaster

Alyssa ana’Raisa, the reluctant heir to the Gray Wolf Throne, must overcome the impossible. After suffering the loss of her sister, brother and father, as well as an attempt on her own life, she wants nothing more than to end the war that’s consumed her world for decades. To protect her mother and her friends, Lyss will do whatever it takes to strike a blow against Arden.

Halston Matelon is simply trying to survive the king of Arden’s wrath. Once Hal’s father betrays the king, a target is put on Hal’s back, forcing him into dire situations that could end his life. But when Hal’s captured by an enemy commander, he must confront his own prejudices, as well as a budding, forbidden love for the woman who bested him.

Breon d’Tarvos has stayed far away from the front lines of the war. Performing as a street musician for a little bit of coin, Breon has managed to survive on the streets. Yet that all comes to an end when he’s pulled into an assassination attempt on Princess Alyssa. Now Breon is on the run, hoping to escape to a safe haven on the coast. But nothing is ever that easy.

Shadowcaster is a great follow-up to Chima’s first entry in the Shattered Realms series, Flamecaster. Following three main characters, Lyss, Hal, and Breon, the story unfolds in the northern Queendom of the Fells. Whereas the first book focused on the fanatical religious state of Arden, its prejudices against wizards, and the political intrigue of King Gerard’s court, the sequel explores the different cultures of the north, where wizards are both respected and free, and where many cultures co-exist.

Each of the main characters is linked to the various themes present within the story. For instance, Lyss’ storyline explores dealing with grief. Throughout the novel, Lyss’s motivation stems from the deaths of her family, and she’s forced to confront the pain of finding out her brother may still be alive.

The theme of confronting prejudice is squarely placed in Hal’s storyline. When Hal is captured by Lyss, he is forced to see the northerners as people, and he even falls in love with her. This opens Hal’s eyes to the idea that his prejudices are wrong.

Breon’s story focuses on struggling to survive. As a poor street musician, Breon fights to get food on a daily basis. He also struggles with addiction to a drug known as “leaf.” With little money, no home, and few friends, Breon represents the civilians who are trying to survive amidst a war. Each of these themes is well written, and each is powerful in its own right.

Lyss, Hal, and Breon are all likable, relatable characters. Lyss is relatable because she struggles to fit into people’s expectations of a princess. Rather than lead, Lyss wants to continue as a soldier, fighting for what she believes in. Both Hal and Lyss want to protect their family. Plus, Hal is fiercely loyal to his men, wanting to protect them in dire situations. Breon, while suffering from drug addiction, is likable for his desire to make honest coin and to live with his sweetheart, Aubrey. These three, combined with some thrilling battle scenes, will keep readers on the edge of their seats. In addition, the romance between Hal and Lyss will leave readers wanting more. Their romance sets a fun, exciting pace that ends in a cliffhanger. Readers will look forward to continuing this epic story continues in the third book, Stormcaster.

Sexual Content

  • Lyss has a crush on her friend, Finn. Later on, she admits to herself, “She’d had a crush on Finn sul’Mander since she was eleven years old.”
  • When Finn gets engaged to Julianna, they were “blushing and Finn was smiling. Julianna held up their joined hands to display her engagement ring.” Later on, Lyss watches as “He kissed Julianna again. And again.”
  • The diplomat tells Lyss, “You’re not the beauty that your mother is, or your sister, Hana, may she rest in peace, or your cousin Julianna—such a lovely girl—but there’s a lot can be done with the proper staging.”
  • Hal overhears Bosley, a member of Lyss’ squad, talking about his conquest of Lyss. Hal thinks, “Bosley had described a series of recent trysts with her in embarrassingly graphic detail. Maybe customs were different here in the north, but it seemed crude and dishonorable to share that.”
  • Hal thinks, “If Bosley was sleeping with his commanding officer, the last thing Hal wanted was to get caught in that crossfire.”
  • Hal and Lyss begin a short romance. After falling on top of her by accident, Hal thinks, “it took everything that was in him not to finish their match with a kiss.” Later, Hal thinks, “The truth was, he wanted to kiss this northern girl, and go on from there. He wanted her more than any woman he’d ever known.”

Violence

  • In a battle between squadrons, Lyss sees Hal “lean down from his horse and scoop up a soldier who was staggering around aimlessly, blood pouring from a head wound.”
  • In the Clans, a group residing in the Fells, the amount of braids one has indicates how many people they’ve killed. Less notices “The many braids in Shadow’s hair were evident that he rarely said no to a fight, and that he usually came away with a kill.”
  • Hal thinks back on the people he’s killed. “Several times in the past, Hal had discovered that the man he’d just killed was actually a woman.”
  • When thinking of his friends, Breon thinks, “And Goose? He’d cut your throat for a wad of leaf, but other than that he’d always been a harmless sort.”
  • In an assassination attempt on Lyss, one of her squad is hit with an arrow. Lyss “ran her hand over his uniform tunic until she found the arrow shaft embedded in his right lower back.” Just after that, she’s attacked again. An assassin strangles her, and “his fingers didn’t loosen until Lyss’s shiv transfixed his throat and blood spilled over her leathers.”
  • In the city of Delphi, the residents have been fighting back against Arden’s occupation. The former mayor “was found dead in an alley, his throat cut, his body wrapped in an Ardenine flag.”
  • When arguing with Hal, Lyss tells him, “When Princess Hanalea was murdered, your king sent her head to her mother in a golden casket with a note, in case she didn’t give credit where credit is due.”
  • Sasha tells Breon that he’ll be executed for the attack on Lyss. She says, “But two of her escorts were killed in the attack. That ought to be enough to hang you.”
  • Someone says, “Whenever Montaigne got a little down, he just murdered a few people, and that set him to rights.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Breon and his friends often use leaf, which is a street drug. Breon thinks, “People said that leaf fried the brain, and maybe that was true. He could quit anytime, and maybe he should.”
  • On a trip to the coast, Breon thinks, “Or maybe it just seemed longer because Breon has passed much of the trip in a pleasant haze of leaf.”

Language

  • Ass is used several times. For example, when trying on a pair of pants, Breon thinks, “he had to cinch in the breeches to keep them from sliding down his bony ass.”
  • Asshole is used several times. Lyss tells off someone, saying “At least that’s fixable. Being an asshole isn’t.” Asshole is used a few times in the novel.
  • Hell and damn are used a few times. For example, when asked if he’s a wizard, Breon retorts, “Damn right I am.”
  • Sasha tells Breon, “Poke me, and I’ll poke you back, you scaly, scum-sucking sneaksby.”

Supernatural

  • Flashcraft refers to magical items that are created by the Clans in the Fells. Lyss receives a flash craft locket. “When she touched it, the portraits would shift, displaying first one person and then another.
  • In Arden, wizards are called mages and are typically slaves.
  • Hal, who is from Arden, believes witches like Lyss can turn humans into animals. However, this isn’t true.
  • Mystwerk is a school where wizards learn magic.
  • In the Fells, the ruling line of Queens can see wolves that bring prophetic dreams and visions. Less tells Ash, “I just keep having these dreams, where everyone’s dead and I’m all alone on Hanalea Peak, just me and the wolves.” Just after that, Ash tries to soothe her with his magic. Lyss snaps at him, “Stop soothing me!”
  • While Breon is imprisoned someone threatens to use magic on him to get him talking. Breon thinks, “What did he mean by persuasion? Magic? Torture? Hypnosis? Could this mage really make him tell the truth?”

Spiritual Content

  • A dedicate at a temple hands out food to those who need it. Breon notices “The dedicate offered a blessing along with the bread and fruit.
  • The Church of Malthus is the state religion of Arden. Lyss asks Hal, “Is there any way your war-weary people and your bloodthirsty church would allow them to live?”

by Jonathan Planman

 

 

 

The Lions of Little Rock

Twelve-year-old Marlee, who is shy and quiet, feels like her whole world is falling apart. And she’s sure that starting middle school is only going to make things worse until she meets Liz, the new girl. It may look as if they have nothing in common—Liz always knows the right thing to say, and Marlee can barely stand to speak up in class—but they become fast friends. Then, Liz is caught “passing” for white and leaves school without even a goodbye. Marlee decides she wants her friend back. But to stay friends, Marlee and Liz must be willing to take on segregation—and the dangers their friendship could bring to both families.

The Lions of Little Rock is historical fiction at its best. Not only is the story engaging, but it also sheds light on the struggle to desegregate schools in Little Rock Arkansas during the 1950s. The story focuses on Marlee and Liz, who refuse to give up their friendship just because they are of different races. Both girls help each other face their fears, and they encourage each other during difficult times. Through their interaction, Marlee comes to realize that, “A friend is someone who helps you change for the better. And whether you see them once a day or once a year, if it’s a true friend, it doesn’t matter.”

When someone finds out that Liz is passing as white, Marlee tries to understand her friend’s actions. Marlee’s family maid explains why passing as white is so dangerous. “If you’re really lucky, you lose your job or you’re kicked out of school. If you’re a little less lucky, you get beat up, but after a few weeks your injuries heal and you’re left alone. If you’re not lucky, a lynch mob comes and firebombs your house killing you and everyone you love.” Through Marlee and Liz as well as historical examples, the reader will come to understand racism.

Marlee changes from a timid girl who barely talks into a confident person who is willing to fight for what is right. Much of Marlee’s inspiration comes from the Little Rock Nine because they “believed they had a responsibility to make things better. Believed they could make things better, even though they were still just kids.” Marlee isn’t content to just watch the adults try to make a difference. Instead, despite her mother’s objections, Marlee joins the Woman’s Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools. As part of the organization, she helps fold pamphlets, talks to voters, and performs other small jobs that make a huge impact. In the end, Marlee learns the importance of standing up for herself and others.

The Lions of Little Rock won the New York Historical Society Children’s Book Prize. The entertaining story teaches important life lessons about friendship, facing fears, and finding your voice. The story is historically accurate; the author’s note at the end of the book explains which parts of the story were fictional and which events were factual. The book also includes three pages of discussion questions. Everyone should read The Lions of Little Rock because it will help readers understand racial tensions in the late 1950s as well as show the importance of making a difference in your world.

Sexual Content

  • Marlee has a crush on JT. When Marlee drops her pencils and begins gathering them, “JT handed me one of the pencils and our fingers touched and I could almost hear the wedding bells. . . By lunchtime I’d planned our honeymoon in Italy and was trying to decide if we should name our first son Orbit or Cosine. . .”

Violence

  • Marlee’s father invited a “colored minister” to speak at church. “The next day there was a note tucked in with our paper. It said, ‘You let your youngest walk to school tomorrow, she won’t make it.’ And it was signed, KKK.”
  • On Halloween, JT and his brother egg a house. JT’s brother tries to force Marlee to throw an egg at the house. Later a “colored boy” is arrested for the crime.
  • Marlee’s father tells her about Emmett Till. “He was a young Negro boy who went down to visit some relatives in Mississippi. One day someone saw him talking, some say flirting, with a white woman. . .He was murdered. . . He was only fourteen years old.”
  • The story implies that JT’s mother, Mrs. Dalton, is abused by her husband. Marlee “remembered her because she had a scar over her left eyebrow. . . JT had said once she’d got the scar when she tripped on the stairs.”
  • The story implies that JT’s father hits him. JT shows up at school with a black eye.
  • Someone tells Marlee about John Carter, “a colored man.” He was “taken by a mob of people. No one did anything. . . They hung him and shot him and dragged his body down the street and then burned him.”
  • Marlee was at the “colored pastor’s” house when she saw JT’s brother drive by several times. Everyone goes outside and then, “we suddenly heard a car pull up in front of the house. . . There was a crash and the sound of breaking glass. A screech of wheels, driving off. And then, an explosion.” No one is injured.
  • When the schools are integrated, protestors show up. In order to break up the protestors, “the firemen turned the hoses on. In an instant, the segregationists were soaked.” Several people are arrested, but no one is injured.

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • Marlee compares people to drinks. When she meets Liz, she wonders if Liz is “like a shot of whiskey given to you by your older cousin.”
  • At a football game, Marlee sits by JT and one of his friends. The friend, “smelled funny, like a warm beer.”
  • Marlee and her sister used to go to a pond to have picnic lunches. “At night, sometimes teenagers would park there on dates or sneak off to drink beer.”
  • Marlee sees JT’s brother and his friend at the zoo. On the bench they are sitting at are “some beers.”

Language

  • Marlee thinks that someone is a jerk. Later, she tells her friend that, “JT is a jerk.”
  • Nigger(s) is used 4 times. Someone discovers that Liz was passing as white. JT’s brother tells Marlee, “We’ll find your little friend and show her whole family what we think of niggers who try to pass.”
  • Someone calls Marlee an idiot.
  • Several people call Marlee a “square” because she likes math.
  • Someone calls Marlee a coward.
  • Darn is used several times.
  • “Oh Lord” is used as an exclamation once.
  • After someone throws an explosive into a house, the person’s father asks, “What the hell were you thinking?”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Marlee has a hard time talking to her family’s maid, Betty Jean. Marlee “just stood there, helpless, praying Betty Jean would understand.”
  • At church, Marlee hears the Bible verse, “But even if you do suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed.” Often, when Marlee has to make a decision, she reminds herself of this verse.
  • Marlee goes to meet Liz at the colored movie theatre. When a woman questions Liz, Marlee “prayed for the lights to go down and the newsreel to start.”
  • When a “colored boy” is arrested for throwing eggs at a house, Marlee’s father bails the boy out of jail. When the boy’s mother sees him, she says, “Oh, thank God.”
  • Marlee’s church makes a float for the Christmas parade. The theme was from Matthew 19:14. “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”
  • Marlee’s family goes on a plane. Her mother and sister are nervous. Marlee “thanked God that neither one of them had actually thrown up.”
  • Marlee’s mom is a substitute at Marlee’s school. Marlee “prayed no one would see us together.”
  • JT and his brother see Marlee in the woods. Marlee tries to distract them so they do not see Liz. She “started walking, praying they would follow me.”

The Crossover

Twelve-year-old Josh and his twin JB Bell are the kings of the basketball court. Untouchable and unstoppable—the sons of former professional basketball player Chuck “Da Man” Bell couldn’t be anything less than excellent. But when Alexis walks right into the twins’ lives and steals JB’s heart, Josh is left without his best friend by his side. Meanwhile, the boys’ father’s health is on the decline, despite Chuck’s utter denial. Josh and JB must deal with the consequences of everyone’s actions—including their own.

Kwame Alexander’s The Crossover is told in free-verse poetry. As with the prequel novel Rebound, his free-verse poetry works really well with the beat of the basketball games and Josh’s narration. Oftentimes, the basketball lingo and Josh’s internal monologue intermix, and readers will find that the verses enhance the experience.

The Crossover does an excellent job of mixing different storylines. The tensions between the twins’ father’s health, the upcoming basketball championships, and the brothers all get a good amount of page time and work together to raise the stakes. Josh and JB have more arguments as the pressure increases in basketball, and their father has more and more complications with his health as the book continues. The climax of the book is foreshadowed well early on, and each plot point finds an end.

These plot threads help create the themes of family, atonement, and inheritance. The dynamic between the twins, their mother (Crystal), and their father (Chuck) is healthy, though they do occasionally argue. JB and Josh argue with each other often. But when JB refuses to speak to Josh after Josh nearly breaks JB’s nose with a basketball, Josh reveals just how much he loves his family. He also does everything in his power to atone for his actions, and he and JB soon forgive each other. The boys also deal with their father’s legacy and how the legacy impacts their futures. Chuck was a basketball star, and the boys have inherited his prowess on the court. However, high blood pressure and stubbornness also run in the family, and the boys struggle with the fact that they may also inherit these negative characteristics.

While this Newbery Medal Winner is short, Alexander handles all these topics well. Basketball fans will enjoy The Crossover for the sport aspects, but the appeal of the book reaches further than the court. Josh and his family are realistic characters who experience universal emotions like love, anger, and loss. The Crossover is an excellent story that even non-readers and non-sport fans will find enjoyable. The story shows that despite differences in time, space, and opinion, we carry our loved ones in our hearts, always.

Sexual Content

  • Josh and JB’s dad, Chuck “Da Man” Bell tells his sons about how back in the day, he “kissed/ so many pretty ladies.”
  • Josh says that the only reason why JB has been “acting all religious” is because his classmate “Kim Bazemore kissed him in Sunday/ school.”
  • Josh does his homework while his teammate “Vondie and JB/ debate whether the new girl/ is a knockout or just beautiful,/ a hottie or a cutie,/ a lay-up or a dunk.”
  • Josh teases JB and asks if “Miss Sweet Tea” (Alexis) is his girlfriend. JB dodges the question. However, it is clear that he likes her a lot because “his eyes get all spacey/ whenever she’s around,/ and sometimes when she’s not.”
  • Chuck faints, and his wife Crystal demands that he see a doctor. Chuck refuses, and they argue. In an attempt to diffuse the tension between them, he says, “Come kiss me.”
  • After Crystal and Chuck stop arguing about Chuck’s health, Josh narrates, “And then there is silence, so I put the/ pillow over my head/ because when they stop talking,/ I know what that means./ Uggghh!” This happens a couple of times throughout the book.
  • JB and Alexis walk into the cafeteria, and she’s “holding his/ precious hand.”
  • JB and Alexis kiss in the library, and Josh sees them.
  • JB tells Alexis “how much she’s/ the apple of/ his eye/ and that he wants/ to peel her/ and get under her skin.”
  • Josh says, “Even Vondie/ has a girlfriend now…She’s a candy striper/ and a cheerleader/ and a talker/ with skinny legs/ and a big butt/ as big/ as Vermont.”

Violence

  • Josh has long dreadlocks while JB has a shaved head, so JB plays with Josh’s locks. Josh “slap[s] him/ across his bald head/ with [Josh’s] jockstrap.”
  • JB accidentally cuts off five of Josh’s locks of hair. Josh gives JB several noogies over the course of a few interactions.
  • Josh nearly breaks JB’s nose with a hard pass during a basketball game. He does it on purpose because he’s upset with JB, and Josh is suspended from the team. The description is only a couple of words.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Crystal’s younger brother “smokes cigars.”

Language

  • The younger characters occasionally use rude terms such as crunking, stupid, and jerk.
  • When Josh narrates his plays, he talks big about his game. This leads to him occasionally threatening physical contact during the game. For instance, Josh says, “Man, take this THUMPING.”
  • Josh’s nickname is “Filthy McNasty.”
  • JB suggests a bet against Josh. Josh responds with, “You can cut my locks off,/ but if I win the bet,/ you have to walk around/ with no pants on/ and no underwear/ at school tomorrow.”
  • JB responds with, “if you win,/ I will moon/ that nerdy group/ of sixth-graders/ that sit/ near our table/ at lunch?”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • JB only went to one basketball summer camp because “he didn’t want to miss Bible/ school.”
  • The Bells go to church on Sundays before basketball. Josh says, “When the prayers end/ and the doors open/ the Bells hit center stage,” meaning the basketball court.

by Alli Kestler

Ice Dogs

Her father’s death could have been avoided. That’s what fourteen-year-old Victoria Secord believes. If she had been with him, he would still be alive. Now that her father is dead, Victoria wonders if her mother is going to force her to leave Alaska. After all, her mother never understood her or her father’s love of dogsledding.

Thanks to her father, Victoria is an expert dogsledder. He taught her how to be independent and self-reliant, even in Alaska’s wintery bush. When Victoria finds an injured city boy, Chris, she doesn’t think twice about helping him. The two are soon lost in a fierce snowstorm. It’s up to Victoria and her dog team to keep everyone alive. Stuck in a frozen wilderness, Victoria doesn’t have enough food for her or her dogs. With temperatures dropping, how can Victoria keep everyone alive?

Ice Dogs takes the reader on a winter journey through the icy Alaskan wilderness. Although the plot is somewhat predictable, Victoria’s personal struggles add an interesting twist. Victoria is struggling with the death of her father, which has caused friction between her and her mother. However, her father’s death isn’t the only conflict that moves the plot along.

Victoria is unexpectedly responsible for Chris’s life. The injured city boy doesn’t know anything about surviving in the Alaskan wilderness. Freezing temperatures, lack of food, and wild animals are only some of the obstacles they will have to overcome. The two must also find a way to get along if they are going to survive. As the two fight to stay alive, they build a friendship as well as grow as individuals. Victoria and Chris are both unique, interesting characters that readers will relate to.

Ice Dogs is a fast-paced survival story that shows Victoria’s determination to keep her dogs and an injured boy alive. Faced with difficult situations, Victoria reflects on her father’s teachings; this allows her to endure each obstacle. Through the story, Victoria comes to realize that no one is to blame for her father’s death. Even though Ice Dogs has some predictable plot points, readers will enjoy Victoria’s relationship with her dogs as well as the interplay between Victoria and Chris. Full of adventure and danger, Ice Dogs highlights the importance of communication and relying on others. Middle school readers who enjoy Ice Dogs may also want to read Johnson’s other book, Dog Driven, as well as Survival Tails: Endurance in Antarctica by Katrina Charman.

 Sexual Content

  • Victoria finds an injured snowmobiler. When she tells him to get into a sleeping bag, he says, “We’ve just met and you’re already t-trying to get me in the s-sack.”
  • Victoria’s dog gets into a fight with another dog. Victoria “pretended not to notice the two dogs caught in a canine version of wanton lust, which was pretty hard since Beetle was squealing like a vixen.”

Violence

  • A moose stands in the trail, blocking Victoria’s sled. Victoria stops the sled and “I don’t think—just bend down and yank off my snowshoe. When I stand, she is less than ten paces from us. Bearing down…I fling the snowshoe as hard as I can. It flies through the air like a Frisbee. It hits her square in the face. The thwack sound is surprisingly loud in the cold air.” When the moose charges, “the dogs explode forward, with me hanging on to the gangline.” Victoria is dragged under the dogs and is slightly injured.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Freaking is used twice. When starting a race, Victoria thinks, “I freaking hate starts.”
  • Crap is used once and heck is used three times.
  • Victoria tells her dogs, “Get back, you little turds.”
  • Someone tells Victoria that “some jerk sideswiped us, though. Took the mirror off my mom’s Chevette.”
  • When Chris accidently burns a map, Victoria calls him a “jerk.” Later, she calls him “the biggest milquetoast loser I’ve ever met.”
  • When the dogs take off after a moose, Chris says, “Holy crap, holy crap.”
  • Victoria calls Chris an idiot one time.
  • Victoria’s youth group leader says, Oh Lord three times and Lord twice. For example, she says, “Oh Lord, can you imagine, our own Victoria Secord, a national hero!”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • When Victoria’s dog is injured, she sends “a silent prayer to Dad to heal Bean overnight.”

Ghosted

When Ellie entered junior high, she promised herself that she would never look weak. She became the smartest, prettiest, best-dressed, and most popular kid at Lincoln Heights Middle School. She is also the most feared. Ellie has figured out that the more horrible she is, the more people fear her, and the more they respect her. Ellie has perfected the ability to manipulate people through fear.

The night of her junior high winter dance, Ellie has a terrible accident. As she lays unconscious, a ghost takes Ellie on a trip to her own past, present, and future. Ellie is forced to relive her parents’ divorce, her struggles with school, and the loss of her best friend, Marley. Can what Ellie sees, inspire her to change her ways?

From the first chapter, the story focuses on Ellie’s mean, manipulating ways. While the reader comes to understand the events that lead Ellie to become such a horrible person, it is hard to relate to her. When Ellie’s parents first divorced, Ellie was surrounded by her best friend Marley and Marley’s two dads. Instead of being comforted by their supportive presence, Ellie focused on what she didn’t have and “let those feelings of hurt and sadness fester into something ugly.” For the reader, Ellie’s ugliness overshadows every other aspect of the story.

Margolis clearly shows the dangers of Ellie’s meanness – both for Ellie and the people she encounters. However, some of the events are unrealistic and portray preteens as sheep who follow the most popular person out of fear. None of Ellie’s peers have the strength of character to stand up to Ellie, even when Ellie makes them do outrageous things. In reality, parents and teachers would have stepped in and protected Ellie’s classmates from her cruelty.

Ghosted follows the same format as The Christmas Carol, and like Scrooge, Ellie changes her ways. Ellie learns and finally admits that “making other people feel bad and weak distracts me from my own pain. And it props me up.” Ellie chooses to own up to her mistakes and apologize; however, the conclusion has several plot holes that readers will notice. For example, while at school Ellie falls and is unconscious for 15 minutes; however, the students do not get a teacher, and they call off the ambulance because when Ellie comes to, she feels fine. In addition, the story glosses over the hurt and pain that Ellie caused others and hints that all will be forgiven.

The story moves at a fast pace. The ghost, who is sarcastic and mean herself, adds interest. Although the message is pertinent to middle school readers, Ellie’s cruelty makes it hard to root for her. Readers looking for another story inspired by the Christmas Carol should pick up Young Scrooge: A Very Scary Christmas Story by R. L. Stine. On the other hand, if you’re in the mood for a Christmas story that will leave you with a warm glow and a positive message, add the Celebrate the Season series by Taylor Garland to your must-read list.

 Sexual Content

  • Ellie takes a video of Marley, who is joking around. Marley pretends that she is boy crazy and says, “I have never kissed a boy, but sometimes at night I practice by kissing my old American Girl doll. I cut the hair off so she looks like a boy.”

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • On Christmas Eve, Ellie and her mom have dinner with friends. Ellie’s mom drinks a glass of wine.

Language

  • Ellie thinks that her classmates have “marshmallows-for-brains” and are morons.
  • The ghost calls Ellie stupid and a dummy.
  • Ellie thinks the ghost and her dad are both jerks.
  • OMG is used as an exclamation three times.
  • My God is used as an exclamation once.

Supernatural

  • After a fall, a ghost shows Ellie her past, present, and future self. The ghost can also read Ellie’s mind.
  • The ghost drags Ellie “from place to place, year to year, shrinking you down to fit into the snow globe, changing your regular outfit into a bikini for the fish tank, only to go and transform you back into your regular size.”
  • The ghost takes Ellie to different places. One of the places is a mural that some classmates made. Another place Ellie is transported to is a tunnel in a loaf of bread.

Spiritual Content

  • None

On Thin Ice

Over the last couple of years, Ked’s life has slowly fallen apart. He’s been diagnosed with kyphosis, which has deformed his back. His friends have deserted him. Ked’s mother walked out on him and his dad. Ked doesn’t think things can get worse. Then he discovers that his dad has gambled away their rent money.

The thought of becoming homeless motivates Ked to fight back. He sneaks into his dad’s room and steals enough money to buy a broken down, vintage minibike. Ked is sure that he can repair the minibike and make a profit. The only problem is that Ked needs tools, which can only be found at the school’s maker space. Going to the maker space forces Ked into the path of a school bully who torments him about his condition. Can Ked and a few unlikely new friends find a way to build the bike and save his family from going under before it’s too late?

On Thin Ice begins with Ked’s very slow, detailed account of how his disease changed his life. Even though Ked tells his own story, some readers will have a difficult time relating to Ked, who has a messy life full of conflict. Ked blames most of his problems on his disease and never takes steps to stop the school bully, Landrover, from tormenting him. Ked doesn’t ask others for help but seems resigned to his lonely life.

Ked’s story mostly focuses on his need to fix the minibike. As he works on the mechanics, the story gives many long descriptions of his work. Readers who are interested in engines will find the descriptions interesting; however, readers with no knowledge of mechanics may quickly become bored. The pacing picks up as the story progresses, and the conclusion allows the reader to understand how many of Ked’s problems were actually a result of his own behavior. After a near-death experience, Ked finally relies on others and realizes that he must take steps to improve his life. He says, “I used to think my whole life had been stolen, piece by piece, but I figured something out. That’s how you put a life back together too. Just little pieces, but they add up.”

Despite the slow start, middle grade readers interested in mechanics should read On Thin Ice because it has many positive life lessons including the importance of honesty and communication. Ked also learns that he cannot be defined by his disease. Readers who want a more engaging story that tackles family problems should add Almost Home by Joan Bauer to their reading list.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • While at school, Ked sits in the only available seat. The boy next to him “delivers a sharp punch to my thigh, grinding his knuckles in at the end.” Ked yells out in pain, but when the teacher asks what happened, he lies and says it was a “cramp or something.” Another boy “drills me in the other thigh. All I can do is bite my lip and take it. The punches stop after that.”
  • When Ked takes the motorized bike on a test drive, a classmate named Landrover chases him on a four-wheeler. Ked crashes the bike. “I am flying off the trail and into the woods, already falling as I go. Falling and flying, flying and falling…Then impact… My left knee hits the ground first, and the pain shoots through me in a hot, electric burst. My body hits next, and the pain fills my upper back like water flowing into a hollow place.” Ked is banged up, but not seriously injured.
  • Landrover walks on a frozen pond and falls through the ice. “Landrover’s face is slick with water and contorted with fear. His numb hands are pawing uselessly at the edge of the ice, breaking it into chunks.” After Ked saves Landrover’s life, he is upset that Landrover “didn’t even say thank you.”
  • After Landrover falls in the ice, he tells Ked, “Dad’s gonna kill me!” Later, Ked sees Landrover with a bruised face and thinks, “it looks like his dad gave it a good try.” Ked makes an “anonymous tip” that leads to Landrover and his father getting family therapy.

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Some of the kids at school call Ked “freakins” and “freak.” For example, a boy tells Ked, “You’re dead meat, freak.”
  • Someone calls Ked a loser several times.
  • While in the library, a boy gives Ked the book The Hunchback of Norte-Dame. Ked thinks, “Frickin’ Quasimodo.”
  • Heck is used twice.
  • The characters refer to others as jerks.
  • Ked frequently refers to himself and others as idiots. For example, when Ked gets upset at his father, he thinks, “I want to shout at him and tell him I know and he’s an idiot…”
  • Several times Ked refers to himself as an idiot.
  • A girl calls Ked “garbage boy.”
  • A girl calls the class bully a scumbag.
  • “Oh my God” is used as an exclamation three times.
  • The school bully calls Ked a “dipstick” and a “dummy.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Ked said a quick prayer, and then later he thinks, “I consider another quick prayer, but it’s not like the first one worked out so great.”

Dog Driven

Fourteen-year-old McKenna Barney is determined to keep her failing eyesight a secret, even if that means distancing herself from everyone—her friends, her parents, and even her sister. The only place McKenna feels any peace is when she’s on the trail with her dogs.

McKenna’s sister, Emma, is fighting a losing battle against eye disease. When Emma asks McKenna to enter a dog sled race, McKenna can’t say no. McKenna plans on leading a team of eight sled dogs in a race, even though she’s not sure she can see the dangers on the trail. To finish the race, McKenna will have to face three days of shifting lake ice, sudden owl attacks, and bitterly cold nights. As McKenna deals with snow squalls in the Canadian Wilderness, she must also come to terms with her terrifying vision loss.

McKenna hides the truth from everyone, including her toughest rival, Guy. As McKenna and Guy become friends, she wonders if she will be able to keep her secret from him. Is McKenna willing to risk everything, including her life, to keep her secret safe?

Throughout the story, McKenna’s fear of losing her sight and her independence becomes clear. McKenna’s parents cannot deal with her sister’s loss of vision. Between her overprotective mother and her angry father, Emma’s life is far from normal. McKenna is determined not to be a burden to her parents. As she drives her team of dogs through the wilderness, McKenna learns that with help, her loss of vision does not have to stop her from achieving great things.

Dog Driven is an easy-to-read story that shows the harsh conditions of the Canadian Wilderness. Throughout the story, McKenna faces every obstacle with the help of her dogs and her new friends. With family drama, teen pranks, and terrifying winter conditions, Dog Driven will entertain readers until the very end. Even though the story discusses the eye disease, Stargardt, the information never slows down the pace of the story. Instead, seeing the disease through McKenna’s point of view will allow readers to understand the effects of the disease as well as how one family deals with it.

Readers will sympathize with McKenna and cheer for her as she continues the race. Her friend, Guy, adds interest to the story when he discusses how his relative used a dog sled to deliver mail in the 1800s. Each short chapter ends with a letter—sometimes the letter is from the current time, and other times the letter is from the past. The letters incorporate other people’s thoughts and experiences, which gives the story more perspective. Dog Driven will not disappoint readers; the story will take readers on an epic race across the ice. Snuggle up with a warm blanket and sled your way into the Canadian wilderness with McKenna and her dogs.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • An owl attacks McKenna’s head. “I can’t help laughing as I probe the back of my head. There’s a tender spot and a bit of blood.”
  • A group of dogs get in a fight. “Horrifying sounds of their fight seep into me and root me where I stand. Mad chaos. Dogs everywhere snapping and scrabbling, some trying to get away, some tearing into whoever appears to be losing. It’s the biggest dog brawl I’ve ever seen.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • “Oh my God” is used as an exclamation twice.
  • Crap and heck are both used once.
  • Freaking is used three times. For example, when McKenna gets attacked by an owl, she says, “I’m going total ninja on this freaking owl if he comes back, I swear.”
  • When a dog fight breaks out, someone says, “Oh-God-Oh-God-Oh-God.”

Supernatural

  • Guy makes a comment about a wendigo. “I grew up hearing how ice caves are doorways to the Otherworld. The malevolent spirit of the early people, the wendigo, was the bringer of winter starvation and disease.”

 

Spiritual Content

  • McKenna’s mom says, “Thank God you’re whole, McKenna, and we don’t have to worry about you.”
  • When someone gives McKenna a pair of sunglasses, she thinks, “Thank God for Harper giving me her spare.”

Long Way Down

Somebody shot and killed Will’s brother Shawn, and Will thinks he knows who did it. The morning after Shawn’s death, Will picks up his brother’s gun and gets in the elevator of the apartment building with his heart set on revenge. That’s when things get weird.

Sixty seconds. That’s how long it takes Will to reach the bottom and exit the elevator, but in those sixty seconds Jason Reynolds crafts a story where Will confronts nasty truths about the events that killed not only his brother but his other relatives and friends over the years. Will faces literal ghosts in the elevator that he never thought he’d have to confront. In those sixty seconds, Will must shape the course of his life.

Although Long Way Down takes place over a course of a minute, the story is packed with twists and turns. Early on, Will learns that the other people who entered the elevator are ghosts come to warn him. Each ghost is someone from Will’s past, and through discussion and memories, Will forms new understandings about the violent, revenge-hungry world that has shaped him and his ideas of justice.

The ending is ambiguous and the reader does not find out if Will follows through on his revenge plot. It is clear from the ghosts’ stories and Will’s code of justice that if he takes vengeance, he’ll end up dead like the ghosts. It could be insinuated that they are asking Will if he’s ready to join their ranks by making the same mistakes. Will learns that violence is cyclical and feeds itself. Long Way Down has a heavy message but shows that Will has the power to choose a different path. Even though he and his family have been wronged, the themes within the story make it clear that revenge is never the way out. And, most importantly, Will is the only person in charge of his own destiny. The ghosts give him the tools to determine his fate, but only he makes his own destiny.

Will’s story is told free-verse which highlights the speed at which Will learns from the ghosts and the speed of the descending elevator. Long Way Down packs a punch because it’s short and moves quickly. In this way, the message never leaves center stage, but it’s also never beaten like a dead horse.

Long Way Down is one of Reynolds’ more serious stories, and the plot works well with the somber tone. It’s a hard-hitting tale that demands that each person evaluates the meaning of justice and the consequences of their actions. Some of the events described are dark and may upset younger readers, but these scenes all highlight the main themes. Long Way Down is an excellent story that presents the power of choice and compassion in the lives of everyone, including the people we never get the chance to meet. Fans of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol will appreciate the similarities that appear in Long Way Down. While Reynolds doesn’t mold his story around the Christmas season, both stories show how one event can drastically change a person’s life.  Readers can also find Long Way Down in graphic novel format.

Sexual Content

  • Will and Shawn’s mom prayed that Shawn “wouldn’t get Leticia pregnant.”
  • Shawn gives Will some of his cologne and said that “[Will’s] first girlfriend—/ would like it.”
  • A girl enters the elevator, and Will describes her as “Fine as heaven… [Will] was/ walking [his] eyes/ up her legs,/ the ruffle and fold/ of her flower/ dress, her/ arms, her/ neck, her/ cheek, her/ hair.”
  • Will doesn’t want to flirt with the girl in the elevator because “it’s hard to think about/ kissing and killing/ at the same time.”
  • The girl knows Will’s name. Will thinks, “if a girl says she knows you/ but ain’t never met her/ then she’s been/ watching you./ Clockin’ you./ Checkin/ you.” He continues to “load up [his] flirts.”
  • The mystery girl’s name is Dani; she and Will were childhood friends. Dani says to Will, “You remember, on this day,/ I kissed you?”

Violence

  • Will’s brother Shawn “was shot/ and killed.” Will has flashes where he describes Shawn’s death. Once, Will narrates, “And then there were shots./ Everybody /ran, /ducked, /hid, / tucked/ themselves tight . . . the buzz of a bullet,/ ain’t meet us.”
  • Will lists off “The Rules” for when someone is killed in their neighborhood. The third rule is “If someone you love/ gets killed,/ find the person/ who killed/ them and/ kill them.”
  • Shawn’s side of the bedroom is all neat and clean except for one drawer that “was jacked up on purpose to keep [Will] and Mom out/ and Shawn’s gun in.”
  • Will thinks that Shawn’s so-called friend, Carlson Riggs, shot Shawn. Will has a few theories for why, including that Carlson moved and joined a gang called Dark Suns. Will thinks Carlson shot Shawn because Shawn crossed into their turf “as the corner store/ that sells that special soap/ my mother sent Shawn/ out to get for her the/ day before yesterday.”
  • Will plans to kill Carlson with Shawn’s gun. Will would “pull my/ shirt over my mouth and nose/ and do it.”
  • While playing in the park, Dani was shot and killed by unnamed gunmen. “Gunshots,/ she said . . . Dani said her body burned/ and all she wanted to do was/ jump outside of herself,/ swing to somewhere else.”
  • Will saw Dani die. “Her eyes wide, the brightness/ dimming. Her mouth, open./ Bubble gum/ and blood.”
  • Another ghost enters the elevator and accosts Will. “Two large hands . . . snatched fistfuls of my shirt,/ yoking me by the neck,/ holding me there until/ the elevator door closed.”
  • Uncle Mark videotaped everything he could, including, “gang fights,/ block parties.”
  • In order to take Uncle Mark’s drug-dealing corner, a guy killed him. Will says, “Unfortunately,/ [Uncle Mark] never shot nothing/ ever again./ But my father did.”
  • Will narrates, “Shawn always said/ our dad was killed/ for killing the man/ who killed our uncle./ Said he was at a pay/ phone, probably talking/ to Mom, when a guy/ walked up on him,/ put pistol to head . . . But that was the end/ of that story.”
  • Will’s dad tells Will about how he killed Uncle Mark’s killer. Will’s dad says, “Hood over my head./ Gun from my waist/ and by the time he saw me/ I was already squeezing.” Later Will’s dad discovered that he killed the wrong guy.
  • Will’s dad takes Will’s gun and puts it up to Will’s head. “Pop stood over me,/ the gun pressed against/ the side of my face.” Will freaks out and Pop backs up, giving the gun back to Will.
  • A ghost named Frick enters the elevator. Buck says, “This is the man/ who murdered me.”
  • Frick “shot [Buck]/ twice/ in the stomach,/ in the street.”  Frick was only supposed to rob Buck, but Buck “swings at [Frick]… I got scared./ So I pulled/ the trigger.”
  • To be a Dark Sun, one must have “a cigarette burn under the right eye” and rob, beat, or kill someone.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Buck smokes a cigarette in the elevator. Buck offers one to Dani, who takes “one/ from the box.”
  • Uncle Mark is seen in family photos with a “cigarette tucked/ behind ear.” He also smokes in the elevator.
  • Will says of smoking, “I don’t smoke./ Shit is gross.”
  • Uncle Mark lost his camera. To get another, he decided “to sell [drugs] for one day. . . Uncle Mark/ took a corner,/ pockets full/ of rocks to/ become rolls.” One day turned into months.
  • Will’s Mom “cried and drank” herself to sleep.
  • Will talks about Buck. Will remembers that Buck was “a small-time hustler,/ dime bags on the corner” until Will’s dad was killed.

Language

  • Profanity is used often. Profanity includes damn, asshole, and hell.
  • The word “fuck” is used once. Shawn has his gold chain on him when he’s shot. Will says about the chain, “Them fuckers ain’t even/ snatch it.”
  • After Shawn’s death, Will sees himself in the mirror and says “I looked and/ felt like/ shit.”

Supernatural

  • A childhood friend of Shawn’s, Buck, appears in the elevator. Buck is a ghost because he was shot and killed years previous. When Buck smokes, there’s “Fire./ Smoke./ But no ash.” As new people enter the elevator, it becomes clear that several ghosts are visiting Will to give him guidance and warnings.

Spiritual Content

  • Will thinks about God and says, “I swear sometimes/ it feels like God/ be flashing photos/ of his children,/ awkward,/ amazing,/ tucked in his wallet/ for the world to see… God ain’t/ no pushy parent/ so he just folds/ and snaps/ us shut.”
  • Buck’s stepfather was a preacher, “praying for anyone,/ helping everyone.”

by Alli Kestler

 

My Plain Jane

There has been a murder at Lowood school, and aspiring writer Charlotte Brontë is on a mission to uncover the culprit. When an agent from the Society for the Relocation of Wayward Spirits shows up to interrogate the ghost of Mr. Brocklehurst, Charlotte is convinced that she can be of assistance. However, the mysterious Mr. Blackwood seems more interested in talking to her friend Jane Eyre than solving the case. Rumors of romance quickly spread through the school, but Charlotte can’t help but hope this problem might be supernatural in nature. After all, that would make a much better story.

As the star agent at the Society, Alexander Blackwood uses his rare ability to see ghosts to help him capture and relocate particularly pesky spirits. However, his real goal is to find whoever is responsible for his father’s murder and enact his revenge. With royal funding being cut and seers dying in the line of duty, it’s up to Alexander and his woefully incompetent assistant Branwell to keep the Society afloat. The last thing he expected was to discover an unusually powerful seer while out on a routine relocation. Now in order to save the Society, Alexander needs to convince Jane Eyre to join as an agent…a task that is much easier said than done.

Jane Eyre might have the ability to see ghosts, but she has absolutely no interest in becoming a Society seer. Some of her best friends are ghosts, and she would never dream of forcefully relocating them. Instead, she’s taken a job as a governess at Thornfield Hall under the employment of the enigmatic Mr. Rochester. While Jane finds herself falling for the brooding master of the house, Charlotte and Alexander accidentally uncover some disturbing supernatural secrets that have the potential to put both Jane and the entirety of England in danger.

In this twist on Charlotte Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre, co-authors Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows take readers on a wild, slightly spooky, romp through pre-Victorian England. You don’t have to have read Jane Eyre to thoroughly enjoy all the haunted hijinks, but good-humored fans of the classic will likely take pleasure in the ways that My Plain Jane pokes fun at its source material.

The always-curious Charlotte and charmingly grumpy Alexander make a compelling pair as they attempt to get to the bottom of an increasingly complex mystery, but it’s Jane herself that I believe readers will find themselves rooting for as she discovers that even very small and plain people can be very powerful when they let themselves be.

Sexual Content

  • Charlotte and Jane are both fascinated by the idea of boys and, despite not having the best of prospects, “they could still imagine themselves being swept off their feet by handsome strangers who would look past their poverty and plainness and see something worthy of love.”
  • Jane thinks that she wouldn’t call Alexander handsome because his jaw is too square and his hair too long. The narrators explain that “In the pre-Victorian age, [a] truly handsome man should be pale—because being out in the sun was for peasants—with a long, oval-shaped face, a narrow jaw, a small mouth, and a pointy chin.”
  • Jane considers herself to be quite plain-looking, but “to ghosts, however she was the epitome of beauty. This left Jane to believe that something was seriously askew in the afterlife.”
  • Just like all the other ghosts, Helen thinks that Jane is beautiful, but Jane thinks, “it was Helen, with her porcelain complex, blue eyes, and long golden hair, who would have turned heads if she were still alive.”
  • Helen tells Jane that she’s too beautiful to be a governess because “you’re so lovely that the master of the house wouldn’t be able to help falling in love with you.”
  • When Alexander arrives at Lowood, the girls are excited because they don’t usually see boys. They immediately decide that he is there to court one of the teachers. “This is like a real live romance novel,” one girl said. “I can’t stand the tension. Who will he choose?”
  • Charlotte doesn’t believe the rumor that Alexander proposed to Jane. “Charlotte believed in love at first sight, of course—she dreamed that one day, at some unexpected moment, such a thing might even happen to her—but she firmly disapproved of marriage at first sight.”
  • An argument between Jane and Charlotte starts a new rumor at Lowood “that Charlotte Brontë was also madly in love with Mr. Blackwood, and she and Jane Eyre would now be forced to compete for the man’s affections.”
  • Jane describes Mr. Rochester as having “the most handsome face she’d ever seen. Pale and oval in shape, sideburns all the way down to his pointed chin (which would technically make it a beard) and framing the most perfectly tiny lips she’d ever beheld.”
  • The narrators defend Jane falling for Rochester by explaining that her perception of men was “gleaned mostly from books and art that tended to glorify tall, dark, and brooding ones. The broodier the better. And Mr. Rochester was among the broodiest.”
  • Jane admits her feelings for Mr. Rochester to Charlotte and tells her, “he made me love him without even looking at me.”
  • Charlotte is a little disappointed that Mr. Rochester might be a murderer because it would “make him entirely inappropriate as a knight in shining armor for Jane.”
  • During an argument, Alexander tells Charlotte, “You should stop poking your cute button nose where it does not belong.”
  • Charlotte bursts into Alexander’s apartment unannounced and catches him in a compromising situation. “He was wearing trousers, thank the heavens. But she’d obviously interrupted him in the middle of shaving—there were still traces of shaving cream on his face. His hair was wet and gleaming, dripping onto his bare shoulders. His bare shoulders. Because he was not wearing a shirt. Which meant, by pre-Victorian standards, anyway, he was more or less completely naked.”
  • Charlotte gets bored while reading the weddings and obituaries page of the newspaper and imagines more dramatic stories behind them, referencing several classic novels. She muses for example, “Mr. Edgar Linton of Thrushcross Grange, would like to announce his engagement to the lovely Miss Catherine Earnshaw, the wedding to take place on the twenty-first of September, even though the lady would much rather marry a ruffian named Heathcliffe. But she shall forego her passion in order to secure social ambition.”
  • Alexander and Charlotte disrupt the wedding of Mr. Rochester and a possessed Jane, claiming that Rochester is already married. They read a letter from Mr. Mason that says, “Edward Fairfax Rochester was married to my sister Bertha Antoinetta Mason, daughter of Jonas Mason, merchant, and Antoinetta, his wife, at St. Mary’s Church, Spanish Town, Jamaica.” Mr. Mason claims that his sister is still alive and that he saw her himself three weeks prior.
  • Rochester tells Jane that she is the love of his life, but that they don’t need to be married. He suggests they move to the south of France to live as brother and sister. “Jane, we would have separate living compartments, and we would only spare a kiss on the cheek for birthdays.”
  • Branwell offers to marry Jane despite not loving her, telling her it could be an arrangement between friends. She declines his offer, telling him, “Well, that’s just the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me! At least since the last idiot who followed it up with trying to kill me.”
  • Charlotte is overwhelmed by her emotions after being told that Alexander is dead, but she doesn’t understand why because “What she’d felt for Mr. Blackwood hadn’t been romance, as Charlotte had previously defined romance. There had been no stolen glances—not that she would have been able to see them. No flirtations. No tortured yearning of her soul, the way Jane felt for Mr. Rochester.”
  • Charlotte and Branwell decide to go search for Alexander’s ghost. On the way, Charlotte practices the following speech in her mind: “Mr. Blackwood. Alexander. I would like to inform you that you are (you were, I suppose, so sorry) the keenest, most attractive, most intelligent and thoroughly engaging boy that I have ever met, and I am filled with sorrow on account of your untimely demise.”
  • Wellington incorrectly assumes that Jane and Alexander are in love. Jane corrects him, saying, “I have a thing for Rochester. It’s not healthy.”
  • When Charlotte dies briefly after having been shot, Alexander finally admits his feelings for her. “‘I care about you Miss Brontë,’ he rasped. ‘And now I’m too late in saying it.’”
  • Charlotte realizes that after her brush with death, she has gained the ability to see ghosts. Alexander gives her his Society mask, and she is so excited that she kisses him. “Before he could finish speaking her name, she pushed herself up a little and pressed her lips against his. His eyes widened in surprise, and immediately she backed away from him, giving an embarrassed cry.”
  • Charlotte tries to apologize for being too forward, and Alexander cuts her off with a second kiss. “It was the same as her kiss to him—just a touch of his lips to hers. A question. A hope. A promise.”
  • Charlotte reads Jane an excerpt from her book, the “reader, I married him” passage from Jane Eyre, and Jane tells her, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard a story that’s so perfectly romantic.”
  • Charlotte is a little embarrassed at the thought of Alexander reading her story because “so much of what she’d written about Jane Eyre’s feelings for Mr. Rochester had been inspired by what she herself felt for a certain Mr. Blackwood.”
  • Jane and Charlotte meet Mr. Edward Rochester the Second, the Rochesters’ age-appropriate son, who Jane is immediately attracted to. “There was something so entirely familiar about his dark, intelligent eyes. A certain brooding intensity. She was overcome by the sudden notion that this boy possessed the ability not only to see her, standing there awkwardly in the blue dress and her paint-smeared smock gazing up at him, but into her as well. Like he could see into her very soul.”

Violence

  • Brocklehurst, the very cruel man who runs Lowood school, has been murdered during his most recent inspection. “He’d settled down by the fire in the parlor, devoured the heaping plate of cookies that Miss Temple had so kindly offered him, and promptly keeled over in the middle of afternoon tea. Poisoned. The tea, evidently, not the cookies. Although if he’d been poisoned by the cookies the girls at Lowood school felt it would’ve served him right.”
  • While Mr. Brocklehurst was in charge of the school, many girls died from the Graveyard Disease. “There are many terms for this popular illness over the course of history: the Affliction, consumption, tuberculosis, etc., but during this period the malady was most often referred to as ‘the Graveyard Disease,’ because if you were unlucky enough to catch it, that’s where you were headed.”
  • Charlotte suspects that Jane might have been the one who murdered Mr. Brocklehurst. Jane is known for disliking the man, and when she comments on how much better life at Lowood is without him, Charlotte observes, “There was something so satisfied about the tone in Jane’s voice when she said it. It seemed practically a confession.”
  • Jane watches two agents from the Society for the Relocation of Wayward Spirits confront a ghost known as The Shrieking Lady, who is causing significant destruction in a pub. “The agent in charge leapt nimbly through the air and landed beside the ghost. ‘Get the watch! It’s—’ But he couldn’t finish the order because the redhead clumsily lunged forward and dove right through her and landed in a pile next to Jane’s hiding place behind the bar.” The full altercation is described over about seven pages.
  • Jane recalls the night that her friend Helen Burns died. “Jane clasped her friend’s hand tightly, trying to ignore how cold Helen’s fingers were. They fell asleep like that, and when she woke in the morning, Helen’s body was pale and still. And standing above it was Helen’s ghost.”
  • Alexander has been trying to solve his father’s murder for the past fourteen years, “but he didn’t have much to go on at the moment, only the fuzzy memories of a frightened young boy. Which made revenge quite difficult.”
  • Helen says that on the day she met Jane, she got in trouble with a teacher who “struck [Helen’s] neck with a bundle of sticks.”
  • Jane says that before she befriended Helen, she had formulated a plan to “escape Lowood and beat [her] Aunt Reed with a very large stick.”
  • The Duke of Wellington instructs Alexander to recruit Jane into the Society because two of their four seers have been “killed in the line of duty.”
  • Jane discovers in the middle of the night that Mr. Rochester’s bed is set on fire. “…the flames had grown onto the canopy, and one burning piece of fabric had dropped on the bed, igniting the blanket.”
  • Helen gets so angry that people are calling Jane plain that it causes a destructive physical reaction. “A vase flew across the room, whizzing past Rochester’s head before it shattered against a wall.”
  • Alexander remembers the day his father died. “He’d heard the argument between the killer and his father. He’d felt his father’s anger as the killer left the house in a fury. And he remembered the impacts of his footfalls as he, a young boy, went racing after the killer. Then. The explosion.”
  • Alexander is convinced that Mr. Rochester is his father’s murderer and tells Charlotte, “I should simply kill him. It’s what he deserves. Everything in my life has been leading up to this point.”
  • Mason, one of Mr. Rochester’s guests, gets stabbed during the night and Jane is left to take care of him. “Mr. Mason lay on the sofa there, looking pale and drenched in sweat. A ball of bloody rags lay beside him, the freshest still bright red.”
  • Branwell accidentally touches the teacup holding the spirit of Mr. Brocklehurst and becomes possessed. Mr. Brocklehurst attacks Alexander with the teacup. “Alexander tackled Brocklehurst and grabbed for the teacup, but the china bashed against his temple and made him blink back stars. It was a shockingly sturdy teacup.”
  • Rochester attempts to propose to Jane, telling her, “I believe there is a string below your rib, and it stretches across class and age to me, and it is attached beneath my rib. And if you find another suitable position, and leave me, you will pull it out and I will bleed.”
  • Mason claims that his sister Bertha, Mr. Rochester’s wife, is still alive. “She’s mad perhaps, but who wouldn’t be mad after what he’s done to her. He’s had her locked in the attic for fifteen years.”
  • A possessed Jane attempts to strangle Charlotte after she tries to convince her not to marry Mr. Rochester. “Jane squeezed harder. Dark spots swam before Charlotte’s eyes. The world was fading. She gave one last desperate push at her attacker…and her fingers caught the pearl necklace around Jane’s slender neck. She pulled and the necklace broke free.”
  • Jane observes Bertha Rochester, who has been locked in an attic for fifteen years. “She was thin to the point of being malnourished. There were scratches and cuts up and down her arms, and her head hung low as if she were asleep.”
  • When Jane rejects Mr. Rochester, he tries to attack her and Charlotte. Alexander fights Mr. Rochester so that the girls have time to escape. “[Alexander] attacked using a new move called the Three Ladies’ Luck, thinking his opponent might not know how to counter it, but Rochester was clearly a man who’d continued his sword studies throughout his life, because two sharp clacks of the blades and Alexander was blocked.” The fight is described over six pages.
  • Wellington comes to the Brontë residence and tells Charlotte, Branwell, and Jane that Alexander is dead. Despite Wellington being the one who attempted to kill Alexander, he answers yes when Jane asks, “So Mr. Rochester killed him?”
  • Charlotte and Branwell hear a variety or rumors about what happened to Mr. Rochester when his house burned down, including, “Mr. Rochester was most certainly alive. He’d nobly tried to save his wife from the fire, but she’d leapt to her death from the roof of the house.”
  • During the confrontation with Wellington in the throne room, Alexander threatens him with a gun. Wellington points his own gun at the King and says he’ll murder him. “I’ve done it before. George III was such a bother, and David here won’t mind—he’ll just inhabit the next in line for the throne. I already have that arranged.”
  • Charlotte and Branwell struggle to get the ring talisman off of the king’s finger. Charlotte becomes impatient and grabs a pair of shears. “Without another moment’s hesitation she knelt beside the king, positioned the shears, and snipped the finger off. The ring (and the accompanying finger) skittered across the carpet. The king’s eyes rolled up, and he went limp. Charlotte used his coat and string from a nearby velvet curtain to bind his hand. She’d read something about amputation in a book once. She felt a bit woozy on account of all the blood, but she soldiered on.”
  • Wellington needs Jane to cooperate with him because of her Beacon powers, so he can’t kill her; however, he can threaten her friends. “I will start with Mr. Blackwood, who was like a son to me. And then I will kill Mr. Rochester, who was like a brother to me. And I will not stop there. You see, Miss Eyre, I have come to discover you have quite a few people in your life who mean something to you.”
  • A fight breaks out at the Society headquarters. Grace Poole attempts to strangle Mrs. Rochester. Shots are fired, and Charlotte is caught in the crossfire. “The group turned toward the sound just in time to see Charlotte there, clutching her chest. Then she collapsed.” Wellington tries to grab a gun, but Mr. Rochester shoots him. The description of the fight lasts five pages.
  • Jane admits to Charlotte that the murder of Mr. Brocklehurst was a group effort. “Miss Temple gave him the tea. Miss Smith made the tea. Miss Scatcherd procured the poison.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • When Jane enters a pub looking for a ghost, the bartender gives her a glass of brandy on the house. “For a moment Jane looked utterly scandalized that he should offer her such a thing. Then she snatched up the glass and took a sip. The liquid fire seared down her esophagus.”
  • When the Society agents discover Jane hiding behind the bar, she lies and tells them, “I was drunk. From the drinking of…the brandy.”

Language

  • Jane says, “Where was the blooming—pardon her French—Society?”
  • The Shrieking Lady calls her husband Frank a “hornswoggler.”
  • Jane tells Mr. Rochester that he is a manipulative liar, “so no, I don’t think I will live with you in the South of France as sodding brother and sister!”
  • Rochester calls Wellington a traitor and a “two-faced, serpent-tongued blaggart.”
  • Wellington tries to get Jane and Charlotte on his side, and they both tell him to “go to hell.”

Supernatural

  • After an embarrassing incident with a ghost in 1778, King George III founded the Royal Society for the Relocation of Wayward Spirits, “a team made up of every kind of person he thought could help him be rid of these irksome ghosts: priests who specialized in exorcisms, doctors with some knowledge of the occult, philosophers, scientists, fortune-tellers, and anybody, in general, who dabbled in the supernatural.”
  • Charlotte asks Jane if she believes in ghosts and then tells her, “I believe in ghosts. I think I may have seen one myself once, back in the cemetery at Haworth a few years ago. At least I thought I did.”
  • Charlotte thinks that the Society ought to visit Lowood school because so many girls have died there over the years (including her two older sisters) that “The school must be bustling with ghosts.”
  • Jane has been able to see ghosts ever since she was a child. Her aunt locked her in the Red Room, and Jane was so afraid that her heart stopped. “She literally died of fright, if only for a moment. And when she opened her eyes again her late uncle was kneeling next to her.”
  • Jane goes to the pub where the Society is supposed to be relocating a spirit, and she runs into a ghost known as The Shrieking Lady. “The woman’s hair was raven black, floating all around her head like she was caught in an underwater current. Her skin was almost entirely translucent, but her eyes glowed like coals.”
  • Alexander “bops” The Shrieking Lady on the head with a pocket watch and “A frigid blast of air blew Jane’s hair from her face. The silver pocket watch glowed, and then, to Jane’s horror, sucked the ghost in.”
  • Jane spends most of her time with Helen Burns, who she describes as “Her best friend and favorite ghost in all the world.”
  • When Alexander arrives at Lowood, he finds himself surrounded by an unusual number of ghosts, “twenty-six of whom were young girls, and one of whom wanted his murder solved.”
  • One of the ghosts tells Alexander that Mr. Brocklehurst killed her. “He locked me in a closet for five hours. By the time anyone came to find me I was dead.”
  • A ghost can be contained inside a talisman, an object of significance to them, in order to be relocated. Society agents always wear gloves because “touching a talisman could lead to a possession by the ghost trapped within.”
  • Helen is afraid of running into a Gyrtrash, “a northern ghost that appeared as a horse or a very large dog.”
  • Helen is startled by Mr. Rochester’s horse and momentarily becomes visible, startling the horse and prompting Rochester to ask Jane, “what are you, witches?”
  • Alexander’s assistant, Bromwell, accidentally invites a ghost into their carriage. It causes some ruckus. “The ghost opened his mouth and a stream of flies buzzed out. Alexander had to confess he’d never seen that before. Then the ghost sprang through the roof of the carriage and into the driver’s seat. He let out a bone chilling cackle. The horses reared and bolted, taking the carriage with them.”
  • Alexander’s boss, the Duke of Wellington, tells him that he believes Jane is a special kind of seer called a Beacon. “A Beacon, my boy, is a seer with, shall we say, extra abilities. Our previous Beacon could command ghosts with a word. From what I understand, ghosts often comment on the Beacon’s attractiveness, as though there’s some sort of supernatural glow about them visible only to ghosts.”
  • Bromwell explains to Charlotte that Seers gain their abilities after they die temporarily. “Seers are rare—not everyone who dies comes back with such an ability. Which is why the Society seeks us out.”
  • After his father’s death, Alexander spent much time looking for his father’s ghost. He was unsuccessful because “Not everyone became a ghost, of course. And it was better wasn’t it, that a spirit moved on to find peace?”
  • When Jane does not immediately accept Mr. Rochester’s proposal, he forces a pearl necklace talisman around her neck. “The pearls were a talisman that held a spirit. And that spirit now inhabited Jane’s body. Which meant Jane’s spirit was squeezed to the side in the most uncomfortable and frustrating (for Jane) manner.”
  • Alexander is sent to collect the ghost of Mr. Mitten, a man who worked for the Society before he died. The ghost is strangely cooperative. “Cautiously [Alexander] approached the ghost, half expecting some sort of fight. But Mr. Mitten held perfectly still while Alexander tapped the signet ring on his head. Immediately, the ghost was sucked in. The gold trembled and glowed, and that was that. David Mitten was trapped in the ring, ready to deliver to Wellington.”
  • While Mr. Rochester attempts to explain why he had Jane possessed, Helen gets so angry that her head “burst into flames.”
  • During their swordfight, Alexander spots a mysterious key hanging around Rochester’s neck. “Alexander sashed the sword to the left, cutting through the chain. The key went skittering across the floor, and abruptly, the ghost of a younger man ripped from Rochester’s body.” This is the ghost of Rochester’s older brother, who had been possessing him for the past fifteen years.
  • Alexander confronts Wellington after discovering he was behind his father’s murder and the possession of Mr. Rochester. The two come to blows, resulting in Alexander being tossed into the river Thames. “Wellington bashed Alexander over the head with the lockbox. Stars popped in his vision, and blood poured from a gash. And though Alexander scrambled to fight, he went down quickly.” The description of the fight is about a page long.
  • Alexander nearly drowns in the Thames, but is rescued by Bertha Rochester and some ghosts. “A tall, radiant woman had approached the water, her hair gleaming, her skin glowing. She’d drawn the attention of every single ghost in the Thames, which meant when she asked about a young man, they were able to lead the way.”
  • The Rochesters explain how Wellington had the former king possessed before he died. Alexander recalls how he put the ghost of David Mitten in the current king’s signet ring and realizes, “He’s going to have Mr. Mitten possess the King of England.”
  • Branwell learns the truth about what happened to Mr. Rochester and Alexander from the ghost of Mr. Rochester’s father. “He’s been haunting this pub for years, apparently, ever since Mr. Rochester, the brother, died and took possession of Mr. Rochester—the one we know.”
  • Jane is able to give the king the ability to see ghosts by reading out of The Book of the Dead. “When she had finished, the king glanced around the room, noticing nothing out of the ordinary until he looked behind him. There was the tree ghost, glancing around the room as well.”
  • Rochester claims that Wellington keeps The Book of the Dead “locked in a room guarded by a three-headed dog, which drops into a pit of strangling vines, followed by a life-or-death life-size game of chess, which opens into a room with a locked door and a hundred keys on wings.” This is a reference to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
  • Jane and Mrs. Rochester read an incantation from The Book of the Dead to allow everyone at court to see ghosts as a distraction so they can save the king from his possession. Charlotte observes several interesting ghosts, including a red-haired girl. “She was dressed in a gorgeous embroidered, jewel-encrusted gown and an Elizabethan headdress. In her hand she held a book. She smiled sweetly at Jane, and reached for the man beside her, who, to Charlotte’s total astonishment, suddenly turned into a horse.” These are Jane and Gifford from My Lady Jane, the companion novel to this book.
  • Jane and Mrs. Rochester use their combined Beacon powers to control the talismans Wellington has collected and use them as weapons. “They scrambled toward each other, and [they] clasped hands. And that was when the entire room began to convulse with rattling talismans.”
  • While she is briefly dead, Charlotte’s ghost watches as Alexander cries over her body. Jane scolds her and tells her to get back into her body. “Alexander sat up just in time to see Miss Brontë’s ghost sniffle. ‘Shh, Jane, I’m trying to listen.’ But she disappeared back into her body.”
  • After a heartfelt conversation with Jane, Helen decides to move on. “‘I better not see you for eighty years.’ Tears sparkled on Miss Burn’s cheeks as she looked up and up, and suddenly a wide smile formed—and she was gone.”

Spiritual Content

  • The King of England says that ghosts should move on because “We must believe that the god who put us here, with families and companions and food and beauty… he has a place for us when we are no longer living. We must have this faith. The faith that will again be with those we’ve lost.”
  • Alexander reads passages out of Charlotte’s story that are actual quotes from the original Jane Eyre novel, including, “Do you think I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! I have as much soul as you and full of as much heart. And if God gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God’s feet, equal—as we are.”

by Evalyn Harper

Piper

Maggie lives in a small village in the middle of a dark forest. Because she is deaf, the people in her small village have shunned her. An elderly woman, Agathe, is the only person who has shown Maggie kindness. In the evening, Maggie uses her imagination to weave stories that Agathe writes down. Despite Agathe’s company, Maggie dreams of finding her fairytale love.

The village is plagued by rats, who are devouring the food and biting the people. A mysterious Piper comes to town, promising to rid the village of rats. Maggie is captivated by the Piper and thinks she has finally met her true love. However, Maggie soon discovers that the Piper has a dark side. The boy of Maggie’s dreams might just turn out to be her worst nightmare…

The graphic novel’s artwork is amazing and beautiful. Jeff Stokely uses a variety of colors that help enhance the scene’s mood. Each illustration highlights the character’s emotions, and the village is painted in vivid detail. Piper’s artwork is by far the best part of the graphic novel; each picture tells so much of the story in detail.

While the artwork is fantastic, both the characters and the plot are underdeveloped. Maggie’s backstory is confusing, and the reason the village shunned her is unclear. Maggie is deaf but has taught herself how to read lips. However, in most of the panels she isn’t looking at the person who is talking, yet can somehow understand their words. Even though the readers should empathize with Maggie, she is so underdeveloped and predictable that her story doesn’t evoke an emotional reaction.

The plot jumps around from Maggie, to the village, and then flashbacks of the past. In addition, Maggie makes up stories about the town folk. The story’s transitions are often awkward and confusing. So little information is given about the Piper that he is difficult to understand. The conclusion is quick and leaves the reader with too many questions.

As a retelling of the Pied Piper, Piper is a dark story that lacks depth. While readers will enjoy the artwork, the actual story and characters are not memorable. However, the story does touch on the theme of greed. When the villagers refuse to pay the Piper for his services, one person says, “So much evil is traced back to greed. And greed makes us choose what we believe.”

Readers who want to add a little fright to their life may want to leave Piper on the shelf. If you’re looking for a spectacularly spooky story, Nightbooks by J.A. White and City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwa would make an excellent addition to your reading list.

Sexual Content

  • Someone asks the rat catcher, “Do you think the rats stop fornicating when you get distracted?”
  • Maggie kisses the Piper.

Violence

  • Rats infest a village. They destroy food and crops. They also bite a baby; the illustration shows the crying child with a bloody bite on the arm.
  • Maggie tells a story about boys that lost a coin. They couldn’t find the coin “so they put their heads in the holes! Their heads become stuck in the holes. The rabbit mistook their ugly faces for cabbage. And it was very hungry.” The last illustration shows the rabbit’s huge teeth.
  • Any angry woman flicks a seed and hits Maggie in the head. Maggie runs away crying.
  • When Maggie and her brother were children, a group of boys shoved them into a barrel, shut the lid, and threw it into a river. A man jumped in to save the children, but Maggie’s brother died.
  • A drunk man yells at Maggie. The man grabs her, pinches her face, and puts his finger in her ear. Maggie falls to the ground and begins crying.
  • After the man yells at Maggie, the Piper uses a dart to put the drunk man to sleep. The Piper throws the man into the river by the water wheel. The next day, someone says, “I warned him, if he was going to stumble about drunk at night, stay away from the river. I was not even thinking of the water wheel.” Another man says, “I never imagined it could take a man’s head off his shoulders.” The illustration shows the man being thrown into the water.
  • A boy gets his shirt caught in a grinding stone. The Piper hears the boy’s yells. The Piper holds a knife against the boy’s throat and says, “It’s not what you did to me that makes me want to kill you.” Even though the Piper is upset that the boy was mean to Maggie, he cuts the boy free.
  • Angry that the village leaders refuse to pay him, the Piper uses his flute to lead the children out of the village. Maggie finds the children and takes them home.
  • The villagers burn the church with the Piper and “many many others” inside of it.

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • A man tries to poison the rats, but “it killed all the cats!”
  • When a strange man comes into the village, he says he can get rid of the rats for a price. When he tells his price, a man says, “You must have chugged your drink too quickly.”
  • Maggie tells a story about a blacksmith. His wife “shut him out of their home one winter evening after he’d been out drinking too many nights. In the morning she found him passed out on a stump.” The blacksmith was frozen.

Language

  • Maggie tells the story about a blacksmith. “The drunken fool pissed himself frozen to the stump.”
  • When the village children disappear, one of the women says, “Oh God!”

Supernatural

  • The Piper plays a “cursed flute. Its magic will make anything obey.”
  • The Piper plays his flute and leads the village rats into the river where they die. Four panels show the rats’ death.

Spiritual Content

  • After a wedding, the guests dance near the church’s graveyard. The priest says, “I would think those who have passed would be pleased by the joy of the living… The Lord knows they deserve one evening of merriment.”
  • Maggie’s caretaker says, “We should pray for the well-being of everyone, but it is great fun to imagine how they may seal their own fate.”
  • A man who is cleaning the church window says, “I pray my soul is always like this window, pure and clean.”
  • When a man expresses his fear of the Piper, the priest says, “Ephesians calls us to be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might…not our own strength, or that of a magical flute.”
  • Maggie tells the Piper, “I will pray that they give you what was promised.”

Erak’s Ransom

What does it mean to earn the Silver Oakleaf? So few men have done so. For Will, a mere boy and apprentice to the most difficult Ranger to please, that symbol of honor has long seemed out of reach. If he is to ever earn it, he must prove himself in ways he never imagined.

Now, in the wake of Araluens’ uneasy truce with the raiding Skandians, there comes word that the Skandian leader, Erak, has been captured by a desert tribe. The Rangers, along with a small party of warriors, are sent to free him, but the desert is like nothing these warriors have seen before. Strangers in a strange land, they are brutalized by sandstorms, tricked by one tribe that plays by its own rules, and surprisingly befriended by another. Like a mirage, nothing is as it seems. Yet one thing is constant: the bravery of the Rangers.

Erak’s Ransom goes back in time, before the fifth and sixth installments of the series. When Erak is taken captive, the Skandians ask for the Araluens’ help. For the first time ever, Halt, Horace, Will, and Evelyn travel together. The interplay between the characters is interesting. Readers will appreciate seeing how people from different cultures can respectfully work together without having to hide their beliefs.

Like the previous books in the series, the story ends with an epic battle. However, one of the best aspects of Erak’s Ransom is the political negotiating, the clashing of beliefs, and the honor of desert tribes. Even though the story’s plot is complicated and there is a huge cast of characters, readers familiar with the characters will not have difficulty understanding the plot. The Araluens, Skandians, and two desert tribes come together to defeat an evil raiding party. Each group has a different strength, and all contribute to freeing Erak and defeating evil.

Erak’s Ransom is another fast-paced story that readers will not want to put down. Although male friendship is highlighted, Evelyn’s strong personality also comes to the forefront and shows how women can be capable leaders. Erak’s Ransom will leave readers wishing they could sit around the campfire and have a conversation with the Araluens and the Skandians because at this point in the series, they seem like trusted friends.

Sexual Content

  • At Halt’s wedding, “there had been the inevitable tearful flouncing and shrill recriminations when the girlfriend of one of the younger warriors from Sir Rodney’s Battleschool had caught her boyfriend kissing another girl in a dark corridor.”

Violence

  • A group of men finds a caravan that was slaughtered. “Horses, mules, camels and men were scattered about the desert, lifeless shapes surrounded by darkening patches of dried blood that had soaked into the sand… The men and animals had been killed, and then hacked in a senseless frenzy. There was barely a body with just a single killing wound.”
  • Will shoots an arrow near Umar’s grandson. Angry, Umar’s “fist struck Will backhanded across the jaw. He staggered and fell, the bow dropping from his hands… Will, stunned by the blow, tried to regain his feet but a savage kick from Umar winded him and sent him sprawling again.” Umar stops when his wife yells at him.
  • While the Araluens, Skandians, and Arridis are traveling together, they are attacked. The group makes a shield wall. Gilan and Halt use their bows. “Already, half a dozen riderless horses were running wildly with the group charging from the front, their riders lying in crumpled heaps in the sand behind them… The battle became a heaving, shoving, hand-to-hand melee, with curved swords rising and falling, hacking and stabbing along the line. Men cried out in pain on both sides as they went down, then cried out again as comrades and foes trod them down in their efforts to reach the enemy.” Both sides lose men. The attack is described over four pages.
  • The Araluens, Skandians, and Arridis surrender. The leader of the other army imprisons those who will be valuable to sell as slaves. Everyone else is left without shoes and water. The leader says, “You’re brave enough now, boy, but wait ‘til your tongue is dry and swollen so large that it fills our throat so that you can hardly breathe. Wait ‘til your feet are torn and blistered by the heat and the rocks. Your eyes will be blinded by the glare of the sun and you’ll wish your leader had allowed me to kill you here, and now.”
  • The captives are bound, and “The guards mounted and herded their captives on foot toward the camp… Urged on by spear butts and curses, they stumbled on the uneven ground.” When the captives arrive at the camp, they see Erak. “…He was seated on the ground, chained between two noisy, complaining camels. His face was bruised and his hair matted with dried blood. One eye was almost closed and there were whip scores on his arms and back.”
  • Tualaghi forces the captives to walk for three days. “If anyone falls—and inevitably they did, since they were kept off balance by having their hands tied together in front of them—he was immediately surrounded by riders jabbing with lance points or striking down at them with the butts of their spears.” The men are bruised and sore by the time they arrive at their destination.
  • Halt upsets the Tualaghi leader. Two men grab Halt, “forcing him forward and down until he was on his knees in front of Yusal. The Tualaghi Aseish then rained closed-fist blows on Halt’s face, left and right, striking again and again until the Ranger’s face was cut and bleeding and his head lolled to one side… he crumbled to the sand, facedown, and semiconscious.”
  • When a woman looks at Yusal, he “had her savagely whipped.”
  • When the prisoners are taken to be executed, “there were those who chose to jeer at the prisoners and throw stones, clumps of earth or garbage at them.”
  • Will and Aloom try to find a vantage point so they can see the captives. Three of the enemies appear and “crowded upon him (Aloom), swords flashing, rising and falling as they attacked.” In order to help, Will jumps and “landed feet first on the shoulders of the Tualaghi leader. The man gave a cry of shock and pain and crumpled beneath the force of Will’s body. Will heard the snap of bones breaking somewhere, then a sickening thud as the bandit’s head slammed into the hard, rocky ground.”
  • During the fight with Will and Aloom, Will uses his saxe knife, and “the Tualaghi gave a short cry, half surprise, half pain, and sank back against the wall, his sword dropping from his hand…” The three Tualaghi are killed, and Aloom is severely injured and eventually dies from his wounds.
  • Will watches as Aloom “coughed and scarlet blood stained the front of his robe.” Will must leave Aloom in order to help the captives.
  • Will shoots the executioner. “Only then did those on the platform see what had been visible to the crowd in the square: the gray shafted arrow buried deep in the executioner’s chest.”
  • Will shoots an arrow at Yusal. The arrow “took him in the muscle of his upper left arm… He screamed in pain and fury…” Yusal flees, but “there were still armed Tualaghi all over the platform, threatening his friends.” Will shot arrows until “the guards began dropping with shrieks of agony and terror.”
  • A Tualaghi strikes his sword at Horace, and “a thin red line formed immediately, then blurred as blood began to well out of the cut… Horace simply brought the massive brass-pommeled hilt back in a short, savage stroke, thudding it into the man’s head.”
  • Evelyn uses her sling to fling a stone at Yusal. “A solid smacking sound could be heard clearly around the square. Then Yusal’s hands dropped and revealed a mask of blood covering his eyes and upper face, flowing down to soak into his blue veil… He fell full length to the hard ground below.” Evelyn uses her sling to drop another man. The man “doubled over, clutching his face and moaning in pain.”
  • Toshak, a Skandian traitor, tries to run from the fight. Erak “launched himself at Toshak, the sword swinging down in a blow that would have split the traitor down to the waist. There was a massive ringing clang as Toshak caught the blow on top of his double-bladed ax head… With a mighty roar, Erak used his left arm to thrust himself up from the cobbles while he drove the sword deep into Toshak’s unprotected body.” Toshak dies. The battle is described over three chapters.

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • Wine and barrels of ale are served at Halt’s wedding.
  • When a couple of Skandians meet a desert people, one of them replies, “Don’t know how you all keep going without a good drink of ale… Settles the mind in the evenings, ale does.”
  • A dying man is given “a few drops of clear liquid” to relieve his pain.
  • At a celebration, the Skandians are given “brandy made from fermented dates and peaches.”

Language

  • The exclamation “Gorlog’s beard” is used occasionally. “Gorlog was a lesser Scandian deity who had a long beard, curved horns and fanglike teeth.”
  • “God’s above,” “good God,” and “my God” are used as exclamations a few times.
  • Several times someone is called an idiot. For example, Halt wonders why he needs to invite “the Iberian ambassador and his two idiot daughters to my wedding.”
  • Evelyn “frightened the devil out of” a guard.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • A diplomat thanks the lord for Evelyn’s character and courage.
  • A group of raiders are referred to as “the Forgotten of God.”
  • When Will begins a journey, he says, “I’ll see you in a few days.” The person replies, “I hope the god of journeys wills it so.”
  • When Will appeared, Halt “whispered a prayer of thanks.” Later, Halt puts his bound arm on the execution block and “prayed that his friend had got the message.”
  • The desert people “believed that djinns and devils and spirits all lived in these ancient mountains.”
  • The Skandians believe “that if they were to die in battle without a weapon in their hand, their soul would wander for all eternity.”
  • After Evelyn negotiates successfully, Halt says, “Lord forgive me, I’ve created a monster.”

As Brave as You

Genie has a lot of questions. So many questions, in fact, he keeps them all written in his notebook so he can look them up later. When their parents take Genie and his big brother, Ernie, to their grandparents’ house in rural Virginia, Genie has questions that even Google can’t answer. Like how did Grandpop lose his eyesight? Will Ma and Dad stay together? Why doesn’t Ernie want to learn how to shoot a gun?

As Brave as You tackles topics like masculinity, fear, and courage through the eyes of ten-year-old Genie. Although he is younger than Reynolds’s characters from other novels, Genie’s curiosity and kindness make him endearing rather than annoying. Genie’s narration style is filled with his quirks, including his endless questions and his often-humorous thoughts.

Readers will find that Genie is a good role model because he tries to do the right thing. When he makes mistakes, he feels guilty and eventually realizes that he must have the courage to try to make it right. For instance, Genie accidentally breaks an old toy firetruck that belonged to his late uncle. Genie recognizes that his Grandma is upset, and throughout the novel, he searches for parts to fix the firetruck. Through this and other trials, Genie learns that mistakes happen and that becoming a man means that he has to own up to those mistakes.

Genie’s grandparents, parents, and Ernie aid Genie on this journey, as many of them are also learning lessons about what it means to have courage. Grandpop and Genie’s father do not get along most of the novel, and they both are often too stubborn to talk about their past grievances with each other. At the end, they begin to fix their personal issues together. Readers can see that they must be courageous to look past their pride and hurt feelings.

As Brave as You shows that being a man is about having honesty, integrity, and courage rather than about being tough. As part of Ernie’s growth into manhood, Grandpop shows Ernie how to shoot a gun. Ernie shows disinterest, and Genie is unable to comprehend why. However, after an accident with the gun, Genie understands that sharing his fears and emotions is often more courageous than pretending to be tough or prideful. Although these lessons are featured throughout the book, they never come off as preachy.

Reynolds’s characters are relatable for people of all ages. Genie and the older characters learn many of the same lessons despite being at vastly different points in their lives. The story is not particularly fast-paced, but the relationships between the characters make up for the slower moments. As Brave as You is a great story about what it really means to grow up, face our worst fears, and learn from mistakes.

Sexual Content

  • Genie makes a distinction between him and his brother, Ernie. Genie “loved to watch Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. Ernie, on the other hand, liked to watch girls.”
  • Genie has a girlfriend named Shelley and a friend named Aaron. He wonders if in his absence, “[Shelley would] fold to [Aaron’s] flippin’ charm and kiss him. Of course, if she did, it would be a loaner kiss, Genie decided. A kiss to make up for the fact that he wasn’t there.”
  • After Grandma sets breakfast down in front of Grandpop, she “dodged him as he swatted at her butt on her way back to the counter for another plate.”
  • Genie observes his parents’ awkward interactions early in the book, and he knows that their marriage won’t last. In one of these interactions, his dad “leaned in and just grazed Ma’s cheek with his lips, awkwardly. It was friendly, but not…loving.”
  • Ernie “had broken up with his girlfriend, Keisha, a few weeks before” going to his grandparents’ house. Genie explains, “Well, really, she broke up with him. Dumped him for a dude from Flatbush named Dante, but everybody called him Two Train. That was his rap name. And when Keisha told Ernie that Two Train wrote raps about her, Ernie started sending her a text message every day, crappy love poems, ridiculous attempts at rhyming that would put his whole ‘cool’ thing at risk if anybody besides her, Genie, or his parents ever found out about them.”
  • Genie is disinterested in his brother’s attraction to various girls. Later, Ernie chatters on endlessly about how he hung out with Tess and how much he likes her. Ernie thinks, “And each time Ernie fell for a new girl, Genie’s cool, confident brother would become a goofy, googly-eyed fool.”
  • Ernie made a joke, and “Tess stared him down and sized him up in that way that meant she either wanted to punch him or kiss him.”

Violence

  • The day that Ernie and Genie’s parents had a huge fight, their neighbor Down the Street Donnie “had covered a quarter in snow and zinged it at Genie. Zapped him straight in the eye.” Ernie, seeing what happened, “commenced to karatisizing Down the Street Donnie, all the way… down the street.”
  • The first morning they are at their grandparents’ house, Ernie tries “to shove [Genie] off the bed with his knee.” Ma verbally reprimands Ernie, saying, “Ernie, cut it out.”
  • During a conversation, Dad playfully “threw a balled-up pair of socks at [Ernie]. Ernie chopped them away.”
  • Grandpop carries a pistol around in the back of his pants.
  • When Ernie and Genie’s father was young, the neighborhood bully was about to take whatever money he had. Their father’s older brother, Wood, then “came out of nowhere and whopped Cake [the neighborhood bully] in the back of the head with a book as hard as he could.” Cake was huge, and all this did was make him mad. Wood “came home with the blackest eye [Grandpop had] ever seen. And a busted lip. And he was limpin’.”
  • As an adult, Wood “beat [Cake] down” when he came home from basic training because “Wood could never let things go.”
  • Crab, Tess’s dad, goes hunting with his rifle on Genie’s grandparents’ land. Genie often hears gunshots when Crab is around.
  • Genie insinuates that if he ruined Ernie’s chances with Tess, Ernie would use Genie for karate practice. “Lots and lots of karate chops.”
  • Grandpop’s father committed suicide years back. He “had jumped in the James River.”
  • Grandpop teaches boys turning 14 years old how to shoot a gun ever since “a fourteen-year-old black boy named Emmett Till was killed for whistling at a white woman when Grandpop was younger. It scared him so badly.”
  • Genie talks about mousetraps, including “the part that breaks the mouse’s neck. Yikes.”
  • Crab holds up the squirrels he shot. Genie describes, “Dead squirrels, part gray, part bloody, part…missing.”
  • Crab and Grandpop teach Ernie how to shoot a gun. The scene lasts the duration of a chapter. The force of the shot causes the gun to kickback and hit Ernie in the face. Genie says, “Ernie’s knees buckled as if someone had sucker punched him.” Ernie ends up losing three front teeth. Crab “grabbed a beer bottle from the bag he brought and put the teeth in it.”
  • Great Grandpop and his friend stole a puppy from their abusive employer. The employer found out and told Great Grandpop “that either he tell him the truth, or he would have [the] whole family killed.”
  • Genie’s dad “slammed the wall” in anger.
  • In the story, Grandpop says that an employer “set [Great Grandpop’s friend’s] house on fire… [the friend] burned to death.” No other details are given.

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • Genie asks Tess where she got all the bottle caps for her project. Tess jokingly tells him and Ernie that she “drank all those beers.” She then takes the brothers to Marlon’s, the small town’s bar, for some ginger beers. Ernie and Genie don’t know that she and Jimmy, the bartender, mean ginger beer. Genie hoped that “he wouldn’t get drunk on his first sip,” thinking that Tess and Jimmy meant to give Genie and Ernie alcohol.
  • Other adult patrons at the bar drink alcoholic beer while the kids are present.
  • Grandpop gets a mysterious liquid out of a closet and promptly locks the door. Genie recognizes the smell, thinking, “the same smell Genie had just gotten more than a whiff of in Marlon’s—reminded him of Ms. Swanson, the drunk lady who hung out at the Laundromat back home.” Grandpop drinks liquor throughout the book.
  • Grandpop can’t sleep when it rains because it reminds him of the day that Wood died during Operation Desert Storm. When it rains, Grandpop sits in the kitchen and drinks while he disassembles his revolver, lost in thought.
  • Crab smokes a cigar.
  • Genie and Ernie find “a couple dozen beer cans and stubby, burned-down cigars” laying in a pile.
  • Ernie has “a double-dose of pain reliever” after the doctor fixes two of his teeth.
  • Genie calls Tess’s mom a hypochondriac. Tess misunderstands and calls her a “hyper-cognac” instead.
  • Grandpop drinks more heavily as the book progresses, and Genie finds his drunk rambling disturbing. For instance, Grandpop slurs, “life ain’t nice to nobody. Nobody. Not me, not Mary, not Ernie, not your daddy, not Uncle Wood. Nobody.”

Language

  • Genie’s mother tells Genie, “Boy, if you don’t go to sleep, I’m a honey your badger,” making it clear to Genie that she really wants him to be quiet.
  • Various insults are used frequently. Insults include: Stupid, jerk, crazy, wild, heckuva, crappy, insane, fool, chump, psycho, shut up, knuckleheads, friggin’, and daggone.
  • Grandma and Grandpop use the phrase “what in Sam Hill” frequently.
  • Genie’s curiosity causes humorous situations because sometimes his questions and thoughts would be insensitive coming from anyone else. For instance, he thinks, “Old people got to pretty much call you whatever they wanted. It was the only awesome part about being old.”
  • Genie asks Grandpop a series of questions about being blind. At one point, Genie asks, “How do you know where your room is, though? Or what if you gotta go to the bathroom?” To which Grandpop replies, “I’m only blind, son. My junk still works.”
  • Kids at school sometimes mock Genie for his name, saying, “Genie, the girl with a weenie.”
  • Crab tells Ernie, “I think [Tess] likes you…But don’t try nothin’ mannish or I’ll flatten your cap, just like she do them beer tops.”
  • Grandma asks Genie and Ernie, “Which one of you peanut-heads tried to flush all that damn toilet paper?”
  • Ernie overacts around his grandparents at one point. Genie says that Ernie is “butt-kissing.”
  • Grandpop holds rolls of money. Genie thinks, “[Grandpop] tapped a roll like a mob boss assigning a hit.”
  • Mr. Binks is a dentist who sells teeth at the flea market. Ernie calls Mr. Binks “a tooth jacker.”
  • Grandma yells, “Damnit!” when Ernie scares her.
  • Grandpa says “guaran-damn-tee” instead of guarantee.
  • Crab says that he feels “so dern bad” about Ernie’s injury.
  • Grandpop calls an old neighbor “a mean son of a gun. I mean, just a real nasty you-know-what.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • “Jesus” and “Lord” are sometimes used as exclamations.
  • Grandma has a few rules, one of them being, “We go to church on Sunday.” Genie doesn’t mind this, thinking that he could “use a miracle” anyway. His family normally goes to church “on Christmas and Easter for the long services with their grandparents in the Bronx. But that was about it.”
  • Genie’s mom “used to call [the moon] God’s night-light when he was little.”
  • Grandma often turns on the church music station in the car, especially when going to the flea market. She says, “Gotta play it loud enough for God to hear it, so he can send people to come buy up these peas.”
  • Genie thinks, “Maybe the real reason Adam and Eve weren’t supposed to bite the apple is because then all the birds would’ve had access to the seeds, and the Garden of Eden would’ve become the Garden of dead…doves? Doves were the only birds back then I think.”
  • On a hot day, Genie thinks, “God had put the heat on high, as Ma always said.”
  • Tess tells Genie that she’s “prayin’ to Big Bird for a miracle.”

 by Alli Kestler

Hatchet

Thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson is struggling after his parents’ divorce. Brian has been keeping a dreadful secret from his father. Brian is on his way to visit his father when the single-engine plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness. When the plane sinks, Brian is left with nothing but a tattered windbreaker and the hatchet his mother gave him as a present.

Brian has no time for anger, self-pity, or despair—it will take all his know-how and determination to survive. He will need to build a shelter, find food, and battle the elements. Will Brian have enough courage to survive?

Fans of survival stories will find Hatchet an interesting story of man vs. nature. While most of the story focuses on Brian’s struggle to survive, he is also struggling with keeping a secret. Most of the story’s conflict is internal. However, there are also several intense scenes when Brian must battle nature—both a tornado and an angry moose.

Brian’s experiences change him and when he is rescued, Brian realizes that he will never be the same. The new Brian is confident in his ability. He observes his surroundings and thinks before speaking. But the most important change is that Brian knows the importance of taking action instead of sulking in self-pity.

Hatchet is a Newberry Honor Book that shows the importance of “willpower, patience, hope, courage, and trusting your instincts.” Because much of the action is internal, readers may struggle with the slower scenes. At the end of the story, readers will find four pages of discussion topics. Readers who are reluctant to tackle Hatchet, but enjoy survival stories should add The Raft by S.A. Bodeen to their must-read list.

Sexual Content

  • While on a bike ride, Brian sees his mom in “a station wagon with the man. And she had leaned across and kissed him, kissed the man with the short blond hair, and it was not a friendly peck, but a kiss.” The kiss is described over a paragraph and is referred to several times in the story.

Violence

  • Brian must hunt to survive. He hunts birds with a spear. “The bird had sat and he had lunged and the two points took the bird back down into the ground and killed it almost instantly—it had fluttered a bit—and Brian had grabbed it and held it in both hands until he was sure it was dead.” After Brian kills the bird, he “just pulled the skin off the bird. Like peeling an orange, he thought, sort of. . . He quickly cut off the neck with his hatchet, cut the feet off the same way, and in his hand he held something like a small chicken with a dark, fat, thick breast and small legs.” The scene is described over two pages.
  • A moose attacks Brian. The moose “took him in the left side of the back with her forehead, took him and threw him out into the water and then came after him to finish the job. . . As soon as he moved, the hair on her back went up and she charged him again, using her head and front hooves this time, slamming him back and down into the water, on his back this time, and he screamed the air out of his lungs and hammered on her head with his fist and filled his throat with water and she left again.” Brian is injured and his ribs are “hurt bad.” The attack is described over two pages.
  • A tornado destroys Brian’s shelter. “He was taken in the back by some mad force and driven into the shelter on his face, slammed down into the pine branches of his bed. At the same time the wind tore at the fire and sprayed red coals and sparks in a cloud around him. . . He was whipped against the front wall of the shelter like a rag, felt a ripping pain in his ribs again, then was hammered back down into the sand once more while the wind took the whole, wall. . .”
  • The plane that Brian was a passenger in crashes, and the pilot dies. The plane is submerged until a storm brings it up. Brian sees the pilot. “He saw the pilot’s head only it wasn’t the pilot’s head any longer. The fish. . . They had been at the pilot all this time, almost two months, nibbling and chewing and all that remained was the not quite cleaned skull. . .”

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • God is used as an exclamation three times. For example, Brian thinks about his parents’ divorce, “God, he thought, how he hated lawyers who sat with their comfortable smiles and tried to explain to him in legal terms how all that he lived in was coming apart.”
  • When a man finds Brian, the man says, “Damn. You’re him, aren’t you? You’re that kid?”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Glass Sword

Mare, Cal, and the members of the Scarlet Guard are ready to regroup and find a way to fight back against the newly crowned King Maven. No matter how strong Mare and Cal may be, they cannot fight against a legion of Silver warriors alone. They need stronger allies to help the Scarlet Guard’s rebellion.

Mare’s only option is to find the newbloods, a group of Reds with powerful abilities like their Silver rulers. They are scattered throughout the Kingdom of Norta. They are the key to creating an army that can stand against Maven’s legions and level out the playing field.

Yet, Maven won’t just let Mare do as she pleases. For every newblood she saves, Maven imprisons or kills two more. With Maven breathing down her neck, Mare begins to feel the pressure of transitioning into a leader for the Scarlet Guard. Her relationships become strained. Her decisions are questioned at every turn. Worst of all, Maven haunts her every step. Will Mare be able to overcome Maven’s manipulations and create an army of newbloods? Or will the pressure shatter her?

Glass Sword is an underwhelming sequel to the first book in Aveyard’s Red Queen series. Whereas the first book had political intrigue between the Silvers in the royal court and a daring espionage mission by Captain Farley of the Scarlet Guard, the second book doesn’t have any of that. Instead, the book focuses on exploring how Mare comes to terms with her actions from both the past and present. While there are plenty of missions into different parts of Norta to find newbloods, very few of these missions feel truly dangerous to Mare and her friends.

The story is weighed down mainly by Mare’s growing unlikable characteristics. Away from the immediate danger of Maven and his Silver underlings, Mare is forced to find a new role for herself as a leader of the Scarlet Guard. However, this only makes Mare more selfish. She prioritizes her own life over others, and she is willing to sacrifice anyone but herself. In the end, Mare gets a wake-up call from Cal, the former crown prince, and Kilorn, her best friend. This forces her to examine herself; ultimately, she sacrifices herself for them when Maven captures them.

Betrayal is once again a main theme as Mare finds herself betrayed many times over the course of the story. Another major theme is about turning into a monster; Mare changes from a girl trying to save lives into someone willing to murder and throw lives away whenever she sees fit. The action scenes, in which Mare and her friends infiltrate cities and towns, are fun, interesting, and help to move the story along. The introduction of the newbloods is also a plus since their new, unique abilities and the growing cast of characters add more layers. Overall, Glass Sword is a sequel that introduces fun, new elements to the already interesting world of Norta. Yet the story is bogged down by the unlikable main character and the many predictable moments where she falls into obvious traps. Nonetheless, Glass Sword sets up the backdrop for the next book in the series, King’s Cage.

Sexual Content

  • Mare changes her clothes in front of Kilorn, her childhood friend. Mare thinks, “He shouldn’t blush, having seen me in various stages of undress for many summers, but his cheeks redden anyway.”
  • On Tuck, the Scarlet Guard’s island, Mare finds out Kilorn has been flirting with another girl. “To think, he’s been spending his time flirting while I’ve been unconscious and Shade lies wounded and bleeding.”
  • Mare has an ongoing romance with Cal. When she brushes his arm, “Cal smells like blood, his skin is ice, and I tell myself I don’t want to taste him ever again.” Mare tries to convince herself not to love Cal. Mare thinks, “I must freeze my heart to the one person who insists on setting it ablaze.” Later, she kisses him “because I am weak, I press my lips to his, searching for something to make me stop running, to make me forget.”
  • At one point, Mare and Cal start sleeping in the same bed together. “From that day on, his bedchamber becomes ours. It is a wordless agreement, giving both of us something to hold on to.”
  • Gisa, Mare’s younger sister, has a crush on Kilorn. Mare watches as “He listens intently, and she bites her lip, pleased by his attention. I guess her little crush hasn’t gone away just yet.”
  • Kilorn quotes Maven’s public speech when he confronts Mare about her relationship with Cal. He says, “‘Mare Barrow seduced the prince into killing the king.’ It’s shocking to know he’s half right.”
  • When Kilorn and Mare have an emotional discussion, Mare thinks, “A friendly marriage to the fish boy with green eyes, children we could love, a poor stilt home. It seemed like a dream back then, an impossibility. And it still is. It always will be. I do not love Kilorn, not the way he wants me to.”

Violence

  • While discussing his younger brother, King Maven, Cal says, “Maven will still kill you. In a cell or on the battlefield, he won’t let any of us live.”
  • Mare and her brother, Shade, are running for their lives from an army when Mare realizes “a bullet meant for me catches him in the meat of his upper arm, while another strafes his leg.”
  • After seeing three bodies crushed by debris, Mare thinks, “It isn’t hard to let people die when their deaths give life to someone else.”
  • Before she’s put in a cell, Farley, a member of the Scarlet Guard, fights back. Farley “slams the [guard] into the passage wall, crushing his neck between her elbow and the window of another cell.”
  • Mare remembers when she killed a Silver. “Ryker Rhambos, electrocuted on the sand of the arena, reduced to nothing more than his blackened flesh.”
  • Mare remembers the Scarlet Guard attacking the royal ball. Mare says, “The Scarlet Guard kills children. The Scarlet Guard must be destroyed.”
  • While looking for more newbloods, Mare discovers a dead baby in a tavern. “In the basket is a baby, no more than a few days old. Dead. And not from abandonment or neglect. The rag is dyed in its blood.”
  • Mare punches a younger girl who talks back to her. “When my fist collides with her jaw, I expect to see sparks spread over her skin. There’s nothing but my bruised knuckles.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Someone calls Nix, a newblood, “that Silver bastard.”
  • Cal calls the Colonel, a leader of the Scarlet Guard, a “sack of scum.”
  • Mare tells Kilorn, “I’m sorry you can’t stop being an ass for two minutes so you can see exactly what’s going on here.” Right after that she says, “You heard what the Colonel called me. A thing. A freak.”
  • Gareth, a newblood, calls someone “the Silk Bitch.”

Supernatural

  • Silvers are people with silver blood and supernatural abilities. There are many abilities, including controlling fire, manipulating metal, mind control, etc.
  • Newbloods are Reds with supernatural abilities. Mare explains, “Newbloods are born with the mutation that enables our own…abilities.”
  • When Mare meets Nix, a newblood, she thinks, “Stoneskin echoes in my head, but this man is no such thing. His skin is ruddy and smooth, not gray or stony. It is simply impenetrable.”
  • Stoneskins, a type of Silver, have super strength and skin that resembles stone.
  • Magnetrons are a type of Silver that can manipulate metal. For example, before a building collapses on Mare and Cal, “Gravity and fire made the structure fall, but the might of magnetrons stop it from shielding us.”
  • Mare’s brother, Shade, a fellow newblood, can teleport. Nix says, “Two days ago, around midnight, Shade popped up on the porch. I mean actually popped.”
  • Mare can manipulate and create lightning and electricity. Mare’s lightning “is more powerful than any magnetron, any green warden, any gun. It is everywhere.”
  • One young boy, Luther, is a newblood with the ability to steal life. For example, “he takes the fern by the stem, holding it in his small fist. And slowly, the fern curls beneath his touch, turning black, folding into itself—dying.”
  • Another newblood can shapeshift. For example, “an old woman who has everyone call her Nanny, seems to be able to change her physical appearance. She gave us all quite the fright when she decided to waltz through the camp disguised as Queen Elara.”
  • Harrick, another newblood, can create images out of thin air. “He can create illusions, mirages, make people see what isn’t there. And he has hidden us all in plain sight, making us invisible in our empty cart.”
  • One newblood can manipulate gravity. Mare thinks, “Gareth manipulated the forces of gravity holding me to the earth. If we had been standing in the open, I probably would have ended up in the clouds.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

by Jonathan Planman

Sunny

Sunny is a murderer. At least that’s what he thinks. Sunny’s mother died giving birth to him. To make matters worse, Darryl (his dad, who makes Sunny call him by his first name) acts like everything Sunny does is wrong. The only time Sunny feels like he is doing something right is when he wins races. Sunny is the number one mile-running champ at every track meet, but he doesn’t care about that. Actually, he hates running…but Sunny runs because it seems like the only thing Sunny can do right in his dad’s eyes is to win first place ribbons running the mile, just like his mom did. When Sunny stops running mid-race one day, he puts forth his first step into reclaiming his own life and making amends with the tragedy of his mother’s death.

With the growing conflict with his father, Sunny needs his friends on the track team more than ever.  Sunny discovers a track event that encompasses the hard beats of hip-hop, the precision of ballet, and the showmanship of dance as a whole: the discus throw. But as he practices for this new event, can he let go of everything that’s been eating him up inside?

Told through Sunny’s diary entries, the third installment in Defenders Track Team series explores Sunny’s transition from long-distance runner to discus-thrower. When he begins letting his mother’s running dreams go, Sunny finally starts on his journey towards finding his own rhythm. Sunny is a story about grief, forgiveness, honesty, and letting go of the screams within. Discus allows Sunny to let go of his mother’s running dreams so he can become his own person.

Sunny’s diary entries reveal his pain and emphasize that he feels very much alone in the world. Despite his generally “sunny” outlook, Sunny and his father’s emotional relationship is most poignant in the story. Their shared moments of grief humanize them, and the end of the book shows the beginning of their healing process in their relationship and in their shared trauma over Sunny’s mother’s death. In the end, the world isn’t perfect for Sunny, but he finds a certain peace within himself as he is able to release the emotions he’s been bottling up.

The supporting cast is a small, but powerful force in Sunny’s life. Sunny’s homeschool teacher, Aurelia, has a lighter, sillier personality that contrasts with Darryl’s relatively stony demeanor. Both are important parental figures for Sunny. Coach Brody and Sunny’s teammates, Lu, Ghost, and Patty provide their friend with unconditional support. They even encourage Sunny when he chooses to take up discus rather than run. Sunny’s diary entries show that he cares deeply about those in his life as well. These characters help bring out Sunny’s uncompetitive and kind nature, and these traits make it easy to root for his success.

Sunny is thought-provoking, and the novel’s strength lies in Reynolds’s ability to develop interesting characters. The descriptions of Sunny learning how to dance and throw the discus are fun, and they blend well with his unique narration style. Sunny is a compelling read because it builds on the already diverse, emotionally intelligent world that Reynolds created in the previous two books. Sunny reinforces that the support of friends and family make all the difference in someone’s journey, but that there’s only one person who can take that first step to make the change.

Sexual Content

  • None

 Violence

  • When one of the other runners, Aaron, makes a snide comment towards Sunny, Sunny’s friend Lu “put his fists up and said he had those two things to throw right at Aaron’s face.” Coach Brody breaks up the group before any fighting can occur.
  • Aaron and Lu frequently argue because Aaron feels that he is in competition with Lu, and he is often unkind. During a track meet, Sunny sees “Aaron push Lu after the stretches.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • While in college, Aurelia was a drug addict and went to rehab.
  • Mr. Nico, Sunny’s neighbor and owner of a puzzle company, comes over and “smokes cigars with Darryl [Sunny’s father] whenever he’s here.”

Language

  • Words like stupid and weird are used frequently.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

by Alli Kestler

Backfield Boys: A Football Mystery in Black and White

Jason and Tom are two best friends from New York who love to play football. They are stoked when they are accepted to Thomas Gatch Prep (TGP), a private boarding school in Virginia created specifically for athletes. After their first week of practice, Jason, who is white, expects to be placed as a wide receiver because of his speed. Tom, who is black, expects to be placed as a quarterback because of his strong arm and accuracy. But when Jason is assigned as a quarterback and Tom is assigned as a wide receiver, the boys start to suspect racial bias. As the year progresses, Tom and Jason, along with their roommates Billy Bob and Anthony, start to notice deep-seated racism in the school.

Tom and Jason discover that there have been zero African Americans that have played as quarterbacks at TGP. Determined to expose the racism at the school, Tom and Jason enlist the help of two reporters: Teel and Robinson. These two reporters have already heard about the underlying racism at TGP, but they’ve never had enough evidence to prove it. As the football season gets underway, Tom and Jason gather more evidence of racism. Tom is never put in any of the games. All of the students were assigned roommates, and there are no interracial rooms. One of the biggest stories they find is that Mr. Gatch, founder of TGP, invited a former KKK grand wizard to speak at a school he worked at thirty years ago. The boys are stunned that the founder of their school has ties to the KKK, but it’s still not enough of a story for Teel and Robinson to publish.

In addition to attempting to expose the racism in the school, Tom, Jason, Anthony, and Billy Bob deal with the everyday pressures of high school, including deciding on who to take to the school dance. Fortunately, Billy Bob uses his southern charm to win over a group of senior girls, providing himself and his friends dates. Their big news break occurs at the school dance. The dance is going well until Mr. Gatch yells at Tom and Anthony for dancing with their dates, who are white. His explosion lands him and his school in the public eye.

A couple of weeks later, the head football coach, Coach Johnson, calls a meeting, but only the white coaches are invited. Coach Johnson announces he is leaving and the new head coach is a black man, which causes uproar. Coach Johnson says, “We all have to make sacrifices in today’s world. Bad enough we had to put up with a black president in this country.” The meeting is further evidence of racism and when the media hears a recording of the meeting, the story explodes in the media. The school is split into those who support Coach Johnson and those who don’t.

There are underlying real-world, political elements in Backfield Boys. Trump is referenced a few times. For example, Tom, Jason, Anthony, and Billy Bob sit with their friend Juan del Potro and other Hispanic students at lunch. Tom comments, “Donald Trump would not like our table.” Juan adds, “He’d want a wall down the middle of it.” After the story of the coaches’ meeting is published, “Fox News was having what felt like a field day with the story, the issue to them being that the United States was being destroyed by ‘chronic political correctness.’” The main characters are obviously not supporters of Trump and have no reserves about expressing their political and religious opinions.

Backfield Boys describes, in detail, many football games, which will satisfy football fans. Tom and Jason always know which plays will work best, which is unrealistic since this is their first year playing football. Tom, Jason, Anthony, and Billy Bob don’t have any flaws and are always presented in a positive light, which makes them unrealistic characters. They are extremely mature and witty for their age, providing the book with good humor. They are admirable in that they could have chosen to just leave TGP, but they decided to stay and work towards exposing the racism in the school. The story drags at times, and the climax comes at the very end. Backfield Boys is about football, but it is also about underlying racism that still exists in sports today.

Sexual Content

  • Billy Bob stands up to Mr. Gatch after being yelled at for dancing with a black girl. Grateful, Zoey “walked a few steps over to Billy Bob, leaned down, and gave him a long kiss on the lips.”

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Jason and Thomas want to tell the coaches they are in the wrong positions, but they don’t think it will go over well. Jason says, “I was only with Coach Reilly a couple of minutes, but my sense is that he’s a serious jerk.”
  • While he is checking for students who want to go to church, Coach Ingelsby insults Jason’s Judaism. After Coach Ingelsby leaves Jason’s room, Jason says, “Go with God, you jerk.”
  • A football player who was yelled at and blamed for hurting his teammate dropped out of TGP. Anthony says he doesn’t blame him because “Bobo did everything but call him the n-word.”
  • Robinson knows it will not be easy to prove Coach Bobo is racist. He says, “[Coach Bobo] may be a racist, but he’s no dummy.”
  • After Billy Bob performs a play Coach Johnson didn’t call, Coach Johnson tells him to “sit your butt down the rest of the night.”
  • Gatch, the owner of TGP, is furious that Tom is dancing with Toni, a white girl. He shouts, “Good God, do you expect me to just stand here and watch while you paw this beautiful young girl?”
  • Tom tells Teel and Robinson about Mr. Gatch’s response to him dancing with a white girl, and how that proves Mr. Gatch is a racist. “We got [Mr. Gatch]. He did everything but call Anthony and me the n-word.”
  • After making a good play during a football game, Billy Bob tells Coach Johnson “You’re welcome for saving your butt – again – tonight.”
  • When the coaches discover that the new head coach is a black man, Coach Ingelsby says, “Well, I sure as hell am not working for a goddamn. . . ” The book goes on to say, “And then he said it, the n-word.”
  • “What the hell?” and hell are used several times.
  • “My God” and “Oh, my God” are used several times as an exclamation.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • During football practice, Jason runs the fastest out of everyone. Tom jokes, “Wait until they find out you’re Jewish. They’ll want to drug test you.”
  • Billy Bob tells Jason he is the first big city kid he has ever met. Jason replies, “Maybe I’m the first Jewish kid you’ve met, too.” Billy Bob asks Jason if it was scary living in the West Side of Manhattan, and Jason answers, “Probably no scarier than it would be to be Jewish in Gadsden.”
  • Jason and Thomas joke with each other during a blessing. An upperclassman whispers, “Hey, freshmen, you need to shut up and show some respect during the blessing.”
  • After a prayer is finished, an upperclassman asked them, “What’s the matter, you big-city boys don’t believe in God?” Another student chimes in, “Are you Muslim or something? You pray to Allah?”
  • When the two upperclassmen question Tom, he replies, “You pray to whomever you want, and I’ll pray to whomever I want, and we’ll leave it at that.” Billy Bob jumps to Tom and Jason’s defense by saying, “I go to church every Sunday and pray to the Lord Jesus Christ, just like you do. But at this school we’ve got folks from all over, and we all better learn that not everyone’s the same as us.”
  • The chaplain at TGP prays, “Dear Lord, we thank thee for our food today. May we be faithful stewards of thy bounty. Grant us the grace to walk where your son Jesus’s feet have gone.”
  • During a school prayer, “Jason wouldn’t bow his head for a prayer mentioning Jesus as the son of God.”
  • “Tom didn’t bow his head because he believed that all prayer should be silent and private.”
  • At the end of practice on a Saturday, Coach Johnson tells the football team to, “Pay your respects to the Lord in the morning.”
  • Jason stays at the school while Billy Bob and Anthony take a bus to go to St. Michael’s Catholic church. Jason recalls the school forms saying, “If the Protestant services offered on campus on Sunday were not deemed appropriate, transportation to churches of their denominations in the area would be supplied.”
  • Coach Ingelsby asked Jason if he was going to church, and Jason responds, “I’m Jewish.” Coach Ingelsby retorts, “So Jewish people don’t go to church?” Jason tells him, “Coach, if you’re Jewish you go to temple, not church. And, generally speaking, you go on Friday night or Saturday morning.” Coach Ingelsby asks, “Jewish people don’t believe in Jesus Christ, do they?” Jason answers, “Most Jews believe he existed. They just don’t believe he was the son of God.” Coach Ingelsby tells Jason he feels sorry for him because he is “missing out on salvation.”
  • On Sunday mornings, the school library is closed. There is a sign that says, “God first, studies second.”
  • Tom tells Jason that Coach Ingelsby asked him about Jason’s Tom jokes, “Well, at least Billy Bob and Anthony are in church. Maybe God will tell them how we can deal with this place.” Jason responds, “Not sure even he has the answer to that.”
  • After he and Tom talk to the reporters about a possible news story for TGP, Jason jokes, “Let’s go see if our good Christian roommates are back from church yet.”
  • While interviewing Tom and Jason, a reporter tells them the coaches reference God a lot in their media interviews. “There’s a lot of giving all the glory to God. You’ll find that’s big at TGP.”
  • While being interviewed in the locker room, the players hide when Coach Johnson walks in. The reporter whispers he hopes Johnson went back into his office. Billy Bob says, “Hope might not be enough. We might need to say a prayer.” Tom whispers back, “All glory to God.”
  • Tom runs into Coach Ingelsby, who is making his weekly church rounds. Coach Ingelsby asks Tom, “No worship again today for you?” Tom replies, “No offense Coach, but how or when I practice my religion, whatever it may be, is really my business alone.”
  • After a football game, Coach Johnson “drops to one knee” and says, “Now let’s give thanks.” Since everyone else knelt, Jason knelt too. He “felt awkward at these team-prayer moments but knew he would feel more awkward if he remained standing. He bowed his head.”
  • At the end of a football game, Coach Johnson prays, “We thank you, Lord, for the great execution of our defense and the wonderful pad level from our O-line.” Jason wants to crack up “at the notion that God paid any attention to TGP’s defensive execution or pad level.”
  • When Coach Johnson’s prayer is finished, Coach Ingelsby tells Tom and Jason, “Nice of you two to kneel along with your teammates.” Jason responds, “I believe in showing respect for all religions, Coach. Mine and others.”
  • After a game, Coach Johnson tells the players to take a knee and prays, “Lord, let these young men learn from the mistakes they made tonight.”
  • During the school dance, the football coaches try to separate Tom and his dance partner, Toni, because they are an interracial couple. Tom’s friends are also part of interracial dance partners. As Toni stands up for herself, Tom “was hoping and praying the other girls were giving similar responses to being ordered to change partners.”
  • Tom describes the plan for him and his friends to meet reporters. “All four of us will be going to church tomorrow – even Jason, the godless Jew.”
  • A football player notices Jason heading to church. He asks, “Hey, what’s a Hebrew doing going to church?” Jason, as a cover up, replies, “I’m thinking about converting.” To get the football player off their backs, Billy Bob jokes, “It’s the Lord’s day. How about giving it a rest?” When the football player doesn’t respond, Jason thinks, “Invoking the Almighty seemed to do the trick.”
  • “Amen to that” is used several times as an agreement to a statement someone says.
  • “Thank God,” is used several times.

by Jill Johnson

Symptoms of a Heartbreak

At age 16, Saira Seghal is the youngest doctor in America. After graduating from prestigious pre-med and medical schools, she has accepted an internship at Princeton Presbyterian, the hospital where her mother works. In addition to being the basis of her mother’s pediatrics practice, Princeton Presbyterian is also where Saira used to accompany her childhood best friend, Harper, to cancer treatments, until Harper’s eventual death from leukemia.

Despite still hurting from her friend’s death eight years ago, Saira is determined to help more people like Harper and has returned to the pediatric oncology department to try to save lives. She is smart and determined, but the internship proves to have unexpected challenges. She gets off to a rocky start with her fellow doctors and has trouble winning the trust of patients’ families, who don’t trust a teenager to treat their sick children.

Things only get more complicated when Saira meets a boy her age in the oncology ward and immediately falls in love. Link Rad—short for Lincoln Radcliffe—is an aspiring musician whose career has been put on hold because of his leukemia remission. When Saira is assigned to his case, her emotions get in the way, and things get awkward. The book follows Saira as she tries to get Link a bone marrow match, prove her competence and maturity to the other doctors, and grapple with the fact that as a doctor, she won’t ever be able to be a normal teenager.

Despite being a prodigy, Saira is a relatable character—sometimes, she’s a little too relatable. Readers might find themselves cringing with second-hand embarrassment when she arrives late to the first day of her internship, breaks hospital rules, and talks back to doctors twice her age. Saira’s family plays a big role in the story; they are both supportive and embarrassing. Readers may enjoy the honest and heartfelt portrayal of a big Indian family and the detailed descriptions of traditional Indian food.

At the heart of the story is Saira’s relationship with Link. They start out awkwardly. Link feels betrayed when he finds out that Saira is a doctor and not a fellow cancer patient. The fact that Saira and Link’s relationship is a forbidden romance makes the relationship awkward instead of heightening the chemistry. However, Link’s character is endearing and charming.

This story is sweet and often sad, but some of the points at the emotional center—Saira’s unusual coming of age, and her grief over her dead childhood friend—aren’t given the space they need to be really effective.  The narrative moves quickly and is jam-packed with subplots, including Saira’s tense relationship with her school friends, four patients’ battles with cancer, and her cousin’s brain tumor. With all this going on in such a short book, it often feels like the story doesn’t leave the reader time to settle into the setting and watch Saira do her everyday work in the hospital. Despite this, fans of hospital dramas may still enjoy this book for its familiar elements and relatable main character. However, if you’re looking for an excellent romance, leave Symptoms of a Heartbreak on the shelf and instead grab I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo or Don’t Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno.

Sexual Content

  • Saira’s family believes she is dating Vish. In reality, Vish is gay, and the two are close friends. However, Vish’s family is religious and homophobic, so they keep up the appearance of a relationship. Their families both believe they’re “totally PG,” and while the ‘couple’ “kissed a few times” when they were younger, they never went any further.
  • When Saira and Link kiss, “his mouth is salty and sweet, a grapefruit sprinkled with sugar. His arms curl around me, his embrace stronger than I expected. My arms wrap around his neck, and I lean back into the couch, taking him with me.” The scene ends there and skips to later, but Saira’s narration informs the reader that she spent more time “making out” with Link.
  • When Saira and Link have an intimate moment in a car, Saira describes “his mouth smashing mine, teeth clashing, tongue pushing into my mouth… Our kisses skip tentative altogether this time, instead lingering long and slow but somehow super urgent, mouths soft and open, tongues salty and slippery, his hands wandering up my shirt and over my breasts and roaming the waist of my jeans, a question.” Saira is hesitant to have sex because of Link’s fragile condition, but Link tells her that “sexual activity can be beneficial to patients undergoing chemotherapy and other cancer treatments.” They end up not having sex for other reasons. The scene lasts for approximately five pages.
  • Saira’s sister offers her relationship advice for her “relationship” with Vish. Her sister says, “At some point, you know, things might get a little more intense. And if you need to talk about birth control…” Saira declines her offer and says that she and Vish “are not having sex any time soon.”
  • Saira’s mother “reads everything, from medical journals to pulp novels in Hindi to bodice rippers.”
  • In the communal staff bathroom, Saira catches two of her adult coworkers together in a shower when she hears “a decidedly male groan” from behind the curtain. She doesn’t see or hear anything more explicit than this. Her coworkers are embarrassed and apologize.
  • Saira’s sister tells her she’s going to be in a production of the musical Hair, “where they’re all naked onstage.” She says, “it’s about art and expression.”
  • Vish told Saira about discovering he was gay. Saira remembers him telling her about “Luke, this boy he met at lacrosse camp. They kept it a secret the whole time there – hard to do when you’re stealing kisses in the boathouse.”  

Violence

  • Saira gets into a playful fight with Vish. “Fake punching him… and he ducks and kicks back, nearly catching me on the shin for real. Then he headlocks me from the back, wrapping one arm around my neck and the other around my waist.” The playfight is resolved peacefully.
  • While it isn’t violent in nature, readers may find the following content upsetting. Saira’s young cousin has a seizure, and “vomit spills from her little lips, and they’re turning from pale pink to blue. Her eyes roll back in her head… her body flops and goes stiff, then starts flopping again… Fluid spills out of her mouth and onto the floor.” The cousin receives medical attention and ends up okay. No descriptions of medical procedures/events in the book come anywhere close to this one in detail.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Saira’s family brings alcohol to a family dinner. Saira’s father spikes a soda “with some vodka from his water bottle, pretending no one notices, even though the waiters know exactly what’s up.”
  • A friend calls Saira from a party and says, “Vish’s wasted. Like, trashed. For real… And, okay, I’m trashed, too.” The friend asks Saira to come pick them up.
  • Saira goes to the party and discovers everyone has been drinking sangria because the host’s parents “don’t consider it to be real alcohol.”
  • Saira drinks “one cup, maybe two” of sangria. “It goes down okay.” She feels hungry later, and wonders if she has “the munchies? Or wait, is that pot? Yes. But I’m still snacky.”
  • Saira and her two friends take a car service home. Vish passes out; Saira takes him back to her house, where she hides him in the basement. She doesn’t want to risk him getting in trouble with his strict parents.
  • The next morning, Saira wakes up with a hangover. “I put my hand to my throbbing head. Two cups of sangria? That’s all? Never. Again.” Vish tells her, “That sangria was spiked with tequila and rum.”
  • At a later get-together with friends, Saira is offered a drink from “a little cart that’s piled down with vodka and all the fixings – I know because I recognize them from my dad’s bar. A variety of juices, some wine coolers, cherries and stuff.” She declines to drink even though her “dad will sometimes offer me a glass of champagne or whatever when we’re celebrating.”
  • At this get-together, Saira’s friends pressure her to drink. One of her friends says, “It’s sweet, Saira. You’ll like it.” The friend becomes agitated when she won’t drink.
  • When his cancer treatments are causing him pain, Link asks one of his doctors, “Can I get another dose of morphine? I need it.”

Language

  • Profanity is used infrequently. Profanity includes: Shit, damn, crap, ass, and piss.
  • Saira occasionally uses “Gods” or “oh my god” as an exclamation.
  • “Fuck” is used three times, but never in a sexual context. Also, a character says “AF” once, which is an abbreviation for “as fuck.” For example, jealous AF translates to jealous as fuck.

Supernatural

  • Saira’s friend reads tarot, and her sister likes astrology. Saira dismisses these as “delusions. Pseudoscience.” Neither tarot nor astrology are mentioned later in the story.
  • A young patient tells Saira he’s watching “this anime about this kid, Nate, who can see these troublesome spirits that are up to no good.”

Spiritual Content

  • Saira’s father “thinks Vish’s parents are too religious.” Saira notes that this is because her own family is “hardly religious at all. Too many doctors in the family.”
  • A doctor talking about treating cancer says, “We’re playing God here.”
  • A patient’s family member says that she “spent a lot of time praying” about the patient’s cancer.
  • When she’s exhausted, Saira describes wanting “to slip out of this body entirely, the way Dadi always says old souls can.”
  • Link has “a small brown mole sitting right below his left ear,” which reminds Saira of “a kala tilak to ward off the evil eye.”
  • Someone says a deceased patient “is in a better place now.” Saira says, “We don’t know that.”

by Caroline Galdi

Dress Coded

Molly wasn’t planning on starting a rebellion. But when she sees a teacher yelling at Olivia for wearing a tank top, Molly takes action. She wants others to know that the middle school dress code unfairly targets girls who have mature bodies. In order to tell their stories, Molly starts a podcast.

The podcast explains how Liza got dress coded and Molly didn’t, even though they were wearing the exact same outfit. Other girls were dress coded because their shorts were too short, their shirts showed a sliver of their stomach or their clothing didn’t cover their shoulders. It isn’t fair.

Middle school is hard enough without having teachers trolling the halls looking for dress code violations. Soon, Molly’s podcast creates a small rebellion that swells into a revolution. The girls are standing up for what is right, but will teachers and parents listen?

Dress Coded’s topic and teen-friendly format will appeal to a wide audience. The short chapters are broken into letters, lists, Molly’s dress code podcast, and definitions. The story doesn’t shy away from the humiliation and bullying that can happen because of a dress code. Molly tackles the dress code by going through the proper steps: getting students to sign a petition, sending the petition to the superintendent, and trying to get the petition placed put on the school board’s agenda. It is only after all of these attempts fail that Molly pleads for other students to camp outside of the school in protest.

While Molly is fighting to change the dress code, she is also dealing with a family in crisis. Her brother is addicted to vaping, which has her parents concerned. Although the story describes some of the harmful effects of vaping, too much emphasis is put on how many teens vape and where they get the vaping pods. Instead of feeling like a natural part of the story, the descriptions of vaping middle schoolers become tiresome.

Dress Coded does an excellent job of explaining the harmful effects of vaping. However, the story doesn’t address the topic of bullying, even though one of the recurring characters has a mean name for everyone. The story also throws in a trans student getting into trouble for wearing lipstick, a short conversation about the possibility of Molly being bisexual, and a girl who is crushing on another girl. These scenes do nothing to advance the plot and were not used as a teaching moment for respecting others.

While Dresses Coded isn’t amazing literature, the story has a high-interest topic and a story that middle school readers will enjoy. Molly is a likable character who shows the importance of perseverance. The story’s message is clear: girls’ bodies are not something to be ashamed of and they are not a distraction to boys. Parents and teachers could use Dresses Coded as a conversation starter about many topics, including bullying, vaping, protesting, and respecting others.

Sexual Content

  • When talking about going to the prom, Molly tells her mother, “It’s not like when you went to the prom. Nobody cares. I may go with a boy, or a girl, or a group.” Molly’s mom asks her, “Are you bisexual, Molly? Because that’s totally and completely fine.”
  • One of Molly’s friends has a crush on another girl.
  • During a sleepover, Molly’s friend “said she could see herself dating a girl, but nobody specifically.”

Violence

  • When a boy was about to pull a chair out from under Molly, Olivia “punched him.”

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • Molly’s brother, Danny, is addicted to vaping. Molly’s parents were “searching Danny’s room and backpack, hiding their cash so Danny can’t take it to buy pods, and calling doctors to ask how long it will be before Danny gets popcorn lung and dies.”
  • Danny sells vaping pods to middle schoolers.
  • Danny “was suspended for the third time. His teacher caught him vaping during history.” After that, Molly lets her brother hide his vaping supplies in her closet.
  • Some of the girls on Molly’s lacrosse team vape. Other kids vape in the school bathroom.
  • When Molly’s parents take away all of Danny’s vaping supplies, he searches for any that his parents missed. Molly witnessed “my brother crawl out of the closet with a vape pod, puncture it with a nail file, and start sucking on it. This is what he’s become, now that Mom has all of his devices.”
  • Some of the middle schoolers “are plotting how to smuggle their vape pods. They ask if any of the girls would like to hide pods in their bras.”
  • Molly often refers to her classmates hiding so they can vape. For example, at a party, “a bunch of people were vaping in the lawn-mower shed.”
  • Molly thinks about her grandpa who “died from drinking too much.”

Language

  • Danny calls Molly, “Frog.” He calls Molly’s friend, “Toad.”
  • Molly’s classmate, Nick, calls the girls in his class names based on their looks and race. For example, “Nick called Bea ‘Pencil Legs.’” Other names include, “Rice and Beans,” “Jew Fro,” and “a hairy beast man.”
  • When Olivia gets her period, blood seeps through her pants. After this, Nick calls her “Tampon Fail.” Later, he admits that he doesn’t know what “Tampon Fail” even means.
  • During class, a teacher “mentioned this mountain in Switzerland called Mount Titlis.” After that, Nick begins calling Molly, “Swiss Alps.”
  • Molly thinks about fourth grade, when “everybody called me Snot Drop.”
  • After Danny’s parents find his vaping supplies, he calls Molly a “gross, ugly narc.”
  • A boy in Molly’s class “spit on Julissa and called her the n-word.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • When the parents have a meeting to discuss a camping trip, Molly prays “that my parents don’t get roped into” being chaperones.

 

Deep Zone

Ty just made the team that will play the seven-on-seven tournament for middle-school athletes, coached by former NFL star Mark Bavaro. If his brother Thane’s NFL team makes it to the Super Bowl, they would be living their football dream: both brothers playing for a championship game in one weekend. Unfortunately, Thane injures his knee in a game and is out for the season. Still, Thane supports Ty as they travel to Miami with Ty’s team. There, Ty meets Troy, another football player his age who has an uncanny knack for guessing which way Ty will run. Will Ty be able to outsmart Troy in the championship game?

In addition to football, Ty has other worries. Ty is visited by Agent Sutherland, who is assigned to protect him and Thane from the mob. Last season, Ty accidentally gave the mob inside information so they could bet on who would win the Super Bowl. Now, two mobsters are loose and may have Ty marked as a target.

Football fans will appreciate the large amount of football terminology, descriptive game scenes, and discussions of strategies. Ty and Thane have a great relationship, and readers will be impressed by all the things they get to do as a result of Thane being in the NFL, such as riding in limousines and going to exclusive parties. While the lavish lifestyle is realistic, these scenes do not help advance the plot and make it difficult to relate to the characters.

Even though the mobsters add mystery to the plot, they are completely inept and do little to make the main characters shine. Unfortunately, Ty is not very relatable because he is one-dimensional. However, he has a couple of positive personality traits, such as being caring and hardworking. The story can drag at times, and although satisfying, the climax doesn’t come until the very end of the book. Deep Zone is a book for football fans looking for an easy read.

 Even though the publisher recommends Deep Zone for readers as young as eight years old, there are scary scenes, such as Ty and Troy being kidnapped by mobsters. Deep Zone is the last book in the five-book Football Genius series. The books follow Ty and Troy’s stories separately, and they meet in Deep Zone. Although Tim Green summarizes the story thus far so readers can understand Deep Zone, reading the previous four books would make the plot easier to understand.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • During a game, Thane catches a ball and gets tackled. Thane “got hit by all three Ravens players at once. Thane’s body pinwheeled in the air, and he landed somewhere in the pile of arms and legs right at the goal line.” He injures his knee.
  • Ty swings a bat at an intruder in his house. “Ty reared back and swung the bat. It connected with something. The man yelped and fell at Ty’s feet . . . Ty swung the bat again. Klunk. The man collapsed in a pile.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Troy’s dad tells the two mob men to “have a drink” to celebrate winning a lot of money. Ty hears “the clink of glasses as they toasted their success.”

Language

  • A fan for the opposing team shouts, “You stink!” at Ty.
  • Heck is used several times. For example, Thane turns quickly and re-injures his knee. He says, “Man, that hurt like heck.”
  • Ty calls himself a “stupid chicken” because he is easily scared.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Agent Sutherland tells Thane, “Thank God everything worked out.”
  • Thane’s uncle Gus “nodded like a Sunday school teacher.”
  • When Ty is stuck on a swamp tour and it starts to storm, he “closed his eyes, crossed his fingers, and said a prayer.”
  • Ty thinks he is about to die, so he “prayed to God there was a heaven and that he really could be with his mom and dad. But he was afraid heaven wasn’t true . . . Afraid God was just words. He didn’t think that, but he couldn’t help being afraid.”

by Jill Johnson

A Court of Wings and Ruin

In this thrilling third installment of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, Feyre has infiltrated the spring court and must play a deadly game to gather information on Tamlin’s movements and learn how to defeat the King of Hyburn. After a failed attack on Hyburn, Feyre was forced to return to the spring court with Tamlin. What Tamlin did not know was that he was bringing back the Queen of the night court. Now Feyre is on a mission to take down Tamlin and his court from the inside. She is determined to save her mate, her sisters, and her court.

As Feyre spies on Tamlin, she is also scheming to turn the court against him. When Feyre learns of the King’s true plans for the war, she knows she must get back to the night court to warn her family before it is too late. As war approaches, Feyre must navigate the politics of the high lords and learn who can be trusted. Will Feyre be able to stop the King’s plans before it’s too late? Can she maneuver the high lords and win this war against Hyburn? The harrowing saga continues as Feyre gets closer to the truth, figures out how to use her own powers to stop the King of Hyburn, and saves both the human and faerie worlds.

Feyre has mastered her powers and proves to be a strong leading lady throughout the novel. The story focuses more on Feyre and her sisters and how their relationship heals and evolves. The motif of sister relationships is important, as it portrays the family working through their problems to become even closer and stronger. A Court of Wings and Ruin shows the evolving friendships and details how the characters learn to work with different courts to defeat the King together. The characters are funny, witty, and are what keep readers coming back for more.

Prythian is set in a magical world, but this fantasy brings the reader into a different world filled with imagination and excitement. This novel has a great representation of strong female characters and healthy friendships and relationships. This series is at times funny, romantic, sad, and exciting, so it has something for every reader.

A Court of Wings and Ruin will leave fans satisfied because it does not leave any loose ends. It brings the suspense to a peak as the war that has been brewing begins. The war shows both the politics behind it and the battles themselves, but these repetitive scenes can become tiresome. Despite this, every scene adds meaning to the story. The complicated plot brings in new characters and shows brutal fighting. In this third installment of Sarah J. Maas’s series, the characters delve into war, heartbreak, love, and friendship to save the world together.

Sexual Content

  • Feyre and Rhys are reunited after months of being apart and have an intimate moment that lasts for about three pages. Feyre’s “hands shot into his [Rhys’s] hair, pulling him closer as I answered each of his searching kisses with my own, unable to get enough, unable to touch and feel enough of him. Skin to skin, Rhys nudged me towards the bed, his hands kneading my rear as I ran my own over the velvet softness of him, over every hard plane and ripple.”
  • Feyre and Rhys have a flirty moment together. “His hand began a lethal, taunting exploration up my thigh, his fingers grazing along the sensitive inside. Rhys leaned in again, kissing my neck – that place right under my ear – and then he was gone.”

 Violence

  • Rhys has a flashback to the first war when he had to check the corpses to make sure they were not his friends. “A half-shredded Illyrian wing jutted out from a cluster of High Fae corpses, as if it had taken all six of them to bring the warrior down. My aching, bloodied fingers dug into dented armor and clammy, stiff flesh as I heaved away the last of the High Fae corpses piled atop the fallen Illyrian soldier.”
  • While in the forest, Feyre finds “what was left of three bodies, their shredded pale robes like fallen ashes through the small clearing.” They were killed by two of Highburn’s soldiers. Their murder was not described.
  • Feyre and Tamlin get into a fight and his power “explodes” with his anger. “Furniture splintered and went flying, windows cracked and shattered. The worktable slammed into me [Feyre] throwing me against the bookshelf, and every place where flesh and bone met wood ached.”
  • Tamlin whips one of his soldiers for “losing the keys” to the gatehouse. “As he [Tamlin] drew back the whip, the thunderous crack as it cleaved the air snapped through the barracks, the estate.”
  • Feyre finds Ianthe, the high priestess, harassing Lucien and uses her mind control powers to make Ianthe smash her own hand with a rock. “Ianthe brought the stone up. The first impact was a muffled, wet thud. The second was an actual crack. The third drew blood.”
  • In order to escape, Feyre and Lucien fight off two soldiers, Dragdan and Brannagh. Lucien kills Brannagh as “a tremor shuddered through the clearing—like some thread between the twins had been snipped as Brannagh’s dark head thudded onto the grass.” Feyre ends up killing Dragdan with a knife that she “punched into his eye, right into the skull behind it.” This fight lasts for two pages.
  • Feyre and Lucien flee to the autumn court where they are attacked by three of Lucien’s brothers. One of his brothers, Eris, backhands Feyre “so hard her teeth went through her lip.” “He struck again before I could even fall, a punch to my gut that ripped the air from my lungs. Beyond me, Lucien had unleashed himself upon his two brothers.” The fight continues for three pages.
  • Rhys tells the story of one of his priestesses, Clotho, who was attacked by a group of males. “They cut out Clotho’s tongue so she couldn’t tell anyone who had hurt her. And smashed her hands so she couldn’t write it.”
  • Feyre and a friend fight off some Hyburn soldiers by “tearing through them with a sizzling wall of fire” and “beheading them as they come near.” This fight scene is described over a chapter.
  • There is a battle scene that Feyre describes as a “blood drenched mud pit” where soldiers were being “taken down with steel.” This battle lasts for one chapter.
  • The King of Hyburn tortures Cassian in front of Feyre and her sisters. “The King brought his foot down on one of Cassian’s wings and he screamed.” The King was stopped by Feyre’s sister, who kills the King by “ramming her sword to the hilt through the back of the King’s neck.”

 Drugs and Alcohol   

  • At a dinner meeting, someone says, “I think we’re going to need a lot more wine.”

 Language

  • Profanity is used occasionally. Profanity includes: damn, bitch, and hell.
  • While fighting, someone calls Feyre a “little bitch.”

 Supernatural

  • Feyre’s food is drugged with faebane that was “grown and tended in the King’s personal garden.” Faebane makes Feyre’s powers useless.
  • Feyre fights off Lucien’s brother, Eris, with “a wall of fire.”
  • Feyre removes her glamour to reveal “smooth skin that had been adorned with swirls and whorls of ink. The markings of a new title—and my mating bond. I [Feyre] was High Lady of the night court.”
  • Feyre visits the Bone Carver, a powerful magical creature, to see if he will help them in the war. He asks her to bring him the Ouroboros, a magical mirror. The Bone Carver says, “that is my price and I’m yours to wield.”
  • Feyre goes into Lucien’s mind to hear his thoughts. Feyre thinks, “Perhaps it made me the lowest sort of wretch, but I cast my mind toward them, toward him [Lucien]. And then I was in his body, in his head.”
  • Amren tells the story of what alien creature she used to be and how she confined herself to her human body. Amren says, “I was a soldier-assassin for a wrathful god who ruled a young world. I did not feel how you do. How I do now. Some things—loyalty and wrath and curiosity—but not the full spectrum. I had to give something up. I had to give me up. To walk out, I had to become something else entirely, so I bound myself into this body.”
  • Feyre asks for help from a supernatural creature. She never sees the creature but describes it as having “a voice both young and old, hideous and beautiful. I could feel no body heat, detect no physical presence but I felt it behind me.”
  • One of the characters is a seer who begins getting visions of the future. However, she doesn’t understand the visions.
  • A character has “an unearthly power” that allows her to “blast the trees into cinders.”
  • There is a cauldron that creates Fae life that Feyre must destroy to end the war. When she touches the cauldron, it becomes a “living bond” between them and attempts to take her life. Feyre “could not move [her] hand. I could not peel my fingers away. I was being shredded apart slowly.”
  • Amren uses Feyre to do an “unbinding spell on her to unleash the alien creature she used to be and end the battle.”

Spiritual Content

  • Ianthe, a high priestess, leads a solstice ceremony where the sunrise is supposed to “bless her and the land.” “During the ceremony, Ianthe’s back arched, her body a mere vessel for the solstice’s light to fill, and what I could see of her face was already lined in pious ecstasy. The crowd began to murmur, not at Ianthe, but at me [Feyre]… resplendent and pure in white, beginning to glow with the light of day as the sun’s path flowed directly over me instead.”

by Adeline Garren

The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had

Dit is looking forward to the new postmaster’s arrival. Dit was told that the new postmaster would have a son his age. But when the postmaster and his family arrive, everyone is surprised that he’s black. Dit is also upset that the postmaster has a daughter, not a son. Dit has no desire to be friends with Emma, a well-educated girl.

Dit’s mother has a rule. “We didn’t have to like anyone, but we had to be nice to everyone.” Dit’s mother orders him to show Emma around. At first, Dit doesn’t like Emma. She doesn’t play baseball, fish, or climb. She’s smart and talks properly. But Emma is also the first person to ever listen to Dit, and in a house with ten children, that’s important.

Emma forces Dit to think about the difference between the colored kids and the white kids. Then when the town barber, Doc Hadley, is accused of murder and sentenced to be hanged, Dit is faced with an ugly truth. A white man’s word will always be believed, even if it is not true. Dit and Emma know Doc Hadley doesn’t deserve to be punished, so they come up with a daring plan to save Doc from the unthinkable. But if they are caught, the consequences could be disastrous.

Set in 1917 in Moundville, Alabama, and inspired by the author’s family history, The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had takes a look at race relations. The story is told through Dit’s perspective, which allows the reader to see Dit’s personal growth as he comes to understand the inequalities between blacks and whites. Because of Dit’s growing friendship with Emma, he is targeted by bullying. Soon, Dit is faced with a terrible decision—doing what is right or closing his eyes to injustice.

While the story is full of interesting characters, Dit is the only character who is well-developed. Even though the friendship between Dit and Emma is wonderful, a hint of romance at the end is far-fetched. Much like To Kill A Mockingbird, a man is unjustly sentenced to hang. However, this subplot was not fully explored, limiting the emotional impact of the story. Even though Dit is a compelling narrator, the story has several scenes that do nothing to advance the plot but instead make the story drag.

The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had explores the time period between the end of slavery and the beginning of the civil rights movement. The main lesson that readers will take away is, “Some things are worth fighting for. . . You want to do something for this town? Next time you see an injustice, take a stand. It’s worth the risk.”

This coming-of-age journey allows readers to learn positive lessons about social justice, making mistakes, and friendship. While many of the events in the story are predictable, teens will enjoy the surprising conclusion. Unlike Levine’s book The Lions of Little Rock, The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had doesn’t have much of an emotional impact. The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had imparts important life lessons, but the slow pacing will make it hard for some readers to stay engaged. Readers who want to explore racial relations during the 1900s should read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I’m Not Dying with You Tonight by Kimberly Jones & Gilly Segal also explores racial inequality, and how it still exists today.

Sexual Content

  • Several times, Dit’s friends tease him about kissing Emma. For example, when they see him talking to her, “Chip snickered and made kissing sounds.”
  • Dit tells his friends that he hasn’t seen Emma. Chip replies, “Course you ain’t. ‘Cause you got your eyes closed when you’re kissing her.”
  • A black boy’s grandfather was white. The boy explains, “My grandpa was a white man, a big plantation owner. Took my grandma out in the woods and nine months later she had my pa.”
  • Dit and Emma hear noises in the barn. “It sounded like two people, whispering and laughing. . . there, sitting on a bale of hay, was my oldest sister, Della. And she was kissing Mr. Fulton’s oldest boy.”
  • Emma tells Dit, “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.” Then she kisses him on the cheek. Later, Dit kisses her on the cheek. They kiss on the cheek three times in total.
  • Emma and her parents are moving. As Emma and Dit say goodbye, he asks her, “Can I kiss you goodbye?” After getting permission, Dit kissed her “right on the lips and everything. I probably should say it was gross or something. But it was actually kind of nice.”
  • The town has a different cemetery for “fallen women.”
  • Dit asks his dad, “Are you ever gonna give me the talk?” His father replies, “The part about girls, it’s just too embarrassing. Ask Raymond.”

Violence

  • Dit uses a flip-it to kill a bird. “The bird was stretching out its neck for another ant. When the rock hit it, the yellowhammer fell to the ground.” Dit feeds the bird to a caged eagle.
  • Dit shoots a buzzard out of the sky. “The bird jumped up and let out a terrible scream.”
  • When someone calls Dit a “nigger lover,” Dit “slugged him. Hit him right in the nose. He staggered but didn’t fall over, so I punched him in the stomach.” Several kids break up the fight.
  • In the past, the sheriff killed a man “in a bar fight. Claimed it was an accident, but everyone knew it wasn’t.”
  • A woman paid Dit to throw a bag of kittens into the river. Dit “closed my eyes and with a deep breath hurled the sack up over my head and into the water. Took off running before I even heard the splash.” Later, Dit and Emma go to the river and find the sack with the kittens still alive.
  • Someone tells Dit about a man who died and that “He lay perfectly still with his eyes wide open.”
  • Emma’s mother tells her, “Your great-grandmother used to get up before sunrise and work in the fields all day without a rest. If she didn’t work fast enough, she was whipped until the blood ran down her back.”
  • Two of Dit’s friends lock him in a prison cell. They want him to “admit you love that nigger girl.” When they let Dit out of the cell, his “fist hit Chip square in the jaw. He fell to the ground.”
  • Someone makes a reference to “the poor Negro who was lynched in Jefferson County last month.”
  • When Emma was practicing for the school play, Big Foot comes into the schoolhouse to kick her out. He tells her to leave. When she doesn’t he “picked up Emma and threw her over his shoulder like I’d seen my pa do with a sack of potatoes. . .” A black man named Doc tells Big Foot to put Emma down. “Big Foot dropped her then. Just let go of Emma’s feet and she slid right down his back. Her head made a loud thwack as it hit the floor. . . Blood was pouring out of a gash on her forehead.” Emma’s wound needs stitches.
  • When Doc stands up to Big Foot, “Big Foot punched him in the jaw. Doc staggered but remained upright. Big Foot slugged him again. Doc fell to the ground this time. Blood flowed from his lip to his chin. . . Big Foot charged Doc Hadley then, ran at him like a crazed bull. . . We could hear punches being thrown and then there was a crack of something like a broken bone.” Doc Hadley is knocked unconscious and has several wounds. The scene is described over three pages.
  • Later, Doc Hadley’s wounds are described. “Doc Hadley was hurt bad. His left arm was broken; he had two black eyes, a split lip, a twisted ankle, a couple of bruised ribs and a lump on his head the size of an old twine baseball.”
  • Big Foot goes into Doc Hadley’s barbershop.” Big Foot “punched him in the stomach. Doc doubled over in pain and Big Foot hit him again, knocking him to the ground.” Both men pull a gun. Big Foot yells, “Get up off the floor so I can shoot you like a man!”
  • Big Foot shoots his gun. “Big Foot approached the barber chair, his boots crunching on broken glass. He was too close to miss now, and his finger was on the trigger. Doc aimed for Big Foot’s leg, but the sheriff spun the chair around, hitting Doc’s arm. Both pistols went off at once. The sheriff gasped and fell to the ground, twitching wildly.” Big Foot dies. The scene is described over three pages.
  • Big Foot’s mother talks about the past. “But he was always a violent boy. Got in fights at school, tortured stray dogs around town. . . He only got worse as he got older, drinking and brawling in bars. Then there was that man in Selma. I knew it wasn’t no accident.”
  • Dit and Emma come up with a plan to free Doc Hadley from jail. In order to get blood for their plan, Dit catches a rabbit. “It quivered in fear, its dark eyes huge in the candlelight. . . .With a snap, I broke the rabbit’s neck. It twitched for a moment, then hung limp as an old hat, warm in my hands.” Dit feels guilty about killing the rabbit.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • After Big Foot beats up Doc Hadley, “Big Foot didn’t leave his front porch for that whole week, just sat there and drank beer.”
  • An old man walks around town. He thinks he is sleepwalking. He tells Dit, “My daughter warned me about drinking a whole bottle of whiskey in one sitting.”

Language

  • When a new postmaster and his family move to town, they are referred to as “niggers” ten times. For example, someone says, “Only one school around here for a nigger. And if you ask me, that’s one too many.”
  • Someone tells Dit, “I think it’s terrible that a nice boy like you runs around with a nigger.”
  • Several times, someone calls Dit a “nigger lover.”
  • When a plane lands in a field, someone exclaims, “Jesus, Joseph and General Lee.”
  • When assigning parts for the school play, the teacher asks a boy to be the ringmaster. The boy refuses because “I don’t want to be no Chinaman with slitty eyes!”
  • A boy calls Emma an egghead.
  • Attempting to stop a fight, Emma throws hot grease on Big Foot. He yells, “Goddamn it!”
  • When the mayor discovers that someone killed himself, he says, “Oh my God!”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Dit and Emma find an old pottery bowl with a drawing on it. Someone tells them, “This bowl was used by the Indians. When someone died, they filled it with water and placed it in the fire so their loved ones would not go thirsty on their journey to the underworld. The hand and the eye stand for the God who made everything and the God who sees everything.”
  • When a man tells Dit about his dead wife, Dit’s “lips moved briefly in a silent prayer.” Later the man tells Dit that he was, “angry at God for taking her away.”
  • After Dit throws a sack of kittens into a river, he feels guilty and goes to church. Dit “folded my hands in prayer and tried not to think about the kittens.” During the service, the reverend says, “Our sermon today is entitled ‘How Long Will Hell Last.’ Those who have been unjust and have inflicted suffering on those smaller and weaker than themselves will burn in hell. . . Those who harm innocent creatures will suffer in hell as surely as those who’ve broken all Ten Commandments.”
  • When Dit and Emma find the kittens alive, Dit thinks, “God had worked a miracle in exchange for my dime.”
  • Dit goes to church on Christmas Eve. He listens to a sermon about “the Star of Bethlehem and how amazed the shepherds had been when they had seen it.” Dit tries to pay attention because he “didn’t want to accidentally end up going to hell.”
  • While driving, a car spins out of control. Dit, “started praying, but the only prayer that came to mind was Jesus, Joseph and General Lee.”
  • Doc Hadley’s son wants to see his father’s body. Someone tells him, “Your daddy’s moved on to a better place.” Someone else asks, “He was a suicide. Don’t they go to hell?”

Heart of Iron

Twenty years ago, when a deadly plague was sweeping its way through the Iron Kingdom, salvation came in the form of androids, known as Metals, created by Lord Rasovant to care for the sick without risk of infection. Seven years ago, the once benevolent Metals turned against the kingdom, attacking the royal family as they slept in the North Tower of the palace. Ever since, Metals have been something to be feared and controlled.

But seventeen-year-old Ana isn’t afraid of most things. As the adopted daughter of notorious outlaw, Captain Siege, she’s been raised to be a fighter. In fact, her best friend, D09 or Di for short, is one of the few remaining Metals in the Iron Kingdom. But Di’s memory core is glitching, and Ana believes the key to saving him lies on the Tsarina, a legendary spaceship lost to time that once belonged to the creator of the Metals. Ana would do nearly anything to save Di, including kidnap a member of the Ironblood nobility.

Robb Valerio has never believed that his father burned in the North Tower alongside the royal family. He believes that his father escaped on board the Tsarina, and he’s finally managed to secure coordinates that seem to point towards the lost ship. When Ana, Di, and their annoyingly handsome Solani friend Jax, kidnap him, Robb finds himself having to cooperate with criminals to get the information he’s desperately seeking. But the Tsarina holds more secrets than any of them anticipated, and as the past comes back to haunt them, it appears that Di and Ana might be the key to discovering what really happened in the North Tower all those years ago.

Ashley Poston’s Heart of Iron is an exciting Space Opera-esque story, loosely inspired by Fox Animation Studios’ Anastasia. It’s sci-fi geared more toward fairy tale fans than the truly scientifically minded. Poston takes classic fairy tale tropes—a lost princess, star-crossed lovers, an ancient evil threatening the kingdom—and mixes them with thrilling sci-fi elements like spaceships and androids. The resulting world-building isn’t the most unique, but it works as a backdrop for several plot twists and turns. The story relies heavily on the characters and their relationships, adding a layer of complexity to an otherwise standard plot.

Heart of Iron doesn’t focus on just one point of view. Instead, all four characters tell their own version of the story, which makes each of them compelling and intriguing in their own way. Stubborn fighter, Ana, will go to any lengths to save the people she loves but finds herself questioning everything when she learns the truth about her past. Charming Robb, who grew up fighting for his own interests among ruthless royalty, finds unexpected friendship among outlaws. Jax, a Solani with the ability to see into the future, struggles to come to terms with the idea of destiny. And then there’s Di, an Android grappling with what it means to love and be human. As their world is changing quickly around them, they must work together to survive.

Readers who are familiar with Poston’s previous work might expect Heart of Iron to have more in common with Starfield, the fictional space-opera TV show from the Once Upon a Con series, than the geek-tinged contemporary stories she’s primarily known for. Heart of Iron may be set in a sci-fi world filled with space-ship battles and evil androids, but the characters have all of the heart and humor one may come to expect from an Ashley Poston book. The ever-changing complexity of the relationships is what makes the book really shine.  At its heart, it’s a story about learning how to love and be loved.

Sexual Content

  • Ann is leaving to infiltrate an Ironblood party. Before she leaves, Ana kisses Di. “She pressed her lips, briefly, against his metal mouth.”
  • When Jax and Robb are reunited on the wreck of the Tsarina, they share a kiss. “Robb’s mouth was hungry and desperate, tasting like honey and salt and surprise. Jax’s skin buzzed at their nearness, and he wanted to sink into the kiss and rebel, to be closer and a thousand light years away.”
  • Ana jokingly asks Robb if there will be “drunken orgies” at the upcoming ball.
  • When Ana and Di are reunited, she kisses him. “Ana pressed her lips against his. They were warm and soft. It was like the kiss from Astoria, a second, a moment, a breath—”
  • Ana tries to apologize for kissing Di without asking first, but he pulls her in for a second kiss. Di “wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into another kiss, and she melted into him, pressing as close as she could, and still he wanted to be closer. Her fingers threading into his hair, his around her waist, moving exploring . . . His tongue tried the contour of her lips, memorizing her taste, her motion, her method. The kiss lit a million sins in between his zeroes and ones, and made him infinite.”

Violence

  • Di has several dents on his body from different scrapes he’s gotten. Ana “felt bad for a particular ding on his forehead, but she had apologized a thousand times for accidentally running him over with a skysailer.”
  • Ana and Di are tracking a weapons dealer who is attacked by a group of androids known as Messiers. Ana tosses a grenade as a distraction. “Giving it a good luck kiss, she lobbed the flash grenade high into the air. It arced across the domed ceiling—and exploded in a dazzling blast of solar white.” It’s implied that only the Messiers are injured in the blast.
  • Robb tries to run away with the chip, but Di and Ana stop him. They get into a skirmish. “With a cry [Robb] reached for his sword—the girl tackled him from behind and slammed both him and the Metal into the door. It gave a groan and swung outward onto a staircase and into the grimy alleyway. He grappled for the railing, trying to catch his footing, but his ankle bent. He tumbled down the steps, striking his head against the cement.”
  • Di and Ana run into some security Messiers. Di pulls the memory core out of one of them. Di “punched his hand into the weakest part of the Messier’s torso and ripped a small glowing square out of its body. Strings of optical wires came with it, stretching like sinew. With one final tug, the wires popped away. The Messier’s eyes flickered out, and it dropped onto the docks.”
  • The waitstaff at the Valerio garden party is wearing Vox collars that would send “a thousand volts of electricity straight to the neck” if they made a noise.
  • Robb implies that the last boy he was in a relationship with committed suicide by jumping out a window. “Robb had tried to talk him out of the window, laying their entire relationship bare to all the nosy, shitty people who watched from below. How words didn’t matter.”
  • The Grand Duchess explains how the royal family died at the hands of Metals. “On the eve of the nine hundred and ninety-third anniversary of the Goddess, Metals laid siege to the Iron Palace and burned the North Tower where my family slept, destroying the heart of our kingdom.” The actual deaths aren’t described in great detail.
  • At a party, Ana and Robb get into a fight. “Around them, Ironbloods applauded over the sound of their scuffle. Trumpets sounded as the Grand Duchess departed, so no one heard Ana slam her fist into his face.”
  • Robb’s brother tries to stop Ana from escaping. He grabs her and “the girl slammed the back of her head into [Robb’s] brother’s face. Erik gave a cry and she twisted her wrist out of his grip. Blood poured from his nose and onto his crimson evening coat.”
  • Messiers corner Robb and Ana as they’re escaping a party, and demand they return the chip with the coordinates. Robb defends himself and Ana with his lightsword. “Reaching back, he pulled out his lightsword and slammed the superheated blade into the middle guard, carving a line down its front like it was soft butter.” The description of the fight lasts about a page.
  • As they escape, the royal guards shoot their skysailer out of the air, and Robb is caught in the fire. “He became distinctly aware of the pain in his side. Why did it hurt to breathe? He looked down. Blood stained the side of his favorite evening coat.”
  • As they get off the planet, the royal guard shoots missiles at the ship that Ana and Di live on, the Dossier “The white-hot missile spiraled closer. [Jax] spilled the sails and drew them back into the sides of the ship, banking the ship left as hard as he could. The missile screamed past them like a streak of white and exploded.”
  • Ana describes Talle, Captain Siege’s wife, as having “hands so steady she could slit a throat clean while navigating the skyways of Nevaeh”
  • Jax catches Robb trying to escape the Dossier and they get into a brief fight. “Robb jumped away, spinning [the lightsword] behind his back to his other hand and sliced at [Jax]. The sword flashed through the air like a bolt of lightning. Jax cursed—nothing around to block the blade—and raised his arm. Jax saw Robb’s lips parting in surprise a moment before the blade slammed into Jax’s forearm. The lightsword bounced off like steel on stone.” The description of the fight lasts about two pages.
  • Di and Ana sneak onto the Tsarina and are attacked by a Metal. “Di dodged as the Metal’s fist sailed past his cheek and sank into the wall. He planted his hand on the side of the Metal’s head and spun it under his arm into a headlock. The Metal didn’t even have a chance to parley before Di gripped it by its jaw and ripped its head clean off.” The fight is described over three pages and Ana sustains minor injuries.
  • Robb watches Captain Siege kill a member of her own crew. “A bullet pierced Berger’s chest. A flower of blood bloomed on the grease-stained back of his spacesuit. He began to reach for the wound, confused, before melting to the floor.”
  • Di and Ana encounter a violent, sentient piece of malware on the wreck of the It is controlling the Metals that attacked the crew. The malware attempts to overwrite Di’s code, and tells Ana, “You should have burned.” Di sacrifices himself in order to stop it. Di “hesitated for a moment—long enough to realize there were no good-byes. Then he shoved his hand into the console, wrapped his fingers around the hard drive, and pulled. The program retaliated, digging into his mainframe, clawing him apart.” Di’s body is damaged beyond repair, but his memory core is still functional.
  • Robb’s mother sends ships to track down the Dossier. The crew is ambushed in a firefight and Captain Siege is injured. “Ana scrambled over to the captain lying on the floor a few feet away, grabbing a fistful of Siege’s coat to roll her onto her back. A nasty gash bled down her forehead, soaking into her black hair.” The firefight is described over three pages.
  • Robb’s mother shoots one of her own soldiers with Captain Siege’s gun, providing false justification for boarding the Dossier. “The woman took Siege’s pistol out of its holster and fired a bullet into one of her own guard’s knees. The guard gave a shriek, collapsing to the floor, before two others dragged him back to the other ships, leaving a smeared trail of blood.”
  • Robb’s mother tries to shoot Jax, but a crew member named Wick pushes him out of the way and takes the bullet instead. “Wick looked down at the hole in his chest and gave a gurgle—wet and gasping. Ana could only watch in horror, her hands bound behind her, as the man who’d taught her how to clean a pistol, speak Cercian, and darn her own socks, slumped onto the floor and went still.”
  • Robb takes Ana onto his mother’s ship, but Ana fights back. Ana thrashes “against him, getting her hand free of his grip, and grabbed at his side where his stitches were. He let out a painful gasp—and that only made her curl her fingers into the wound, squeezing harder, until blood soaked the shirt Jax had lent him.”
  • Ana has a nightmare about being trapped in a fire. “And it was so hot—burning, bubbling hot—she tried to scream but nothing came out. The side of her face lit with unimaginable pain. It hurt, it hurt so fiercely she could feel the fire against her cheek as she tried to claw it away. She felt her nails dig into her skin, scratching, drawing blood, but she couldn’t wake up.”
  • Di saves Captain Siege from the guards who have taken over the He knocks out one of the guards by throwing the ship’s cleaning bot at them. “He grabbed EoS out of the air and threw the bot at the female guard. With a pitiful bloop it struck her in the side of the head. It must have been with more force than he realized, because the female guard slumped to the floor, unconscious.”
  • Robb thinks that his brother Erik, who was next in line to become emperor, will want to kill him for bringing Ana back. “He’s going to hire an assassin and literally kill me. And wear my skin as shoes.”
  • Di encounters a mob of people harassing an innocent Metal and she gets into a fight with a man who threatens to burn it. “The temper inside Di turned his thoughts white-hot. The next he knew, he had the man by the hand and was twisting his arm behind his back. There was a crack. The man gave a cry, dropping the lighter. Di caught it, flicking the flame on, holding so tight to the man’s broken arm, twisting so terribly that bone protruded from the skin.” The incident is described over two pages.
  • At a party, Ana embarrasses herself in front of a group of girls. As they giggle at her she wonders, “She could gut them from stomach to spleen right there, didn’t they know?”
  • Ana is lured into the North Tower by the same malware that targeted her on the Tsarina. She is then attacked by Messiers. “The blue-eyed Messier picked up a piece of broken mirror and lunged. She dodged its first attack, snagging up a blackened metal tray from the floor, and deflected the next. The sound of the mirror shard against the tray made a loud ping, and shattered in the android’s grip.” The incident is described over five pages and Ana sustains minor injuries.
  • The malware tells Ana that it was responsible for burning the tower and killing her family, but that it was Rasovant’s idea. The malware says, “[Rasovant] lost his patience with the Emperor. He did not mean to kill him.”
  • Di saves Ana from the Messiers. “’You shall burn…,’ the red-eyed Metal said. ‘She shall not,’ the guard hissed, wrapping his arm around its neck, then prying his fingers underneath its chin and ripping its head off.”
  • Erik tries to stop Robb from saving Jax. The brothers get into a fight that ends when Jax puts a voxcollar around Erik’s neck. “Fifty thousand volts of electricity sparked through the nodes of the voxcollar, sending [Erik] convulsing to the floor.” The fight is described over two pages.
  • Under the influence of the HIVE, Di and the other Metals attack Ana’s coronation, killing multiple people. Di “swung his aim toward the Grand Duchess and pulled the trigger. It was not his aim that had made his hand shake after all. The old woman slumped back, painting a red streak across the base of the Goddess’s statue as she slid to the ground.” The fight is described over about five pages.
  • Mellifare, the humanoid Metal that houses the HIVE, tried to shoot Robb, but his mother leaps in front of the gun. “A firework of red exploded into the air, and warm droplets splattered on [Robb’s] He quickly wiped them away—blood. The world came into focus with a jolt, and his mother stood in front of him, arms outstretched. Blood stained her beautiful white dress.”
  • Lord Rasovant stabs Riggs, one of the Dossier crewmembers, in the back. Riggs “choked, his reply cut short. Blood dribbled from his mouth. Ana gave a cry as Lord Rasovant pulled the dagger out of Riggs’s back, letting him drop to the ground.”
  • Ana threatens Rasovant with a dagger, but decides to show mercy on him. Then he tries to pull a gun on her. “Goddess bright, [Ana] prayed the moment before her dagger sank into Lord Rasovant’s stomach, give me a heart of iron.”
  • After Ana kills Rasovant, Di attacks her with a lightsword. Ana tries to reason with him, but he stabs her anyway. “’I should have let you burn,’ he whispered, and sunk his blade into her.” Their fight is described over six pages.
  • After Di stabs Ana, Robb and the Dossier crew fight their way out of the palace. Di uses his ability to control technology to burst the tracking chip in Robb’s hand. Robb “screamed. Pain curled up around his shoulder, seized hold of his heart, and squeezed. It squeezed so hard he barely felt it when the chip burned away the nerves in his wrist. When it tore apart the blood vessels in his hand.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Di and Ana sneak into a party where alcohol is being served.
  • After Ana kisses Di, he notes that she’s never kissed him on the mouth before, only on the cheek, “when she’d drunk too much of Wick’s Cercian ale.”
  • Captain Siege smokes a cigar. “The captain took a cigar out from her desk drawer and lit it, the smoldering orange end matching the fiber optics in her hair.”
  • The crew of the Dossier toast to the crew members they lost on the wreck of the Tsarina. “The captain retrieved an old bottle of bourbon, opened only for rare occasions, and set out five shot glasses, filled them, and slid them to the crew.”

Language

  • The phrase “Goddess’s spark” and “Goddess blast” are used as curses throughout the book. For example, Captain Siege tells Jax to “get us off this Goddess-blasted space station before the entire Messier military arrive.”
  • Jax uses the Solani curse “Ak’va” three times.
  • The word “ass” and related phrases such as “asshole” and “smartass” are used at least nine times. For example, when Robb gets into the skysailer for the first time, Jax tells him, “Buckle up, little lord. Don’t want your pretty ass falling out.”
  • Jax implies that the crew of the Dossier might turn Robb in. Robb replies “Goddess be damned you will.”
  • Di tells Captain Siege that he’s not her enemy. She responds, “Piss you aren’t!”

Supernatural

  • Ever since a group of androids known as Metals killed the royal family, Metals have been forced to join the HIVE. “The HIVE was the Iron Kingdom’s way of dealing with misbehaving, or rogue, Metals. Instead of imprisonment, the kingdom stripped Metals of their free will and assimilated them. Then, with them obedient and unthinking, the kingdom used them as guard dogs—Messiers.”
  • Jax has some supernatural abilities. “He had a knack for flying, and when he closed his eyes he could feel the stars orbit around him no matter where he was, so he could never get lost.”
  • Ana promises “on iron and stars” that she will always come back for Di. “It was said that such promises could never be broken; the Goddess would not allow it.”
  • Before he dispersed, Rob’s father gave him a piece of iron. “It was a piece of the same iron that made the crown, and like the crown, it rusted for anyone who touched it. Except those chosen by the Goddess to lead the kingdom.”
  • Jax says his people know how to read the future in the stars. “What may be, what will be, and what will never be.” This knowledge made their empire great, “Until one day, the stars began to blink out, and the D’thverek—what your lovely people call the Great Dark—came for our sun. We had relied on the stars for so long that we didn’t know how to defend ourselves, so we took what remained of our people and fled where the stars pointed—here.”
  • Jax has the ability to read people’s futures through skin-to-skin contact. When he kisses Robb he sees parts of Robb’s future. “There was a jolt—like touching a live wire. A burn. A hiss. Then the star-stuff inside Robb swirled, brighter and brighter, sending his fate through Jax with the sharpness of a knife. A black collar. A marble palace. Ana touching iron. Moonlilies. The glint of knuckle rings. A bloodied crown—”
  • Di wakes up in the humanoid Metal, with oddly human emotions, and a new ability to control the technology around him. “A tingling spread across his fingertips, and instinctively he lowered his hand to the ports on the computer’s dash. An electric sensation coursed over his skin, and he found himself—his code, his programming—pulled toward the console like a magnet. Then he was rushing across the electrical currents of the ship, spreading across the motherboard, sinking into the programs. He was the ship, but he was also in his body. He was soaring through space and staring at the holo-screens. A hundred places at once, seeing everything.”
  • Ana discovers old files in the North Tower, including the file “METAL CREATION,” which reveals that Metals were all once human victims of the plague. “All the plague victims were burned after they died, so no one would know the difference if their bodies went missing. The disease was so contagious, if you so much as touched an infected person, you would also begin to rot. The kingdom sent out guards to take the infected away, so no one was there when they died. Or when they were put into Metals.”
  • Di asks Rasovant why he created a body that could feel emotions, and Rasovant explains that it was for his dying son to inhabit. “When I created Metals, I took away your emotions. I didn’t realize how important they were. None of my creations retained their memories. This was not a problem but a curiosity. Where did I go wrong? Memories, it turns out, are laced with emotion.”

Spiritual Content

  • People in the kingdom worship a moon goddess who, according to the Cantos of Light, drove a Great Darkness from the universe. “Far above the crown of stars, there lay a kingdom cast in shadows until a daughter born of light drove the night away. And so the Great Dark waited a thousand turns around the sun and promised on its heart of iron to once again return.”
  • Ana does not believe in the moon goddess. “Ana curved a crescent moon across her chest—in honor of the Goddess she didn’t believe in—to disguise tucking three coppers from the offering tray into her burgundy coat.”
  • Ana and Di go to a Shrine to the Moon Goddess. “An abbess passed down the almost-empty aisle. Ana could hear her humming a sad, lonely hymn from the Cantos of Light as she swung a thurible, carrying with it the heavy scent of moonlilies. At the head of the shrine stood a statue of the Moon Goddess, seven men high, her arms outstretched as she looked to some distant point in the domed ceiling, where murals of the Moon Goddess’s story, the kingdom of shadows and the girl of light, were painted.”
  • Ana doesn’t really believe in the Goddess, but she knows her origin story well. “How, in a kingdom of shadows, the queen bore a daughter of light who chased the Dark away.”
  • Ana is unsure that the Moon Goddess would protect an outlaw like her, but she still prays to her when in danger. Ana prays, “Goddess bright, bless my stars and keep me steady.”
  • The Goddess can reincarnate. “All the royal women are married into the family, because the crown had sired only boys for the past thousand years. Until a daughter was born seventeen years ago. The Goddess returned, everyone said. But then she died with the rest of her family in the Rebellion.”
  • According to The Cantos of Light, The Goddess created the Iron Kingdom from the Chaos of the Great Dark. “It was said that after a thousand years the Goddess would return to defeat the Great Dark again.”
  • When the skysailer is falling out of the sky, Robb prays to himself, “Goddess bright, please don’t let us die.”
  • When Robb and the Dossier crew are being shot at, Rob prays, “Merciful Goddess, if you exist, please hand my ass to me some other day. I don’t want to die. I haven’t kissed Jax yet.”
  • When Ana thinks she is going to be killed for treason, she prays to the Goddess. “Goddess bright, let me see Di again, she prayed for the first time in her life.”
  • Lord Rasovant, the creator of the Metals and the HIVE, considers himself to be Ana’s spiritual advisor. He tells her that Metals cannot see the Goddess’s light, and therefore must be HIVE’d. “We are a kingdom of many after all. We are of different planets and different beliefs, but we will all be stronger with an army under the Goddess.”

by Evalyn Harper

 

Flamecaster

Set in the world of Chima’s critically acclaimed Seven Realms series, Flamecaster is the beginning of an exciting new series full of suspense, magic, love, and danger. War has overtaken the realm, leaving two young, yet determined characters on their own in their fight against the cruel king of Arden.

Ash wants nothing more than to get back at the king that murdered his father. But after he’s forced into hiding, that goal only gets farther out of reach. Once he gets close to his father’s murderer, will he succeed in getting revenge? Or will he sacrifice his life for nothing?

Ash isn’t alone in his hunt for revenge. For as long as she’s known, Jenna Bandelow has had a strange magemark on the back of her neck. When the King’s Guard begins hunting for a girl with a mark like hers, Jenna must figure out why she’s being hunted. Does it simply have to do with the fact she’s been fighting against the king of Arden? Or is it something more? Danger lurks around every corner, and Ash and Jenna will need each other if they are to survive.

Flamecaster, a fantastic first book in the Shattered Realms Series, follows Ash’s and Jenna’s quest to take down the ruthless King Gerard. The engaging story is full of wizards, intrigue, revenge, and multifaceted characters. Both Ash and Jenna are interesting, complex characters who become King Gerard’s victims and lose those they love. Told from both Ash’s and Jenna’s point of view, it’s easy to understand each of their motivations as they grow and become obsessed with killing King Gerard. Both are angry and hateful after King Gerard kills people they love, which fuels their desire for revenge. While working towards their ultimate goal, each finds themselves alone, yet determined. Flamecaster weaves a compelling mystery, but doesn’t conclude with a typical resolution. Instead, some of the story arc is left with unanswered questions which will leave the reader eager to read the next book in the series, Shadowcaster.

 Chima’s expert storytelling allows the story to unfold gradually and with humor. Even though the story pairs Ash and Jenna as lovers, the focus remains on survival and intrigue. Another positive aspect of Flamecaster is the world-building, which builds on the previous series, the Seven Realms series. This is constantly in the background, as the war personally impacts both Ash and Jenna. Through the war, religious and cultural differences between the two nations emerge. This highlights how in the Fells wizards are free and help rule over the Queendom, yet in Arden wizards are enslaved and distrusted. Overall, the backdrop serves well to push the story forward.

The theme of revenge is prevalent, as both Ash and Jenna are fueled by their desire to get revenge against King Gerard. Luckily this theme isn’t overbearing, and is paired well with the theme of hope. The universal theme of hope wins out in the end, as Ash and Jenna learn to overcome their doubts and survive their time in Arden. Flamecaster is both fast paced and engaging, a story that will entertain both Chimas’s loyal fans as well as readers new to the fantasy series.

Sexual Content

  • Ash was in a relationship while attending an academy. He thinks, “Suze was a plebe at Isenwerk. She and Ash had walked out together for a few months, but had recently called it quits. At least he had.”
  • In the past, King Gerard attempted to marry the Queen of the Fells. Ash’s father says, “Your mother rejected him in a very public way.”
  • Ash comes to buy poisons from Taliesin, his mentor. She tells him, “Other young men your age come to me seeking love potions. I suppose you’re not in need of those.”
  • During a staged fortune-telling, a seer tells a young man the fortune, “says, ‘I’m not going to sleep with you anymore, you faithless bastard.’”
  • Someone says “The northerners spend their days picking wildflowers and dreaming and their nights fornicating under the stars.”
  • Ash and Jenna share a romance. After making love, Jenna tells Ash, “It’s just—in Bruinswallow, I think we’d be considered married.” The love making isn’t described, only implied. Later, Ash thinks about his feelings for Jenna, “I am in love with this girl.”

Violence

  • In a confrontation with King Gerard, Ash sees him die. Ash, “flattened himself against the tower wall to avoid being struck as the king screamed past him like a falling star. The screaming ended abruptly when he hit bottom.”
  • While battling priests, Ash kills some of them. Ash attacks one priest and “immolated him before he hit the floor.”
  • Ash is a trained killer. Ash thinks that he is “good with poisons, garrotes, and the small daggers known as shivs. Poisons were his weapons of choice.” Later, Ash tells someone, “Consider how many premature deaths I’m preventing. The lives I take are balanced by those I save.”
  • A young boy throws some sort of powder in Ash’s eyes. “When the trailing edge of it caught him [Ash] in the face and in the eyes, it was as if someone had taken a torch to him.”
  • Ash is forced to put down a horse. Ash, “insisted on doing it himself, by using magic to stop the blood as it rushed through the great artery in his neck. It was a painless death, as far as he could tell, but that didn’t make it any easier.”
  • In a conversation about Delphi, Clermont, a Guard Captain, says, “When things get really bad, I just kill a few Delphian rats. That never fails to raise my spirits.”
  • During a royal party, one of the king’s thanes kills some of the king’s guard. The thane “turned, a blade in each hand, and cut the throats of the blackbirds nearest to him.”
  • King Gerard has his mistress killed. Ash remembers, “But Estelle was dead—killed for the crime of hosting an assassination attempt on the king.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • At a tavern at an academy, Lila sees a fellow student drunkenly fall into a chair. She watches as, “He all but fell into it, clunking his mug down on the table. It was nearly empty.”
  • Ash thinks about Lila, his classmate. “Drunk or sober, Lila didn’t miss much.” Just after that, Lila says, “A girl can learn a lot from a drunken southerner.”
  • After a fire breaks out in the palace kitchens, Ash, “realized that Hamon was blaming himself and his drinking for the fire.”
  • Destin notices that “The more Clermont drank, the louder he talked.”

Language

  • Lila calls a fellow student, “Ardenine swine.”
  • Ass is used frequently. For example, someone tells Ash, “You have to keep moving or grow a crop of moss on your ass.”
  • King Gerard calls his queen, “You stupid slut of Tamron.”
  • Clermont, a guard captain in the city of Delphi, cusses out a waitress. He says, “You tell that insolent whey-faced tavern rat. . .”
  • Marin Karn, Destin’s father, talks about Lila. He says, “The bitch has a mouth on her that’s going to cost her if she isn’t careful.”

Supernatural

  • Wizards, also known as mages, are commonplace. They are not welcomed in every country. Ash Hanson and Destin Karn are wizards. Ash thinks, “Wizards were arrogant by nature.”
  • Wizards often see a glow around other wizards. Ash notes, “Western wizards glowed a cool bluish-white. Strangward’s aura came closest to that. He lit up the entire room with a brilliant white glow. The other delegates glowed a faint red, like dying coal.”
  • Talismans often are used as protection against magic. When Lilia is interrogated by a mage, “The Talisman at her neck sizzled against her skin. Protection against magic.”
  • Talismans are usually created by the Clans in the Fells. Lila thinks, “Crafted of rowan, ebony, and ivory, it had been given to her by her clan friend and sometime partner, Shadow Dancer.”
  • Dealing with a wounded ankle, Ash thinks, “A wizard can’t use his gift to heal himself.”
  • In Arden, Wizards are shunned and are generally considered to be demons. When King Gerard confronts Ash about being a “demon,” Ash says, “Hang on—you think I’m an actual demon?”
  • Destin often uses magic to interrogate people. Destin thinks, “That made torture unnecessary for the most part, unless he was dealing with other mages, who could resist his mind magic.”
  • When trying to interrogate a boy, Destin “released magic into him, let if flow as if to fill him up, then reached through it to find the boy’s mind. And couldn’t. He tried again, and it was like searching an empty room.”
  • Jenna has a unique ability to speak to dragons. When Flamecaster, a dragon, speaks to her, she thinks, “At first, she thought he [the dragon] was asking for help, but then she realized that it was offering help.”

Spiritual Content

  • Arden is heavily influenced by the Church of Malthus, the dominant religion. God is the main deity of the Church of Malthus.
  • The Maker is the main god of the Fells, a nation to the north. Jenna Bandelow tells her father, “The Maker helps those who help themselves, isn’t that what you said?”
  • King Gerard asks of one of his subjects, “Are you saying that you will not submit to the command of your sovereign, anointed by God?”
  • Ash saves the palace cook, Hamon, from a fire. Hamon says, “They say it was a miracle. Come here, my boy, so I can feel of you, for surely you were the instrument of Holy Malthus in this.”
  • The Church of Malthus paints mages as demonic. Someone says, “Magic, my lord? I want nothing to do with that. The Fathers say that mages are idolators and devils.”
  • Priests of the Church of Malthus are often referred to as crows. Someone says, “Those black-robed crows of Malthus can prattle on about martyrdom and Paradise all they want. I’m not signing on.”

by Jonathan Planman

Terror at Bottle Creek

Cort’s father is a local expert on hunting and swamp lore in lower Alabama and has been teaching his son everything he knows. But when a deadly Category 3 storm makes landfall and his father disappears, thirteen-year-old Cort must unexpectedly put all his skills—and bravery—to the test.

One catastrophe leads to another, leaving Cort and two neighbor girls to face the Gulf Coast hurricane the best they can. Lost in the middle of storm-thrashed wetlands, the three face dangerous, desperate wild animals, it’s up to Cort to win—or lose—the fight of their lives.

Terror at Bottle Creek sweeps readers into the Alabama swamps and shows the dangers that lurk beneath the water and on land. With the Bottle Creek Indian Mounds as a backdrop, the story creates an eerie and terrifying tone that will have readers biting their nails. Vicious hogs, deadly alligators, and other swamp creatures all head to higher ground during the storm. In order to survive, Cort and his two neighbors must face a hurricane, wild animals, hypothermia, a venomous snake bite, and their own fears.

Readers will relate to Cort, who is embarrassed to live in a houseboat and wishes his life was different. Cort also struggles to understand his changing feelings for his childhood friend, Liza. As Cort tries to save Liza and her sister, he faces difficult choices, but he tackles them with bravery and compassion. As he fights to survive in the swamp, he thinks of the lesson his father taught him. However, his memories also reveal angry feelings towards his father. Cort’s emotional struggles are interwoven with intense survival scenes, allowing the reader to empathize with Cort. By the end of the story, Cort realizes his value does not come from where he lives, but from his character.

While Terror at Battle Creek has some typical elements, the story’s suspense and unexpected events will have readers jumping with fright. Terror at Battle Creek is an excellent survival story that will leave readers with an appreciation of the beauty and dangers of the Alabama swamps. Readers who enjoyed Terror at Battle Creek will also like

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Cort thinks about hunting swamp animals. Some people use dogs to track and corner hogs. “The dogs are often gored or killed in the fight. I’ve seen them back away with their cheeks hanging open or their intestines hanging from their belly, blue and bloody and leaf-pasted.”
  • When Cort was ten, he got out of the boat to pick grapes and a hog charged at him. The hog “bowled me over, bit onto my thigh, and shook me like a doll. It happened so fast I didn’t have time to react. Dad was quick to fire a shot into the air with his rifle. That startled the sow. . . I learned that wild pigs won’t hesitate to attack. And kill you. And eat you.”
  • Cort helps get Francis and Liza into a tree. “A sharp pain sliced across my leg and something bulky and hairy knocked me against the tree. . . The hogs closed in beneath us, blocking our escape. . . I came up the opposite side from them, my leg throbbing with pain. I put the light on it and saw a three-inch tear in my thigh. Blood ran down my leg, thick and pink and watered down like cherry Kool-Aid.”
  • A wild hog named Rusty attacks the tree that Cort, Liza, and Francis are hiding in. “The other pigs were picking through the leaves, finding dead and live snakes and eating them. Rusty suddenly charged one of them and toppled it into the underbrush. What followed was a deafening blend of squeals over a blur of brown and black hair. . .” Rusty reappears with bloody tusks.
  • Rusty attacks the boat that Cort and his dad are in. Cort’s dad is able to get a rope loop around Rusty’s head, and Cort “slammed the boat into reverse as Rusty squealed and swung his head and battered the side of the boat like someone beating a metal barrel with butcher knives.” Cort’s dad is able to tie the hog to a tree.
  • Rusty and a bear get into a fight. “Bear and hog rolled in a tangled blur of snarling and squealing frenzy. Teeth and claws and tusks and hooves gleamed and slashed beside us like a whirlwind of knives. . . The hog managed to get on top again and I thought I detected the bear weakening. The wounds in his chest were deep, and his fur was wet and matted and gleaming a purplish color from all the blood. While the hog had gaping wounds about his body from the tearing claws, he didn’t seem slowed. . .The bear kept his lock on the hog, his snarls sounding more like weak sighs. Rusty gurgled and kicked occasionally, the life slowly leaving him.” The fight is described over three pages. The bear kills Rusty and the story implies that the bear will die as well from his wounds.

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • When Cort’s father takes two men on a hunting trip, the clients “both cracked a beer and toasted each other.” After the men get a gator, they “popped more beer and celebrated.”

Language

  • Hell is used three times. When an alligator almost bites Cort, his dad says, “What the hell you doing? . . . Lord, you know better than to dive in there like that.”
  • Lord is used as an exclamation twice.
  • Crap is used four times. When Cort’s dad calls for an ambulance, he is told it can’t get to them. Cort’s dad yells, “Don’t give me that crap, Curly! Make it happen.”
  • When a snake bites Liza, Cort says, “Dammit. Dammit. Hold on.”
  • Damn is used twice. When Cort’s dad sees snakes all over, he says, “Damn snakes.”
  • When Cort asks Liza about the shape of the snake’s head, she says, “I didn’t study its head, you idiot!”
  • When Cort falls into the swamp, his father says, “God almighty!”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Cort’s dad says, “Snakes are just cold and evil. You can’t breed it out of them. It’s like reptiles got a different God.”
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