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My Sister's Keeper

My Sister's Keeper

Shiver

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

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Grace didn't understand why she was drawn so strongly to the wolves, especially to "her" wolf with the yellow eyes. Then one day she sees him, or his eyes, anyway, at the bookstore. Grace has no one she can really turn to; after all, who wouldn't think she was crazy? Before long, she learns it's true - - that Sam periodically changes from wolf to human and back again. Only soon his time for changing may be over, and he'll be a wolf forever. How can Grace stop the town from destroying what they don't understand, and how can she fall in love only to lose Sam forever?

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I was excited to see on Maggie Stiefvater's website that a sequel, Linger, is coming out this summer. She also stated that the books are to be part of a trilogy.

Lock and Key

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

She was doing just fine. A few more months and she’d be out of here, not owing anyone anything. But when they found out she was living alone, everything changed.
Now Ruby lives in a rich neighborhood and goes to a rich school with rich kids. She plans on getting out as soon as she can, but things change. As Ruby sorts through her life, she learns that sometimes you have to be willing to give help and receive it in order to save yourself.

Lock and Key is the first book I've read by Dessen, and I plan on reading more. Told from Ruby's point of view, this realistic fiction novel will hit home to a lot of readers. Issues in this coming of age book include abuse, parental abandonment, teens raising themselves, sibling relationships, being the "new kid" at school, socio-ecomomic class, letting people in emotionally, and bettering oneself.

Always a sucker for a happy ending, I felt like the book balanced reality and a positive outlook.

A Great and Terrible Beauty

A Great and Terrible Beauty By Libbas Bray “Women who have power are always feared.” This wisdom comes to Gemma through her teacher at an all-girls school in London. Set in the Victorian time period, Gemma must learn to deal with the loss of her mother, what it takes to become a proper lady, how to fight her way through the cliquey girls groups, and how to control her secret power of visions and the ability to enter a world of magic. A Great and Terrible Beauty is the first in a series of three books. This book has been labeled Victorian Goth, as well as Historical Fantasy. Both labels are good attempts at defining the genre. I have to say it's still more than that, though. I typically shy away from fantasy, but what I like about this trilogy is that fantasy is an element but not the entire book. Gemma and her friends discover the magical world and travel between it and the "real" world. They still have their everyday problems, and even though the setting is in the 1890s, those problems are still very real for teens today: the death of a parent, parent drug and alcohol addiction, rebuilding a family unit, struggling to fit in among peers, abuse, cutting, fighting socio-economic class, wondering about the relevance of school, and finding one's place in life. The icing on the cake really is the fantasy element, as Gemma is fated to be the supernatural heroine much like a Clark Kent/Superman role. Recently discovered by our librarian, the series is already causing a buzz in our high school, and I predict many more readers to come.

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