The Long Lost Map / Pierdomenico Baccalario / 261 pages

Upon their arrival in Ancient Egypt, Julia, Jason, and Rick hear a knocking on the wall and knock back.   Julia magically returns home, while Jason and Rick encounter Maruch (sp?), an Egyptian girl revealed by the falling wall.  Maruch helps the boys enter the House of Life where they search for Ulysses Moore's map among the Pharaoh's library.  The search must be conducted quickly before the Pharaoh Tut arrives.  Oblivia Newton has somehow made her way to Egypt and is also demanding the map of Kilmore Cove.  They are looking for "the room that isn't there."  Meanwhile, Julia and Nestor, the caretaker, are being stalked by Olivia Newton's henchman, Manfred.  Why did Ulysses Moore hide the map of Kilmore Cove in Egypt?  What does Oblivia want with this map?

How I Live Now / Meg Rosoff / 194 pages

Daisy has been sent by her father and stepmother to spend time with her aunt and cousins in England.  She is glad to leave New York behind and resents her parents for "sending her away" as they await the birth of their baby.  Her mother died giving birth to her and her aunt is able to tell Daisy things about her Mom that she never would have known otherwise.  Terrorists strike.  War is declared.  Unfortunately, her Aunt Pen is away and getting back is impossible.  The kids are alone and Daisy in attracted to her cousin, Edmond.  The kids are relocated with families and an army occupies the land.  Electricity is spotty.  Gas is in short supply.  Food is scarce and rationed.  The war lasts 9 months and is worldwide.  Daisy and Piper survive despite overwhelming hardships.  Has any other member of family survived?

"Every war has a silver lining.  Starving is a hard cure for anorexia."
 Michael Prinz Award for Excellence in YA Literature

Legacy / Danielle Steel / 326 Pages

Brigitte works for a college in the admissions dept, but wakes up to a shock when her life changes overnight. Her boyfriend of six years up and move to Egypt, and the next day she gets let go at work because a new computer system can do her job for her.  With nothing to do and no one hiring, she turns to her mother, who is tracking her family's geneaology back as far as she can.  Her mother hits a wall when she can't find any more records from before her family left France.  Brigitte, wanting to please her mother and with nothing better to do, tracks down some more records for her, first going to Salt Lake City and then South Dakota, where she discovers that one of her relatives was a Sioux Indian girl who somehow ended up in France and married a Marquis.  Now interested in the geneaological project, Brigitte flies to Paris to find out more.  While there, she meets a French professor, and they enjoy each other's company.  But after Brigitte goes back home and has no real life left, she decides to take a job in Paris, where she will have the time and resources to write a book about the little Indian girl, Wachiwi.  Several chapters of the book are about Wachiwi's life and how she was taken from her family to another tribe, meets a Frenchman, and makes it to France, where she falls in love and gets married.

While the underlying story line was interesting, I found this book to be difficult to read and very repetitive.  What took up 326 pages could have been made into a much shorter, better-written book, and I found myself getting irritated with it throughout my reading of it.  I think the characters were under-developed and could have blossomed into memorable people who felt real to the reader with a little more effort.  It was very disappointing, as I had heard the Danielle Steel books were very good.  I guess I will have to read some of the older ones to find out.

Hate List / Jennife Brown / 408 pages

Valerie keeps a notebook, a "Hate List."  In it she lists bullies and unkind people.  Freshman year she meets Nick, who is often the butt of bullying.  They are drawn to each other and joke that those entered in the Hate List should suffer terrible repercussions.  Valerie's Mom & Dad are always fightin,g and time with Nick is a welcome respite.  He loves Shakespeare and makes her feel warm and protected.  On May 2, 2008, one of the bullies, a girl, rips Valerie's MP3earphones out of her ears and breaks them.  After Val tells Nick about it, he vows to fix it.  In a Columbine-like massacre, Val is wounded and believed to be in collusion with Nick.  A scary read, well-worth a second glance.  Some bad language.

Gateway Award 2011-12

After / Amy Efau / 350 pages

Devon Davenport is an only child.  Her mother left home at 16 when she discovered she was pregnant.  Devon does not know who her father is and knows no relatives.  Her mother works two jobs - one at Safeway - and has a series of boyfriends who stay over.  Devon has played soccer as keeper since age 11
 and is a straight A student.  She is very responsible.  She meets Connor at the pool while babysitting twin e-year-olds.  They have sex one time and Devon is so ashamed that she has broken her rule to never do that, that she refuses to see Devon again.  She becomes pregnant and hides the fact from everyone including herself.  Many testify on her behalf.  She could probably go free, but.... This book was even better with the second reading.

"Love is God's will in action."
"Profanity is offensive and contributes to illiteracy."
"You have two hands.  One to help yourself and the second to help others."


Gateway Award Nominee 2011-12

The Door to Time / Pierdomen Baccalari / 222 pages

Julia and Jason Covenant (twins) and their friend, Rick, follow clues found on old parchment scrolls to solve the mystery of Argo Manor.  Nestor, the caretaker of Ulysses Moore's ancient English home, is as mysterious and seems as ancient as the house he maintains.  The kids solve the OPEN code - owl, porcupine, elephant, newt, to open the ancient, scarred door.  Behind this door, they find yet other puzzles to be solved. The Dictionary of  Forgotten Languages which they checked out of the library proves to be invaluable.  Finding an old Viking ship in the grotto cove, they sail to Egypt.  Oblivia Newton spies on the children.  She wants to own Ulysses Moore's home.

"Everyone has their own personal ghost.  Everyone is haunted by something."

A Guest for Halloween: a Lex and Ricky Mystery / William Henderson / 151 pages

Ricky (5th grade) and Lex (8th) have recently moved from Vancouver to the small town of Terrance, in northern British Columbia.  They are living in the house in which their Mom & Uncle Jeff grew up.  While Lex engages in shooting practice with a new found friend, Tommy, Ricky goes off alone.  Hearing noise in the bush and smelling a wet dog smell, he goes in search of the dog.  Instead he finds a stash of valuable volcanic rocks and hears the dog echo his whistle.  Native Uncle Jeff explains that what he encountered may have been one of the Old Ones - Bigfoot, Sasquatch.

"People do inevitably go their own way, no matter how close they once were."

Beauty Queens / Libba Bray / 396 pages

"You look worried.  Really you should relax.  Reading is a pleasurable activity and worrying is bad for your heart."  This footnote on page 3 sets the tone for this hilarious survival novel.  Fifty beauty contestants in the Miss Teen Dream Pageant have endured a plane crash on a tropical island.  Only 12 survive.  The island is not deserted, but is occupied by a secret branch of the Corporation.  They don't want rescue to interfere with Operation Peacock so they decide to let the volcanic island finish off the girls.  Taylor, Miss Texas, is elected leader of the survivors and is determined to continue the pageant training - yes, even gives pageant training priority over survival.  This novel for mature teens, is filled with pirates, feminism, alternate lifestyles, and much more!!

"Pageants are antiquated.  The system rewards girls for being pretty and it values compliance and conformity rather than boldness and rule-breaking that we pride in our boys which help them feel entitled to success, to getting ahead in life."
"There comes a time in every persons life when a choice defines him."

The Throne of Fire (The Kane Chronicles Book 2) / Rick Riordan / 452 pages

"This second installment in the Kane Chronicles is nothing short of a thrill ride."  Wise-cracking Carter and Sadie Kane are called upon to find the Book of Ra - all three pieces; raise the god, Ra - although no one knows where he is; and defeat the 3-headed god, Apophis.  Most of these are accomplished but the story is far from over.

"The right choice is hardly ever the easy choice."
"Words are the source of all power.  And names are more than just a collection of letters."
"Courage.  Hope.  Sacrifice."

Night Sins/Tami Hoag/483 pgs

This is the first title in the "Deer Lake" series. I have never read anything by this author so didn't know what to expect. It is a story about a kidnapping of a young boy and what happens in a small Minnesota town in the aftermath. It is also a romance - the chief of police falls in love with the state investigator on the case. It was a little long and slow to my liking and I am not sure if I will try another series by her. But I do have to read the next in the series to find out who did it

Red Lily/Nora Roberts/371 pgs

This is the third and final title of the "In the Garden" trilogy. It is Hayley's story. She is a distant cousin of Roz's first husband and she comes to Harper House looking for work to support herself and her unborn child. She ends up falling for Roz's oldest son, Harper. The ghost of the Harper Bride is not happy about this and is trying to break it up and meanwhile everyone at Harper House is trying to figure out who she actually is and how to get her to finally rest in peace. It has a predictable ending but was still a very good story.

Bel-Air Dead/Stuart Woods/285 pages

SOS. Same old Stone. Not much else to say. Someday, maybe I'll break this addiction.

Medical Error/Richard L. Mabry M.D./287 pgs.

This is the second in the Prescription for Trouble series. Dr. Anna McIntyre is in the middle of an identity theft, forged prescriptions, and a false HIV test. There is mystery, light romance, and underlying Christian faith throughout the story. A good read!

Save Me/Lisa Scottoline/371 pages

Rose McKenna is volunteering at her daughter Melly's school as a lunch mom. She's trying to see for herself the type of bullying her daughter has been enduring. While disciplining a couple of girls who have been teasing Melly, an explosion in the kitchen forces her to choose who to save first, her own daughter or her daughter's tormentors.

Good summer read.

Bury Your Dead / Louise Penny / 371 pages

A Chief Inspector Gamache novel

Murder has been perpetrated in the library of the Literary and Historical Society in Quebec.  The victim is Augustin Renaud, a man searching for the body of Champlain, the founder of Quebec, in 1608.  Chief Inspector Gamache is asked by one of the librarians to help with the investigation.  He is reluctant because Quebec is out of his jurisdiction and he is in Quebec to recover from a previous "incident" which has left physical and emotional scars.  He has also requested that a colleague reinvestigate a closed case.  Great suspense and great interweaving of 3 separate plot lines make this novel an intriguing read. 

"The real reason for murder is fear.  Fear of losing what you have or not getting what you want."
"Four sentences that lead to wisdom. I'm sorry.  I was wrong.  I need help.  I don't know."
"...Before laptops and blackberries and all the other tools that mistook information for knowledge."
"...And libraries.  Calm.  Quiet.  A harbor from the turmoil of teenage life.  The power that came from having information, knowledge, thoughts, and a calm place to collect them."

RUSA 2011

Then He Kissed Me/Christie Ridgway/293 pgs.

This is the second book in a trilogy involving the Baci sisters' attempt to save their family winery. Stephania, a.k.a. Stevie, is called in to help with the wedding side of the family business when her sister, Allie, becomes incapacitated. The problem is that the wedding Stevie has to help plan is for her ex-boyfriend and his "royal" fiancee. The characters are more than one dimensional, the dialogue is entertaining, and it makes for a fast read!

The Kitchen Daughter/Jael McHenry/272 pages

Ginny and Amanda are sisters who aren't much alike. Amanda is married with two young daughters of her own. Ginny is older but has always lived with their parents. When their parents are killed, the two sisters must decide what is going to become of the family home and Ginny. At first I thought this was going to be an increasingly typical Asperger's story, but I was pleasantly surprised.

The Scorch Trials/ james Dashner/ 361 pages

I'm not sure why I listened to this cd after doing the Maze Runner. It is just more violent and twisted incidents that happen to the small group of teenagers. Tom is the main character and I like him less and less over time. He actually kills someone in the book. I didn't think that was supposed to happen in a YA novel. It was graphic even though it was a self defense killing of a crazed man. The end of the book, of course, sets up for the third book in the trilogy and you have to read it to find out what happened on the earth since the sun flares.

Black Rose/Nora Roberts/370 pgs

This is the second title of the "In the Garden" trilogy and is Roz 's story. Roz is the owner of "In the Garden" and is the Harper who lives in Harper House. She has been a widow and divorced and is not looking for love. But that changes when she hires Dr. Mitchell Carnegie to try to find out who the Harper Bride ghost is. While they are trying to decide where their relationship is going, the ghost is starting to make things difficult for them.

Divergent / Veronica Roth / 487 pages

Beatrice Potter lives in dystopian Chicago.  Society has been divided into 5 factions and the Factionless.  The Factionless are failures and receive no benefits in the new society.  Most children follow in their parents' factions, but may switch factions if they possess the aptitude.  Beatrice is divergent.  "Divergence is extremely dangerous..."  She displays aptitude for Abnegation (selfless), Dauntless (brave/ruthless), and Erudite (studious).  Her Choosing Ceremony is inconclusive.  Two factions were ruled out - Amity and Candor.  She can choose any of the 3 factions that she possesses aptitude for, but if she fails to choose Abnegation, she must forsake her family.

"Ordinay acts of bravery, ... the courage that drives one person to stand up for another."
"Valuing knowledge above all else results in lust for power and that leads men into dark and empty places."