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Action, adventure and an engaging story set deep in the heart of Chinese culture – oh, and it’s all set on Mars in the year 2515. Welcome to the latest book by Chris Roberson, Iron Jaw and Hummingbird. In this engaging book, Roberson continues his development of  The Celestial Empire, where China rose to world dominance in the fifteenth century on Earth and eventually colonized Mars, or Fire Star.  It’s intriguing to imagine and develop alternate world histories (and futures) as Roberson does with his Celestial Empire stories (which remind me of the excellent book by Kim Stanley Robinson, The Years of Rice and Salt) and toRead More →

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Avery’s got a secret and he doesn’t know how to live with it. Why is this happening to him? How can he control it? What can he do with it? Can he be the only one to have it? It, in Sarah Cross’ smart, quick, and fun first novel, Dull Boy, is superpowers.  In Avery’s case, super strength and the ability to fly.  He prowls around his town trying to find people to help (he’s got a complex about putting his gift to good use); tries to stay under the radar so he doesn’t end up in a test lab; and attempts to figure outRead More →

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Darkwood, the first novel by M.E.Breen, is a fairy tale adventure where the young orphan heroine, Annie, must unravel the mysteries of her past and her future while running both from and headlong into a dark, menacing danger. Annie’s grim life in a world hemmed by a frightening forest is about to change forever when her uncle sells her to a scary man who will take her to “The Drop.” Afraid of the certain death that awaits her, Annie and her trusty feline companions, Prue and Izzy, escape into the dark wood.  The wood is the most fear place of all because it is prowledRead More →

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In the Deep Freeze of Bartholomew Freezeby Alex Williams, the town of Pinrut has been covered in blizzard conditions for at least 20 years: no sunshine, no warmth, no happiness.  Residents scrape out a meager existence in the frozen turnip fields of their overlord, the selfish, wealthy bully, Bartholomew Tullock. Everyone except for the Breeze family, however.  Rufus and his sister Madeline, together with their parents Elizabeth and Philip, believe that the sun will one day return and they just have to hold out hope that their fan-inventing family tradition will survive until the summer sun returns.  They are, however, the focus of Tullock’s wrath and jealousy, and just when their situation becomes most dire, a strange visitor and hisRead More →

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Marie Rutkoski’s debut novel, The Cabinet of Wonders, is an enchanting adventure story, full of magic, friendship, danger, and wonder. 12 year old Petra Kronos lives in a small village outside Prague in the late 16th century. Her father is both an inventor and a magician with a special power over metal. Her favorite companion is a wise, magical tin spider her father created, and her best friend captures lightning into glass spheres.  When the novel opens, her father is returned to the family after having been commissioned to build a magical clock for their Prince; after completing his work, he is blinded by the PriceRead More →

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In Frances O’Roark Dowell’s  latest novel, The Kind of Friends We Used to Be, Kate and Marilyn are starting 7th grade.  Friends since preschool, the two girls start a new stage in life when things become more complicated and they begin to explore who they are and who they want to be. For Marilyn, getting in to the popular crowd is the focus of her ambitions. She’s joined the cheerleading squad and with hard work, she’s now part of the “in crowd.” Just the opposite is coming true for Kate – she’d rather learn to play guitar, wear combat boots every day, and join the creative writing club.Read More →

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Just finished reading, and loving, the advance reading copy of Fat Cat, the second novel by Arizona’s Robin Brande. (due from Random House in Oct ’09) Catherine (Cat) is a smart, wise-cracking, funny high school junior who is trapped in a fat suit. She wishes there was a way to unzip the suit and start living her real life; but instead she’s trapped in a body that keeps her from being the person she longs to be.  Start of junior year and she’s in for a tough year:  lots of AP classes, no real social life to speak of (except her awesome best friend Amanda),Read More →

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In James Roy’s Max Quigley: Technically Not a Bully, Australian 6th grader Max Quigley is the biggest kid at school. He and his mate Jared casually torment, tease, and bully just about everyone around them. He’s confident, self-centered, and completely clueless about how his behavior impacts other people.  He claims, repeatedly, not to be a bully since he doesn’t physically hurt people, steal or make them cry; instead, he’s really proud of his powers of “persuasion.” Things start to change when the mother of his favorite victim,  Nerdstrom, suggests a plan to help both boys work through this: Triffin will tutor Max in math and both boys willRead More →

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“Vampires are meant to be glamorous and powerful, but I’m here to inform you that being a vampire is nothing like that. Not one bit. On the contrary, it’s like being stuck indoors with the flu watching daytime television, forever and ever.  If being a vampire were easy, there wouldn’t be a Reformed Vampire Support Group.  …God I’m sick of it.” And so we meet Nina; a fifty-one year old vampire who’s had a chip on her shoulder since she was infected at the age of 15.  Tired of a listless, sickly  life stuck in her mother’s house, Nina writes a vampire adventure series with aRead More →