Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

Adult author Jodi Picoult enters the world of Young Adult literature with a novel that she wrote with her daughter. It is completely different than what the author has written before but is just as enjoyable.
 
This novel starts in the fairy tale world of a book called Between the Lines, about a young prince who goes on a journey to rescue a princess. In the next chapter, however, you learn that the world inside the fairy tale is real and all of the characters are actors forced to repeat the story every time the book opens. The Prince, Oliver, is desperate to escape the world he feels trapped inside. On the outside world is the reader Delilah, who has fallen in love with a book because she feels connected to Oliver. One day she notices something different in the illustration and suddenly Oliver is communicating with Delilah. Together they try to come up with a plan to help Oliver escape from the book so that they can be together. Will it work? Or will Oliver be forced to live his life on repeat.
 
This is a unique and clever story that was enjoyable to read. It was nicely paced with a steady roller coaster of hope and then let down as the pair came up with plan after plan. I liked the illustrations throughout the story and how it intermingled the fairy tale with the current story of Oliver and Delilah. It was also nice to have different chapters from the two different points of view. My only complaint is that I'm a little confused on how it all works out in the end. I wish it was explained a little bit more and that we got to see more clearly how all of the pieces fit together. Otherwise it was a really enjoyable book.
 
I've been a fan of Jodi Picoult for a long time and this book was a nice change. Although it does not sound like her other books, that gives it an authentic feel that she really did write this with her daughter. It was a great story and well worth the read, especially if you ever considered what happens to the characters of your favorite book when you read the last page.
MMK

Subject Seven - James A. Moore

It seems like the government is always trying to create some type of super soldier to use for battles and wars. Subject seven was genetically created for that reason, but he was deemed a failure. He was to be killed when he escapes. He was ten years old, and has been in hiding for the last five years. When he finds out that not all of the failures were killed he seeks them out. Hunter, Cody, Gene, Tina, and Kyrie are all adopted, have been having blackouts for days at a time, and have woken up in places far away from where they live. Subject seven gets them all to Boston, and reveals the truth that they are genetic failures of an experiment to create sleeper super human soldiers. When they come under attack by forces from the company that created them, subject seven says one phrase, and they turn into the super humans they were created to be. After the battle they decide to go after the head of company, and set off to destroy her. I think that there needed to be a little more character development, but over all it was an entertaining book. It kept you wanting to read the next chapter to find out what would happen next. The way it ended seemed to hint at a sequel, but didn't see anything on the authors website about one at this time. T.B. 4/5/11