Can You Keep A Secret? - R. L. Stine

Emmy keeps having nightmares that she is a wolf, but this time her bed sheets are shredded to pieces.  The next morning she tells her mom and she says the dreams stem from when she was bitten by a dog at the age of five.  On the news they hear about a wolf attack in Shadyside Park behind the high school.   To distract them from the news her mom asks Emmy what she and her sister Sophie are doing today.  Sophie is going to the library to work on a school project, while Emmy is going to visit Eddie at his new job at a pet cemetery.  When she gets there Emmy notices a strange smell and sees him digging a grave for the dog that was killed last night.  The dog tumbles out of the bag when he gets ready to put it in the grave.  This makes Emmy very sick and she remembers her dream about being a wolf from the night before.  She and Eddie leave the pet cemetery after he tries to get an advance on his paycheck from his boss Mac.  Mac only gives him ten dollars.  After dinner Emmy is packing an overnight bag when Sophie tries figure out where Emmy is really going.  Sophie gets mad Emmy won't spend time with her and only wants to be with her boyfriend and friends.   She and Eddie head to Fear Street Woods for an overnight camp out with their friends Danny, Callie, Riley, and Roxie.  They joke about the wolf attack and wonder if it is a good idea to be camping out in the open.  Eddie tells them they will be safe and pulls out a gun from his jacket.  As the guys are gathering firewood, Emmy sees the wolf in shrubs.  Eddie shots at it and it turns out to be a raccoon.  Eddie and Emmy walk away from the group and go by a tree which he calls their secret place.  He pulls out a knife to carve their names in the trunk.  The trunk is hollow and Eddie finds a briefcase full of money.  They head back to the rest of the group and tell them what they found.  Danny wants his share and Eddie tries to stop him from taking the money.  They wrestle for control of the gun and it goes off.  No one gets hurt and everyone decides to put the money somewhere safe.  They head to the pet cemetery Eddie works at to bury the briefcase.  They all watch Eddie bury the briefcase.  Danny doesn't trust Eddie to watch over the money since his family really needs money.  Sophie calls Emmy saying she thinks she saw the wolf a few blocks away from the playground watching her with incredible blue eyes.  Eddie takes Emmy home and she finds Sophie in their bedroom.  Emmy tells her she was with Eddie and a few others camping out in the Fear Street Woods.  Sophie wants Emmy to spend more time with her and wants her to come to her track meet on Monday.  Emmy can't because she's got to pick up Eddie.  They both go to bed and Emmy has another wolf dream.  On Monday after Emmy picks up Eddie they head to his house to have dinner with his mom and step-father.  Eddie's step-father tells them about an armored car robbery that happened a few days ago.  Eddie and Emmy realize that the money they found was the money from the robbery.  Eddie's step-father shows them surveillance video of the robbery.  After they leave Emmy realizes the robber will be after them for the money because Eddie carved their names into the tree.  They decide to dig the briefcase up from the grave and put it back into the tree.  When they get to the pet cemetery and dig up the grave Eddie discovers the briefcase is gone.  Eddie believes Danny took it, and they head over to his house.  As they are talking to him Riley comes out of the bushes behind Danny's house.  He says he went to check the money because he didn't trust Eddie.  When Riley got there the money was gone.  Riley punches Eddie in the jaw and leaves.  Emmy and Eddie try and figure out who took the money.  Eddie says the security cameras at the pet cemetery might have caught something.  They agree to try and look at them after school the next day.  Emmy comes home to Sophie waiting for her.  Emmy tells her everything from finding the briefcase to burying it in the pet cemetery.  After they fall asleep Emmy has another dream about being a wolf.  After her job as a nanny Emmy sees someone watching and following her.  When she meets up with Eddie she tells him she thinks the robber is following her.  As they look at the security footage it shows Riley digging up the grave and taking the money.  The next day Riley is out sick and Emmy goes to Sophie's track meet.  After they get home their mom tells them Great Aunt Marta from Prague is coming to visit.  Marta wants to see the girls one more time.  After dinner Eddie calls Emmy saying he and Danny are going to confront Riley.  Emmy tells them to wait for her.  Sophie drives Emmy over since Emmy is to frightened to drive.  They get to Riley's house thinking they got there before Danny and Eddie.  Instead they find Riley face down in the hedges with his clothes and skin ripped away along with his face a pulpy mess. 

Like all of the other Fear Street books I enjoyed this one too.  I feel like there is not as many werewolf books out there as there are zombie and vampire.  I liked how Stine brought in how greedy people can be when money is involved.  Some people can resist the temptation, but most of us would likely not return money if we found it.  Greed can make us do things we normally wouldn't do, and if we are caught then we have to face the consequences of our actions. 

T.B.
5/17/16

Playlist for the Dead by Michelle Falkoff

Jacket Art Copyright: The Heads of State

Inside jacket summary:

"Here's what Sam knows: There was a party. There was a fight. The next morning, Sam's best friend is dead. All he left Sam was a playlist and a note, saying that he took his own life. But what Sam doesn't know is: why? To figure out what happened, Sam must rely on the playlist and his own memory. But the more he listens, the more he realizes that his memory isn't as reliable as he thought."

Based off the jacket, you really expect the story to center around the significance of this playlist Hayden leaves Sam before committing suicide. Very disappointingly, it really doesn't. The chapter names are songs on the playlist and while they are mentioned briefly at the beginning of the chapter, there is no real significance to the playlist in the story. So while some very cool songs are picked, there is no real meaning there and seems to be just a selling point for the book. Lame. 

There is no answer to why Hayden killed himself, which I understand the author choice in not answering that for Sam or any of the other characters, because ultimately with suicide one can't really ever know for sure. That being said, the author never really explained why Hayden kept something a secret from Sam. We are told that Sam and Hayden are more like brothers. Despite Hayden's awful parents and brother, he is able to find escape by being at Sam's house where he liked it more. Nothing that Hayden was facing really gives you the sense that he lead the worst life, especially when he had Sam. 

That wasn't the worst offense by the author. In the end, the author throws in the character of Astrid, who is a "friend" of Hayden, unbeknownst to Sam. After Hayden's death, Sam's search for answers really then just turn into a romance with Astrid. Which ultimately doesn't work out because Sam finds something out about Astrid that he simply can forgive. There was just way too many things and characters that just didn't do anything for the story which a shame. The premise of learning about your best friend through a playlist is interesting and is why I picked up this book, but don't be fool.

my rating: C-

A.B.

Very Bad Things by Susan McBride

Katie is plagued by nightmares that she swears are not just in her head, that the person calling her name and leaving behind roses is real, but she doesn't have much proof, even though she finds a rose left by her backpack. Regardless of her dreams, a rumor has begun that her boyfriend Mark has cheated on her, and that same day, she receives a package containing something important to the girl he cheated with. Now the girl's believed missing and he's the prime suspect. Katie doesn't know if she can believe in his innocence, not when he can't remember anything about the night he was with this mystery girl. It doesn't help that Katie's best friend has something against Mark and seems determined to prove his guilt, although she claims it's for Katie's own good. Is Mark innocent, even though he claims some guy drugged him, or is there something else going on?

This book is a quick read. For the most part it is a steady mystery with characters who are hiding things. There are three different narrators in this novel - Katie, Mark, and Tessa - although I don't know that switching the narrator adds anything to the novel. They didn't really seem distinct enough to make it necessary. The book is only 225 pages long, so it's a decent mystery with a few twists. The characters probably could have used a little bit more development, but for the limited pages, it's not bad. 

If you enjoy mysteries and are looking for a book you can read in a day or two that is engaging, this is worth picking up.
MMK

Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross

It is nothing new to re-imagine a story, which is exactly what this novel does. It takes the world of fairy tales and puts a modern day spin on the story.

Mirabelle is embarking on her sixteenth birthday and is ready for the truth. Her parents died when she was a baby and she has since been raised by her godmothers who have kept her away from the place of her birth. Given the fact that she's forbidden to return home and the secrecy around her parent's death, Mira's natural curiosity gets the best of her, and she hatches an elaborate plan to run away and discovery the truth by her birthday. When she arrives in Beau Rivage, she realizes that her plan wasn't completely thought out since she doesn't have a place to stay or any idea where to begin looking. She finds herself killing time in a casino and meets a boy named Blue who rudely warns her to stay away from her brother and get out the casino. When she finally leaves, she runs into an older boy who offers her a place to stay and turns out to be the brother Blue warned her to avoid - Felix. However, Felix is too nice and helpful to be bad, so she disregards Blue's advice. While she waits for an opportunity to search for her parents with Felix's help, she finds herself spending time with Blue and his friends, all of whom seem a little strange. When she notices the way animals flock towards one friend and another coughs up flower petals, she realizes that something isn't right with these people. Then she discovers that one friend has a mysterious birthmark identical to her own, which means she's somehow connected to these people. She learns that each mark relates to a curse or blessing, relating each marked person to a fairy tale. In her case, she is marked to prick her finger on a certain object by her sixteenth birthday and fall asleep until an honor-bound person with her same mark comes along to wake her up. Now, while she searches for her parents, she also has to discover what object will be her downfall. At the same time, she has to figure out what to do about her growing feelings for Blue in conflict with her undeniable feelings for his brother. Given the fact that these brothers are cursed and the women they love are affected by this curse, Mira's situation has just gotten a whole lot more complicated.

There are certain elements of this novel which are frustrating, like the fact that Mira is only fifteen and running around with complete strangers and ready to jump into bed with an older boy that she's only known for a day. Just because he's nice to her and helpful is no reason to be hopelessly in love with him. This novel definitely requires you to suspend reality for just a bit. I personally kept forgetting that she was only fifteen since all of them seemed to read more like eighteen or nineteen. Still, it was interesting to see how these fairy tales play out, especially when this novel toys with the idea of fate and how their destiny is already written out for them. She knows who her Prince Charming is, and, unfortunately, it is not love at first sight. Blue and Felix are horribly cursed and there's nothing they can do about it, which is something Mira will not accept. The novel created a really intriguing world and easily sets up future stories. At least one other novel is coming out in 2015- Tear You Apart - which is Snow White's story, but characters for Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid have been introduced. Her website (http://www.sarahcross.com) features a Cinderella story.

If you enjoy fairy tales and can overlook some literary cliches (head over heels in love with a near stranger, bad boy attraction, etc), this is a enjoyable book. It's fun taking a familiar story and setting it in new world with new twists. Come the end of the novel, you are rooting for the characters to have their happily ever afters and looking forward to more from this strange new (yet familiar) world.
MMK

Sure Signs of Crazy by Karen Harrington

 

(Cover art by Gray 318)

Sarah Nelson's best friend is a plant, she keeps two diaries and she writes letters to Atticus Finch. This would make her quirky in the eyes of many, except for Sarah it's a daily struggle to try and remain sane while dealing with the typical troubles of a tween (first kiss attempts and crushes) and an emotionally absent father who turns to bourbon to cope. What is it that Sarah Nelson and her father have to cope with? Sarah's mother went crazy one day and attempted to drown Sarah and her twin brother when they were two years old while their father was at work. Once her brother was buried and her mother sent away to an institution, her father was tried for failing to protect the children. Now, ten years later, Sarah and her father have moved 4 times and fear a time someone recognizes them from those awful events yet again, but overall try an lead an normal life. Newly 12 years old, Sarah has problems both her own and unexpected to deal over the summer with while keeping watch for signs of going crazy like her mother.    

 

This is such a charming book!  Sarah has a pretty mature and sarcastic voice, which is believable since is mixed in with some thoughts that are very much naive and belong to a 12 year old. What really is nice to see is that Sarah holds a sense of humor about things, especially when she talks to her plant. Overall, I think this would be a great book who kids and teens who have an absent parent or don't have a strong bond with either parent or feel bad traits or behavior of a parent is eventually to be inherited. What I love about this book in particular, is that Sarah is dealing with typical problems for a girl her age yet at the same time learning how to deal with some of the more heavy issues from her past and relationship with her father, and that to me is much more realistic of life. One doesn't get the privilege of dealing with just one major problem at a time in life, like some novels setup for their main character.  Sarah's story is a message about having more courage and learning to lean on your own self and that's always a good lesson to read. 

A.B.

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

What starts off as a typical teen romance, surprises the reader with its depth and moral issues.

Samantha Reed lives a charmed life as the daughter of a Senator, but the life next door seems far more appealing. The Garretts are chaotic and messy, while her life is full of order and perfection. When Jase Garrett crosses the border between their homes, Samantha becomes a part of his world and his family. As she adjusts to this new love and new life, her mother is planning her next campaign, with the help of a man named Clay who has as much interest in Gracie Reed as he does her campaign. Samantha feels as if she's losing her mother to this man's influence, but that's not the only thing she's losing over the summer as friendships get questioned. Then her life gets completely turned upside down after a horrible accident affects not only her family, but also the Garretts. Samantha is then faced with a tough decision where, no matter what she decides, someone is going to get hurt.

This book starts off as a simple romance. Samantha meets Jase and at first he's new and tempting, especially because her mother has always disapproved of the Garrett's lifestyle. Then the novel throws in the situation with her mother and Clay and how Samantha can see the man corrupting her, but Gracie is oblivious to everything. On top of that is the character Tim, the brother of Samantha's best friend, who is basically throwing his life away with drugs and bad decisions. While Samantha is finding real love, her best friend Nan is dealing with long-time relationship that doesn't seem to make any sense anymore. Then tragedy strikes and everything is complicated further. It seems like so much is going on, but it all works flawlessly together. You fall in love with all of the characters - even Tim who is an unlikeable character at the beginning becomes a champion at the end. You want to see things work out but you realize that Samantha is in an impossible situation. This book is about sacrifices and second chances and doing what is right despite the consequences.

I've read plenty of "fluff and stuff" romances that are nice for that warm, happily-ever-after feeling. This book isn't like that. Not to say that it doesn't have some form of a happily-ever-after, it challenges the reader and has a depth to it you don't see in many teen romances. It is definitely worth the read.
MMK

Twisted by Sara Shepard

The newest edition in the Pretty Little Liars series continues with more of the same - which can be a good thing, or a bad thing.

After the fire in the Poconos in which the truth about A and Ali had been revealed, the girls take a trip to Jamaica where something happens to tear the four friends apart. Ten months later they're living their own lives. Spencer's mother has a new beau with an attractive son that Spencer finds herself drawn to, but can she be trusted to keep his secret when she's battling a few of her own? Emily has not only the secret from Jamaica troubling her, but another secret that pulled her out of swimming. Now she has to find a way to get a scholarship and her new friend Chloe's father might be the answer, if he can keep his hands to himself. Aria thinks things are going great between her and boyfriend Noel, but then the beautiful foreign exchange student enters the picture and we get to see how far Aria will go to keep her boyfriend. Finally, Hanna's father is starting his campaign for the Senate and Hanna's ambition and naivete might jeopardize it if she doesn't pull out some sneaky moves. If that wasn't enough for the girls to handle, "A" is back in their lives ready to cause trouble. But how can that be? It looks as if what happened in Jamaica isn't going to stay secret if A has anything to say about it...

The drama of A and these girls inability to stay out of trouble continues in the newest book in what is certain to be at least a set of four books. Some might groan and ask why can't A just die or the girls get a clue, while others might relish in the newest edition to this guilty pleasure. (I groaned but yet I just had to read the book to see where it went. I'll probably even pick up the next one because as tiresome as the antics sometimes get, the series is addicting.) The popularity of the TV show definitely has fueled the need for another book (it could have ended with the last one) and this one has added new twists to the girls' lives. Having it about a year after the fact helped continue the story with more options for the characters.

If you've been sucked into the drama of the Pretty Little Liars, you'll enjoy this book. It's more of the same but in a way that will quench your hunger until the next one comes out.
MMK