Flying - Carrie Jones

Mana wakes up from a dream and hears her mom yelling on the phone.  Mana's mom tells her not to worry, it was a telemarketer.  The next day Mana and her mom go to Lyle's track meet.  Lyle is one of her BFF's, and everyone thinks they are together including Lyle's mother.  Lyle does well at the track meet and she thinks about him for the rest of the day.  A few days later her mom has to go into work early, and she will see her at the basketball game.  Seppie, Mana's other BFF, picks her and Lyle up and they head to school.  Seppie and Lyle argue while Mana tries to wake up.  She daydreams about Lyle as being more than just one of her best friends.  By cheerleading practice in the afternoon Mana is still dragging.  She gets through practice and is woken up enough for the game.  At the game she notices a guy in sunglasses who keeps starting at Dakota.  At one point sunglasses guy grabs Dakota and takes him to the locker room area.  Mana and Lyle find Dakota tied up.  Lyle goes and calls the police while Mana lets him go.  China, the guy with the sunglasses, tries to protect her as Dakota's tongue spits green acid at them.  Lyle comes barging in with one of the sheriff's deputies seconds after China and Dakota have disappeared.  After the deputy goes off looking for Dakota and China, Mana explains to Lyle what went on.  He doesn't believe her, and thinks she has a concussion.  They finish cheering the game and Seppie drops them off at Mana's house.  As Mana puts her key into the door it swings open, which concerns Mana as her mom always keeps the door locked.  They go in to find the house destroyed and alien Dakota flying around.  Dakota escapes and Mana wonders if her mom was here when he destroyed the house when Lyle sees her car in the garage.  They search the house for her mom and find a creature with webbed feet in her mom's bedroom.  It attacks them and they kill it with a car.  Lyle says it reminds him of a Wendigo, but all Mana cares about is finding her mom.  They search the house and wait for the police.  They don't find her in the house and then see headlights coming toward the house.  They think it's the police, but men in black suits come out of black vans.  China tells them it isn't the police, and the creature was a Wendigo.  More sirens approach and he tells them they have to leave the scene now.  She and Lyle head to his house.  His mom has a strict no-girl in the house policy, so Mana has to be snuck in.  The police show up and Lyle goes to talk to them.  His parents are upset as is Mana.  She spends the night there and wakes up to Lyle's mom thinking they slept together.  Mana heads back home to get a change of clothes and sees a text from her mom telling her not to come home.  Things will be explained later.  China shows up there to and explains Mana's mother is his partner and they hunt aliens together.  After she gets cleaned up, Mana leaves with China and he tells her about aliens monitoring Earth.  Some are good and some are not.  There is a secret branch of the government that hunts down the bad ones and he and Mana's mother are a part of it.  As China continues to explain everything Lyle pops up in the back of the truck with a gun.  He though she was being kidnapped and was trying to rescue her.  Mana explains that isn't the case and they were heading to try and find her mom.  After everyone has calmed down and guns put down the three of them head to Maine to an underground lair.  Will they be able to find Mana's mother and why was alien Dakota ransacking Mana's house?

 I liked this book, but the first 30 pages seemed slow to me for some reason.  After Dakota is reveled to be alien, and he escapes the story picked up for me.  The story had a Men in Black feel to it with the underground lairs, and working together with some of the alien species.  Mana reminded me of a mix between Buffy and Katniss.  I loved the references to Doctor Who and Star Trek in the book as well.  It looks like it there will be a sequel as the ending leaves the story open to be continued. 

T.B.
10/1/16

Devil and the Bluebird - Jennifer Mason-Black

Bluebird's sister, Cass, left two years ago.  Blue summons a crossroads demon at midnight with a guitar.  The demon gives her six months to find her sister or both their souls are the demons.  As a down payment for their agreement the demon takes her voice.  The next day Blue packs clothes and brings her mom's silver ring, her mom's guitar, a notebook, pens, and pencils.  She leaves a note for Lynne telling her she's gone looking for Cass and not to worry.  Blue starts her journey by hitching a ride with a woman driving a truck full of fish.  The women tells her the best way to save her money is to stay at shelters, and not at motels.  The next day she gets a ride from Jed who is heading to Albany for a gig with his band.  They find a place to eat in Albany and the demon appears telling her she can only stay three days with someone who knows her name.  Three weeks if she keeps herself hidden.  Any longer than that and Blue will invite suffering onto whoever she is staying with.  She crashes at Jet's girlfriend's aunt's house.  She accompanies them to hear Mr. Chicken play and they get offered a recording deal.  Bet, Jet's girlfriend, is the only one that isn't happy about the deal.  Back at the house Blue sees a girl sitting on an old freezer, which turns out to be the demon.  The demon tells Blue she only has two days with people, not three.  Blue packs up her things and leaves before midnight.  She boards a bus to Rochester.  After she gets there she meets an old woman who offers her a place to stay and something to eat.  She goes with Amy and when they get there she introduces her son Marcos.  Her husband and younger son Yoshi aren't home.  Just as Blue gets comfortable Amy comes and accuses her of giving Marcos weed, and tells her to leave.  She gets a ride to a town outside of Rochester and goes to buy food.  She pays for it from money she was going to use for a bus ticket.  When she looks in her wallet to get money she discovers the rest of her money is gone.  It dawns on her that Marcos took it while she was in the bathroom.  She sits in a park figuring out what to do next.  An old women sits next to her, who turns out to be the demon in disguise.  She tells Blue not to blame her for the money getting stolen.  Blue has to focus on their deal.  She tells Blue to keep the guitar close because it carries more answers than she can imagine.  She plays and people give a few dollars here and there to listen to Blue.  She's made up some of the money that was taken.  She heads to the library to figure things out.  Blue asks the librarian call a local motel for rates and directions.  The librarian then offers Blue a room to stay for the night.  She stays for the night and leaves when the librarian goes to work the next morning.  Blue plays for the librarian and in return she gives Blue a frame backpack to help Blue carry her things.  She heads back to the park to play for money, and encounters a boy who shows her where to get gloves so her hands won't freeze.  His name is Steve and doesn't want to talk about his family.  They grab lunch and end up back in the park.  He tells her somethings about him, and she tells him she's looking for her sister.  He suggests they travel together, and Blue tells him about the deal with the crossroads demon.  He doesn't think she's crazy, and they hitch a ride to Chicago with a couple.  Steve quotes Bible verses to make them seem like good Christian folk. They end up at Cynthia's sister Ruth's house.  Ruth reluctantly agrees to let them stay in the guest room.  After their things are taken to the guest room Fred tells Blue he knows who she is and where she's supposed to be.  Ruth and Cynthia want Blue to play for their church group in exchange for staying a day.  Blue reluctantly agrees and tells Steve she needs to leave by midnight or the demon will hurt Fred, Cynthia, and Ruth.  She plays for the church group, and after gets a visit from the demon.  The demon reminds her about the two days since Fred knows her name.  She leaves a few minutes before midnight with Steve chasing after her.  They make their way through Chicago hoping someone will pick them up.  A bus picks them up and they end up in a bus graveyard questioning whether the bus ride was real or not.  They find a dinner to have breakfast at.  When Blue shows Steve the song she played for the church group he gets mad and leaves.  She reaches Union Station where a guy is being really nice to her.  He leaves when another girl comes up and chases him away.  She leaves the station and heads to a park like the one she met Steve in.  She sees Steve who is angry at Blue.  He explains why he got mad at the song she played.  She apologizes to him and they start heading to find a place to stay.  The next thing they know the girl from the station named Florida and a guy named Rat kidnap them.  Is Blue's journey destined to end in Chicago, or can she and Steve escape so Blue can find her sister?

 When I read the summary for this book it sounded like an episode of Supernatural come to life in book form.  It's a story of a girl who made a deal with a crossroads demon to hopefully find her sister.  I could see Sam or Dean doing this in an episode of Supernatural.  Throughout the whole story I felt drawn into the book, and could put myself where Blue was going on her journey.  I thought it was a really good story and I enjoyed reading the book.

T.B.
7/16/16

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

Crisis Zero Book 3 in the Codename Conspiracy - Chris Rylander

Just as Principal Gomez is going to expel Carson, the National Security Bureau barges in and arrests him.   By lunchtime there are rumors abound about what he did.  During lunch Carson and Danielle get a message to go to the maintenance shed immediately.  They are met by Agent Smiley, and she tells them Director Isadoris wants them to steal Principal Gomez's computer hard drive.  During fifth period they talk about how to distract the NSB agents so they can get the hard drive.  Danielle contacts her cousin Brad who brings fainting goats to the school.  As the goats fill the hallway students, teachers, and the NSB agents go to see what the commotion is.  Carson slips into Gomez's office, and gets the hard drive.  He comes in the east entrance acting like nothing out of the ordinary is happening.  He puts the hard drive in his locker.  During seventh period it is announced that everyone will be searched when leaving the school.  The NSB is looking for items related to Principal Gomez's case.  Carson runs from his classroom and tries to get to his locker.  He runs into Agent Chum Bucket, who gives him a message, right before he is arrested by the NSB for having the hard drive.  Carson cleans up after peeing his pants as an excuse on why he ran out of class.  He also tries to decipher what Agent Chum Bucket's message about the school's secret sauce means.  Carson heads to the cafeteria and goes into the pantry area looking for the vats of special sauce.  He finds them along with the actual hard drive from Gomez's computer in a plastic bag. Carson takes the hard drive to Agency Headquarters.  Director Isadoris tells Carson that there is someone reporting to Medlock, and he wants Carson and Danielle to find out who this person is.  They should suspect everyone, even friends.  The director also wants him and Danielle to find evidence inside the school about why Gomez was framed, and if there is any connection to their new principal Ms. Pullman.  Before he leaves Carson asks to see Agents Blue and Nineteen.  Agent Nineteen is in a stasis tank, and Agent Blue is waiting for a new prosthetic leg.  Carson updates Danielle on what Director Isadoris told him.  They make a list of possible suspects both students and teachers.  There are six people on the list and each of them takes three.  During school the next day two of Carson's suspects are maybes, while two on Danielle's list are crossed off.  Since Carson and Danielle have been on assignment, he hasn't hung out with Dillon that much.  He agrees to help Dillon pick mushroom samples early in the morning to test out a new theory.  As he is agreeing to this one of his suspects, Gus, comes across the cafeteria and punches Carson in the face.  This lands them both a trip to see the new principal, Ms. Jayne Pullman.  Gus comes out with tears down his face.  She asks Carson to tell her what happened and he does.  She doesn't give him detention, and closes the matter.  She also gives him a clean slate, something Mr. Gomez never did.  After school Carson breaks into a closet of one of the teachers that was on their list, Carson sees a hooded figure run from Agent Nineteen's music room.  The room is trashed and Carson comes face to face with the new principal.  He tells her he broke into the closet on a dare, and then saw a person running from the music room.  She gives him one weeks detention.  The next day he tries to see if Junior, his last suspect, can be crossed off the list.  Carson sees a black hoodie in Junior's locker, just like the person who trashed the music room.  A lot of people have black hoodies, but this is too much of a coincidence.  While in detention he and a few other students see construction trucks enter into one of the parking lots.  The construction is supposed to put solar powered snow melting panels under the parking lots.  That night Carson gets a note in his dinner to meet behind his garage.  He and Danielle update Agent Smiley on everything that's gone on.  She tells them to get closer to the construction zone to find out what is going on.  The next morning Carson goes to school early to see what he can find out.  He falls into a hole and gets his foot caught.  Just when he thinks he's going to be crushed by construction equipment, Carson is able to get out of his shoe and escape.  He runs into the last person he wants to see, Ms. Pullman.  After getting a pair of used socks from the nurse Carson leaves the nurses office.  There are still a few minutes before school opens when he sees a kid in a black hoodie.  Carson sneaks up on him in the music room and the kid turns out to be Junior.  Carson chases after him through the gym, the locker room, and the school stage.  Junior doesn't want to tell Carson who paid him to mess up the music room.  He gets away after punching Carson in the ribs.  Can Carson and Danielle figure out who paid Junior?  Is the construction connected with Principal Gomez's arrest, or is there some connection to the new principal?

I really enjoyed this series.  It was funny, but also makes you think about who or what could be hiding in our schools.  The chance of a government base under a school is remote, but you never know.  It also shows even if you are best friends with someone, no matter how much you know about each other, there will always be a few things you don't know about them or vice versa.  Carson has to keep secret that he's a government agent, but eventually other people find out.  Secrets always have a way of getting out whether you want them to or not.

T.B.
4/28/16

Shallow Graves by Kaci Wallace

Its about a girl name Breezy, that wakes up in a shallow grave without no memory about what happened within that year she has been missing or why she is in the grave. All she does know is that she is dead, well... undead, with a dead man at her feet, and a few memories of what happened before she woke up which was the last party she went to before she disappeared and of the slap she gotten that caused her to leave the party.

During the book you are on edge because you discover that the world is a lot more scary and darker than ever. You follow Breezy as she tries to discover what she is now, her powers she know has, who killed her, and her trying to stay alive over the different challenges that she now faces. Breezy meets a few people who are also creatures or some would say monsters but she learns that just because you aren't human doesn't make you a monster.

Personally, I really enjoyed the book. It gives you monsters, drama, action, and horror. I honestly thought I possibly might not like it but I was happily wrong. Definitely for the fans of horror, supernatural creatures, and suspense.  





-HLR

April 11th 2016

Countdown Zero - Chris Rylander

After helping the Agency take down the evil organization called The Pancake Haus a few months ago, Carson has gone back to his normal life.  This includes pulling pranks at school with his friends.  They decide to pull Prankpocalypse, which is to execute as many pranks as possible.  A few of the pranks are building a wall of snow behind every entrance of the school, rearrange the sauce and condiment bottles in the cafeteria, hide the tables and chairs from the cafeteria in one of the school bathrooms, and hide expired eggs all over the school.  Carson is stuck in Principal Gomez's office as he arrives around 3 am.  Carson uses a rock to break a window and run from the school.  Everyone else helping Carson gets out without being seen.  A week later Carson gets a note in his lunch telling him Agent Nineteen has seventy-two hours to live.  Meet on the school track in six minutes.  He makes an excuse to his friends about having to go to the bathroom to meet Agent Blue on the track.  He takes Carson to Agency HQ, which happens to be underground underneath the school.  There's a lot more security than there used to be since there is a rogue agent on the loose.  Agent Blue says to seriously think about coming back to work for the Agency.  This time around he could be seriously hurt, or even die.  He agrees and they go to see the Director.  Director Isadoris tells Carson that Agent Nineteen checked in at a base which does research and produces insidious biochemical agents.  There was an automated communication which said the virus, code name Romero, had been released.  Shortly after they lost contact with the base.  The base in question is inside Mount Rushmore, which is where some of Carson's classmates are going for a field trip over the weekend.  Agent Blue has talked to Principal Gomez and Carson can go on three conditions: 1. he helps clean up Principal Gomez's office, 2. if Carson gets one more disciplinary incident between now and eight grade graduation he will be expelled, and 3. he must give up the names of his accomplices from the Prankpocalypse.  After school at Dillon and Danielle's house he tells them Gomez wants him to give up everyone that helped out the week before.  The trouble is most of them are going on the trip and turning them in would exclude them from going.  Jake, who Dillon invited over, says he'll take the blame so everyone else can go on the trip.  His mom is on the school board, so it won't be hard for him to take the blame.  The next day Carson gives Principal Gomez Jake's name, and he gives Carson permission to go on the Mount Rushmore field trip.  Carson's mom is excited he's able to go on the trip and Dillon and Danielle are surprised but happy he is going when they see him on the bus on Saturday morning.  After they get to the campgrounds everyone has trouble putting up their tents, which makes for some funny incidents.  Later that night Carson tries to sneak out to meet with Agent Blue, but Jake has to go to the bathroom.  Carson slips away from Jake to meet Agent Blue.  He gives Carson everything he'll need to get into the base including the antidote to the virus.  Jake finds Carson behind the bus.  Carson lies saying he needs to use special toilet paper when Jake sees the backpack next to Carson.  The next day after the group arrives Carson stays near the back so when Agent Blue creates a diversion he can slip away quietly.  It takes a few seconds more for Carson to realize the diversion has been done when Agent Blue drops his camera.  As Carson climbs to where the secret entrance is he gets to one last cliff and his body gives out.  Jake who had followed Carson saves his life.  Carson tells Jake that he's a spy and he has to retrieve the virus before it's unleashed on the world.  Jake helps him get through the stages to enter the facility.  After they get to the lab where Agent Nineteen is they see him laying on the ground unconscious and one of the doctors barely conscious.  Carson gives the antidote to the doctor through a drop slot.  Once the doctor and Agent Nineteen are injected with the antidote Carson opens the lab.  Phil walks out while Jake comes back with the virus.  Carson is then locked in the lab with Agent Nineteen watching Phil and Jake leave with the virus.  Will Carson be able to escape and help stop the virus from being released, or will he and Agent Nineteen perish in the lab with no one able to rescue them? 

I enjoyed this book.  It was a fun and entertaining read.  I really liked that there was a secret base hidden inside Mount Rushmore.  It makes you think where else has the government put secret bases only they know about.  I'm glad there is a third book because this one ended on an interesting note and I would like to see how the story continues.  The third book just came out in February of 2016.

T.B.
3/6/16

The Nest - Kenneth Oppel

Ten days after Steve's new baby brother is brought home "angels" appear to Steve in a dream and offer to help the baby.  There is something wrong with the baby, but nobody can figure out what it is.  On a Sunday as his parents and his sister Nicole are outside enjoying the day.   Wasps circle around the drinks they have, and one stings Steve.  His dad takes him to the hospital and Steve had a mild to moderate allergic reaction to the sting.  He's prescribed EpiPens and the doctor recommends desensitization shots so he doesn't have to rely on the EpiPens.  That night he dreams of a cave-like area where the "angels" come to him again.  The "angels" say they can fix the mistake in the DNA of the baby.  They say it will be fixed soon, and then Steve wakes up.  It takes him three days to tell his mom about the dreams.  She says he has the most interesting dreams.  While Vanessa, their babysitter, is watching them she spies a wasp on the table biting the wood.  Steve and Vanessa follow the wasp back to the nest which is on the outside of the house above the baby's room.  At dinner Steve tells his parents about the wasp nest and his dad says he'll call someone out to take care of it.  After dinner he and his dad talk about the baby.  His dad tells him the baby has a very rare disease affecting the baby's DNA, and the baby could be low-functioning later in life.  After he falls asleep he dreams of the "angels" again.  They tell him his baby brother will be good as new with no defects.  The next night while his parents are out with the baby at a specialist and Vanessa had taken Nicole to a friends house someone comes and pounds on the door.  This frightens Steve and he tries to see if his neighbor sees/hears anything.  His neighbor is running the lawn mower so they are no help.  Once the person leaves Steve finds a sickle left on the front doorstep.  After his parents come back home and he tells them what happened.  They contemplate calling the cops, but decide not to.  His dad puts the sickle away in a safe place.  Later that night he dreams of the "angels" again and he tells them the baby need a heart operation, and that should make everything right.  The "angels" tell him that they are working on replacing the baby.  Steve doesn't understand, the baby is in his crib.  The "angles" tell him they are replacing him all together, and he is growing in the nest outside of his house.  The next night he dreams about the wasps and the queen shows him the larva that will become is new baby brother.  The next day Steve decides to take care of the nest on his own.  He grabs a ladder and climbs up with a broom.  He takes a swipe at it and the wasps come out.  They gather on the broom and land on him.  He drops the broom and climbs down the ladder slowly as not to agitate the wasps.  When he gets to the bottom all the wasps are back in the nest.  His parents are furious when they get home.  A neighbor called them because they had seen Steve on the ladder.  He then tells them about his dreams, and they suggest he talk to Dr. Brown about all of this. Steve goes the next day and talks to Dr. Brown.  He talks to him about how the summer has been and the dreams of the wasps he's been having.  They have a good session and Steve agrees to come back in a few weeks.  Three days go by with out the wasp dreams.  After he goes to bed on the fourth night he dreams of the wasps again.  He is in the nest where the new baby is out of the larva stage and is pupating. He and the queen argue about which one is the real baby.  She then tells him the wasps will take care of the sick baby once this one is done pupating.  All Steve has to do is say yes.  Yes will make everything right, and Steve's baby brother will be healthy.  Steve eventually says yes, but when he wakes up he regrets it.  What will happen to Steve now he's said yes to helping the wasps?

I enjoyed this book and it felt like a horror movie while I was reading it.  This book reminded me of the horror movie The Unborn, which came out in 2009.  In it Casey is having dreams of a boy.   The boy turns out to be the spirit of her twin brother who died in the womb.  The ghost is trying to use Casey to be born into the world.  This is similar to the wasps using the nest to make a new baby to replace the sick one.  

T.B.
11/20/15

Another Day - David Levithan

When Rhiannon and Justin talk or even ask a question to each other they always end up fighting.  One Monday Justin suggests that they leave and asks her where she wants to go.  She says the ocean and suddenly they are leaving school and heading there.  Along the way Justin sings along with the radio, which he normally doesn't do, and asks about her family.  She knows something is different, but doesn't question since she's enjoying this change in Justin.  They spend the rest of the day at the beach building sand castles and talking like they haven't talked before.  The magical time ends when Rhiannon's mom calls asking where she is.  Justin drops her off and she wants more days like the one they had today. The next day Justin is back to his same old self, and Rebecca, Rhiannon's friend, is wondering where she was yesterday afternoon.  On Thursday after Justin blew her off, a girl named Amy comes up and tells her she's thinking about coming to school there.  Amy follows Rhiannon around for the rest of the day.  After school she walks Amy to her car she asks Rhiannon what is one thing nobody else knows about her.  She tells her about the time she stole Forever by Judy Blume from her sister and named her private area Helena.  They both laugh and hope they see each other next year.  On Saturday Justin and Rhiannon go to Steve's party.  While there she talks to Steve's cousin Nathan.  They talk about relationships and she starts to question why she is still with Justin.  He finds them talking and she says Nathan is gay, so there is nothing to worry about.  They go downstairs and dance before the cops break up the party.  Just before she leaves Nathan asks for her e-mail.  On Sunday she is surprised to see an e-mail from him and she replies.  She then goes back to spending her time surfing the net.  The next day their friends are asking about Steve's party.  Justin says there were too many skank girls in the kitchen, Stephanie yelled at him, and the cops came.  Rhiannon goes along with Justin's story, and doesn't say a word about her time with Nathan.  Rebecca, Steve, Stephanie, Ben and Rhiannon skip the last few periods because there is an assembly.  Rhiannon mentions to Steve about his cousin, and he says all his cousins are eight years old.  Steve does remember seeing Nathan though.  Rebecca points out that guys lie all the time, and Nathan liked her and wanted to get close to her.  She e-mails Nathan asking for an explanation.  Nathan replies he can explain, but it has to be done in person.  She agrees to meet him at a bookstore the next day.  Rhiannon gets there early and a girl sits down in front of her saying Nathan sent her.  A tells her that every day A wakes up in a different body.  A tells her who he/she's been for the last week.  Last Monday when her and Justin went to the beach it was A in Justin.  She doesn't believe A and thinks this is a joke.  A tries to convince her it is possible.  She agrees to meet A tomorrow, to see if he/she is telling the truth.  She stops by Justin's house and asks him about last Monday.  He remembers being at the ocean, but not much else.  The next day during school Rhiannon is e-mailing A about where to meet with him/her.  She hangs out with Justin before heading to meet A.  She is late meeting A and asks the boy A is in to see his phone.  She asks him questions about the people A has been in.  A then explains how he/she has seen things going from person to person.  When A was in Justin he/she fell in love with Rhiannon.  A is going to prove to her what love really means.  The next day Rhiannon e-mails A and he/she replies the girl who A is in today is trying to kill herself, and she needs to get over right away.  Rhiannon heads over and the girl has a notebook filled with ways to end her life.  They come up with a plan to have A in Kelsea's body tell her father she wants to kill herself.  If that doesn't work drive to a hospital.  When Rhiannon gets home she sees an article about Nathan claiming to be possessed by the devil six days ago.  She e-mails A asking how things went with Kelsea.  Kelsea's father is aware of what's going on and is seeking help for her.  She then takes a drive to where Nathan lives under the guise of selling Girl Scout cookies for her sister.   He has a blank look in his eyes, different from when A was inside of him.  After that trip she and Justin hang out and have pizza.  They talk about Justin's father heading to see his sick grandmother.  He calls and talks to her before his dad arrives.  Steve then calls about a party at Yonni Pfister's house.  They go to the party, and while Justin is getting drunk Rhiannon calls Kelsea's house to make sure everything is okay.  Her father says she is getting the help she needs.  On Sunday she hangs out with A who is a girl named Ashley and is gorgeous.  They head to a national park and have a picnic.  Afterwards they go walking and talk about what each of them wants.  A wants to be with Rhiannon, but they can't be together.  Rhiannon cares about A, but also cares about Justin.  She is trying to justify why she's with Justin, but A says she'll become lost because Justin is also lost.  Rhiannon calls Justin and tells him a friend of hers is in town.  She asks if he would like to have dinner with the two of them, and he says yes.  A and Rhiannon fill the next few hours by telling everything to each other.  They meet Justin for dinner and at one point she leaves to go to the bathroom when she comes back she doesn't want either A or Justin.  He leaves and Rhiannon takes Ashley back to her house.  Rhiannon calls Justin to apologize, but Justin tells her Ashley is not her friend and she is out of control.  At school the next day Justin tells everyone what a slut Ashley was the day before.  In art class Rebecca tries to talk sense into Rhiannon about Justin.  She tells Rebecca everything thing is fine with her and Justin.  The next day a swoopy hair kid catches her eye and it turns out to be A.  They talk and as much as they want to see each other Rhiannon says they should stick to e-mail for now.  As A walks away she can still feel the connection to him/her.  Are they destined to be together, or will Rhiannon choose to stay with Justin? 

I enjoyed this book just as much as I enjoyed Every Day.  I really liked how A broke through the barrier Rhiannon had put up to have her examine her relationship with Justin.  To her everything was fine with Justin.  A saw a person who was becoming lost, and helped her start breaking away to become her own person.  Sometimes we need another perspective from someone else, even if it's a person we barely know, to get us to look at things differently.

T.B.
9/25/15

Deadly Design - Debra Dockter

Kyle and Connor are twins, but Kyle was born two years later.  Their parents are carriers of a fatal disease called spinal muscular atrophy, and their mom has had six miscarriages.  They went to a fertility doctor who designed them in the lab, and while Connor was inside his mom Kyle was frozen in the lab.  Kyle started asking questions right after his preschool graduation.  His dad explained things to him later that day.  Connor knew they were twins, but was told to keep it to himself until their parents felt it was the right time to tell Kyle.  Fast forward eleven years to Connor's last track meet and graduation a few weeks later.  Kyle is considering not going to either one.  Emma, Connor's girlfriend, is trying to convince him to go.  She tells him that Connor would want him there to support him.  After getting the guilt trip by his father Kyle goes to Connor's last track meet.  He runs into Cami, Emma's best friend, and she is surprised to see him there.  After the meet they all go to Luigi's to celebrate.  Cami and Kyle are off to the side while Kyle's parents praise Connor and Emma about how they will graduate in a few weeks and then after the summer head to Kansas State University.  Later that night Connor comes in Kyle's room and they play video games for half the night.  The next morning Kyle goes to wake Connor up and finds him dead in his bed.  The day after the funeral Kyle's parents tell him Emma wants him to read Connor's valedictorian speech at graduation.  He reluctantly agrees, but thinking he's not worthy to read his brothers words.  At graduation Kyle reads the speech that would make Connor proud of him.  Shortly after graduation the autopsy results come back saying Connor died from a heart attack.  Kyle goes and gets tested, and the tests come back clean.  As Kyle comes back from getting a job application he hears on the news that Alexis Warren collapsed and died, a day before her eighteenth birthday.  His parents knew her and her parents from the fertility clinic where Connor and Kyle were made.  Later that night Kyle does some research and he finds a blog for another kid Triagon Summers, who also died on his eighteenth birthday back in April.  The next day Kyle tells Cami what he found out, and asks her to take him to the fertility clinic where it all started.  They see his dad walk out of the clinic when they get there.  Kyle talks to Dr. Preston who says all he can do is direct Kyle to Dr. Hodges, the same thing he told Kyle's dad.  Dr. Hodges tells Kyle's dad, Kyle, and Cami that Dr. Mueller, the one who started Genesis, disappeared eighteen years ago.  Dr. Hodges explains to them how after fertilization happens the embryos with undesired traits are discarded, leaving only the best traits.  Dr. Hodges suggests they find who ever is left and do genetic screens on them.  Kyle puts out a Facebook post about a missing dog named James M. to try and make contact with one of the other Mueller babies.  He goes out for a run and encounters a bully named Teddy.  As they start to fight and Emma shows up and intervenes.  After the fight is broken up Emma tells him she needs a fresh start and she's leaving and moving to Minnesota.  Kyle says good-bye to Emma the next morning, and goes to eat at Don's Diner where Cami spots him and joins him.  They see a strange man they had noticed at Connor's track meet and the Sac and Save taking pictures.  They think nothing of it and make plans for later that night.  They set off fireworks as a distraction from everything, and Kyle contemplates about how things will never be the same again.  On the Fourth of July Kyle and his parents head down to Dallas to have tests run on him.  He meets a few other of the kids made by Dr. Mueller, and runs into James M. in the flesh.  Amber only has a few weeks till she's eighteen and James has a month. Kyle runs into Amber again and as they are talking Kyle sees a woman that was also at their hotel.  As Kyle tries to figure out who she is Amber collapses and dies. The doctors tell everyone they tried to save Amber but couldn't.  They have mapped out their DNA and found a sequence that causes catastrophic heart failure around the age of eighteen.  Their solution is to put a pacemaker into James to keep his heart going.  If it doesn't work then James will die in a few weeks.  While waiting for the taxi outside the hotel Kyle spots the same person who was at Connor's track meet taking pictures.  He chases after him and the guy gets hit by a car.  Before the guy dies he tells Kyle he was made differently, and he won't make it to seventeen.  Can Kyle figure out a way to live beyond seventeen? 

This was an intriguing book.  It shows how much we trust science to make everything perfect, including children.  Most parents will do anything for their children, but what happens when science takes over?  What is to stop the scientist from using the children as guinea pigs for their own personal goals?  Children are the future of humanity, and if we let science manipulate them then humanity may not have much of a future. 

T.B.
7/30/15

Galgorithm - Aaron Karo

After a girl Shane nicknames Voldemort breaks his heart, he becomes a love guru to the hopeless guys at Kingsview High.  Shane has come up with a formula he has named the galgorithm to help out the clueless guys.  He doesn't charge for his services, as he believes this is a calling for him.  His next client is a skinny kid named Reed, who has a crush on Marisol.  She didn't know who he was until Reed accidentally hit her with a tennis ball in gym class.  From there they became friends on social media.  Now in Shane's view he's ready to ask her out.  When he's not giving out advice to the hopeless romantics, Shane spends his time with his best friend, Jak.  They have known each other since they were babies.  As they hang out Jak is telling Shane that Harrison, resident jock, and Rebecca, the one who is involved in everything at school, have hooked up.  They don't understand how, but it happened.  The next day at school Anthony and Brooke a.k.a. Hedgehog and Balloon, tell him they want to set him up on a date with Tristen Kellog, the hottest girl of the junior class.  Shane declines as he remembers what Voldemort did to his heart.  As Shane heads to his next class his old math teacher, Mr. Kimbrough, comes looking for him.  He wants advice on how to ask out the history teacher Ms. Soloman.  Shane tells him to do a group e-mail but put her address in the BCC, so it looks like he's sending the e-mail to the group when it is going to her.  Mr. Kimbrough thanks him and they agree not to mention this conversation to anyone.  On Saturday Shane is helping Reed pick out new clothes.  A few girls overhear Shane and Reed talking, and Shane asks where they got the belt buckle.  The girl with the nose ring points to the display.  Shane asks if it's for her boyfriend and she says no it's for her.  She asks if that is weird.  Shane asks Reed what he thinks and he freezes for a moment.  Then he answers it is weird, but the color doesn't go with her nose ring.  After the girls walk away Reed is amazed at what happened and puts his trust into Shane.  Later that night Shane is hanging out with Jak and asks her if it's a good idea for him to go out with Tristen.  She thinks so and he should go for it.  After school the following week there is a college fair, and this is a good way for Reed to talk to Marisol.  She is with Rebecca and while Shane distracts Rebecca about senior parking, Reed talks to Marisol.  Everything works to a T and Reed gets a date with Marisol. The next day he goes on the double date with Tristan along with Anthony and Brooke.  It goes well and he already has a second date with her.  The following day Shane is held up by Mr. Kimbrough.  Everything went well at the Civil War exhibit and wants to know how to get a second date.  Shane gives him more advice, but is questioning whether his methods work with adults.  Jak is pissed at him as they get to the gym to work out on free passes.  He tells her he got held up in Spanish.  While they are there Tristen is texting him and Jak makes fun of him about his textual relationship with Tristen.  Later that night Shane is driving to the beach to meet up with Adam.  Adam tells him that Olivia cheated on him and ended it.  Shane tells him that everything will be OK and he'll meet someone who understands how busy he is.  The next day Reed is telling Shane about his date with Marisol when Harrison throws a baseball in their direction.  As he comes to get it Harrison is pissed at Reed thinking he was out with Rebecca, when Reed was out with Marisol and Rebecca showed up.  Later while Shane is with Tristan at the mall for their second date they run into Jak.  Tristen invites her to stay for lunch, but Shane communicates with her that he wants it to be him and Tristen.  The following day Jak plays hooky from English class so she and Shane can go get lunch.  When Shane comes out of the bathroom Adam is there hitting on Jak, using some of the galgorithm techniques.  After some awkward moments Jak suggests they hang out sometime.  Adam agrees and heads off to class while Jak and Shane go to lunch. Later on Shane and Tristen head to the movies, but the movie they want to see is sold out.  They head back to her house where she questions him about past relationships.  He realizes that unlike Voldemort, Tristen is into him.  The next day Shane runs into Adam at the beanery waiting for Jak.  Shane waits with Adam until Jak shows up and leaves them be.  After a few days Jak had two more complementary passes for the gym and she and Shane head there to work out.  They make friendly jabs at each other about who they are going out with.  They decide to go to one of the jock parties they hear about the following week.  The night of the party arrives and Jak is drinking like crazy, as she isn't comfortable in social situations.  Adam shows up followed by Rebecca.  Harrison comes over to give them crap about recycling, and then Tristen shows up.  Jak, who has had a lot to drink already, excuses herself and Shane follows shortly after.  Shane ducks into a bathroom after hearing Harrison and Rebecca argue, only to find Jak throwing up in the toilet.  Shane takes her home and as he is getting the vomit stained clothes off of her in the shower he realizes that he has feelings for her.  After this night everything begins to fall apart for Shane. 

I enjoyed this book and was laughing through out.  While it was funny, it was also serious when it had to be.  Especially after Shane realizes he has feelings Jak, and the awkwardness between them after.  No matter who you go out with, the one you might end up falling for is the one you least expect.  The one thing that bugged me was the way the passage of time was done.  Some times I couldn't tell if a few days or a few weeks had passed in some parts of the book.

T.B.
6/20/15

Don't Stay Up Late - R.L. Stine

Lisa and her parents moved to Shadyside back in February, and it took her a little while to make some friends and have a boyfriend.  On the night of April 12th her parents thought she was staying in her room, but Lisa snuck out to be with her friends.  She is hanging out with Nate, Saralynn, and Isaac at the local burger place when Lisa's father shows up there.  Lisa forgets her phone, and tells her dad to turn around when their car is struck.  She see her dog run out of the car before losing consciousness.  In the hospital she has hallucinations of her father in the bed next to her.  Her mother tells her he didn't make it.  After being home from the hospital for a week she is still having nightmares of her father and the car accident.  Nate is allowed to come over the following week.  While he is there someone comes claiming they have found her dog.  Lisa tells the guy it's not her dog, and keeps hoping Monty will come home.  Later that night she hears howls outside and sees a tall figure running through the trees.  She goes outside to investigate and thinks she is dreaming.  Her mom finds her in the woods, and Lisa is still confused about the creature she thinks she saw.  The next day she heads over to Nate's before her appointment with Dr. Shein.  Her friends are shooting Saralynn's horror movie for film class, and the costume of the demon nearly scares Lisa to death.  She leaves and heads to her appointment.  Dr. Shein recommends Lisa go back to school and have something else to occupy her mind.  Lisa used to babysit her cousin and Dr. Shein knows of someone looking for a babysitter for their eight year old boy.  The thing is the woman and her son live on Fear Street.  Her friends try and get her to understand the curse of Fear Street is real and she shouldn't go there.  Nate takes her over to meet Brenda Hart and her son Harry.  After Brenda explains what she wants Lisa to do and Lisa meets Harry she accepts the job.  There is one warning from Brenda, don't ever let Harry stay up late.  Lisa starts the next day and everything is going fine.  After Harry is put to bed she see a shadow figure darting across the landing.  She goes to check on Harry, but he isn't in his bed.  She sees what looks like a demon from a horror movie jumping out the bedroom window.  She finds Harry safe but scared in the coat closet. She doesn't say anything to Brenda because she might think Lisa is crazy, and Lisa does need the money.  She tells her mom and Nate about the intruder, but both of them think it's a figment of her imagination. The next day she tells Dr. Shein about the incident.  She thinks Lisa did see something, but it could be from the impact her brain had from the accident.  Friday night they all go and see Isaac's band play.  While at the club Nate's former girlfriend Summer tells her that they have to talk about Nate.  Nate thinks nothing of it, but something is bugging Lisa about the encounter.  The following Monday while she is babysitting, Summer calls her phone.  She lets it go to voice mail, and then hears a noise in the kitchen.  It turns out to be Nate who came in through the back door when she didn't answer the doorbell.  He was checking to see if she was ok.  He leaves, and Lisa hears another noise.  She sees the demon creature at the bottom of the stairs.  She tries to ask it what it wants, but it hisses and spits at her.  It runs out the back door, when she hears a scream for help.  Lisa looks outside and doesn't see anyone.  Brenda comes home only to find Harry still awake.  He was pretending to sleep so he could stay up late.  Just as Lisa is ready to tell Brenda about the intruder, Nate comes to pick her up.  As she gets into the car something catches her eye across the street.  They find the body of Summer clawed to pieces.

I really enjoyed this book, as I have all of the Fear Street novels over the years.  It felt like I was in a horror movie while reading this book.  I really liked the twist at the end.  If memory serves me right I don't think it's been done in a Fear Street novel before this one.  I can't wait for more tales from Fear Street. 

T.B.
5/12/15

Evil Librarian - Michele Knudsen

Cynthia stares at Ryan throughout Italian class.  Annie teases her for not having the courage to talk to him.  At the end of the day Annie doesn't meet her like normal.  Cyn finds her staring lovingly at the new librarian.  Annie has a crush on him, but Cyn doesn't think much of it.  There is no mention of him over the weekend and on Monday Annie is keen to get to school early.  Through out the day Annie doesn't respond to any of Cyn's texts and she finds her in the library.  When Cyn pulls her out into the hallway she acts like her normal self again.  Cyn heads to the auditorium as she is tech director for the school musical Sweeny Todd.  Ryan comes up to her and apologizes for running into her in the hallway earlier.  After rehearsal she goes looking for Annie in the library.  Annie isn’t there and she has a strange conversation with Mr. Gabriel.  Her mind is telling her to get out as fast as she can.  She talks to Annie after she gets home and tells her about the conversation she and Ryan finally had at rehearsal.  Cyn passes by the library in the next morning and sees several students in a trance like state.  Even in Italian Annie is in the same state for a few minutes.  After class they notice a lot of the students in the same state Annie was in at the start of class.  Sensing something might be wrong Cyn doubles back and finds Mr. De Luca in the same state as a lot of the students.  He comes out of it after a few minutes.  Cyn tries to talk to Annie about Mr. Gabriel, but Annie thinks she is jealous and doesn’t want to hear anything bad about Mr. Gabriel.  After school Ryan's friend Jorge is in the same state as a lot of the kids were earlier.  He sees Cyn and she tells him her theory about Mr. Gabriel being a monster, or demon, or psychic vampire.  Ryan doesn’t believe her, but she tries to convince him to come to the library.  Ryan says he should check on Jorge.  As Cyn heads back into the school, Ryan catches up to her.  As they approach the library they see Mr. Gabriel in not human form with blood all over himself and on the floor.  Ryan is hypnotized, but Cyn isn't.  Mr. Gabriel calls her a super-roach since she has extra resistance and can’t be controlled easily.  Cyn gets Ryan out of there and he becomes his normal self.  He wants to call 911, but saying there is a demon in the school will make him sound crazy.  They head to Ryan’s house, and go over what they know and decide to find an adult who will listen to them.  Later that night Cyn hears on the news that Principal Morse is dead.  While the whole school is mourning the loss of the principal Cyn and Ryan are trying to make sure they stay alive.  Both of them make it through the day and to rehearsal.  Mr. Gabriel pops up in the auditorium and tells Cyn to back off and she and Ryan will live.  Cyn tries to get Annie out of his control, but he needs her to be his bride.  She is also told that the cast and crew won’t be killed before opening night of Sweeny Todd.  Mr. Gabriel needs them for something bigger.  Cyn tells Ryan about her conversation with Mr. Gabriel.  As they leave they see Mr. De Luca having an argument with himself.  Cyn suspects he knows something about what is going on.  They follow him to his house and explain their theory to him.  He has to find out more information, but it seems like Mr. De Luca will help them.  At school the next day Cyn and Ryan are relieved when Mr. De Luca pulls into the parking lot.  As she heads to math class Mr. Gabriel is there waiting in the hallway.  He tells her to keep out of his way, and he had to take care of Mr. De Luca.  Ryan finds Cyn, cut class, and head to Mr. De Luca's home.  There’s no answer at all, confirming their suspicions that he is dead.  They go to classes the next day and later while Cyn is in the auditorium Annie finds her.  Cyn tries to convince her that Mr. Gabriel is bad news and that he has killed two people.  She doesn’t want to hear it and tells Cyn to stay away from her.  After school Cyn and Ryan head to his house to do research on demons.  They come across an occult store a half an hour away, and head over there to talk to Aaron, the proprietor.  He tells them they have to sever Annie’s connection to the demon and then banish him.  They get all the ingredients need for the banishment.  On Sunday night they have Annie tied up and lure Mr. Gabriel to the library at midnight.  They are ready to banish him when Aaron shows up and wrecks everything.  Mr. Gabriel says Annie will be his queen after he wins the war for the demon throne.  Just before he disappears with her he tells Cyn not to tell anyone else what is going on, otherwise he will kill her family, Ryan’s family, and everyone at school.  Can Cyn and Ryan find a way to defeat Mr. Gabriel and save Annie, or is the end of everyone they know and love?

 I absolutely loved and enjoyed this book, and it was a fun read.  From the first page all the way to the end it had the feel of Buffy The Vampire Slayer to it.  It didn't surprise me when I looked on the authors website and found out Buffy is one of her favorite TV shows.  Even if you don't know who or what Buffy is I think you will enjoy this book.  This book is on the YALSA Best Fiction for 2015 list.

T.B.

4/21/15

Heap House - Edward Carey

Clod Iremonger lives at Heap House with the rest of his family.  Each person has an object they carry with them at all times called a birthing object.  Clod has the ability to hear each of birthing objects names, which makes him the odd one of the family.  When Aunt Rosamund looses her birthing object, Clod is called upon to find it.  When he can't hear it his Uncle Timfy decrees that every room is to be searched for it.  While the searching is going on Clod wanders the house and runs into his Cousin Moorcus.  He starts picking on Clod and drags him to another one of his cousins.  Moorcus tells him that his sitting is set for the next day.  Clod can't believe it and imagines what marriage will be like to his Cousin Pinalippy. While Clod looks to the future, Lucy looks to the now as she adjusts to being a servant at Heap house.  From a dinner song, to not leaving the house, to everyone one of the servants telling her their birth objects, it all seems strange for Lucy.  She is told about Aunt Rosamund's missing door handle and is assigned to clean the fireplaces in the upper part of the house. The next day Clod goes and meets with Cousin Pinalippy.  She is unimpressed with him and his birthing object.  He too is unimpressed with her birthing object, a doily.  Later that night in the Sitting Room he sees Lucy cleaning the fireplace.  They make small talk and if Clod shows her the house, she will tell him about London.  The next day Uncle Aliver tells him to listen around the house for Aunt Rosamund's door handle as she's not doing well.  Later that night he meets Lucy in the Sun Room.  Together they wipe the windows and he tells her about hearing the names of the birthing objects.  Lucy is taken aback at his ability, and thinks something is wrong with him.  The next day when Clod is talking with his Uncle Idwid, who can also hear the names of objects, he figures out where the missing door handle is.  The following day the servants are in a tizzy because a moustache cup has apparently moved on its own and gone missing.  All the servants are questioned and there are more objects missing.  Later that night while Clod shows Lucy more of the house and she tells him about London.  He confronts her about the missing door handle.  She'll give it back as long as Clod helps her look for one of the other servants that has gone missing.  Clod agrees to help her and they agree to meet the next night.  Clod goes through the attic taking the long way around to the Infirmary, and encounters a collection of objects that looks like a man.  He manages to escape and gets to the Infirmary, only to find his aunt has now turned into a bucket.  Lucy is confronted by Mrs. Piggott, the head housekeeper, about her whereabouts.  She lies and says she was cleaning, but Mrs. Piggott knows she wasn't cleaning.  Lucy quits, but Mrs. Piggott has other plans for her.  Lucy is sent out to the heaps to work.  She is told she has to bring back some type of salvage or be forced to go back out into the heaps.  Clod's Grandfather comes to visit and tells him about his Great-great-great Grandfather Septimus and how he squeezed money and property from people.  Piles of objects rose and fell whether people succeeded or failed.  Septimus's dying wish was to have all the dirt-mounds of the city brought to Heap house.  Eventually all the unwanted objects ended up in heaps outside of the house.  Then people started to disappear and the Heap family would be blamed.  When the people disappeared objects would take their place.  A disease was spreading and the only way to not be affected by it was to have a part of a close object injected into the person and have that person keep the object close.  Thus the birthing objects are born.  If an object is returned to its family that person would become an object themselves.  If the object overtakes the human, the object turns human and vice versa.  Armed with this new information can Clod protect himself, Lucy, and the rest of his family?  

This quirky and strange story was an enjoyable read.  It did take a little bit to get into the story, but once I got past the first 60 pages the story took off for me.  By the end of the book I wanted the next book in the series to see how the story continues.  The art of the book jacket along with the pictures at the beginning of the chapters reminded me of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.  Even the drawing of Clod on the cover reminded me of something out of and Edgar Allan Poe story.  This is the first book of a trilogy.  The second book is coming out this summer.  I can't wait for it come out.

T.B.
3/2/15