Playing in Traffic - Gail Giles

Skye is a Goth. She is also known to get with boys only to sleep with them and let them go. So when she takes an interest in Matt Colby he finds it hard to resist the mystery and drama that follows her. Matt is an almost invisible person. He isn't on any sports teams or in any clubs. He hangs out with Skye and gets involved with her. She then starts telling lies about her family to keep him with her. She says that her stepfather molests her, Lisa is her sister, and the list goes on. Eventually Matt, disguised as her tutor Bob, finds out the truth. When he confronts her she threatens to kill Matt's sister Katy if he doesn't stay with Skye. When Matt threatens to tell the police Skye pulls out a gun and tells him to decide who should live. The end of the book leaves you to decide what could happen or not happen. It is a quick read and the story grabs you, and holds you to the very end. I also recommend Inventing Elliot by Graham Gardner.

Tom Burnham

Pepperland By Mark Delaney

This novel is written with frankness, and compassion. This novel is an unforgettable story of loss, and redemption.

Pamela Jean, nicknamed Jean, at 16 years old looses her Mother, and lives with her StepFather Syke . Jean hardly ever sees him, which is a good thing. Jean is a teen who is super interested in Art and Music.In fact, Jean explores the attic at home and finds an electric guitar belonging to her deceased Mother. Since her Mother passed away, she has become really interested in the Beatle Music. Her Mother was a big Beatle fan, and in fact left a sealed letter for John Lennon. The Beatles were a British rock group, who were popular in the United States around the middle 1960's. John Lennon, the man the Mother wrote the letter to, composed many of the songs the group sang.

Jean went to a shrink (Psychiatrist) after the death of her Mother. It didnot seem to help her. But it was a way of getting out her worries from her brain.

Jean also had a boyfriend that was called Dooley he was a painter. This is how he made his living.

The book tells how Jean becomes an apprentice after school, to repair her electric guitar, which is a Gibson model. She learns to repair guitars from a German lady that teaches Jean the trade. To me, this is a fascinating part of the book.

I personally feel, anybody who likes Music, and Art will be amazed with this novel.



LRD. January 11/05

Bloody Jack By: L.A. Meyer

This is an account of a ship named" Dolphin" that sails the oceans in pursuit of pirate ships . It also relates the story of Jacky Faber, a girl who dreams of being employed on board the warship Dolphin with an all male crew. Jacky is an orphan in London, tired of begging from perfect strangers.

Jack is no coward, and a very daring individual. She makes her interview for the job on board, and it is hired to be a crew member of the ship. She is disguised as a twelve year old boy, till the ship has a hole blown through the side, and is slowly taking in water. During the whole ordeal the Dolphin ship approaches an island. This is very convenient , because the crew can swim to shore.
There are many exciting incidents I have not mentioned . Read the book, and you will find out. My favorite is how agile Jacky is, climbing the rope to the tall mast. I personally, could never in my youth hoised myself up in the dark .

The book is very interesting, and holds the interest of any reader. I recommend this novel very much.


LRD. Jaanuary 11/05

Glory by Jodi Lynn

Glory Mason is 13 years old and lives in a rural Christian community in West Virgina called Dogwood. Dogwood is a small commuinty of about 60 people, and everyone knows everyone. They are like one big family. So when Glory gets in trouble for throwing a biscut at the reverend, she becomes an outsider and most of the people in the town don't even acknowlege her. Her own father won't even speak to her. On the night of the Christmas Eve party Glory and her best friend Katie go and play on the frozen lake. Then the ice breaks and Katie falls into the frezzing lake. Katie ends up dying. Glory is found guilty of the death of Katie. She is cast out of Dogwood and heads toward Boston. After days of crossing through the woods she finds a barn and takes shelter there. She is found by a boy named Jake and they become friends and over the following days she reveals to him her life, but not why she was cast out of Dogwood. He then agrees to take her to Shadow Tree, the closest town. What does the future hold for Glory? Will she redeem herself in her families eyes? To find out read the next three books in the series: Shadow Tree, Blue Girl, and Forget Me Not.

Tom Burnham

I Am David by Anne Holm

This is a short historical novel that takes place during WWII and starts at a concentration camp somewhere in Eastern Europe. David has lived in the camp since he was an infant. There is a prison guard who seems to hate him but makes sure he is well cared for. There was Johannes who was appointed his guardian by the guard. When Johannes died David was 12 and the guard told him how to escape, told him to go to Denmark. What if you were like David and suddenly found yourself free after never being free before. What if you had never heard music, seen a real bed, seen a book, green pastures, mountains, the ocean, seen a church, a town, bought anything in a store, could you manage? He slowly makes his way to the ocean, to a cargo ship going to Italy. Then makes his way through Italy, Switzerland, Germany. He learns much along the way like how to smile, laugh, earn a little money, hitch a ride. He never really trusts the people he meets, would they turn him in to the police? Send him back to camp where people arrived looking clean and healthy but soon became dirty, weak, despaired, and died. He hopes to find goodhearted people who will preserve his freedom and teach him to all the things he needed to know and would love him.

Life of Pi By: Yann Martel

This novel starts out slow moving, and ends up so exciting. The action takes place in a lifeboat, where we have one human, and three animals. trying to survive a ship wreck four days out of the port of Manila, Philippines. It is quite an ordeal to read, and feel the way Pi the main character is able to manage his food, and water intake. Pi resorts to eating fish, and even turtle meat. The three animals on board the small lifeboat
are a zebra, hyena, and a bengal tiger. Imagine being capsized in the Pacific Ocean for more than six months
without being rescued by another ship, or any other rescue vehicle.

One's imagination runs wild when exposed to the open sea. This situation is desperate day after day. You begin to see visions, and things that come to your mind of hope, and belief, that really is not there. You dream of things that are not realistic. In the end, the lifeboat lands on land, and the animals are dead, but the human Pi, survives the whole experience.


This is an excellent book for teens, and adults.



L.D.
12/22/04

Gothic! Ten Original Dark Tales - Various Authors

Having only heard of three of the ten authors and having read only one of the ten authors I didn't know what to expect. I kept an open mind about these short stories and enjoyed all of them except the first short story Lungewater by Joan Aiken. It is about a messenger boy delivering notes to a woman his master is attracted to. The boy dies in the river, and the brother takes it upon himself to deliver the final letter. The style of the story along with the time placement (not set in the present, more like the early 1900's) made this one unenjoyable. I knew what was going to happen half way through the story. The other nine short stories were a great read. All of the authors drew upon the Victorian style of writing done by Mary Shelly and Edgar Allen Poe. They were also set in the modern times, which makes them more appealing to teens, and the main character is a teenager. Overall this was a good read and I would recommend it to anyone who likes dark tales, Poe, or Mary Shelly.

The authors of the short stories in this collection are Joan Aiken, M.T. Anderson, Neil Gaiman, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Gregory Maguire, Garth Nix, Celia Rees, Janni Lee Simner, Vivian Vande Velde, and Barry Yourgrau

Tom Burnham

A Million Little Pieces by James Frey

Frey, a one time drug addict relates his struggle to quit using. He went from alcohol to crack to meth and more. He used to the brink of death. His memoir is a very gritty relating of the bad old days. He tells it straight and hard. Of all the men in rehab with him only one besides himself still lives. Eleven men and one woman he called friends have died, many times theirs were horrible violent deaths. The other survivor is in prison - for life. Frey makes it clear that it was his decision alone, no one made him, to use - and his decision to recover. Highly recommended, especially if you have already begun to use-recreationally.
Buggy Lady