Wicked Dead: Lurker by Stefan Petrucha and Thomas Pendleton

This book is the first in a new series about one story a "ghost girl" tells her three "ghost" friends in "a nightly ritual." I put that in italics because you don't even realize that the girls are ghost until the very end and, even then, the revelation isn't even that exciting. I didn't feel as if these ghost girls added anything to the story. In fact, I might even venture to say they killed the ending. The Prologue and the Epilogue could have been removed from the story and nothing would have been lost.

The story being told was about a teenager named Mandy dealing with a break up around the time a classmate is murdered. Soon after the girl's murder, Mandy starts to receive IMs from a boy named Kyle. She quickly develops a friendship with him, reassured that he's not a creep because he sent her a personalized picture (although the picture does seem to pull a Dorian Gray). Her boyfriend that she just broke up with tries to win her back and right after that happens, her Internet buddy starts to get creepy.

The above summary didn't sound that scary because the novel was a big disappointment. Sure Mandy was nervous walking around the neighborhood at dark - some girl was just brutally murdered, anyone would be scared. Yes she got two eerie text messages, but as a reader it wasn't enough to give me nightmares. The ending of the story (before the epilogue) was the only truly "scary" part and the was only a few pages. There is a bit of a subliminal message about the risks of teens dependency on technology which was interesting but I wouldn't call this novel worthwhile. The vast majority of the book was just about a girl's pursuit of a boy. The scares were too few with too far apart, therefore killing it's mojo.

After reading this first book, I don't have any interest in continuing this series. The ghost girls telling stories had no pull and the story told wasn't even that scary. I picked up the book looking for a thrill and came out deadly disappointed.
MMK

Saints of Augustine - P.E. Ryan

Sam and Charlie two best friends who suddenly stopped being friends. They have avoided each other at school and in the mall. Each of their lives has changed over the last year. Charlie has been smoking pot and is going out with Kate. He lost his mom to leukemia and his father has become a depressed drunk. Sam on the other hand has had his parents split up and his dad move to London on business with his partner David. He is also trying to figure out if he's gay. As the story progresses Sam meets Justin, who is gay, and they click almost instantly. They go out on a "date" and when Justin drops him off he kisses Sam, and his mother sees them. Charlie on the other hand has his dealer comming to collect $500 for the pot, and has his girlfriend break up with him because of him smoking pot. The dealer and one of his associates come and bust Charlies car up. Everything comes to a head when Sam runs over to Charlies house and they hide away in the house Charlie is renovating. It is there that they start to mend their friendship. They each tell each other whats been going on the last year and Charlie finally finds out why Sam and him stopped being friends.

Overall I really did enjoy this book. I really hadn't read any book recently with a gay character in it, and you really don't know one of the characters is gay until you are about a quarter to half way into the book.

T.B. 1/11/08

someday this pain will be useful to you by Peter Cameron

James is 18 and spending the summer before college working in his mother's art gallery which is not busy, leaving plenty of time to use the Internet and to chat with a fellow employee. His very dysfunctional family consisting of mom, recently returned from her third failed marriage (didn't even last the honeymoon), his older sister who is dating a married man a father that seems to show up when there is trouble, a grandmother to whom James frequently runs when the world gets too big for him. No one is very fleshed out, really not even James who is a loner and wants to be, doesn't want to go to college, wants to use the money to buy a small house in the midwest (he lives in New York City) what he would do for food and utility bills not addressed, what he would do other than sit in the house alone, not addressed. He was initially in therapy because of a disastrous field trip in high school but that seems to stop abruptly, not ended, not finished, just disappears from the story. James's need to be away from people, confusing relationships (something he thought of as an innocent joke is labeled sexual harassment for instance), lame people who misuse language, his pitiful mother and sister with whom he has a middle school style sibling rivalry is easy to relate to. Many of us can even find ourselves in this story to but ultimate something is missing and the story just ends! It doesn't really finish. just like the disappearing therapy sessions suddenly James is ok with going to college, his grandma has died but he shows no emotion, his sister has moved on from her relationship the end. I felt the same way about Its Kind of a Funny Story by Vizzini which lacks the edgy quality one would expect from a story of a suicidal teen.
JDW 1/9/08

Before I Die by Jenny Downham

This teen novel is described as joyous and uplifting. Instead, I would call it poignant or bittersweet.

Tessa, age 16 has been living with leukemia for the past four years. Now, she has run out of treatment choices save doubtful experimental procedures. She chooses not to undergo still more treatment, more suffering and instead she lives what time she has left to the fullest. She makes a list of things she wants to do before she dies. The list grows and shrinks as her desires change and her illness progresses. Top of her list are have sex, do something illegal, try (illegal) drugs, drive. Between bouts of rage in which she tries to destroy any sign that she ever lived, destroying pictures, her mementos and even tossing a TV through a window and bouts of depression that keeps her in bed for days at a time, Tessa sets out to accomplish each thing on her list. Her friend Zoey, and sometimes father and brother Cal each support her efforts even as she shoves them away - afraid to have feelings for them and then pulls them back - forgetting that they too have needs. Her mother, divorced from her father and not really a part of her life for many years even comes around to support Tessa. And, lonely back door neighbor Adam who helps her burn her possessions during one of her rages, perhaps falls in love with her, gives her a totally unexpected experience if sex with love, not just the mechanical process she had gone through to fulfill her wish list. Tessa seems to think she is entitled to shoplift, take her father's car joy riding and do any manner of wild things because she is ill. I question the message that might give to others - though they probably don't need a story to give them ideas such as these. Other books about dying teens seem to be carefully crafted to go through the classic stages of grief. This story seems more real to me even though the emotions take a back seat to Tessa's efforts to live fully before she dies.
JDW 12/29/07

Breathe My Name by R.A. Nelson

This was one of those books that's left me feeling neither here nor there. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't spectacular. Something was missing but I can't quite put my finger on it. The novel is about 18-year-old Frances, or Francine depending on which family you're talking about. Frances is a girl with a great life. She's got loving parents, annoying brothers, a great best friend and a crazy but loving new boyfriend. Overall she's got a life people would be happy to have, except for the secret she holds. Suddenly a lawyer shows up at her door, bringing Francine and her other mother back into Frances' life. Eleven years ago Francine's mother killed three of her four daughters. She was in the process of killing Francine when a stranger came and saved the day. Shortly after that happened, Francince was adopted and became Frances. Now the lawyer shows up with a letter from the murderous mother, claiming that they need to finish what they started. (Her mother was found not guilty by reason of insanity but had recently been making a strong recovery). Frances needs to see her mother, even though she knows her new parents would forbid it. In order to get around this, she and her boyfriend sneak off under the cover of a weekend school trip. They find characters from Frances' past and eventually discover her long-lost mother.

Like I said earlier, this book didn't make a strong impression one way or the other. The only thing that bothered me was that it took so long to find out what actually happened eleven years ago. By reading the front flap I knew what happened, but it took about 100 pages to actually say. Even then, it wasn't any real deep details. The novel had a habit of slipping between past and present, showing Frances' life in "Fireless" with her mother. It did a great job of showing her mother's psychosis but wasn't that impressive. It sort of reminded me of the Ya-Ya sisterhood and how the mother could be wild and crazy, the children's best friend, but at the same time, deeply troubled. The mother was a nicely constructed character.

This book wasn't bad but I don't feel as though I should run around singing it's praises. Give it a shot if the story interests you. That's all one can say.
MMK

Go Figure by Jo Edwards

I had read Jo Edwards' previous book Love Undercover (See February 8) and found similar flaws in her second book, Go Figure. This novel centers on Ryan Burke, a senior with weight issues. It's her senior year and she's still fat, but she's not going to let that hold her back. She's enrolled in a photography class and her best friend Kimberlee is destined to find her a guy. Her previous boyfriend Noah is a hit musician, recently appearing on the cover of Rolling Stones. The bad thing about that, though, is that Ryan only seems to be known as Noah's old girlfriend. While Ryan tries to figure things out in her life, she stressed over the fact that her bff (Best Fat Friend) Chelsea hasn't been the best email buddy. Things start falling apart when she hears from Noah that he's written a song about her (and some other people as he said) only to learn that it's not the most flattering song. And then Chelsea, who'd been in California, returns home 80 pounds lighter. Suddenly Chelsea's popular and Ryan is more lost than ever.

I feel as though the summary of the novel is confusing and lackluster, but yet the story itself was lacking something in terms of plot. It took about 50 pages for the novel to actually pick up a storyline and even then, it wasn't all that exciting. There seemed to be too much internal monologue and background. Plus the reveal of Chelsea was obvious, especially when the girl said she really wasn't comfortable talking about weight anymore. And speaking of weight, the emphasis that Ryan placed on it was annoying. I understand having weight issues but there's a difference between having weight issues and obsessing. Sure Ryan's getting psychiatric help, but it's not doing her any good. And for a girl with so many problems regarding her size, she's got it pretty good. She's got great friends, guys willing to make out with her, and a boyfriend who turned into a rock star. Call me a little cynical, but that's just a little too good to be true. I really didn't find Ryan believable. In fact, I found her annoying. If she's so miserable about her weight, she should have done more to fix it. Sure she said she worked out, but not enough to make a difference and there wasn't really much of a mention of diet. I really just wanted to tell her to shut up and deal or do something about it. Now don't get me started on the ending. In Jo Edwards' first novel, I found the ending a little too cheesy. The same thing happens with this novel. It was just a little too picture perfect. Real life isn't happily ever after but yet this novel made it feel that way and I really didn't feel as though Ryan made any resolution to her main conflict - her weight.

I had high hopes for this novel. At first I thought it might be a little bit of "big girl empowerment," but I didn't see that happening, especially when the whole novel seemed just a little too fictional. I can see showing having a character with weight issues, but to make that the bane of her existence is a little too much to swallow, especially when she fails to come grips with it. This novel was just a little too much cheese for my liking.
MMK

General Winston's Daughter By:Sharon Shim

This novel is intriguing to me, and is written so well that it captures any teen's imagination. I was so into the novel it seemed true to me. But this story is totally imagined, and got my attention from the beginning of the book.

The personality of the main character throughout the novel was Averie who is the daughter of General Winston . Averie grew up in a big estate with servants. She is a teen who at first falls in love with a Colonel, but then is romantically crazy about Lt. Du Kai, who in reality Averie has to keep hush hush. Averie already wears on her finger an engagement ring from the Colonel. Towards the end of the book, she gives back the ring to the Colonel, who had gotten injured in a battle . As you might presume, everyone was surprized including the Colonel. Averie finds that her Father the General, was killed in battle in a fictitious town called Chiarrin. The city was burned completely, and the General became ashes.

The daughter Averie decided to bury what remained, of her Father next to her Mother in the small burial ground of the Weymireestate.

The end of the novel was a bit of a surprize to me being that Averie is closing parts of the estate to move to a foreign city by herself. She will be living in the town where the Lt. DuKai lives tho she loves a lot.

Winter's Bone By: Daniel Woodrell

This novel is American folk story presenting Ree Dolly as your folk hero. "Winter's Bone" is a timeless story that expresses through prose, the gumption of one little woman's feisty personality.

At the beginning of the novel, say the first 70 pages I personally was not interested in the plot. As the time went by, I was hooked on this novel, and fascinated with the different plot of the story. Especially anything to do with Ree Dolly. I especially got a kick they way they searched for the where abouts of their Father. Family members knew his body fell, or was thrown in a pond that had been frozen, and his legs had a cement block attached to them. This would sink the body deep.

The novel was alright, but I personally have enjoyed better books.

LRD 12/17/07