Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares

The fifth book in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series jumps ahead ten years to find the girls all grown up and falling apart.

Years after the traveling pants had been lost in Greece, the girls have gone their separate ways and created their own lives. Tibby is in Australia with Brian, Lena is teaching art in Providence, Carmen is a New York actress, and Bridget is in San Francisco with Eric. With space and time keeping them apart, especially Tibby who is hard to contact, they are all receive invitations from Tibby to reunite in Greece. Excited to finally be together, they are thrown for a loop when tragedy strikes, creating in chasm in them so deep they can't seem to move on with their lives or even find comfort in each other. Will the world ever make sense again? What could possibly bring these inseparable friends back together again?

This fifth book being ten years after the last book feels a little separate from the series, almost like you can read this book without having read the other books. Sure the other books help with background knowledge but there's enough of a sense of life before to make it through this book. For the most part the book is about loss - of loved ones and of yourself - and finding your way back to it all. However, since most of it is about loss and the characters all being unable to move on, it became a little overwhelming to the point of annoying, especially given how far removed the characters had grown before the tragedy (sporadic contact throughout the last couple of years). I understand why they were so deeply affected (they had been inseparable friends) and maybe I just can't sympathize because I've never gone through it, but the characters just behaved so radically I found them too much to swallow - especially Bridget. However, maybe her actions make more sense if I knew more about her if I had read the previous books. Just the same, it's not until the girls started to get their lives back on track that the book grew on me. It does have a good message about loss and friendship but it just drags a bit in the middle.

This novel is a good conclusion to the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. While it does become a bit tedious in the middle, overall it's a good story. You feel for each character and hope for everything to work out. While I can't compare it to the other books having not read them, I think it is one that fans will love because it is about the characters and seeing where their lives go.
MMK

Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison

Lo has a serious obsessive/compulsive disorder which makes her an outsider, mostly at school and very often embarrassed and even immobilized by her rituals. They come in multiples of 3 with 27 being perfect. They include, tapping, repeating words and collecting "junk" in sets and rearranging them looking for the exact right order. Her compulsions apparently went into overdrive when the family lost her older brother. Lo is in AP classes and one boy is interested in her though she can't understand why. One of the popular girls also shows interest but possibly for Lo's smarts rather than Lo the person.
One way Lo spends her time is riding the bus, taking different stops each time, always some multiple of three. So it is that she stops at Neverland, a very run down area with strip joints and homeless "cities". She is considering where to look for more stuff to collect when shots ring out. She runs in terror and gets lost. A girl carrying onions to her mother's restaurant gets her back to the bus station. The following morning, Lo discovers that a girl, Sapphire, was gunned down just where she was standing. The news carried a description of several of her objects known to be missing and of her love of blue lipstick. The next time Lo goes out shopping for her collection its to a flea market where she discovers the objects described in the news, including a necklace that she buys and puts on and a metal butterfly. Lo is compelled to find out what happened to Sapphire, returning again and again to Neverland. She meets a boy known as Flynt there apparently a throw away kid who she cannot quite trust. She meets exotic dancers who sort of knew Sapphire and considers taking a job as a dancer in the same place as Sapphire. She meets a scary man who she runs from. And, she starts getting weird warnings, a dead cat on her door step, signs on her locker for instance. Yet, she cannot stop herself from searching for what happened to Sapphire. There are other murders. Lo tries to tell the cops what she suspects but they say Sapphire's case is closed. One cop believes differently. In the end Lo is nearly killed, learns about true love and about her brother who is gone. The obsessive stuff gets tiring to me but maybe thats the point. The mystery, well I suspected correctly where it was going but that doesn't mean everyone will and it is quite complex. Lo and Flynt are fairly complex characters but no others are. This is an ok story. JDW

The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder

This novel written in verse is an easy read that touches on characters coming to terms with a bad hand that life has dealt them.

Amber has something life altering that will be happening tomorrow and she wants this day to mean something. She doesn't want it to be sad and she doesn't want to deal with tomorrow. Rather than spending time with her family who is also dealing with this emotional situation, she goes off on her own. When she visits the aquarium in hopes of watching the sharks and gaining strength from them, she runs into Cade who seems to also be going through something life altering. They spend the day together, making it count and finding strength in each other to face what tomorrow brings.

I've never done a novel in verse before because I've never been a big fan of poetry. This novel was nothing like I expected. Sure it's in free verse poetry form, but it still tells a story. It's not bogged down by being too poetic where you have to dig and interpret for the deeper meaning. It does have its poetic and metaphorical moments, but they work within the story which at times is more reflective of life than a simple sequence of events. That's not to say that it isn't still a sequence of events. This novel goes through the events of a whole day - conversation, interactions, setting, etc. All and all, it is still a story, just told in a form that's not restricted to paragraphs and punctuation. The story pulls you in because you want to know what Amber is dealing with and what Cade is running from. You care for these characters and want them to have happily ever after.

I enjoyed this novel more than I thought. The form makes it an exceptionally easy read and it still has a story that pulls you in.
MMK

Uglies: Shay's Story by Scott Westerfeld and Devin Grayson

Uglies is a series written by Scott Westerfeld and has now been turned into a graphic novel. It is a great story and this new form will introduce different readers to series's improtant themes.

Shay (aka Skinny) is an Ugly. In her world, everyone is an Ugly until they turn 16 in which they undergo surgery (also called "the Surge") and become a Pretty. Shay's 16th birthday is coming up soon, but she meets up with a group of Crims and begins to question whether anyone is really ugly or needs surgery. She decides to runaway and live in "the Smoke" which is basically living in nature and avoiding "the Surge." However, it might not be as easy as Shay thinks as a group of "Specials" is out to put a stop to "the Smoke."

I was nervous about reading this book because I have never read any of the other Uglies books. I worried that I wouldn't have the background knowledge needed to understand this world but everything was more or less explained and I could put the pieces together. At first I didn't understand why these normal/pretty people were considered Uglies and initially thought the concept was shallow but as the story progresses, Shay thankfully challenges the idea of Pretties, wondering what's wrong with the way people are. Also, reading the notes at the end of the book (there's an artist's sketchbook section) explains how the theme of these novels is that normal is fine - you don't need to change your looks. The character of Shay does a decent job stressing this point and driving home the theme. I really like how this format opens the door to possibly a different set of readers than the book. I personally never read the books because they're thick and big books turn me off but I had no problem with this graphic novel. It was a quick read with a good story. It has even peaked my interest in the actual novels, which is definitely a good thing.

I enjoyed reading this graphic novel from the Uglies series. I really like the theme and look forward to seeing where the story goes.
MMK

The Fault in our Stars By John Green

Hazel was diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at age twelve. She was only given two years to live, but has beaten the odds at age sixteen. Hazel meets Augustus at a cancer support group at the local church. As they get to know each other Augustus reads Hazel's favorite book An Imperial Affliction. Augustus uses his last wish to take himself, Hazel, and her mother to Amsterdam so Hazel can meet the author of her favorite book, Peter Van Hauten. Before they leave on their trip Augustus finds out that his cancer has come back. He doesn't tell Hazel so she can enjoy her trip, but drops the bombshell on the last day.


To me personally, this novel makes a good observation about cancer patients. You almost want to live your life to the fullest, while you can. No matter how long you live you are remembered by those who love you. The novel is fantastic, and I recommend it. The novel is also a good love story along with being a real tearjerker.

LRD/3/21/12 & TB

The Butterfly Clues. By Kate Ellison

Penelope had a nickname "Lo" Marin is her last name she has always loved to collect beautiful things. But in the year since her brother's death, Lo's hoarding has blossomed into a full blown, potentially dangerous obsession. When she discovers a beautiful antique which is a butterfly figurine , and recognizes it as being stolen from a recently murdered girl known as Sapphire.
As we continue reading, Penelope continues with her compulsive behavior, which she has had all her life. Penelope's behavior gets her into trouble, when she witnesses a murder, while wandering dangerous places in C leveland, Ohio collecting items that do not belong to her.

Penelope tries to solve the murder of Sapphire by investigating by herself. She goes to the "Club Tens" investigating, and looking around for clues about Sappphire who had worked there.
Penelope tried out for a job at the Club as a dance girl. She made the job at "Club Tens," but there was a wealthy man, by the name Gordon , who wanted her for himself. This did not happen .

This is the author's first novel. I liked the novel very much. It is a good read.
LRD/3/19/12

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

There's a problem with this book that bothered earlier reviewers so much that they disliked the book. Evie works for the International Paranormal Containment Agreement - IPCA for short. Exactly what this organization is, how it came to be, why paranormals must be contained is never explained. Evie is best at containing vampires as she can easily identify them even when they are disguised. She has been with the organization for many years even though just a teenager. Evie uses a taser with a sparkly pink handle and a silver knife with a similar sparkly pink handle to render vampires helpless then she puts monitoring ankle bracelets on them and sends them to a containment center. There is lots of paranormal stuff going on so one wonders why containment and how it is determined who gets contained. Most teens, I think can set this aside. Evie is dang good at her job, a kick ass heroine. Being a teenager and always home schooled confined deep underground in the center, she is dying for true teenage experiences. She figures the tv program Easton Heights is a good way to learn how to be a real teenage girl. She does a lot of online shopping, most of which gets cancelled by her "foster mom". Everything about Evie being a teen is funny and a bit of a spoof of real teenage life and just delightful to read. Evie visiting a real high school and seeing her first locker and her prep for prom are especially fun. The story reminded me of Michele Jaffe's book BAD KITTY. There are two male love interests in this story, Reth a very persistent and powerful faerie and Lend son of a water elemental and a human. There is a prophetic poem that seems to be about Evie but maybe not. It predicts lots of death. When many paranormals begin dying with fiery golden palm prints over their hearts - clues point to Evie though initially she is clueless about why and who she really is. She never even knew she was a paranormal so is just finding out about her powers. So as not to give everything away, I have to stop here but the problem of who is killing paranormals and why is neatly resolved still leaving room for more books. This is an Illinois High School Media Association Abraham Lincoln Award nominee for 2013. Don't take it too seriously or you'll likely be disappointed, though JDW 3/17

Angel's hill by TEZUKA Osamu

The story revolves around a mysterious place called "Angel's Island" that resides somewhere on the ocean seas. Living on Angel's Island are a species of merpeople that can live both in the sea and on land. They have the form of a human, but can breathe in water as well as on land. Luna is a princess of this species of mermaid living on Angel's Island, but is exiled for breaking some of their rules. As punishment, she is placed inside a sea shell, and set adrift across the sea.

However she is found by Eji, a kind man which was reminded of his sister when he laid eyes upon her, rescuing her from the terrible fate of being a slave. After much insisting for repaying his kindness, Luna offered herself as his assistance and to try to be a friend to his sister. But unfortunate events take place as Eji's sister is confused for Luna, kidnapped by the very woman that wanted Luna dead.

Eji's journal to recover his sister will uncover secrets from Angel's hill, a big conspiracy and why Luna was sentence to death.