Howl's Moving Castle (MG, YA)

Jones, Diana Wynne. 1986. Howl's Moving Castle. 329 pages.

My new-found love for Diana Wynne Jones became evident only a few pages into Howl's Moving Castle, a wonderful fantasy novel revolving around a moving castle and its inhabitants.

In the land of Ingary, where such things as seven-league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, it is quite a misfortune to be born the eldest of three. Everyone knows you are the one who will fail first, and worst, if the three of you set out to seek your fortunes.

Sophie Hatter was the eldest of three sisters. She was not even the child of a poor woodcutter, which might have given her some chance of success. Her parents were well-to-do and kept a ladies' hat shop in the prosperous town of Market Chipping. True, her own mother died when Sophie was too years old and her sister Lettie was one year old, and their father married his youngest shop assistant, a pretty blonde girl called Fanny. Fanny shortly gave birth to the third sister, Martha. This ought to have made Sophie and Lettie into Ugly Sisters, but in fact all three girls grew up very pretty indeed, though Lettie was the one everyone said was most beautiful. Fanny treated all three girls with the same kindness and did not favor Martha in the least.

After the death of Mr. Hatter, the three Hatter sisters are divided up out of necessity--due to debt. One becomes apprentice to a baker/pastry chef. One becomes apprentice to a witch, Mrs. Fairfax. And Sophie, the oldest of the bunch, remains as "apprentice" to Fanny and continues working in the hat shop. Sophie in her people-pleasing, peace-maker role would have been content merely to let life pass her by. If only. If only...she hadn't fallen under the curse of the Witch of the Waste. Cursed to be old (long before her time), Sophie flees the shop (and her village) in shame and frustration. Forced to have an adventure, forced to "seek her fortune" despite being the oldest child, she stumbles across Howl's castle and seeks refuge.

Sophie meets Michael, Howl's apprentice, and Calcifer, Howl's fire demon who resides in the hearth of his castle. Sophie makes an impulsive deal: she'll try to break the contract between the two of them (Howl and Calcifer) if Calcifer will promise to break the curse over her. Sophie's meeting with Howl isn't immediate. And her impressions of him are ever-changing as time goes on.

Who is Wizard Howl? Well, in a way, he is who he chooses to be at that moment. A man of many names certainly. A man who likes having a bad reputation. A man who seems more playful at times than dangerous. A man trying to escape his own curse. Putting aside everything she's heard about him, Sophie begins to like this strange man. She is there to clean and mend for him. And he likes sending Sophie out in the role of his mother.

There are many twists and turns (some expected, some quite unexpected for this reader at least) that unfold throughout the novel. I don't want to go into every little detail and name every character that graces the pages of the book. But I will say this, I really enjoyed this one. It was a book that was fun and playful and delightful. A book that doesn't take itself too seriously.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Travel the World: Australia: The Reformed Vampire Support Group

Jinks, Catherine. 2009. The Reformed Vampire Support Group.

Interesting cover and premise. But only moderately pleasing (to me). Nina is a vampire. She's been a vampire since 1973. She's been trapped in a teenagers body for what seems like forever. Nina in her own words, "The plain fact is, I can't do anything much. That's part of the problem. Vampires are meant to be so glamorous and powerful, but I'm here to inform you that being a vampire is nothing like that. Not one bit. On the contrary, it's like being stuck indoors with the flu watching daytime television, forever and ever." (5) Nina and her vampire family don't sparkle, thank goodness, but they're also not fast or strong or powerful. These vampires are nothing like what you read about; instead we find them weak, sickly, powerless, resigned to their oh-so-boring lifestyles. But when one of their own ends up dead--turned to ash--the threat becomes a little too real and pushes them all out of their comfort zones and somewhat unwillingly into an adventure all their own. For what they find is that someone--a stranger--is onto them. Suspects that they are vampires. And is out to kill them "for the good" of mankind. Can they convince this unknown threat that they're no threat?

I was only moderately entertained by this one. The plot seemed a bit too flimsy for me. The storytelling too clumsy. At one point, the author interrupts the action sequence to spoil her own mystery. Something that I found a bit weird and definitely unnecessary. I mean why work up any suspense at all if you're just going to tell your readers the secrets before reaching what should be the climax and explain every little clue away before the "big reveal" that turned out to be mostly deflated by that point.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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Need

Jones, Carrie. 2008. Need.

Everybody has fears, right?

Need would be good for fans of Stephanie Meyer and Melissa Marr. It's YA fantasy with plenty of thrills: danger and romance. Our heroine, Zara, is unhappy to be moving to Maine. True, life had become almost impossible living with her mother since the death of her stepfather--the only man she ever knew as dad. But is packing her up and sending her to good-old-grandma (her stepfather's mother) really the answer?

While on the surface, Zara appears to be a typical teen with typical angst...but nothing is as it seems. And the town she's moved to is NOT your typical town. Well, unless you like things King-style. (And her grandma--so NOT typical!) It all begins when Zara notices one man--one very strange man--who seems to be following her around. This started on the day her stepdad died. He was there at the airport when she left. He is here in her new town too. She seems him--he's always alone--outside her home, outside her school. She knows something is up when she notices he leaves a trail of glitter behind him.

With the help of her new friends--Issie, Devyn, Nick--Zara is out to solve this mystery. What is driving this is the fact that since shortly before her arrival--boys have been going missing. Something similar occurred in her mom's generation--her days as a teen living in that town. Could the strange man following Zara be the key to solving the mystery of who is kidnapping (and most likely murdering) these teen guys?

Zara is anything but a damsel in distress. She's strong. She's opinionated. She's stubborn. She doesn't follow the rules unless it suits her--and let's be honest--that rarely happens. She's broken in a way--mourning the loss of her stepdad, confused by her new surroundings, and more than a little interested in this ever-dreamy-guy named Nick.

Nick.
Nick has thick, dark hair.
Nick has big, chestnut eyes.
Nick has nice, white teeth.
Nick has a big chest with runner's lungs so he could huff and puff and blow my house in. And I do not care. I lean in. He's so cozy warm but I shiver anyway, remembering the woods. My eyelids just don't want to be open and I really want them open because Nick is so cute when he isn't bossing me around. (114, ARC)

Some mystery. Plenty of action. Some romance. Some angst.

Overall, I liked it.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Travel the World: Canada: Getting The Girl

Juby, Susan. 2008. Getting the Girl.

Getting The Girl is about as subtle as a skunk. That's not to say it stinks. It's just that the topic of this one--social hierarchies, school bullies, self-esteem--is in your face and a bit over the top. I'm not even saying that the book is unrealistic or unbelievable. I think kids--rather you want to call them tweens or teens--can be cruel. This cruelty can manifest itself in several ways--either the cool iciness of making people invisible OR in the more direct confrontational style--using words and physical actions. Or in this day and age--online bullying through social network sites and blogs. And I think situations like the ones in the book could exist in that extreme.

You don't want to get D-listed. Trust me. That's the fear of all teen girls attending Harewood Technical School. Sherman Mack is a boy-on-a-mission. A ninth grader who is out to save his crush from getting D-Listed by the Defilers. Once you're "D-Listed" or "Defiled" no one--no matter how cool or uncool will talk to you. You essentially vanish from the hierarchy altogether. Not even teachers want to acknowledge those unfortunate students.

Sherman Mack is a wanna-be detective. He's read a few detective stories--mainly borrowed from his good friend, Vanessa--and he's watched more than his fair share of cop shows like the three Law & Orders. When his crush, Dini, begins dating Lester, Sherman is more than flustered. He fears that she'll be D-Listed. Lester's previous girlfriend, Farrah, was D-Listed last year. Vanessa thinks it's a good idea--at least at the first--but she thinks his motivations are all wrong. He should be investigating this cruel caste system--identifying the nameless Defilers--for the sake of all girls, not just one in particular.

So he begins his investigation.

Sherman is more than a little dorky. More than a little awkward. Yet his quirky voice works most of the time. To be honest, I spent half the time thinking that the book was clever and funny in just the right amounts. But the other half thinking that it was just too much--too silly, too unrealistic. While I can admire much of the book, I felt that it was uneven in times. Sherman I loved. But his friends weren't as developed as they might have been. Particularly Rick. Something about him just felt flat to me. I did enjoy the secondary story line, however, Sherman's interest in cooking. At first, I felt it didn't quite belong. I couldn't quite see the connection, but the ending made it work for me and tied it all together.

Other reviews: Reading Rants, The Compulsive Reader,

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

My Life As A Rhombus

Johnson, Varian. 2008. My Life As A Rhombus.

Rhonda the Rhombus. Perhaps not the most-appealing nickname a girl can have. But...Rhonda makes for quite a good heroine as one of the stars in Varian Johnson's My Life As A Rhombus.

Rhonda Lee is great at math. She excels so much that she tutors students of all ages at West Columbia Community Center. Which is how our heroine comes to meet Sarah Gamble. Sarah is one of the beautiful, popular people. Sarah needs help...and she needs it quickly if she's going to pull her grades up. But what starts as a rather reluctant relationship...becomes much much more through the course of the novel. As these two unlikely teens find they have much in common.

Their common bond? Unplanned pregnancies. Rhonda's is in the past--two years previous--and Sarah's is in the present. Sarah's secret is revealed to Rhonda alone. And the two come to discuss life and all its hardships in detail as Sarah puzzles out what to do with her life, her body. Rhonda's pregnancy ended in abortion--it's a choice that was out of her hands. Rhonda's father controlled the situation then, and this has put some strain into the relationship. It's not that Rhonda wanted to have her baby--not really. But she wanted to be the one to think it through, the one to decide. She wanted the choice to be hers. And the whole situation--sex, pregnancy, abortion--still haunts her in many, many ways. Her past keeps her from living in the present.

Sarah's friendship--and Sarah's brother, David--offer Rhonda a unique opportunity. A chance to offer comfort and support, yes, but a chance to heal as well. A chance to learn that your life need not be defined by past mistakes and regrets. A chance to accept life in all its fullness.

I enjoyed this one. I liked the transformation and development of the relationships between Rhonda and Sarah and Rhonda and David. For that matter, I liked the characterizations in general.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Would You

Jocelyn, Marthe. 2008. Would You.

A Question
Would you rather know what's going to happen? Or not know?

Claire and Natalie are sisters. Sisters with the whole summer to look forward to. But one tragic accident changes their big plans and wipes away their hopes and dreams for good times. The future can be changed in an instant.

What more can be said? When it comes down to it, you're either drawn to tragic, sad books...or you're not. It is well written. The story is compelling. This is a book where you know exactly what you're getting yourself into. No big surprises there.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Zombie Blondes

James, Brian. 2008. Zombie Blondes.

I loved this book. I just LOVED this book. It was just so readable. Compelling I guess is the proper word for it. I was just hooked from the very beginning. "There aren't any rules to running away from your problems. No checklist of things to cross off. No instructions. Eeny, meeny, pick a path and go. That's how my dad does it anyway because apparently there's no age limit to running away, either." Our narrator, a teen girl named Hannah Sanders, is tired of running away. Dragged away is more like it. Her father, a former cop, is always on the move. But when the two move to the seemingly quiet town of Maplecrest, it will be Hannah who wants to run. And not without good reason.

Zombie Blondes could have been named ... Pretties or I Was a Non-Blonde Cheerleader or Geek Magnet, for example. (I'm not saying that the book resembles the plot lines of those books. Just that taken at face value, the titles could work for Zombie Blondes.) Hannah was hoping--really hoping--that in a town as small as this one, a town as dead as this one--that she'd have a chance to be one of the pretty people, the beautiful people, the popular people. Instead, against all the odds, the town is full of strangely attractive beautiful-and-popular people (from the cheerleaders, the football players, the teachers and coaches, the town sheriff, etc.) Some of these people seem to have a mesmerizing, hypnotic effect on others. (Especially when the cheerleaders perform their routines.)

This is something Hannah notices on her first day of school. How beautiful the popular girls are. How they all look the same. How they do everything the same really. And it's something that Lukas, a geeky boy who is unmistakably drawn to Hannah, points out to her as well. He offers his friendship, yes, but more importantly he offers her advice. Again and again and again and again. His advice is strange to her ears. Very strange indeed. He keeps rambling on and on about how the cheerleaders are zombies. About how she needs to stay away from them...and above all else she MUST not join them or she'll be turned.

IF you were Hannah, you'd be thinking this Lukas is one strange guy. Don't deny it. After all, Hannah doesn't have the benefit of knowing that she's in a book called ZOMBIE BLONDES.

So when one of the cheerleaders offers her a chance to try out....Hannah decides that it's worth a try. What could go wrong, right?

Do I recommend Zombie Blondes? Yes!!! A bit predictable....maybe. But it's fun. Part of the appeal, at least the way I see it, is that it reads like realistic fiction. Hannah is a person that is easy to relate to. Who doesn't wish to have a best friend? to have a boyfriend? to be loved? Hannah wants something that most of us would readily admit to wanting back in high school--a place she fits in, a place to belong, a place to blend in and feel comfortable. She wants to NOT be different. She wants to be "normal." And Hannah's home life, in a way, also adds another layer to the novel. Her father is absent even when present. He's emotionally shut down, unavailable, checked out. And Hannah is tired of being the grown up in the house. Very tired of this relationship being stuck in the same old patterns.

First sentence: "I can usually pick out the popular kids soon after setting foot into a new school. The girls, anyway. They wear popularity like a uniform for everyone to see. From their hairstyles to their expensive shoes. Everything about them is torn from the glossy pages of the latest teen fashion magazines. Everything about them is perfect. At least on the outside, anyway."

Back cover:

He’s about to walk away but stops. Turns to me and opens his mouth and starts to stutter like he’s not sure if he should say what he wants to. Then finally deciding to go ahead and say it, but refusing to take his eyes off the floor when he does. “It’s just . . . you’re kind of pretty . . . and she might try to turn you into one of them . . . one of her clones,” he says. “I don’t want to see that happen to you, that’s all.”

I tuck my lip under my top teeth.

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”’ I ask.

“Nope,”’ he says.

“Just a warning.”

232 pages.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Girl, Hero

Jones, Carrie. 2008. Girl, Hero.

I don't know why I was surprised by Girl, Hero being so wonderfully fantastic. I enjoyed both of Carrie Jones' previous novels: Tips on Having a Gay (Ex) Boyfriend, and Love (and Other Uses For Duct Tape). Perhaps it was the John Wayne factor. You see, the novel, Girl, Hero, consists of letters from our heroine, Liliana Faltin, to the legendary (but deceased) John Wayne. I was skeptical at first. But it worked. It really worked. Here's our introduction:

Dear Mr. Wayne,

My mother's got a man coming to see her. She's all excited, running around, getting ready, making me clean up the whole house. She thinks this man might be the one, you know, the big enchilada, her soul's mate, her life's light, and stuff. She's always thinking that.
She's had men before, since my stepfather died. But this guy's going to stay with us in our house, for a while. Not too long, she tells me. Just until he's back on his feet. This one's moving back east from Oregon and needs a place to sleep while he looks for work.
I think, that's what hotels are for, but she's so happy, humming all the time, singing Celine Dion songs, that I don't say anything that I'm thinking in my head.
She's made up the guest bedroom. I don't think he'll stay there. I don't know who she thinks she's fooling. Not me.
He's a tall man, Mr. Wayne, like you. She knew him a long time ago, back when she was married to my father. On the phone his voice sounds Western, or Texan, like he has traces of sand and grit stuck in it that float out with his words when he talks. He sounds like he's been in the desert a long, damn while and hasn't had any water to drink and has a mighty thirst.
He doesn't sound like he's from Maine, but she says he was born and raised here.
I didn't know that people could move and have their accents change, that all their baby years and teenage years of talking could just get erased.
My mother blows air out her nose when I say this to her, and she taps her fingernails on the kitchen counter, crosses her legs and gets out a cigarette.
People adapt, Liliana, she says, and the whole sentence is just one long exasperated sigh.
It's kind of cool in a way, the adapting thing. I mean, depending on how bad high school goes, I might want to erase all of it and pretend I'm someone else when I go to college--if I get into college.
My mom thinks this man will be like you: a hero kind of man with a clean face and soul. She thinks that about every man she sees. But they never are. There's only one you. (1-2)

Jones' writing speaks for itself. She is an authentic writer, her characters have heart and soul--meaning depth and layers. And her stories have spirit or staying power. There's something about her books that just work.

"Sometimes I think friends are a necessary evil, say like McDonald's burgers. You need to have them, you want to have them, but sometimes they make your stomach ache." (6)

"Dear Mr. Wayne

Before you were a movie star, did you have to do homework? I should get a biography about you so that I can know these things, but I'm afraid to. What if I open up the book and start reading and find out you aren't who I think you are? I want people to be who they're supposed to be, but nobody ever seems to want to. I'll give it to you firsthand, Mr. Wayne: nobody in this world seems to be who they are. And my guess is that most people don't even know who they are supposed to be. Which sucks. I'm not supposed to use that word. My mother acts like it's worse than the f-word or something. You would probably say the same thing." (24)

"Sometimes I get so scared, Mr. Wayne. Sometimes I am so far from being the cowboy with the hat and the horse and my gun drawn and ready. Sometimes I'm so far away from anything I want to be and it's like that sunset you're always riding to but you never quite reach." (104)

"Sometimes I think hugs are like helmets. Sometimes I wish I could walk around with someone hugging me the whole time. You could probably make a lot of money doing that, being a professional hugger." (262)

I just fell in love with this book. With the characters. With their stories. With the language itself. With the cover itself. Everything about this book is just right, it's practically perfect right.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Suite Scarlett

Johnson, Maureen. 2008. Suite Scarlett.

"The Hopewell has been a family-run institution on the Upper East Side for over seventy-five years."

"Perhaps it sounds like a wonderful thing to be born and raised in a small hotel in New York City. Lots of things sound fun until they are subjected to closer inspection. If you lived on a cruise ship, for example, you would have to do the Macarena every night of your life. Think about that." (15)

The Martin family has owned the Hopewell hotel for years--several generations--and they want to instill a good work ethic in each of their children: Spencer, 19, Lola, 18, Scarlett, 15, and Marlene, 11. As each child turns fifteen, they are given a suite within the hotel that is theirs to manage. When their suite is occupied, it is their responsibility to see to their guest's needs. Since the family is struggling economically, the family has entered a crisis period. Each handles the stress in their own way. Spencer, the oldest, is an actor. He is doing everything in his power to make a go of it. He goes to audition after audition after audition. His parents have given him a deadline: get hired--Broadway, TV, movies, commercials, anything, etc. Or face the facts and seek another career--enroll in culinary school. Lola has a steady job, or so she thinks, but will her love life prove to be her undoing? Marlene is a tyrant--no other way to phrase it. A cancer survivor, she thinks that that entitles her to rule the world. And Scarlett? Well, Scarlett is about to have a summer experience that will either make her or break her. She's just turned fifteen, just been given her own suite, and just had her first guest arrive. Mrs. Amberson. Life at the Hopewell will never be the same again.

There is a depth to the relationships and characters in Suite Scarlett. There's a good amount of humor as well. I think most will like this one, and some will even love, love, love it.

This book had me from the dedication. "This book is dedicated to anyone who has ever played a dead body on stage or screen. It takes a big actor to lie on the ground and keep quiet. Droop on, my lifeless friends."

Also of note, the author's bio on the jacket flap, "Maureen Johnson lives in New York City. She wonders if you have read any of her previous books: The Key to the Golden Firebird, the Bermudez Triangle, 13 Little Blue Envelopes, Devilish, or Girl At Sea. It's okay if you haven't; she is sure to like you anyway. Unlike Scarlett, Maureen does not live in a hotel, but she wishes she did."

Other reviews: Reading Rants, bookshelves of doom, Tempting Persephone, Little Willow, Westerblog, Teen Book Review,

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Lost Queen

Jones, Frewin. 2007. The Lost Queen. (Book Two of the Faerie Path.

In The Faerie Path by Frewin Jones, we met a young teen girl, 15-almost-16, named Anita who at the beginning seemed quite ordinary.

From my first review: But on the eve of her sixteenth birthday, something big happens that changes everything. It all starts with a boat accident. It ends with several missing teenagers that disappeared from the hospital. Anita transformed, if you will, into Tania on her sixteenth birthday. She is the seventh daughter of the royal faerie couple Oberon and Titania. She'd been missing from the world of Faerie for around five hundred years give or take a few. And her disappearance had made quite an impact--a horrible awful no good impact--on the land and on her parents. But she somehow magically made it back. Tania was back, that's all that seemed to matter. Her mother, Titania, was missing. Her father was unhappy. Her sisters mostly good except for that one that was up to no good...

At the end of The Faerie Path, Tania along with Edric, whom we first met as Evan, choose to return to the land of mortals. Tania wants to find her mother and be able to bring her back. But she also wants to return to her own parents. Tania realizes that her disappearance from this world, this mortal world, from the hospital in particular would be heartbreaking to her parents.

Thus opens The Lost Queen. Tania/Anita is back home with her mortal parents. She's in BIG BIG BIG trouble for disappearing. And she's not allowed to see her boyfriend, Evan, anymore outside of play rehearsals. (If you remember, the two are playing Romeo and Juliet.) She's having some difficulty fitting back into the mortal way of life--school, friends, dating, parents, etc. Especially since at the same time she's supposed to be behaving herself and earning back her parents' trust she's supposed to be tracking down her mother. She has her suspicions--and they are soon confirmed--that it must have been her mother (alive and well) who sent her that mysterious birthday present that wakened this faerie self that had been dormant for so many years.

Full of action, adventure, and some romance, The Lost Queen is an exciting sequel.

Note: If you've read the first one but it's been a while, you can probably pick this one up and go on. There is a very nice two or three page summary that tells you everything you need to know.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Genius Squad

Jinks, Catherine. 2008. Genius Squad.

Genius Squad is the sequel to Evil Genius. A book that *almost* everyone (excluding me) loved when it released last year. So if I didn't love (and if I'm honest, really almost hated) why would I pick up the sequel? Am I just into torturing myself? Maybe. But it's a good thing. A really good thing in this case. My problems with Evil Genius was in the narrator (and also the pacing but it's not necessary to go there). Our hero, Cadel Piggott, was so far removed from the human race, so cold, so calculating, so mean-spirited, so outside-it-all, so without conscience that it made it hard for me to like him. Even just a little bit. But Cadel's a whole new man now. Well, sort've. He's fifteen. He's matured in many ways. If by maturing you mean becoming human, becoming likable, becoming vulnerable, becoming a person who thinks about his choices being right or wrong. That doesn't mean he's above doing wrong, it just means that he thinks first. He may lie. He may keep secrets. He may want to do small acts of revenge. But he now thinks about whether the ends justify the means. But more importantly, Cadel is now beginning to think about other people besides himself--at least part of the time.

So, I liked this one. I really liked it. Cadel, as I mentioned, is fifteen now. And we first meet him living in a foster home. He's in a home with two other children. (I believe they're both foster care kids too.) And life isn't easy for this ex-genius. At the beginning, he's living a mostly restricted life. He does get some computer time, a few hours each day, but it's not his computer. It's not super-advanced. And he can't really go about doing his normal genius-y things. He's under police protection as well. He's the sole witness for the prosecution. He has to stay alive so he can testify against Prosper English. Surviving may be more difficult than he at first thought.

So, the book is called Genius Squad. As you might have guessed, Cadel (and his best friend Sonja) get an offer they can't refuse. A chance to prove their genius for the "good" guys. Off the record of course. No, he isn't working for the police. And no, there isn't proof that these so-called good-guys are actually good. In fact, these good guys are doing some illegal things. But Cadel thinks the ends will justify the means. I won't go into all the specifics, but this genius squad does add some suspense and mystery to the plot.

Genius Squad is an exciting page turner. I definitely recommend it.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Be Careful What You Wish For...

Johnson, Maureen. 2006. Devilish.

Jane Jarvis and Allison Concord are two girls who just don't belong in the social hierarchy of Saint Teresa's Preparatory School for Girls. Jane with her spiked blond hair doesn't care. She's her own person and would rather make fun of A3 (Elsie Fast, Tracey Pils, and Lai Barden) than be one of the ever-so-shallow popular girls. Allison, on the other hand, would give anything, risk everything, to be with the in crowd. Unfortunately for her, there's a new girl in town who knows her weakness. Enter onto the scene the mysterious Lanalee who appears just in time to 'save' Allison from dealing with the repercussions of her greatest humiliation--throwing up in front of the entire school at an assembly. Overnight, Allison is transformed into everything she's ever wanted to be...popular, trendy, with beautiful hair and stylish clothes to support her new rise to the top. But more than just the outward appearance is changing, Jane barely recognizes her friend. Can Jane solve the mystery of her friend's strange behavior? And what exactly did Allison bargain with? Is being popular worth paying any price?

Devilish isn't a novel for everyone. But if you're looking for a novel set at a Catholic school where demons and demon hunters battle it out to win human souls (to clarify demons want possession of a soul and demon hunters want to protect humans from such a fate) then this could be the perfect novel for you. Set in Rhode Island, Devilish is an interesting twist to your typical high school drama.

http://www.maureenjohnsonbooks.com/

Child's Perspective on Terror

Hanna Jansen's OVER A THOUSAND HILLS I WALK WITH YOU is a touching tribute to her adopted daughter who was orphaned in the Rwandan war. Based on her daughter's recollections of her childhood--memories both pleasant and bittersweet--Jansen weaves a tale of sorrow, hope, fear, joy, and love. For example, the early chapters of the book feature a young girl living life large. She is visiting her grandmother. She's playing with her cousins. She's fighting with her sister and brother. Her mom works outside the home, her dad is away a lot...and she has an incredibly whiny sister that she struggles with on a daily basis. She's vibrant and unaware that her world would change in just a few short years. Later chapters reveal the pain, the loss, the confusion, the fear of not knowing if one is going to survive another day. Witnessing such atrocities as seeing your parents and siblings killed by strange soldiers. Seeking help from family friends, yet being turned away because they don't want to risk dying too. Her survival story is inspiring.

The story is beautifully told, Jansen has done a great job here. Her book is definitely worth reading.