ISBN-13: 9-781402-257551
Published: November 2011 from Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Rating: 4 ♥ / 5 ♥ – I really liked it

It all started on a day like any other.

The sun rose. I had waffles for breakfast. I caught my dad SCRATCHING HIS BUTT. It was a rerun of pretty much every day of my life. But late that night, EVERYTHING CHANGED…

One minute I’m digging through my neighbor’s garbage looking for clues (long story), and the next minute I’m KIDNAPPED BY GOONS and MISTAKEN FOR A SPY.

You might think everything I’m about to tell you is a big lie. But I promise you that THIS IS ALL TRUE. This is how the fate of the world fell into the hands of an UNIMPORTANT DORKY KID FROM NOWHERESVILLE.

This is such a fun book! Zeke Bartholomew: Superspy! is narrated by Zeke, a 7th grade zero average in everything. Zeke talks directly to his audience during parts of the book and relates how he was kidnapped, rescued, chased, and ultimately had to try and save the world. With a little help, of course.

Zeke is an immediately likeable character. He’s imaginative, a little geeky, a nice kid and good person. A little too preoccupied with spies, maybe, and that preoccupation leads to both the scariest and greatest adventure of his young life. An adventure which is fairly fascinating, truth be told. I was a little unsure about the lava-powered baddie that comes after Zeke, since even though this is a book about kid spies, it seemed just a bit too farfetched. Still, ignoring lava-man for the moment, Zeke and Sparrow (the girl spy who comes to his rescue) are two pretty intelligent and resourceful kids. Why not have kids as spies? Who would ever suspect them!

Zeke Bartholomew: Superspy! is the promising beginning to a series. It has solid writing and is never boring. While the plot is a little predictable for this kind of book and at some points unbelievable the entertainment factor highly makes up for it. Zeke is an awesome narrator and character and I’m looking forward to the sequel in order to find out more about kid spies, especially the mysterious (evil)spy neighbour of Zeke’s who starts the whole adventure in motion, quite by accident, really.I can see this one being a big hit with the upper elementary and middle school crowd!

ARC copy received from Sourcebooks Jabberwocky via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you!

“Waiting On” Wednesday is hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine.

The Other Life
by Susanne Winnacker
Publication date: February 1, 2012 from Usborne

3 years, 1 month, 1 week and 6 days since I’d seen daylight. One-fifth of my life. 98,409,602 seconds since the heavy, steel door had fallen shut and sealed us off from the world.

Sherry has lived with her family in a sealed bunker since things went wrong up above. But when they run out of food, Sherry and her dad must venture outside. There they find a world of devastation, desolation…and the Weepers: savage, mutant killers.

When Sherry’s dad is snatched, she joins forces with gorgeous but troubled Joshua – an Avenger, determined to destroy the Weepers.

But can Sherry keep her family and Joshua safe, when his desire for vengeance threatens them all?

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading.

Wither
by Lauren DeStefano
Publication: March 2011 from Simon & Schuster

“I’ve had alcohol once before, a few years ago when I fell off the roof while Rowan and I were trying to repair a leak. I dislocated my shoulder and Rowan gave me a dusty bottle of vodka from the basement to help with the pain as he set my shoulder back in place.”
Page 212; hardcover

ISBN-13: 9-780316-126533
Published: October 2011 from Poppy (Little, Brown and Company)
Rating: 4.5 ♥ / 5 ♥ – I really liked it!

As a dancer with the ultra-prestigious Manhattan Ballet company, nineteen-year-old Hannah Ward juggles intense rehearsals, dazzling performances, and complicated backstage relationships. But when she meets a spontaneous and irresistibly cute musician named Jacob, her universe begins to change.

Until now Hannah has followed the company’s unofficial mantra, “Don’t think, just dance.” But as her relationships with Jacob intensifies, so do the pressures within the company. With her eyes newly opened to the world beyond the theater, Hannah must decide whether to compete against the other “bunheads” for a star soloist spot or to strike out on her own.

When I was younger, Hannah is who I wanted to be when I grew up. I lived ballet for years, but was never quite good enough to get any further than pointe classes. Reading Bunheads was like revisiting a well-loved dream and wished for life.

Bunheads is Hannah’s story. It’s a calm book, following her as she dances for the Manhattan Ballet Company, meets a guy and realizes maybe dancing isn’t all she wants anymore. The biggest draw for me, besides the ballet, was the lack of crazy drama. Outside of normal competition (she’s striving to be a soloist against all the other member of the corps de ballet, after all) and regular boy problems that come along with trying to date and live a completely ballet focused life, Hannah is craziness free. This book is very much a character driven story, revolving around daily life and personal decisions. Because of this, Hannah is a character that is easy to delve into. Since the story is being told from her point of view, the reader is able to see the nitty gritty details of how she came to be where she is, and why she makes the decisions she does in the end. And Jacob? So much love for him. He likes Hannah and reaches out to her, but doesn’t let her walk all over him. And he also doesn’t pressure her to change or cave to his every suggestion. He’s that kind of guy I think every girl wants deep down – he’s there if she wants him and is supportive, but he’s not going to pine after her if she can’t make time. Very down to Earth, independent, dependable and loveable.

Because I was so entrenched in ballet growing up, I was able to clearly visualize the choreography and dance positions as Hannah details them in the book. By using the technical terms for positions and moves, though, readers who do not have an extensive knowledge of ballet may feel a little lost in trying to understand the dance aspect of the novel. The technicality adds a dimension to the story that would be lost without it – a realistic immersing into the world of professional ballet. And also, it would take away from the characterization. This is who Hannah is. I think for her to use anything but the correct terminology would be out of step with the character and setting that Sophie Flack is portraying. Bunheads immerses you in Hannah’s world, and that world is the ballet.

Hardcover copy provided by Hachette Book Group Canada in exchange for my honest review. Thank you!

“Waiting On” Wednesday is hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine.

Scarlet
by A. C. Gaughen
Publication: February 14, 2012 from Walker & Co.

From goodreads:

Many readers know the tale of Robin Hood, but they will be swept away by this new version full of action, secrets, and romance.

Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the wrath of the evil Thief Taker Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only the Hood and his band know the truth: the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. Helping the people of Nottingham outwit the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham could cost Scarlet her life as Gisbourne closes in. It’s only her fierce loyalty to Robin—whose quick smiles and sharp temper have the rare power to unsettle her—that keeps Scarlet going and makes this fight worth dying for.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading.

Cinder
by Marissa Meyer
Publication: January 2012 from Feiwel & Friends

“The voice silenced. The android’s head rotated 180 degrees. Its sensor flashed bright blue as it scanned Cinder. Her internal control panel dimmed. The fan in her torso began to spin.”
- page 199, Hardcover

ISBN-13: 9-780547-550763
Published: January 2012 from HMH Children’s Books
Rating: 5 ♥ / 5 ♥ – I loved it!

Austin Parker is never going to see his eighteenth birthday. At the rate his Leukemia is progressing the doctors say his chances of surviving are slim to none even with treatment. So he’s decided it’s time to let go.

But before he goes, Austin wants to fix things that have broken in his life. So with the help of his best friend and secret crush, Kaylee, Austin embarks on a journey. He travels to the places he’s loved and those he’s never seen. He visits the people he feels aren’t living life, wanting to make them understand what they’re taking for granted. And what starts as a way to say good-bye and mend fences turns into a passage of love, acceptance, and meaning.

Ok. So Never Eighteen is the story of one weekend when Austin, with the help of his best friend Kaylee, visits people he feels need a crying shoulder, an apology or just someone to talk to, places he loves and wants to see, experiences a kegger and tries to get over his fear of heights. All as a final farewell before his Leukemia progresses too far.

The best part of Never Eighteen, for me, is the way that the story just wakes up with Austin on the weekend and follows his journey. We know from the back of the book what he is doing, and why, but it is not told to us until much later. The book doesn’t start with Austin explaining everything – not even Kaylee knows why she’s driving him around all weekend (though you know she has to be figuring it out), and I love that. The story is a wonderful snapshot into Austin’s life. You journey with him to the people and places he needs to see, and because of the way in which he reveals the purpose of his journey and the extent of his cancer, I was in crazy tears by the end of the book even though I knew what was coming. And that, is a sign of a good book right there. I mean, I’m tearing up again just writing this review!

Austin’s and Kaylee’s weekend is an amazing tribute to life and love. The people that Austin speaks with during the weekend all need someone, and Austin has the urge to try and help, to do what he can to reaffirm that life is worth living to the best of their ability. Austin has so much strength in him, and you know what? So does Kaylee. I don’t know that I’d hold up half as well when faced with the idea that my best friend in the world is dieing from cancer. Never Eighteen is not a long book, but it is packed with more emotion than I would have thought possible. The delivery of the plot is wonderful, and I don’t think I’ll be forgetting Austin and Kaylee anytime soon.

ARC provided by Thomas Allen & Son Ltd. in exchange for my honest review. Thank you!

Never Eighteen is part of the 2012 Debut Author Challenge hosted by The Story Siren.

“Waiting On” Wednesday is hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine.

Partials
by Dan Wells
Publication date: February 28, 2012 from HarperCollins Publishers

The human race is all but extinct after a war with Partials—engineered organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the population. Reduced to tens of thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. The threat of the Partials is still imminent, but worse, no baby has been born immune to RM in more than a decade. Our time is running out.

Kira, a sixteen-year-old medic in training, is on the front lines of this battle, seeing RM ravage the community while mandatory pregnancy laws threaten to launch what’s left of humanity into civil war, and she’s not content to stand by and watch. But as she makes a desperate decision to save the last of her race, she will discover that the survival of humans and Partials alike rests in her attempts to uncover the connections between them—connections that humanity has forgotten, or perhaps never even knew were there.

ISBN-13: 9-781595-143983
Published: January 2012 from Razorbill (Penguin)
Rating: 5 ♥ / 5 ♥ – I loved it!

It’s been three months since Elder unplugged Amy. The life she always knew is over. And everywhere she looks, she sees the walls of the spaceship Godspeed. But there may just be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He’s finally free to enact his vision – no more Phydus, no more lies.

But when Elder learns shocking news about the sip, he and Amy race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed. They must work together to unlock a puzzle that was set in motion hundreds of years earlier, unable to fight the romance that’s growing between them and the chaos that threatens to tear them apart.

From the first chapter of A Million Suns I was drawn and hooked back in to Amy’s and Elder’s story. Everything you thought you knew at the end of Across the Universe? Forget it. I’m not joking. Elder and Amy discover some pretty crazy secrets and lies throughout the course of this book and nothing on Godspeed is as it seems. It’s a race to the finish line, and no one is safe – or who they seem to be.

The action is non-stop from the get-go. Elder has taken the ships population off of Phydus and the crazy hits the fan. Revolution, mutiny, murder, riots…Elder thought things would be different once Eldest was gone, and he was right. Just not in the way he wanted to be. While Elder is running around the ship trying to keep the peace and figure out what’s going on with the ship, Amy is being led on a merry chase around the ship by Orion (I know, he’s frozen! What can I say, he’s crafty.). He says only she can make the ultimate decision for the ship once she knows the secrets that are hiding in the depths of Godspeed.

I love Elder like crazy. He’s tough and smart, and tries so hard to do the right thing. But he’s a teenager. No matter how much he has been raised to one day rule over Godspeed, he is young and makes mistakes. He’s not ready for the consequences of taking the population off of Phydus and he gets wrapped up in Amy’s quest from Orion – and wrapped up in Amy. Amy herself wavers between being an independent and strong young women to needing Elder’s guidance and forgiving him way too quickly. But I get it. She’s a teenager alone in a place completely foreign to her, and Elder’s pretty gorgeous and in charge. And even though they have this whole romance going on, I never once disbelieved it. They fight like crazy! Amy is never sure from one event/secret/lie to the next how she really feels, but she’s at least stopped denying she feels nothing. There are some nice moments between Elder and Amy that are romance icing on the muder-mystery-in-space cake that is A Million Suns.

A Million Suns is everything I was hoping it would be in more. The beginning and ending chapters had me bug eyed in disbelief and excitement. I was shocked at the twists and turns, at who the villain is/was and by the amount of death that Beth Revis can manage to squeeze into one spaceship and one book. I mean, come on. She blows things up. It’s epic! I closed the last page of this book and immediately cursed myself for needing to read it right away in time for launch day (today!). Because now I have to wait for book three, Shades of Earth, and I am completely impatient (especially after the ending! Trust me, you’ll be impatient too). I adore this series, and hope you do too!

ARC provided by Penguin in exchange for my honest review. Thank you!

A Million Suns is part of the Sophomore Challenge hosted by Chick Loves Lit.

Chester is more than a picture book. It is a story told, and retold, by dueling author-illustrators.
Melanie Watt starts out with the story of a mouse in a house. Then Melanie’s cat, Chester, sends the mouse packing and proceeds to cover the pages with rewrites from his red marker, and the gloves are off. Melanie and her mouse won’t take Chester’s antics lying down. And Chester is obviously a creative powerhouse with confidence to spare. Where will this war of the picture-book makers lead? Is it a one-way ticket to Chesterville, or will Melanie get her mouse production off the ground?

Chester by Mélanie Watt belongs to the Activating Prior Knowledge section of the Touchstone Books. Books found in this section contain elements could distract students, or may not be common knowledge in format or text delivery. These books are ideal for focusing student knowledge of text prior to reading, and get them thinking about what is they will be reading.

Chester is a very unique kind of book. The story is taken over by the author’s cat, Chester, who uses a red marker and writes over the story about a mouse, turning it into a story about him. The author and Chester interact through the text, with humourous results. The story is not actually the one about the mouse, but rather, about Chester’s attempts to take over the story. Children will be engaged with the illustrations and Chester’s behaviour, and the story makes an ideal shared reading book. Due to the nature of the layout of the story, it would be beneficial for students to actively engage them in critically thinking about the story before they begin reading. This will help keep their attention focused on the text even with the unfamiliar layout.

Lesson/Activity
Grade: two
Time: 1 hour

Materials:
Chart paper
Markers

Lesson:
Read Chester as a shared reading with the students. Make frequent stops during the reading to discuss when Chester is ‘speaking’ or when the author Mélanie is ‘speaking’.
- How do we know Chester is writing?
- What other books have we seen like this, with the author speaking in the story?

Ask different students to help you read Chester’s parts in the story to better help keep the two voices in the book separate. As the book is being read, make note of the story about the mouse getting lost in the background.
- I wonder how the story was supposed to go.
- What do you think the mouse is doing while Chester is misbehaving?

Once the story is read, write the line of the mouse story on chart paper.
- “Once upon a time there was a mouse. He lived in a house in the country.” (pg. 1)

Create the story together as a class. Ask students to contribute a sentence each to the short story, reminding them about the conventions of fiction – a beginning, a middle, and an end. Use different coloured markers to make each student’s sentence clear. Engage students in helping to spell words, insert punctuation and check for clarity. Does the story make sense? Are the words being used proper language? Etc.

Once the story is complete, laminate the chart paper and place up in the classroom by the Word Wall.