BLADE: playing dead

by Tim Bowler

It's been a long time since I've read a book with such unrelenting tension and suspense. Not even one sentence of comic relief interrupts the sense of fear and darkness that envelops the life of fourteen-year-old Blade, a street kid in urban Britain. Blade is a person with a past--a violent and painful past. But he managed to escape the life he had been living, and for the past three years, he's been playing dead, hiding from every personal contact and even from himself. Blade is a master at sensing trouble; he has honed his powers of observation to a fine point. But one day he slips, is brutalized by girl gang members, and his life starts unraveling. Ghosts from his bloody past come to track him down. He makes the mistake of starting to care for a girl and a small child. He has lost control, and never has he been in greater danger. Told with Blade's voice to an unseen observer, Bigeyes, in British street slang and Bowler's own language, this story grips the reader from page one and doesn't let go even at the last sentence. The word is that Blade is book one in an eight-book series. That is a good thing, because at the end of book one, Blade has no where to go but up. ~reviewed by Dail Sams

THE KNIFE

OF NEVER

LETTING GO

By patrick ness

Sometimes the Noise in Prentisstown on New World is overwhelming, though most every man has learned to deal with it somehow. There's little privacy because everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts--their Noise. Prentisstown has only men in it. All the women died long ago. And Todd Hewitt is the youngest of the children in town. In one month he will turn 13 and become the last boy to reach manhood. Until then, he's lonely. He does have his dog Manchee to talk to, though dogs don't have much to say back. But one day, down in the swamp, Todd hears a hole in the Noise, a silence that is deafening, and he finds a girl, a terrified girl, hiding from Aaron, the preacher man in town. Todd has long suspected Aaron is crazy, and when he hears Aaron's noise about the quiet, he knows for sure.

Ben and Cillian, Todd's guardians tell Todd to run. They know the town's secrets, the secrets that every boy learns when he becomes a man. They know Todd Hewitt must escape, even if he doesn't understand why. So he and Manchee run, and the silent girl runs with them. They are relentlessly pursued by Aaron, and then by the army formed of all the men in the town. They head for the legendary town of Haven, the first settlement on New World, and the largest city. Over and over they are caught and hurt and endangered, and over and over they escape to run on again, never completely understanding why, but knowing they are being followed by evil... The Knife of Never Letting Go is painful to read but impossible to put down.

~reviewed by Dail Sams

The Opposite of Invisible

by Liz Gallagher

I really liked this almost love story. It was easy, a fast read, and true to teenage life, without having the usual "kids are so cruel to kids" theme. Alice and Jewel (a nickname for a guy named Julian) have been best friends forever. They both are artsy and just haven't needed anyone else. Except in their own small art group. they are pretty much invisible at school, and don't care a bit. Narrated by Alice, the story of their lives changes subtly when it seems that Jewel might be wishing their friendship was more than that, and Alice can't tell him that she has a crush on a jock in the popular crowd. When Alice starts dating her crush, Simon, it seems like the Alice/Jewel friendship is over, but it doesn't take Alice long to realize that she just isn't that comfortable with Simon. The good thing about going with Simon is that she is drawn into his crowd, and she makes new friends that just might last longer than the relationship. And to a lesser degree, the same thing happens to Jewel. When they are able to patch things up, Alice and Jewel have become more confident in themselves and their lives have become richer and less isolated. A sweet first novel for Gallagher, and on this year's Tayshas list. ~reviewed by Dail Sams

Dingo

by Charles de Lint

The day that Lainey and her large dog come into Miguel's dad's comic and music shop, his life is changed forever. She has wild red hair, beautiful brown eyes, and she and Miguel click almost immediately. The trouble is that she doesn't seem like the same person the next time he meets her, and Miguel starts having really crazy, frightening dreams. Lainey has this strange connection to her dog, Em, which she says is a dingo, a wild dog from Australia, her home country. When Johnny Ward, the town bad boy, tells Miguel about the dreams he has been having and that he really likes Em, whose dog's name is Lainey, Miguel knows he has entered the Twilight Zone. At a nighttime meeting on the beach, Lainey tells Miguel that she has a twin sister, and that they are shape-changers. Soon Miguel and Johnny are thrown into a perilous venture to save the girls from their biological father, and Dingo, the leader of their clan. Dingo is similar to the last book I read, Impossible, where a fatastical, magical reality parallels a normal, modern one. And again, the power of love is a central theme. Dingo is another title on this year's Tayshas list, available in the LHS library. --reviewed by Dail Sams

Impossible

by Nancy Werlin

Lucy Scarborough is the latest in a long line of cursed women who have become pregnant at age 18 and had baby daughters. Based on the lyrics to the old folk ballad "Scarborogh Fair", made famous by Simon and Garfunkel in the 1960's, Lucy, her family, and her best friend Zach realize Lucy must perform the three tasks mentioned in the song or she will go insane after delivering her baby. Each of the three tasks seems more impossible to perform than the last. The underlying tension of evil, personified by an incredibly attractive stranger named Padraig Seeley, makes this book one that is difficult to put down. The binding and breaking power of love is the most important theme threaded throughout this spellbinding tale. Werlin has created an unusual story intertwining the very modern and rational with the ancient and magical. A great read on this year's Tayshas list. --reviewed by Mrs. Sams

waiting for normal

by leslie connor

Waiting for Normal is another of several YA novels I've read in the past year or two about the struggles and fears of kids who have to take care of themselves because the adults in their lives are either irresponsible, cruel, or both. Addie's mother is not cruel, which makes this novel a little less painful to read than some, but she is selfish and thoughtless, leaving 12-year-old Addison to fend for herself on a regular basis. More than anything, Addie wants to have a normal life, with her two younger sisters who live with their dad, a good man who happens to love Addie too. But he's not Addie's blood father, so he hasn't been able to gain custody of her. He has done the best he can for Addie and her mother by providing them with a small trailer to live in and monthly support. Addie is happy with it, but Addie's mother is rarely satisfied, and she feels entitled to her own life, often leaving Addie alone, sometimes for days at a time. School activities and Soula and Elliot, the owners of a minimart across the street, make life bearable for Addie. When Addie accidentally sets the trailer on fire one morning while her mother is gone on one of her getaways, Soula finally calls child protective services, and sets in motion the circumstances for Addie to achieve her "normal." A surprisingly upbeat novel, considering the subject matter, Waiting for Normal is a great story about a girl who is a survivor. Read Sarah Dessen's Lock and Key and Deborah Davis's Not Like You, for other takes on the same subject. Waiting for Normal is on this year's Texas Lone Star list.

~reviewed by Dail Sams

Book of a Thousand Days

by Shannon Hale

This beautifully written, lyrical novel is based on a lesser-known Grimm Brothers fairy tale. Though the plot is engaging, and the characters appealing, it's the language that drew me through the story. Book of a Thousand Days reads more like poetry or a song, than like prose. It has more striking similes than I can remember encountering in a novel before. Phrases like "his soul slipped back inside, curled up like a cat in his chest, and purred to be home," and "I was under the stars like a fish is under water," and "in a few months' time winter would whack us dead like a yak's tail slaps a fly," run all through the text. Since Dashti, a peasant girl and the main character of the story, has learned to sing all the healing songs from her mother, the lilting quality of the language perfectly complements the events of the plot. And healing is one of the main themes--healing of body and soul. This is a story full of cruelty, privation, and destruction, yet Dashti's songs keep the tone light and hopeful. The structure of this book is in Dashti's diary entries as she and her mistress Saren are bricked up in a tower by Saren's father for seven years, without light or fresh air, because she wouldn't agree to marry the man her father had chosen for her. After half that time, they manage to break themselves out, only to find that the lady's home city has been utterly destroyed by the man she was to marry. They travel on to the city of Khan Tegus, the ruler of a neighboring kingdom, and the man Saren wants to marry. There they find work in the palace kitchen, and Dashti waits for an opportunity to make Saren's presence known to Tegus. Though Dashti is allowed to sing her songs of healing to the khan, Saren is too afraid to reveal herself, and Dashti falls in love with Tegus herself. In the end, both Saren and Dashti gain happiness through separate acts of bravery. And everyone lived happily ever after. --reviewed by Dail Sams

Me, the Missing, and the Dead

by Jenny Valentine

An amazine first novel by Valentine, Me, the Missing and the Dead, has a clever plot, well-developed, dynamic characters, and a surprise ending. What more could you want? Here's the story: Peter Swain, the father of our narrator, Lucas, disappeared without a trace five years ago. His wife and three children don't know if he's alive or dead. They just know he never came home one day. Lucas feels like he's the only one who cares, who is trying to keep his father's memory alive. In a seemingly unrelated event, Lucas wanders into a cab company early one morning to catch a cab home, and notices an urn sitting up on a shelf. It contains the ashes of Violet Park, and she and her urn were left in a cab five years ago and never claimed. For some reason, that makes Lucas really sad, and he is determined to take possession of Violet's ashes and sprinkle them in a nice place. He just can't rest until he's done it; it seems that Violet is calling to him. With the help of his grandmother, Lucas claims the ashes and begins doing research on Violet Park. She was a noted pianist, in several movies, and craziest of all, she had known his dad. Lucas begins to wonder if there is a connection between Violet's death and his father's disappearance. On this year's Tayshas list, Me, the Missing, and the Dead is a great novel about seeking the truth and learning when to let go. Highly recommended.

--reviewed by Dail Sams

hush: an Irish princess' tale

by Donna Jo Napoli

In hush, Napoli has created a haunting tale based on an ancient Irish folk story about a princess named Melkorka. Melkorka is beautiful and haughty, used to being waited upon and to looking down on those who serve her. A brutal attack in which her older brother's hand is severed, causes their mother to send Melkorka and her little sister, Brigid, away for safety. Along the way, the girls are abducted by slave traders, and very quickly learn what they must do to survive. Melkorka deals with her situation by becoming mute. She reminds herself continually of some of her mother's last words to her--"hush Melkorka, hush." Her lack of speech, causes her captors to be curious and even afraid of her which protects her from unwanted attention. Eventually Melkorka is sold to a man who treats her well, though he uses her as a concubine. However, as a slave, she has no rights and virtually no chance of ever returning home.

This story gives a grim picture of life in 900 A.D. British Isles. Raiding Vikings cause constant fear, and there is unrelenting work for the common people just to maintain the barest necessities of life. Napoli has once again given us a realistic picture of ancient life, and a strong character in Melkorka who changes from a spoiled princess to a compassionate, capable survivor. A great historical read on this year's Tayshas list. --reviewed by Dail Sams

TEEN, INC. by Stefan Petrucha

For most teens, having two parents to answer to, is more than enough. Just imagine if you had a whole corporation in charge of your life? What if you had to attend board meetings to discuss your dating life? Meet 14 year-old Jaiden Beale, NECorp's adopted "son." When a NECorp product accident killed his parents when he was three weeks old, the company decided to settle 40 million dollars on him and to take care of him until he reaches adulthood. Since Jaiden has no other relatives, he doesn't remember his parents, and the company buys him lots of cool electronic gadgets, Jaiden really has no reason to resist the arrangement. He did have to push his management team to allow him to attend public school after years of private tutors. And the whole power meeting on potential dates was too much to bear, but it was not until he learns from Jenny, a classmate, that NECorp is dangerously polluting the local water supply with mercury, that he starts questioning his loyalty to the company. A series of bizarre incidents and teen pranks follow which lead to NECorp having to clean up its act and Jaiden being faced with some decisions about his future.

Teen, Inc. is an entertaining and highly readable story, but I found it a little confusing. The author couldn't seem to make up his mind if he was writing a comedy or a serious novel about pollution and corrupt business practices. And the basis for the story and several goings-on within the plot just weren't believable. However, Jaiden is a totally normal and likable character, in spite of his strange "home" life, so many students will enjoy reading Teen, Inc. --reviewed by Dail Sams