Sequels

I just finished the third book is a couple of series and enjoyed them both a lot!

Kiss in the Dark by Lauren Henderson is the third book in the "Kiss" series.

Having solved the mystery of Dan’s death, Scarlett thinks that life will finally settle down. She is happy with her best friend Taylor and her boyfriend Jase and is even dealing with her archenemy Plum now attending Wakefield School. Of course, things do not remain calm in Scarlett’s life. Jase’s father and grandmother and Scarlett’s aunt do not want Jase and Scarlett to see each other. Jase’s father reacts almost violently to their being together and Scarlett’s aunt hauls her home in the middle of a date. However, when Jase’s father is found dead, everything blows up and Scarlett again needs to investigate what really happened and how his death is connected to her past and the death of her parents years ago. Once again Henderson presents an interesting mystery to be solved and Scarlett is right in the middle of it.

Although the mystery of Jase's father's death is solved in this book, another mystery is brought up about Scarlett’s parents. This opens the door for another book in the series.

The other book I just finished was the final book in the "Hunger Games" series Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. Like the other two books--Hunger Games and Catching Fire--Mockingjay kept me on the edge of my seat; I couldn't stop reading because I had to know what would happen to Katniss.

The book begins after Katniss has been removed from the Quarter Quell by the rebels of District 13 who are leading the rebellion to over throw the Capitol. Peeta has been left behind and is taken captive by the Capitol. District 13 wants Katniss to become the Mockingjay a symbol of rebellion that will encourage the rebel troops to continue fighting for the good of the people. This throws Katniss right in the middle of the Civil War. In addition to trying to save her own life, she now feels responsible for the lives of the rebels. All the while, she hopes to save Peeta from certain torture at the hands of President Snow.

This book resolves all the open questions from the first two books. It is a good if not particularly happy ending to the series.

Blue Plate Special by Michelle D. Kwasney

Welcome back to school! The library is still a mess because we are supposed to move in a month at the end of September. However, we have lots of new books for you to enjoy!

“We all inherit someone else’s leftovers. They’re a part of your Blue Plate Special. A part of you,” observes Ariel, one of three teens, each from a different generation, who tell her stories in the novel Blue Plate Special by Michelle D. Kwasney. Each of the three teens is 15 or 16 when she tells her stories.

The first is Madeline in 1977 who struggles to find love and acceptance wherever she can. Her mother is a drunk and Madeline eats to find happiness, so she must deal with being overweight in addition to her family situation. It is only when she meets Tad at the local McDonald’s that Madeline starts to find acceptance.

Desiree writes in free verse in 1993. Her family life is also a struggle with a mother who refuses to see the world as it really is. She accuses Desiree of acting like a slut while she lives with her worthless boyfriend Larry. Desiree spends her time trying to avoid Larry and dreams of being with her boyfriend Jeremy. But Larry is impossible to avoid and Desiree’s life spirals out of control.

The last teen is Ariel in 2009. Ariel is being raised by a single mother also, but her mother is caring and Ariel feels that she can talk to her mother about almost anything. Anything that is except for her relationship with Shane. Shane is the new kid at school and he is good looking and cool, but he is also possessive and wants Ariel all to himself. She finds that she does not have time for her friends any more and that she spends all of her time trying to make Shane happy instead of doing what would make her happy. Ariel discovers that she must evaluate her relationship with Shane when her mother takes her to see the grandmother she had never met.

The lives of the three teens are told in separate stories until we see how it all fits together about halfway through the book. It is a really good read about love, loss and forgiveness.

The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard

Colt and Julia are from completely different worlds. Julia lives on Black Mountain in her fancy mansion with all the rich people in town while Colt lives down on the Flats with the not-so-privileged. In their school, the two groups of people do not mix. But somehow Julia and Colt fall for each other and they begin a secret relationship in The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard. At school, they act like they don't know each other, but then meet at night by the river where no one else sees them.

But one night Julia is killed in an automobile accident and now Colt doesn't know what to do. He is traumatized by her death, but he is unable to share his grief with anyone. His friends didn't really know Julia and do not feel her loss and they do not know that Colt even knew her so he cannot share his feelings with them. Julia's friends, who are mourning her death, will have nothing to do with Colt. And since their relationship was secret, no one would believe that rich Julia was friends with poor Colt.

Julia's brother discovers the relationship between Julia and Colt and he gives Colt a notebook where Julia wrote letters and poems to Colt. Reading this notebook causes Colt to relive the year with Julia as he works through his secret pain.

Front and Center by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

I really like DJ Schwenk. I enjoyed reading about her troubles when she decides to go out for football in the book Dairy Queen. I felt terrible for her, but still liked reading about her working with her injured brother in The Off Season. And I really liked the way Catherine Gilbert Murdock finished her story in Front and Center.

Football season is over and her brother is doing better so DJ has returned to school and is looking forward to basketball season. She has a new boyfriend Beaner who is fun to be around and accepts DJ for who she is unlike Brian her first boyfriend. However, it doesn't take long for DJ's life to get complicated. As good as she is at basketball, DJ's coach wants her to be more assertive on the court. He says that she has to learn to be more vocal. But DJ is painfully shy and telling other players what to do is painful for her. Additionally many Division I universities are recruiting her to play basketball for them, but she has to overcome her shyness and participate in the recruiting process. The idea of talking to coaches and playing in front of large crowds of people make her physically sick. To top it all off, as great as Beaner is, DJ finds herself thinking more and more about Brian.

It is fun to listen as DJ tells the problems of her life and watch her make the decision that will affect the rest of her life. Front and Center is a satisfying conclusion to a wonderful trilogy. If you read the first two books, you have to read the conclusion.

Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale

The Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale is the first in the Pendragon series. There are now 10 books in this series. I am the first to admit that I am not a huge fantasy reading, but I have a library aide this trimester who is and she is a great authority on most fantasy series. Emily generously agreed to write a book review for the first book in this series which has been very popular in the past couple of years.

Bobby Pendragon may look like a normal fourteen year old, but what he doesn’t know is that he is going to save the world. In The Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale, Bobby’s Uncle Press shows up one and night and tells him that there are some people who need their help. What Bobby didn’t realize was that the people in need of help weren’t on Earth.

Press and Bobby travel across space and time, using flumes, to the medieval territory of Denduron, which is on the edge of a dangerous revolution. Only one small push is needed to send the territory into disaster. The evil Saint Dane is there to provide that push, and Bobby and his new friends are the only things standing in Saint Dane’s way. All the while Bobby can only think about how to get back home. But soon Bobby comes to realize that Denduron is only the beginning.

The Sweetheart of Prosper County

Somehow the month of March got away from me and it has been over a month since I have put anything new on my blog. Because of construction, the library has moved into a temporary space, so that is what I have been doing instead of reading. We are finally settling in and here are some pictures of our fantastic temporary space. The construction workers are really working on remodeling our new library and we are supposed to be in it sometime at the beginning of next school year. However, we are enjoying our new view and our new home, however temporary it is!

As we begin Spring, I start looking for books that have a summer feel to them. The Sweetheart of Prosper County by Jill S. Alexander is one of those books. The rooster on the front cover with the Country Fair blue ribbon makes me think of the many county fairs I have attended!

However, The Sweetheart of Prosper County is not just a lighthearted novel about the country fair, it is a novel about a family dealing with loss. Austin’s father died on Christmas Eve when she was only 6 years old, and even though, Austin is now a freshmen in high school, her mother is stilling wearing black T-shirts and refusing to celebrate Christmas or other holidays.

As her freshman year progresses, Austin grows increasingly tired of Dean Ottner the school bully making fun of her. It seems that she is his favorite target and she wants to shut him up once and for all. In order to do this, Austin decides to join the FFA at school and become a Sweetheart of Prosper County and ride in the Christmas Parade next year She thinks that Dean will not be able to make fun of the Sweetheart of Prosper County. So she asks her mother for a chicken for Christmas. so she can have an animal to enter at the County Fair. This is when a rooster named Charles Dickens enters her family, she becomes friends with Josh, a reticent cowboy, and tries to helps her mother deal with the grief from the loss of her father. If you are looking for a fun read, this is the perfect book for you.

The Tear Collector by Patrick Jones

I'll admit it, I haven't been reading too much lately. I guess that I have been spending too much time watching the Olympics! Anyway Krista, one of my wonderful library aides, has agreed to fill it with this fantastic book review!

Blood sucking, mysterious, and evil is what everyone perceives as a vampire, but Cassandra Gray does not fit that stereotype in The Tear Collector by Patrick Jones. Her family strives on human tears to fuel them for their days.

Whether it’s breaking up with boyfriends, turning friends against each other, or working at the local hospital, she’ll do whatever she can to get the tears to keep her grandmother going. But she’s getting tired of the lying and deceit especially when she meets Scott.

Meanwhile the next generation needs to be made and it’s Cassandra’s turn in line. She must mate with her seemingly perfect cousin, Alexei. But is he all he is cracked up to be?

Now she must choose between the newfound emotion and her family. Will she risk everything, including exile to be with Scott? Or will she continue to stay beside her family and court with the darling Alexei?