Snow Like Ashes

The world is divided into seasons and Winter has the short end of the stick. Their land has been decimated by the other seasons and their people enslaved. All that is left of a once great kingdom is a band of 8 survivors, which includes the King of Winter- Mather- a teenage boy. He is joined by Sir and Meira whose sole purposes are to get back the locket that holds their kingdoms magic so they can reclaim their land and free their people. All Meira wants is to help her king and friend. She wants to be useful, but Sir never lets her do anything dangerous. Her desire to help her kingdom leads her to a marriage with a Rhythym Prince whose kingdom has vowed to help Winter once they are wed. This is not what Meira has in mind of course. She wants to be a soldier and marry Mather and do normal things. But she meets Theron and he is much more that she thought he would be. Unfortunately for Winter, Theron's father is not honorable and brings their enemies to the gate. When Meira is captured and threatened with torture and death, she must use all her senses to find a way to survive. Of course, all is not what it seems and power may be in hands different that what is expected. Lies told over time come to a head and the truth is as explosive as the dark power that is unleashed. Meira must become more than she ever thought she could be to save her people and bring them hope. I had a hard time in the beginning of this book connecting to the characters. I've read many books of this genre and many girls who want to be soldiers etc. and this one didn't catch my attention at first. But I have to say things picked up as the book progressed and I am definitely interested int the rest of the story. Not- I have to run to the store right now and find out what happens- interested, but sometime in the future I can get back to the tale- interested. So, I leave it to you to decide how you feel my friends. It is summer and the books are piled up next to the Barnes and Noble gift cards I was showered with at the end of this amazing school year. Happy reading my friends!

Mosquitoland

After 660 pages of supernatural Shadowhunter goodness, I decided to step back into reality with this book by David Arnold. Mim comes from a line of women who have mental illness and her father is determined to keep her off that path. Mim does not appreciate his efforts and sets out on a quest to see her mother- who she has found out- is sick. Of course, Mim is rather strong willed and does not inform her father or stepmother of her intentions and steals a can  of money and hops on a Greyhound bus to get to Cleveland, where her mom is in the hospital. Along the way she meets both kindhearted and nefarious characters, all who change her perceptions on life. Arlene, Carl, Poncho Man, Ahab and most of all, Beck and Walt. Those two help her realize what it means to have friends who become family so quickly you don't even realize it is happening. Mim is not exactly a reliable narrator and you are never sure that what she sees and does is actually happening. At one point, I had a small heart attack when I thought .... well, I don't want to ruin that for you. I really liked this book, it had such a heart and soul and honesty. I don't know that every middle schooler would relate, but the more mature reader who loves realistic fiction would certainly enjoy this tale. Mim is a powerhouse of personality and will. But I think deep down, she craves family and friends like we all do. This is not a light summer read, but it is worth the time. Happy reading my friends... 5 days until summer!

Lady Midnight

Let me say I am horrified by how long it took me to read this book. I don't know the reason-work and other such nonsense. And I guess a part of me was avoiding the inevitable sad ending I knew would come with his book.  See, it's not my first rodeo with Cassandra Clare and her Shadowhunter world. In fact it is my 11th rodeo. I don't know how she does it, I 'm just grateful that she does. This is a new series that picks up where the Mortal Instruments leaves off. If finds us with Emma Carstairs- yes those Corsairs but more on that later and the Blackthorn family who run the LA Institute. Julian is the head of the family since his brother Mark and sister Helen have been banished due to their Fae blood. Julian and Emma have become parabatai but both are starting to regret that move. You see, you are not allowed to fall in love with your parabatai. Mark shows up at the Institute after years of being forced to ride with the Wild Hunt in order to convince Julian and Emma to help the Fae figure out who is murdering their kind. Mark doesn't know his place in the strange world of his family and nothing is the same as when he left. Time passes different in Faerie. As Emma and the Blackthorns (great band name by the way) are pulled into the mysterious deaths. They are betrayed by those who had been considered friends. And as their love grows stronger, Emma must make heartbreaking decisions to save Julian. This book is over 600 pages and I can't do it justice in a simple blog post. But know that everyone I love in this series makes an appearance (except my all time favorite Will Herondale) Jem, Tessa, Jace, Clary, Alec, Magnus etc. My eyes were teary many times and the end is a major heartbreaker. But I have faith and the experience of reading many series that if there is a happy ending in the first book, where would you go from there. So I will hope for a happy eventual ending while enjoying yet another Clare journey. I want to be a Shadowhunter. And if that can't happen, I'll have to just be a super fan. You could read this book as a start, but you would miss so much of the backstory that led to this place and time. So go back to City of Bones and carve out the rest of this year and I'll see you in 10 books. Meanwhile, I'll wait for my parabatai to show up and give me a fortitude rune as I have the long wait until book 2. Happy reading my friends- 10 days until summer and miles to go before I sleep!

Passenger

I loved this book in every timeline I have been a part of!! This is Etta's story. She is a concert violinist who is about to make her debut amidst a raging case of stage fright. She lives in New York with her mother who doesn't seem to pay much attention to her. But at least she has Alice, her violin teacher, as a mother figure. Then there is Nicholas. A sailor in 1776 working to find independence from all the restraints an African American young man has in those times. This is Etta and Nicholas's love story. What you say? But Etta and Nicholas live over 200 years apart! How can this be? Let me tell you! They are Travelers. They have the power to travel through passages in time. Etta doesn't know this until the night of her debut when she is dragged through a passage and onto Nicholas's ship. In 1776. The evil head of the Ironside family needs her to find a special artifact that her mother has hidden somewhere in time. Of course, Etta knows nothing about any of this and is shocked and dismayed to find out all the secrets her mother has been keeping. If she doesn't do as Old Ironside asks, her own timeline will be forever altered. Nicholas vows to help her, but only to further his own desires. At first any way. As they roam through exotic places in time, they realize they are a match for each other. But can two people from literally different times, find a place somewhere, together? Oh my gosh, the characters in this book are fantastic, well- developed and amazing. The story takes you to places in history and gives you a first hand view of life in each. You can almost feel the salt spray on your face as you stand on the deck of the boat with Nicholas or feel the heat of the desert in Syria as you ride on a camel with Etta. And I love that there is no love triangle in the normal sense, but societies rules become that third member as two racial diverse characters have to find a place where their romance won't get them killed. I can't say enough nice things about this book and as the cliffhanger promises more adventures to follow, I am ready to find my own passage to somewhere else... where I can be left alone to read!! Thank you Alexandra Bracken! Well done! Happy reading and Happy passages my friends!

Kill the Boy Band

From a historical tearjerker to this crazy modern romp- Kill the Boy Band is a cautionary tale of the perils of fandom. The Ruperts are a boy band made up of four boys named Rupert who were put together after competing on a reality show. Four fans set out to meet them and get tickets to their Thanksgiving show. That's when things go sideways. When fate brings the least talented Rupert into their grasp, the girls decide to keep him tied up in their room. There's Ingrid, the angry fan, Apple, the obsessed fan, Erin, the fan scorned and our narrator, the fan who uses 80's movies to hide her identity. Each girl loves a different Rupert. Or do they? As the four friends get deeper and deeper into the night and their situation gets more dire, the very basis of their friendship is tested. Do they have a relationship outside their love of the band? Do they really know each other at all? This book takes an interesting look into extreme fandom and what it can do to people, including the objects of the obsession. It has some hilarious moments, but underneath is a story of the loneliness that can come with being a fan and the desperation to be noticed. Even in a sea of people, the need to be seen is universal. So be warned, this may sound like a lighthearted book, but it has some serious layers. Happy reading my friends.

Salt to the Sea

It is a statement to how much I love this author that I would even read this book. WW2 books never have a happy ending. And this one is about the children/teens who had to face the warring factions of Russia AND Germany during WW2. Mix that with the fact that this is based on the tragic sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff and the fact that 9000 innocent people died, it's not a book I would run to. But from page one, I was transported to the group. Joana, Emilia, Florian, and the Shoe Poet as they walked and hid and foraged to get to the port to board a boat to escape the Russians against all odds. Each has a story so tragic as to break your heart. Each one has a fate to escape and run to. Each one saves the others until they reunite on the ship. The ship that was to be their salvation. Now we have all seen Titanic and the horror that was the sinking. But somehow reading about it through the eyes of teens was a thousand times worse. Sepetys is a master story teller. She weaves these characters tales seamlessly, one to the next in short chapters that make you read well past a reasonable hour. Even the fourth character, Alfred, a Nazi supporter, has a fascinating story he tells, but as a totally unreliable narrator. The beauty of this story is how we are able to see through their eyes, the horror that is war. And war is cruel. And people weren't treated as people. And heroic things were done, that no one knows about. And we continue this cycle, on different fields of battle. And no one stops to think of what is being destroyed. I sat on the beach today and finished this book. Tears were shed not only for these characters, but for the terror the real people must have felt, the desperation to save their families, the things they had to endure to survive. Fate isn't always kind. So thank you for opening my eyes to this tragedy Ruta Sepetys. I will share this with my students and hopefully, through literature, they will be a better generation than the ones before them. Happy reading my friends!

Glass Sword

I hate middle books. You know they are going to leave you hanging in distress for whatever character is in peril until the final book is released. Yet, you have to read them because it's what you do. This sequel to Red Queen of course does just this.  It leaves Mare kneeling before the evil king, her friends and love in chains, loved characters dead, her mission failed and of course, someone who has betrayed their cause. Spoiler? I think not. If you are a reader you could predict all these things, but it's how our intrepid bunch gets there that is the story. Mare is determined to gather the Newbloods before Maven can find and kill them. She has Cal reluctantly by her side- only because he has no place else to go. Kilorn is with her , against her will, as she can't figure out how to keep him safe.  Shade, back from the dead, using his powers to help the fight. And Maven- evil, awful, Maven- who is going to get Mare back if it is the last thing he does. He will kill whoever gets in his way. Mare has to become a leader, a teacher and a Queen. But she doesn't really want to be any of those things. She just wants to live a normal life where everyone just leaves her alone. So not going to happen. This is a great book if you enjoy Katniss, Tris or any other No Did (no damsels in distress) and their quest to make their worlds a better place for their families. It is action packed from page one to the final scene. Mare is definitely in crisis and making some less than stellar choices, but that is what the next book is for. A happily ever after- at least that 's what I'm going to tell myself until the release date. If this sounds like the book for you- start at the beginning and meet me in the middle. Happy reading my friends!