Compulsion

Do you like a good Southern mystery? This may be the book for you. Barrie has just lost her mother and her guardian is dying of cancer. She is left to live with her mother's twin sister Aunt Pru on Watson Island. Barrie has never met her aunt or been to the island, but she is immediately drawn to the place. It is filled with magic and spirits and an ancient curse. Of course, she doesn't know the extent of it. She meets Eight Beaufort, and feels that click. See, Barrie has a gift for finding lost things. It compels her to look until the lost thing is found. Eight also has a gift, he knows what people want. This of course, drives Barrie crazy because she doesn't know if he really wants her or just wants to give her what she wants, which is him. Confused? Don't be. Barrie and Eight (and their families) are at odds with the ne'er-do-well Coleworths who always seem to be on the wrong end of everything. Cassie just wants Barrie to 'find' her families treasure so the score can be settled. But Cassie isn't the most reliable of people and Eight knows she can't be trusted. Barrie wants to help, but each time she tries, something awful happens. Eight tries to warn her, but Barrie has to learn things the hard way. This is a story of decades old family feuds, romance and a huge mystery that almost costs Barrie her life. It is an interesting tale that kept my attention from the first page to the last with eager anticipation for more books to come. There is just enough of a cliffhanger to keep the interested reader going but not enough of one to disappoint those who like stand alone books. Can't wait to hand this off to one of my students tomorrow to see what they make of Barrie and Eight. Happy reading my friends!

Enchanter Heir

Sometimes an author just gets what you want to read. They know how to create characters that tug at your heartstrings or frustrate you to the point you are screaming at a book. Cinda Williams Chima is one of those authors for me. I LOVE her Seven Realms series. I mean Han is one of my all time favorite boys. But I think I could make a list of favorite fictional boys just from Chima's books. This member of the Heir Chronicles is just as amazing as the rest. I didn't think it could get better than Jack Swift and Seph McCAuley but then I get to meet Jonah Kinlock. Jonah is a savant- he is a member of a group who lived in Thorn Hill and survived the massacre there that killed all the adults and left the children with strange mutations. Jonah is an assassin, a member of Nightshade, who is tasked with finding shades- souls who jump from body to body- and putting them out of their misery. Jonah is good at his job. He should be, his touch is deadly. This is a great feature for an assassin, not so much for a seventeen year old boy who meets the girl of his dreams. Emma is a musician living in Memphis with her grandfather. When he is killed she is sent to live with the father she never knew. Tyler Greenwood has been in hiding for years. When Emma arrives on his doorstep, he is pulled back into battle with the Wizard guild. He tries to keep Emma safe. Jonah and Emma meet and feel an immediate attraction beyond even their love of music. But one fateful night, things go deadly wrong and may ruin what little chance they have at happiness. Yikes, that isn't even the tip of the iceberg that is this book. You can read it alone, or start with the Warrior Heir to get the entire backstory. Either way, you will be drawn into the world of the heirs and fall in love with them too. Happy reading my friends!

Evil Librarian

What a hoot this book is! Musical theater with the evil librarian twist. I must say I haven't seen this combination before. Cyn is a typical teenage girl. She has a best friend named Annie and a huge crush on the ultra hot Ryan- who naturally, doesn't know who she is. This all changes for two reasons. One, they get a new librarian who just happens to be a demon and two- she crashes into Ryan in the hall and he now has to notice her. Amidst all this drama, there is an actual drama going on- the production of Sweeney Todd, the school musical that Ryan is the star of and that Cyn is the tech director for. When the new librarian decides he wants Annie for his demon bride, Cyn decides enough is enough. She confronts the librarian- Mr. Gabriel and finds out for some reason she is immune to his powers. With Ryan's help, she has to find a way to stop the librarian from sucking the souls from her classmates, stealing her best friend, and ruining the school musical. She just may have to make a deal with the devil to save the day.She does this all while dreaming of Ryan kissing her. And she dreams of that at the most inconvenient times. And often. Cyn learns that sometimes you have to take a risk to get a reward. This book is filled with humor, loyalty, and one spectacular high school musical production. There will be sequels that are nicely set up in this first novel, but this one is wrapped up if you wanted to stop at one. Be on the lookout for any red halos and happy reading my friends!

Winger

Let me start by saying that books set in boarding school always have some tragic element to them. This gem by Andrew Smith is no exception. Ryan Dean West is a fourteen year old Junior at Pine Mountain. He is smart, hilarious, artistic and the winger on the rugby team. He is in love with Annie and will be spending his year in O-Hall for students who have broken some rule. Ryan Dean is determined to survive his neanderthal roommate Chas while winning Annie's heart. Along the way he will become best friends with the rugby team captain, Joey, who happens to be gay, he will take on the biggest and meanest boys at school, he will make out with one of the hottest girls on the planet and he will run naked in the woods in the rain. Ryan Dean does not lack in confidence. He is sure that he is wearing Annie down and that she wants to kiss him and believe it or not, he may be right. But mixed in with the seriously laugh out loud humor (trust me, this book is filled with hilarity) is the underlying current that being different can get you hurt. Or worse. The end of this book is crushing. And sad. And heartbreaking. However, Ryan Dean is a character that I am better for having met and I will carry him with me henceforth. I also learned a little bit about rugby along the way. So no supernatural elements, no princess assassins, just the reality of growing up in boarding school where fending for yourself is a bit of an art form and growing up can be a treacherous path. You will be better for having spent some time in Ryan Dean's world.
 Happy reading my friends.

Unmarked

Happy New Year my literary friends! Today found me finishing book two in the Legion series by Kami Garcia. (Yes, of Beautiful Creatures fame). This series is about ghost/demon hunters. Kennedy is trying to recover from the loss of her mother, her absent father and the fact that she just released an evil demon, Andras, on the world. She has found out she isn't one of the Legion, which has devastated her as she is in love with one of the members-Jared. When the group finds her holed up in a boarding school, they convince her to go with them to hunt down the demon and recapture it. She goes with them. On the hunt, her best friend Elle joins the gang and they meet up with a couple of the dreaded Illuminati- Gabriel and Dimitri. She also finds a long lost aunt. None of this bodes well for Kennedy as her past is not what she thought it was, her mother, not who she thought she was and her father who- you guessed it, is not who she thought he was. Her place among the Legion is questioned, her love for Jared put to the ultimate test as Andras possesses his body. Will she have the strength to kill Jared to destroy the demon or will she find a way to save the boy she loves? And what will it ultimately cost her? If you love a great ghost/demon story with an intrepid team of fearless teens led by mysterious adults, you will love this series. What a great way to start 2015- hopefully a sign of things to come. Happy reading my friends!

Mortal Heart

When Rylee tells me that a book is the "best one of the series", I have to believe her. She hasn't steered me wrong yet. Mortal Heart is the third book of the The Fair Assassin series. It is the story of the daughters of the god Mortain, the god of Death. They are sent on missions to exact his justice and follow his orders. Annith has been waiting her whole life to be sent on her first mission. She has been obedient, loyal and true, and can't figure out why others have been sent out before her. When the Abbess decides she will never leave and become the Seer for the order, Annith must take matters into her own hands. She leaves the convent and is immediately ensnared by the hellequin, the riders of  Death. Their leader, Balthazaar, attempts to protect her from the dangers she faces on the road. He is mysterious, broody and strangely familiar to Annith. She soon finds she is in love with him, but can see no future with someone who is chained to the Underworld. She reunites with her sisters, Ismae and Sybella, to help the Duchess find a way to come to some kind of peace with France. But her path is fraught with peril, betrayals and a love that becomes more than she had ever hoped it could. So Rylee was right, this one was the best so far, especially because all the fair assassins are together in one place, doing their thing, Love can conquer all, even Death. You don't have to read the books in order, but it helps to know all the stories before this one, so start with Grave Mercy, then hit Dark Triumph. You will want to join the daughters of Mortain and learn some assassin skills of your own. So take Rylee's advice and join the assassins. Happy reading my friends!

Blue Lily, Lily Blue

I have yet to meet a Maggie Stiefvater book I didn't like and this one is not the exception. Blue Lily is the third part of the Raven Cycle. This is the magical, mystical quest of four friends. Gansey, the prince, Ronan, the rebel, Adam, the outsider and Blue, the girl who holds sway over all of them. They are on a quest to wake a mythical king named Glendower so he can grant them a wish. Gansey has been on this quest for much of his life and has drawn his gifted friends into the quest with him. They all have reasons to need a favor from the sleeping king- but the most important one is to save Gansey's life. See Blue has foreseen his death and time is running out. She loves Gansey but she knows she will kill her true love with a kiss, so that kinda puts a monkey wrench into their love story. In this third book, Blue's mother disappears, Adam comes into his power over the ley line and Gansey gets closer and closer to finding his king, also getting closer and closer to his end. Blue must navigate all this while trying to remain neutral among the boys. I don't know which Raven Boy I love the most, so I won't pick... right now I'm still leaning toward Ronan- I mean who doesn't love a snarly bad boy who can pull things from his dreams and speaks (?) fluent Latin??? This is a series about friends, a quest and the desire to fit in while standing out. Start at the beginning and join the team on their quest to wake the sleeping king. You won't be disappointed! Happy reading my friends.