REVIEW: Quest by Aaron Becker

Rating: 4/5 Stars
Series: Journey Trilogy #2
Genre: Picture Book/Fantasy
Audience: Preschool–Grade 3

Summary: A king from a magical realm escapes into the ordinary world just long enough to meet two children in a seemingly ordinary city park. He gives them a map and the tools they need to rescue him just before several soldiers seize him and take him back through the door. After the king is recaptured, the intrepid kids find their way into the magical place and embark on a quest to free the king and lift darkness from the kingdom.

Tracy's Thoughts:
Last year I raved about Aaron Becker's Journey. It was one of my frontrunners for the 2014 Caldecott Medal, and I was thrilled when Becker nabbed an Honor for his majestic artwork. In Quest, our heroine and her new friend return for yet another journey into the wonderful kingdom of imagination and must face new challenges and dangers. But it is through quick thinking and teamwork that the kids overcome obstacles rather than confrontation or violence. Like Journey, Quest is a wonderful foray into creative problem solving and an ode to the twin powers of art and imagination.

The artwork here is more muted than the vivid landscapes of Journey, featuring a rain-drenched park, a dark kingdom under siege, and foreboding mountains. And yet the children are able to bring color into the world of gray. The scenes are rich and layered; the details of several scenes evoke the ancient temples and the ruins of different civilizations. There are also intriguing parallels between the the statuary of the real-world park and the children's magical adventures. Observant or history-minded children will delight in examining the various scenes and are sure to tease out new details with each encounter. Tiny details are carried over from the first book while others hint at adventures to still to come. The publisher blurb promises that fans will have one more addition to the series, and I am eager to experience the magical adventure that awaits!

Fall 2014 Giveaway Winners + Last-Chance Giveaway

And the winners are... *Drumroll, please*

  Holly-  Wild Rover No More, The Cuckoo's Calling, Goat Woman of Largo Bay

  Kaci K- The Cuckoo's Calling, The Book of Strange New Things, The Madman of Piney Woods, The Aviator's Wife, Blowing on Dandelions

  Rebecca- The Cove, How to Be a Good Wife, Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy

  Jeannie- Frida & Diego, I Stand Corrected

  Sarah J.- The Saint, Saving Grace, Girl in the Garden

  Donna K.- The Greenglass House, The Aviator's Wife

  Christin- The Beekeeper's Ball, Love by the Morning Star, Blowing on Dandelions

  Beth- Buzz Kill

  Becky H.- The (Totally Not) Guaranteed Guide to Friends, Foes & Faux Friends


....But wait! We still have several unclaimed books! Maybe you missed out on the giveaway the first time around or simply didn't list it as one of your selections in the last round, but now's your second chance to win!  Here are the titles up for grabs:

Glorious by Jeff Gunn
WESTERN/HISTORICAL FICTION (Adult)
"Rising to a life of influence and wealth after a hard-luck youth in late 19th-century Arizona Territory, Cash McLendon flees in the wake of a tragedy and tries to win back the heart from a woman from his past only to be targeted by his former father-in-law." –NoveList

Silver People by Margarita Engle
HISTORICAL FICTION/NOVEL IN VERSE (Middle grade/tween)
"Fourteen-year-old Mateo and other Caribbean islanders face discrimination, segregation, and harsh working conditions when American recruiters lure them to the Panamanian rain forest in 1906 to build the great canal." –NoveList

The Eye of Zoltar by Jasper Fforde
HUMOROUS FANTASY (Tween/Teen)
"The Mighty Shandar returns to the Ununited Kingdoms and vows to eliminate the dragons once and for all -- unless sixteen-year-old Jennifer Strange and her sidekicks from the Kazam house of enchantment can bring him a legendary jewel: The Eye of Zoltar." –NoveList


 

One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva
REALISTIC FICTION/GLBTQ ROMANCE (Teen/Young Adult)
"When Alek's high-achieving, Armenian-American parents send him to summer school, he thinks his summer is ruined. But then he meets Ethan, who opens his world in a series of truly unexpected ways" –Publisher







Each book goes to the first person to claim it with a comment below (be sure to leave your e-mail address so I can arrange pickup!). Please only choose one book per day, but if a title remains unclaimed the following day, you may choose another title. Ready... Set...Go!

Fall Giveaway Update + New Giveaway Title!

Guess what I found on my doorstep yesterday? St. Martin's Press sent me an Advance Reader's Copy of Jane Green's newest novel, Saving Grace, due for release on December 30, 2014!

Saving Grace seems to be a slight departure for this bestselling author of chicklit or women's and domestic fiction. This one veers into the territory of psychological suspense. Check out the back-cover copy:

Literary power couple Ted and Grace Chapman are the envy of all who know them. But beneath the surface lies Ted's temper and the precarious house of cards that their lifestyle is built upon. When they hire a new assistant, things begin to crumble, sending Grace on a dark journey that could cost her her marriage, her reputation, and even her sanity.

From the New York times bestselling author of Tempting Fate, comes a searing and emotionally charged novel about one woman's search to find herself, and another woman's obsession to make her disappear.

The description certainly caught my attention, and I thought that several of you might want the chance to read this before the late December release. So I decided to add it to our 2014 Fall Giveaway! As a result,  I have also extended the contest entry deadline until 12:00 AM on Wednesday, October 29th. For those who have already entered but would like a chance to add Saving Grace to their prize wish list, please just add a new comment to the original  Fall Giveaway Event blog post using the same post name and relisting your choices. Good luck!

Enter the 2014 Fall Giveaway Event! »

Fall 2014 Giveaway!

It's time for another giveaway! This time around, I have Advance Reading Copies (ARCs) of highly anticipated new releases, a few older ARCs, and several new,  finished copies of best-selling fiction titles.

As always, the rules of entry are at the end of the post. Please note that all prizes must be picked up at a BCPL location within two months of notification. Contest ends at 12:00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 22, 2014.   Update 10/15/14: Due to the addition of a new giveaway title, the contest has been extended until Wednesday, October 29, 2014!


So without further a do, here are our giveaways for Fall 2014:


Final Copies/Finished Publications:

The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin
* Trade Paperback (2 copies available) *
A story inspired by the marriage between Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh traces the romance between a handsome young aviator and a shy ambassador's daughter whose relationship is marked by wild international acclaim. –NoveList

Blowing on Dandelions by Miralee Ferrell
Love Blossoms in Oregon #2
* Trade Paperback (2 copies available) *
Widow and single mother Katherine struggles to run her Oregon boarding house by herself, but she learns to find the faith, wisdom, and courage to transform her life and relationships when she meets widower Micah Jacobs. –NoveList

The Cove by Ron Rash
* Trade Paperback *
Living deep within a cove in the Appalachians of North Carolina during World War I, Laurel Shelton finally finds the happiness she deserves in Walter, a mysterious stranger who's mute, but their love can't protect them from a devastating secret. –NoveList

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith
Cormoran Strike #1
* Trade Paperback (2 copies available) *
Private investigator Cormoran Strike has a day he'll not soon forget. The 35-year-old, who lost a leg in Afghanistan, spends the night in his bare-bones London office after a relationship-ending fight with his girlfriend. That morning, he sports a cut on his face (she threw an ashtray) as he rushes out the door, barreling into a new temp secretary he can't afford, almost sending her down a staircase. The forgiving temp, Robin, quickly proves useful when they get a case: a famous young model supposedly jumped from the top of her penthouse apartment, but her brother believes she was murdered. Entering the realm of the mega-rich, Strike and Robin question celebrities and fashionistas, trying to uncover the truth in a beautifully written book that was pseudonymously written by none other than J.K. Rowling.  –NoveList

The Girl in the Garden by Kamala Nair
* Hardcover *
A conflicted young woman seeks clarity about her impending marriage by remembering a childhood summer when she discovered a long-hidden secret while visiting her mother's ancestral home in an Indian village outside a mysterious jungle. –NoveList

The Goat Woman of Largo Bay by Gillian Royes
Shad Mysteries #1
* Trade Paperback *
Working at the side of an American employer who would rebuild a Caribbean hotel, Shadrack, a bartender and amateur detective, encounters a woman on the run who is being targeted by a group of election riggers. By the author of Business Is Good.  –NoveList

How to Be a Good Wife by Emma Chapman
* Hardcover *
In the tradition of Emma Donoghue's Room and S.J. Watson's Before I Go to Sleep, a haunting literary debut about a woman who begins having visions that make her question everything she knows. Marta and Hector have been married for a long time. Through the good and bad; through raising a son and sending him off to life after university. So long, in fact, that Marta finds it difficult to remember her life before Hector. He has always taken care of her, and she has always done everything she can to be a good wife--as advised by a dog-eared manual given to her by Hector's aloof mother on their wedding day. But now, something is changing. Small things seem off. A flash of movement in the corner of her eye, elapsed moments that she can't recall. Visions of ablonde girl in the darkness that only Marta can see. Perhaps she is starting to remember--or perhaps her mind is playing tricks on her. As Marta's visions persist and her reality grows more disjointed, it's unclear if the danger lies in the world around her, or in Marta herself. The girl is growing more real every day, and she wants something.  –Publisher's Description

Advance Reading Copies (ARCs), in order of publication:

Saving Grace by Jane Green
ARC - Book Release Date: December 2014
A literary power couple hides behind a carefree public face the painful realities of the husband's raging mood swings and the wife's past secrets until a too-good-to-be-true new assistant enters their lives, with dangerous consequences.
ADDED TO GIVEAWAY on 10/15/14

Wild Rover No More by L.A. Meyer
Bloody Jack Adventures #12
* ARC - Book Release Date: November 2014 *
In 1809, just when it looks like Jacky Faber and her beloved Jaimy will finally find their romance, Jacky is accused of treason and must flee Boston while her friends attempt to clear her name. Of course that means wild adventures for our fun-loving heroine, who manages to secure a job as a governess--and run away with the circus. –Publisher's Description

The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber
 *ARC - Book Release Date: October 2014 *
Called to perform missionary work on a world light years away where the natives are fascinated by the concepts he introduces, man of faith Peter Leigh finds his beliefs tested when he learns of natural disasters that are tearing Earth apart.  –NoveList

The Eye of Zoltar by Jasper Fforde
Chronicles of Kazan #3
* ARC - Book Release Date: October 2014 *
The Mighty Shandar returns to the Ununited Kingdoms and vows to eliminate the dragons once and for all -- unless sixteen-year-old Jennifer Strange and her sidekicks from the Kazam house of enchantment can bring him a legendary jewel: The Eye of Zoltar.  –NoveList

I Stand Corrected by Eden Collingsworth
* ARC - Book Release Date: October 2014 *
A fascinating fusion of memoir, manners, and cultural history from a successful businesswoman well-versed in the unique challenges of working in contemporary China. During the course of her long and successful business career, no country has fascinated Eden Collinsworth more than China. After numerous business experiences that might best be called "unusual" by Western standards, she had a crucial insight: despite the growing status of China as a world economy and the unprecedented range of Chinese investments overseas, businessmen in mainland China--well-educated and speaking English--were fundamentally uncomfortable in the company of their Western counterparts. This realization spawned a Western etiquette guide for Chinese businessmen, which went on to be a huge best seller in China and formed the basis for new curriculum supported by the Chinese Ministry of Education. In I Stand Corrected, Collinsworth tells the story of the year she spent writing that book, creating a counterpart that both explains Chinese practices and reveals much about our own Western culture. She explores topics including the non-negotiable issue of personal hygiene; the rules of the handshake; making sense of foreigners; and that which is considered universally rude. She also scrutinizes some of the Western etiquette that has guided her own business career, one which has unfolded in predominately male company. At the same time, I Stand Corrected is a retrospective journey, a wry but self-effacing reflection on the peripatetic career she led while single-handedly raising her son. Like all parents, she didn't always have answers, and here she details the many, often ludicrous, attempts to strike a balance that was right for both of them.  –NoveList

The Madman of Piney Woods by Christopher Paul Curtis
Companion to Elijah of Buxton
* ARC - Book Release Date: September 2014 *
Even though it is now 1901, the people of Buxton, Canada (originally a settlement of runaway slaves) and Chatham, Canada are still haunted by two events of half a century before--the American Civil War, and the Irish potato famine, and the lasting damage those events caused to the survivors. 
–NoveList

The (Totally Not) Guaranteed Guide to Friends, Foes & Faux Friends by Megan McCafferty
Jessica Darling's It List #2
* ARC - Book Release Date: September 2014 *
Twelve-year-old Jessica Darling receives another cryptic list from her older sister, Bethany. While hosting a slumber party and planning a Halloween costume, Jessica tries to navigate the seventh grade social scene, with mixed results.  –Publisher's Description

Greenglass House by Kate Milford
* ARC - Book Release Date: August 2014 *
At Greenglass House, a smuggler's inn, twelve-year-old Milo, the innkeepers' adopted son, plans to spend his winter holidays relaxing but soon guests are arriving with strange stories about the house sending Milo and Meddy, the cook's daughter, on an adventure.  –NoveList

Frida & Diego by Catherine Reef
* ARC - Book Release Date: August 2014 *
A biography exploring the tumultuous lives, marriage, and work of the artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera is illustrated with archival photos and full-color reproductions.  –NoveList

The Saint by Tiffany Reisz
The Original Sinners #5
* ARC - Book Release Date: July 2014 *
Eleanor is determined to break from her Catholic upbringing, but when her life is saved by a priest she offers him complete obedience and enters into a world of desire as he reveals his deepest secrets to her.  –NoveList

The Beekeeper's Ball by Susan Wiggs
Bella Vista #2
* ARC - Book Release Date: June 2014 *
While transforming Bella Vista, her childhood home, into a destination cooking school, chef Isabel Johansen finds her plans interrupted by war-torn journalist Cormac O'Neill who has arrived to dig up old history.  –NoveList

Love by the Morning Star by Laura L. Sullivan
* ARC - Book Release Date: June 2014 *
Mistaken for one another when they are sent to the grand English country estate of Starkers on the brink of World War II, Hannah, a distant relative hoping to be welcomed by the family, and Anna, sent to spy for the Nazis, both unexpectedly fall in love.  –NoveList

Glorious: A Novel of the American West by Jeff Gunn
* ARC - Book Release Date: May 2014 *
Rising to a life of influence and wealth after a hard-luck youth in late 19th-century Arizona Territory, Cash McLendon flees in the wake of a tragedy and tries to win back the heart from a woman from his past only to be targeted by his former father-in-law.  –NoveList

One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva
* ARC - Book Release Date: May 2014 *
When Alek's high-achieving, Armenian-American parents send him to summer school, he thinks his summer is ruined. But then he meets Ethan, who opens his world in a series of truly unexpected ways.  –NoveList

Buzz Kill by Beth Fantaskey
* ARC - Book Release Date: May 2014 *Seventeen-year-old Millie joins forces with her classmate, gorgeous but mysterious Chase Colton, to try to uncover who murdered head football coach "Hollerin' Hank" Killdare--and why.  –NoveList

Dirt Bikes, Drones, and Other Ways to Fly by Conrad Wesselhoeft
* ARC - Book Release Date: April 2014 *
Seventeen year-old dirt-bike-riding daredevil Arlo Santiago catches the eye of the U.S. military with his first-place ranking on a video game featuring drone warfare, and must reconcile the work they want him to do with the emotional scars he has suffered following a violent death in his family.  –Publisher's Description

Silver People by Margarita Engle
* ARC - Book Release Date: March 2014 *
Fourteen-year-old Mateo and other Caribbean islanders face discrimination, segregation, and harsh working conditions when American recruiters lure them to the Panamanian rain forest in 1906 to build the great canal.  –NoveList

Crossover by Kwame Alexander
* ARC - Book Release Date: March 2014 *
Fourteen-year-old twin basketball stars Josh and Jordan wrestle with highs and lows on and off the court as their father ignores his declining health.  –NoveList

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee
* ARC - Book Release Date: January 2014 *
Ophelia, a timid eleven-year-old girl grieving her mother, suspends her disbelief in things non-scientific when a boy locked in the museum where her father is working asks her to help him complete an age-old mission.  –NoveList

Rules of Entry

1. To enter the drawing, you must complete two tasks. 
First, you must leave a comment at the bottom of this post stating which ARCs you would like to receive. If you do not leave a comment at the bottom of the post, I will not know which prize(s) to give you if you win the drawing. You may choose up to ten titles; you are not guaranteed to win your top choices, but I do my best. Second, you must log in to the Rafflecopter Widget with your e-mail address or Facebook account and Click "+1" and "Enter" on the widget only after you have posted your comment below. After completing the first task, you can also earn bonus entries by following the directions in the widget.

2.  All ARCs must be picked up at a Bullitt County Public Library location. Contest ends at 12:00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 22, 2014. Updated 10/15/14: October 29, 2014. Winners will be notified via e-mail and will be posted on this blog. Winners will have up to two months from the time of notification to colllect their prizes.


Rafflecopter Widget: Enter the Giveaway Drawing Here
(Don't forget to leave your comment in the Comments section below!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

GUEST REVIEW: The Ninth Wife by Amy Stolls

Tonight we have a special guest review from a new library employee! But Donna isn't new to Book News & Reviews; in 2012, when we Donna was simply a library patron, she contributed reviews of Home at Last by Bonnie Leon and Siobhan Fallon's linked short story collection You Know When the Men Are Gone. Glad to have you back, Donna!

Donna's Rating:4/5 Stars
Genre: Mainstream Fiction/Love Story
Audience: Adult

Summary: Thirty-something Bess Gray despairs of ever finding "the one." Then she meets a charming Irish musician and becomes instantly smitten. After a couple of months of dating he proposes. The problem? Rory has already been married EIGHT times before. Before deciding whether to follow her heart and leap all in, Bess embarks on a journey to meet each of the past wives and learn where Rory's past marriages went wrong.

Donna's Review:
It took a little bit to get used to the jumping back and forth from the his and her viewpoints during the reading of this book. Once I got past that, the story did stick its fangs into me. It kept me coming back for more. I wanted to know all about the hows and whys of Rory’s eight wives. How in the world did he end up being married that many times? More than one is not that uncommon in modern times, but eight?

I liked getting to see Rory mature with each of his wives, what could have been just relationships if not for his very giving and romantic nature. I also liked seeing how Bess came to terms with each of them, as she definitely wanted to know about each of them. As we women all do, she wanted to see if each one was prettier than her, smarter than her, etc. Bess’s grandparents and gay friend, Cricket, liven up the main story line.They show the  reader there are always different shades of gray in relationships.

I think the end could have gone either way, or any way, and I don’t want to spoil it for you! The whole story, and for me, Bess’s thoughts, were something that any woman would want to think about. Every woman wants to know about her predecessors and sometimes ends up finding out too much about them. This book might change the way some women think about finding out too much information. In my opinion, this book is a 4-star read. It is funny, sad, and has much romance to offer while showing the loneliness and vulnerability of people, whether single or in a relationship.


Are you interested in contributing a guest review to Book News & Reviews?

• We encourage BCPL patrons and members of the community to share thoughts on what they are reading and welcome guest reviews. Find details here.  
• Or, if you would like to share your favorite recent reads but think writing a full review is too much trouble, join our What Do You Recommend? collaborative board on Pinterest!

REVIEW: Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

Rating: 4/5 Stars
Series: Lumatere Chronicles #1
Format: Audiobook/Book on CD
Genre: High Fantasy/Epic Fantasy
Audience: Young Adult/Adult Crossover

Summary: Exiled from his homeland after the royal family was slaughtered and a dying woman cursed the land, Finnikin is determined to find a new home for his people. He was only a child at the time of the murders of his friend Prince Balthazar and the rest of the royal family, but Finnikin struggles with feelings of guilt related to a cryptic prophecy. Then he meets a young novice who goes by the name of Evanjalin who says the prince lives and there is hope of reclaiming Lumitare from the impostor king who butchered the royal family. Finnikin is skeptical, but Evanjalin remains stubbornly committed to her course and the two set off on a mission that take them across kingdoms, collecting allies and exiles along the way back to Lumitare.

First Line: "When it finally appeared in the distance, Finnikin wondered if it was some phantom half-imagined in this soulless kingdom at the end of the world."

Tracy's Thoughts:
This novel has been on my to-read list since its publication in 2010, and I'm kicking myself now for not reading it sooner. Of course, having waited, I have the added benefit of not having to wait a year for each of the sequels to be released. So if I look at it that way, perhaps I did myself a favor because now I can't wait to begin Froi of the Exiles!

I listened to this book on audio, and initially I thought I would never get through it. The novel jumps straight into the action and provides key back story right away, and all of the places, characters, and relationships were a little overwhelming. Unlike with a traditional book, it wasn't easy to flip back several pages as a reference point. I think this is a recurring issue for me with rich fantasy series like this one or Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, but at least with A Game of Thrones I had the TV show to orient myself (yes, I was late to the game there too). Here I was on my own, but within the first few chapters I was utterly hooked and gradually the pieces came together. Of course, there were still plenty of intentional plot twists and turns to keep me guessing. I usually listen to my audiobooks in the car, and more than once I sat in my driveway listening long after arriving home, absorbed in a particularly well-written passage.

In Finnikin of the Rock, Marchetta introduces a world rich with intrigue and secrets, where characters are far more than they first appear. Most of them are wonderfully complicated, both light and dark. Take the secondary character of Froi, for example. Froi is a young thief with a bad attitude and no outward compassion or loyalty toward his fellow man. He is crude and mocking, and yet he also gradually shows redeeming qualities that make readers care about him even as they are appalled by his actions. Marchetta does an excellent job showing the toll Lumatere's terrible history (aka the Five Days of the Unspeakable) and subsequent curse has taken on its people, and no one embodies this better than Froi, although the story of Finnikin's father Trevanion and Lady Beatrice is heartwrenching.

Though the novel is published as YA and does not have any particularly graphic scenes, it has a very adult sensibility in that it deals frankly with issues like violence, rape, and sex. The violence of war is neither glossed over nor glorified, and the characters act like real people rather than one-dimensional archetypes. Marchetta's world-building is well done and the various kingdoms and their history have me intrigued to learn more. Like A Song of Ice and Fire, the series has a historical-style setting with hints of magic, but this is a fantasy series that will appeal even to readers who generally don't like fantasy. The magic here is more mystical than fantastical, and the storytelling is wonderfully compelling.

For readers like me, it may take a bit of patience to become acclimated to the world of Finnikin and Evanjalin—not to mention sorting out all the different characters. But the effort is well worth it. I can't wait to visit Lumitare and its inhabitants once again and am looking forward to discovering more about the treacherous kingdom of Charyn, which, like Marchetta's characters, will likely be far more nuanced and surprising than we might expect.

2-for-1 REVIEW: The Coincidence of Callie & Kayden and The Redemption of Callie & Kayden by Jessica Sorensen

So, lately I've been on a New Adult reading kick. A patron request for college-age romances prompted me to create a new board on our Pinterest site all about New Adult fiction (and a handful of memoirs), and then I decided to see what all the fuss was about for myself. I had already read Jamie McGuire's Beautiful Disaster and Walking Disaster and Tammara Webber's Easy, all key titles in the newly popular category and all books that I enjoyed. But there were lots of other notable New Adult authors that I hadn't read, and I felt it would be a good idea to expand my knowledge a bit. Hence the recent reading spree. Jessica Sorensen's Coincidence series is just one of my new finds, but be assured I have more to share about New Adult fiction in another upcoming post.

Tracy's Rating: 3/5 Stars
Genre: New Adult/Realistic Fiction/Contemporary Romance
Audience: New Adults (older YAs/twentysomethings)
Series: Coincidence #1

First Lines: "Life is full of luck, like getting dealt a good hand or simply being in the right place at the right time. Some people get luck handed to them, a second chance, a save. It can happen heroically, or by a simple coincidence, but there are those who don't get luck on a shiny platter, who end up at the wrong place at the wrong time, who don't get saved."


Tracy's Rating: 3/5 Stars
Genre: New Adult/Realistic Fiction/Contemporary Romance
Audience: New Adults (older YAs/twentysomethings)
Series: Coincidence #1

First Lines: "I want to breathe."






Tracy's Thoughts:
First off, these books are in desperate need of the services of a good copyeditor. Initially, I thought the punctuation errors and unfortunate uses of "one's" in place of what should be a simple plural construction "ones" would drive me to tear my hair out. And that's only the tip of the iceberg, as the saying goes. But despite the flaws, Jessica Sorensen's saga of Callie and Kayden is compulsively readable.

Callie is a loner with a dark secret and a fear of being touched by others. When she was younger, she suddenly chopped off all her hair and started wearing baggy clothes. At least her family found the transformation sudden and inexplicable, and now, years later, they continue to be puzzled by her "difficult" behavior and social isolation. To outsiders, Kayden is the all-American boy, a football jock with decent grades, a tendency to party, and a hot cheerleader girlfriend. But, like Callie, he has secrets.

When Callie accidentally witnesses Kayden at his lowest and steps out of her self-imposed isolation to save him, Kayden realizes there is more to the high-school "freak" than he imagined. And Callie sees that Kayden apparently has his own demons, though at that point she has only the barest hint of the full truth. In the moment that Callie saves Kayden and in those that follow immediately after, they forge a a strange connection, though neither chooses to pursue it. But when they meet again on their new college campus, Kayden is determined to discover more about the girl who saved him and—perhaps—changed him forever. For her part, Callie remains skittish, although a recent friendship has given her the courage to take chances (for Callie, even small things like wearing the color red and growing out her hair are a hurdle) that would have seemed impossible before.

There is little mystery for the reader about Callie's and Kayden's secrets, but it was fascinating to see how these two damaged characters were able to build the trust necessary to confide in one another. That isn't to say that everything is neatly wrapped up and tied with a pretty bow. Love doesn't suddenly make all of Callie and Kayden's problems go away; it simply makes them more confident and thus more able to cope with their respective troubles. But even then, there are setbacks. In fact, the cliffhanger ending of the first book may mangle the expectations of more than one happily-ever-after romantic.

This is an angsty, emotional read that may veer too close to melodrama for some readers, but for those who like love stories with LOTS of baggage (even Callie and Kayden's friends have some serious baggage of their own, though it remains in the background through both of these novels), this series may be perfect. That is, if the reader can overlook the comma splices, typos, and grammatical errors on every other page or so. I'm a bit of a grammar stickler, but the emotional intensity and occasionally striking imagery went a long way toward calming my irritation. For example, something about the description of one character's fight-bruised face as a "lumpy blueberry" struck me as absolutely perfect.

So if you are a fan of college-age stories like A Beautiful Disaster and don't mind iffy proofreading and heavy doses of angst, then I suggest you give Callie and Kayden's story a try. A third book focusing on the duo, The Resolution of Callie & Kayden, is expected to be released on September 30th.

GUEST REVIEWS: Picture Book Flash Reviews

We have a couple of firsts for you today at Book News & Reviews! Today we are featuring our first reviews from BCPL's very own Ms. Cheryl as well as our first child-submitted review. Five-year-old Tabitha Beck is a soon-to-be first grader, a HUGE Dora fan, and a patron at our Lebanon Junction Library location. She graciously chose to share her thoughts with us about one of her favorite books, which she has read many times.

 

Charlie Goes to School
by Ree Drummond

Reviewer: Ms. Cheryl
Ms. Cheryl's Rating: 5/5 Stars
Audience: Ages 4–8
I am a big fan of Ree Drummond and couldn’t wait to read her children’s book. Charlie is the main character and is a Bassett Hound. The book is written from his perspective. Charlie starts off the story at the beginning of his day with how he “helps” out all the human family members. Then he discovers school and wants to have a school for all the animals on the farm. Things do not go well, and Charlie eventually gives up and takes a much needed nap. The author writes a very fun and engaging story and the illustrator did a fantastic job of illustrating the book. I really enjoyed looking at the pages and all the little characters on each page.

The Worst Princess
by Anna Kemp

Reviewer: Ms. Cheryl
Ms. Cheryl's Rating: 4/5 Stars
Audience: Ages 3–7
This book was a quick and fun read. It has rhyming words and a funny twist to the typical “Happily Ever After” princess story. The princess is a bit more adventurous than your average princess, so she is very excited when her brave and wonderful prince finally comes along. Only this prince wants his princess at home being happy with her clothes and castle. Throw in a naughty dragon that comes to the princess’s rescue, and you have a great read.

Show Me Your Smile:
A Visit to the Dentist
by Christine Ricci

Reviewer: Tabitha Beck
Tabitha's Rating: (Rating not provided, but we're guessing Tabitha gives it a 5 out of 5!)
Audience: Everyone (Publisher recommends ages 3–5)
This is a Dora book and I love Dora, the Explorer. In this book Dora goes to the dentist and I learned that it's not that scary. I would recommend this book to anyone to read. It's good to go to the dentist because if you don't take care of your teeth, you won't be able to eat. The dentist helps you keep your teeth healthy and keep your smile beautiful. I love this book.

REVIEW: Norwegian by Night by Derek Miller

Rating: 4/5 Stars
Genre: Suspense/Crime Fiction
Audience: Adult

Summary: Recently widowed and still haunted by the death of his son decades ago in Vietnam, Sheldon Horowitz is an impatient and crotchety old man. He's a little depressed and feels alone now that all of his friends and family are dead except for his granddaughter Rhea. Believing her grandfather suffers from dementia, Rhea has convinced Sheldon to move to Oslo to live with her and her Norwegian husband. Sheldon finds the laid-back attitude of the Norwegian people incomprehensible and persists in sharing his oddball philosophical musings, thus calling his mental state into further question. Then he witnesses the murder of his Serbian neighbor and goes on the lam with her young son, believing it is the only way to protect the boy from Kosovar gangsters. Rhea and the police inspector, Sigrid Ødegård, think Sheldon has suffered a mental break, but could Sheldon's unusual actions be more wily than anyone could guess?

First Lines:
"It is summer and luminous. Sheldon Horowitz sits on a folding director's chair, high above the picnic and out of reach of the food, in a shaded enclave in Oslo's Frogner Park."

Tracy's Thoughts:
In his debut novel, Miller offers a completely different take on the Scandinavian crime fiction wave popularized by authors like Larsson, Mankell, Nesbø, Fossum, and Läckberg. Critically acclaimed but under the radar of most readers, Norwegian by Night was named by both Kirkus Reviews and The Guardian as one of the best crime novels of 2013. It's not your typically plot-centered crime novel—though there are some definite machinations and exciting bits. Instead, its focus is on Sheldon's inner thoughts and his path to redemption. Now that he has taken responsibility for this young boy, Sheldon is reminded more than ever of his son and sees this "final mission" as a way to do something that matters again and to atone for what he sees as his own culpability in his son's death.

You see, Sheldon was a marine sniper in Korea and has felt useless ever since. That is, if you believe Sheldon's latest story. On previous occasions, he always told his late wife and granddaughter a different story of his time in Korea. Sheldon, with his visions and inconsistent stories, is a bit of an unreliable narrator. Both reader and the characters in the book are left to wonder whether Sheldon is truly senile or if he's just crazy sharp, with a unique way of looking at the world. In a way, despite the fact that the protagonist is 82 years old, Norwegian by Night could be considered a coming of age novel—or perhaps a coming to terms with age novel.

Sheldon is a fascinating and insightful character, with plenty of foibles and flaws to add interest. And his journey is incredibly relatable despite the unusual circumstances. Though some of the other characters—Rhea and her husband Lars, for example—could do with some fleshing out, some of the secondary characters are also quite intriguing. Sigrid serves as a wonderful contrast to Sheldon, and some of her conversations also provide unexpected humor to the largely reflective narrative. Take this dryly comical phone conversation with her father:

     "Have you met a nice man yet?"
     Sigrid nods. "I'd been meaning to tell you. I got married and had three sons."
    "That's wonderful news."
    "Huey, Dewey, and Louie. They're delightful, but have speech impediments and very short legs."

Some of the scenes with Sigrid were my absolute favorites in the novel, particularly the Psycho bit (saying anything more could prove too much of a spoiler). And although the crime plot was somewhat understated, I was fascinated (and appalled) by some of the insight into Serbian/Kosovar hostilities and the cycle of violence. The contrast of different nationalities and ethnicities—Norwegian, American, Jewish, Serbian, Kosovar—and their effects on various characters' way of life and way of thinking elevate a simple plot into something far more.

Norwegian by Night is a quiet thriller with literary bones. Despite a few lengthy expositions and a somewhat ambiguous ending, it offers something different and interesting to the crime fiction genre as it addresses a number of important issues—war, personal and ethnic identity, and aging—with compassion, insight, and humor.

Spring 2014 Giveaway Winners + Last Chance Giveaway

And the winners are...
# 46  Margaret
# 53  Bambi B.
# 98  Stacie Downs
# 7 Britt A.
# 81 Tara
# 2  Britt A.
# 102  Stacie Downs
# 93  Tara
# 60  KarynsPlanit
# 83  Tara
# 74  Tara
# 34  Jada Redmon
# 12  Britt A.
# 39  Jada Redmon
#79 Tara

It looks like those bonus entries really paid off for some of you this time around! :)

....But wait! We still have one unclaimed book. For those of you who didn't win, Mother, Daughter, Me by Katie Hafner is now up for grabs. Maybe you missed out on the giveaway the first time around or simply didn't list it as one of your selections in the last round, but now's your second chance to win! The book goes to the first person to leave a comment below (be sure to leave your e-mail address so I can arrange pickup!)

Ready... Set...Go!

REVIEW: Splintered by A.G. Howard

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Audience: Teen/Young Adult
Series: Splintered #1

Summary:
Alyssa grew up knowing that she is a descendant of Alice Liddell—the girl who inspired Lewis Carroll's classic—and that the women in her family all eventually go crazy. Case in point: Alyssa's mother is in a mental ward, and her grandmother killed herself by jumping out a window in a misguided attempt to fly. She's the target of jokes at school and secretly terrified she will end up just like her mom; given her strange dreams and those pesky voices she hears, it's no wonder. After all, teenage girls aren't supposed to hear the constant, dire whisperings of plants and insects. At sixteen, Alyssa's not ready to end up in a padded cell of her own, so she keeps the voices to herself and chooses to ignore them.

Then everything Alyssa ever believed about herself and her family is flipped upside down. Turns out, Alice's adventures were (more or less) true. And now, because of the havoc Alice caused in Wonderland over a century ago, Alyssa's family is cursed. At least, that is what she is told by Morpheus, a darkly seductive, otherworldly boy who seems eerily familiar. Prodded by the mysterious boy, Alyssa finds her way to Wonderland, where she must navigate a world far more dangerous than Carroll's tale let on and undo the damage Alice left in her wake. Jeb, Alyssa's childhood friend and secret crush, also comes along for the ride.

First Lines:
"I've been collecting bugs since I was ten; it's the only way I can stop their whispers. Sticking a pin through the gut of an insect shuts it up pretty quick."

Tracy's Thoughts:
First, I want to say that the covers for this series are gorgeous and perfectly suited to the stories. Bold and vibrant with a creepy edge, they reflect the cinematic, almost Tim Burtonesque quality that makes Howard's Splintered novels so appealing. Here, Wonderland and its characters are familiar and yet darker, topsy-turvy in a completely new way. The reimagining of the Caterpillar, in particular, was a stroke of brilliance. Also, the faerie-like characters seem so naturally suited to Wonderland it is easy to forget they were not a part of Carroll's original story. Howard's Wonderland has a twisted, more mature vibe, but the surreal whimsy of the original tale remains in full effect. There is a gleeful madness here, but always the reader is aware that the madness could turn deadly.

As is expected in a YA fantasy novel, there is a love triangle between Alyssa, Morpheus, and Jeb. Morpheus, with his less-than-forthcoming instructions to Alyssa, his hidden agendas, and his constant air of flirtation, is a fascinating character. Like Wonderland, he repulses Alyssa even as she is drawn to him. Jeb, on the other hand, remains Alyssa's tie to the love, comfort, and relative sanity of the human world. But Jeb isn't all lightness and perfection either; frankly, his early reactions to Alyssa's obvious feelings seemed oblivious at best and almost cruel at times. But boy oh boy, does he make up for it! The book strongly reminds me of Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series and Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely books—and not just because of the romantic triangle.

My favorite part, though, it that the focus is not on Alyssa's romantic tangles. Instead, Splintered is a novel about a fish-out-of-water girl who discovers her true self and must then choose what self she wishes to be in the future. It is all about choice and self-discovery—all with the awesomely vivid, creeptastic backdrop of Wonderland.

FYI:
Unhinged, the sequel to Splintered, was published in January 2014 (review to come soon!) and just happens to be one of the titles up for grabs in our latest giveaway event! The giveaway ends at 12:00 a.m. this coming Wednesday (May 30th), so if you'd like your own copy of Unhinged, you'll want to enter the drawing ASAP!

GUEST REVIEW: Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty? And Other Notorious Nursery Tale Mysteries by David Levinthal and John Nickle

Rating: 4/5 Stars
Genre: Picture Book/Humor/Mystery/Fractured Fairy Tales
Audience: Ages 4–8

First lines: "There are eight million stories in the forest. This is one of them."

Allison's Guest Summary & Review:
With a title like this, I couldn’t help picking up this read. Officer Binky is a fun character, rife with all the characteristics of a gumshoe detective, who investigates the crimes occurring in five fairy tale classics. Kids will be familiar with these stories, retold afresh without reinvention, and complete with tongue in cheek references. But children will also be enthralled by Levinthal’s artwork–an appealing acrylic montage. All in all, this was a fun read, which should keep kids laughing!

Spring 2014 Giveaway!

Now that it looks like spring is here to stay—rain and all!—it's time for our annual Spring Giveaway here on Book News and Reviews. Although I don't have as many titles up for grabs as in some of our past giveaways, I do have some really, really good ones this go-around. Several are even still months away from their publication date, so this is truly an opportunity to read what could be the next big thing before it is discovered by everyone else!

As always, the rules of entry are at the end of the post. Please note that all prizes must be picked up at a BCPL location. Contest ends at 12:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 30, 2014. 

Here are the titles I have available:

Greenglass House by Kate Milford (August 2014)
It’s wintertime at Greenglass House. The creaky smuggler’s inn is always quiet during this season, and twelve-year-old Milo, the innkeepers’ adopted son, plans to spend his holidays relaxing. But on the first icy night of vacation, out of nowhere, the guest bell rings. Then rings again. And again. Soon Milo’s home is bursting with odd, secretive guests, each one bearing a strange story that is somehow connected to the rambling old house. As objects go missing and tempers flare, Milo and Meddy, the cook’s daughter, must decipher clues and untangle the web of deepening mysteries to discover the truth about Greenglass House—and themselves. –Publisher's Summary

Frida & Diego: Art, Love, Life by Catherine Reef (August 2014)

Nontraditional, controversial, rebellious, and politically volatile, the Mexican artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera are remembered for their provocative paintings as well as for their deep love for each other. Their marriage was one of the most tumultuous and infamous in history—filled with passion, pain, betrayal, revolution, and, above all, art that helped define the twentieth century. Catherine Reef's inspiring and insightful dual biography features numerous archival photos and full-color reproductions of both artists' work. –Publisher's Summary

Love by the Morning Star by Laura L. Sullivan (June 2014)
Upstairs, downstairs, and in which lady’s chamber?
   On the brink of World War II, two girls are sent to the grand English country estate of Starkers. Hannah, the half-Jewish daughter of a disgraced distant relative, has been living an artistic bohemian life in a cabaret in pre-war Germany and now is supposed to be welcomed into the family. Anna, the social-climbing daughter of working-class British fascists, is supposed to be hired as a maid so that she can spy for the Nazis. But there’s a mix-up, and nice Hannah is sent to the kitchen as a maid while arrogant Anna is welcomed as a relative.
   And then both girls fall for the same man, the handsome heir of the estate . . . or do they?
  In this sparkling, saucy romance, nearly everything goes wrong for two girls who are sent to a grand English estate on the brink of World War II—until it goes so very, very right!
–Publisher's Summary

Graduation Day by Joelle Charbonneau (June 2014)
Testing Trilogy #3
In a scarred and brutal future, The United Commonwealth teeters on the brink of all-out civil war. The rebel resistance plots against a government that rules with cruelty and cunning. Gifted student and Testing survivor, Cia Vale, vows to fight. But she can't do it alone. This is the chance to lead that Cia has trained for – but who will follow? Plunging through layers of danger and deception, Cia must risk the lives of those she loves—and gamble on the loyalty of her lethal classmates... The stakes are higher than ever—lives of promise cut short or fulfilled; a future ruled by fear or hope—in the electrifying conclusion to Joelle Charbonneau's epic Testing trilogy. Ready or not…it’s Graduation Day.

The Final Test is the Deadliest!  –Publisher's Summary

The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street by Susan Jane Gilman (June 2014)
In 1913, little Malka Treynovsky flees Russia with her family. Bedazzled by tales of gold and movie stardom, she tricks them into buying tickets for America. Yet no sooner do they land on the squalid Lower East Side of Manhattan, than Malka is crippled and abandoned in the street.

Taken in by a tough-loving Italian ices peddler, she manages to survive through cunning and inventiveness. As she learns the secrets of his trade, she begins to shape her own destiny. She falls in love with a gorgeous, illiterate radical named Albert, and they set off across America in an ice cream truck. Slowly, she transforms herself into Lillian Dunkle, "The Ice Cream Queen" -- doyenne of an empire of ice cream franchises and a celebrated television personality.

Lillian's rise to fame and fortune spans seventy years and is inextricably linked to the course of American history itself, from Prohibition to the disco days of Studio 54. Yet Lillian Dunkle is nothing like the whimsical motherly persona she crafts for herself in the media. Conniving, profane, and irreverent, she is a supremely complex woman who prefers a good stiff drink to an ice cream cone. And when her past begins to catch up with her, everything she has spent her life building is at stake.   –Publisher's Summary

Buzz Kill by Beth Fantaskey (May 2014)
To Bee or not to Bee? When the widely disliked Honeywell Stingers football coach is found murdered, 17-year-old Millie is determined to investigate. She is chasing a lead for the school newspaper – and looking to clear her father, the assistant coach, and prime suspect.

Millie's partner is gorgeous, smart—and keeping secrets
Millie joins forces with her mysterious classmate Chase who seems to want to help her even while covering up secrets of his own.

She’s starting to get a reputation…without any of the benefits.
Drama—and bodies—pile up around Millie and she chases clues, snuggles Baxter the so-ugly-he’s-adorable bassett hound, and storms out of the world’s most awkward school dance/memorial mash-up. At least she gets to eat a lot of pie.

Best-selling author Beth Fantaskey’s funny, fast-paced blend of Clueless and Nancy Drew is a suspenseful page-turner that is the best time a reader can have with buried weapons, chicken clocks, and a boy who only watches gloomy movies…but somehow makes Millie smile. Bee-lieve it.

 –Publisher's Summary

A Creature of Moonlight by Rebecca Hahn (May 2014)

As the only heir to the throne, Marni should have been surrounded by wealth and privilege, not living in exile—but now the time has come when she must choose between claiming her birthright as princess of a realm whose king wants her dead, and life with the father she has never known: a wild dragon who is sending his magical woods to capture her.

Fans of Bitterblue and Seraphina will be captured by a Creature of Moonlight, with its richly layered storytelling and the powerful choices its strong heroine must make. 
–Publisher's Summary

Dirt Bikes, Drones, and Other Ways to Fly by Conrad Wesselhoeft (April 2014)
Seventeen year-old dirt-bike-riding daredevil Arlo Santiago catches the eye of the U.S. military with his first-place ranking on a video game featuring drone warfare, and must reconcile the work they want him to do with the emotional scars he has suffered following a violent death in his family. Adios, Nirvana author Conrad Wesselhoeft, takes readers from the skies over war-torn Pakistan to the dusty arroyos of New Mexico's outback in this young adult novel about daring to live in the wake of unbearable loss. –Publisher's Summary

Cold Calls by Charles Benoit (April 2014)

Three high school students—Eric, Shelly, and Fatima—have one thing in common: “I know your secret.”

Each one is blackmailed into bullying specifically targeted schoolmates by a mysterious caller who whispers from their cell phones and holds carefully guarded secrets over their heads. But how could anyone have obtained that photo, read those hidden pages, uncovered this buried past? Thrown together, the three teens join forces to find the stranger who threatens them—before time runs out and their shattering secrets are revealed . . .

This suspenseful, pitch-perfect mystery-thriller raises timely questions about privacy, bullying, and culpability.  –Publisher's Summary

Crossover by Kwame Alexander (March 2014)

"With a bolt of lightning on my kicks . . .The court is SIZZLING. My sweat is DRIZZLING. Stop all that quivering. Cuz tonight I’m delivering," announces dread-locked, 12-year old Josh Bell. He and his twin brother Jordan are awesome on the court. But Josh has more than basketball in his blood, he's got mad beats, too, that tell his family's story in verse, in this fast and furious middle grade novel of family and brotherhood from Kwame Alexander (He Said, She Said 2013).

   Josh and Jordan must come to grips with growing up on and off the court to realize breaking the rules comes at a terrible price, as their story's heart-stopping climax proves a game-changer for the entire family.  –Publisher's Summary

Silver People: Voices from the Panama Canal by Margarita Engle (March 2014)
One hundred years ago, the world celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal, which connected the world’s two largest oceans and signaled America’s emergence as a global superpower. It was a miracle, this path of water where a mountain had stood—and creating a miracle is no easy thing. Thousands lost their lives, and those who survived worked under the harshest conditions for only a few silver coins a day.
   From the young "silver people" whose back-breaking labor built the Canal to the denizens of the endangered rainforest itself, this is the story of one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, as only Newbery Honor-winning author Margarita Engle could tell it.  –Publisher's Summary

Unhinged by A.G. Howard (January 2014)
Splintered #2 (Warning: Summary contains possible SPOILERS for Splintered)
Alyssa Gardner has been down the rabbit hole. She was crowned Queen of the Red Court and faced the bandersnatch. She saved the life of Jeb, the boy she loves, and escaped the machinations of the disturbingly appealing Morpheus. Now all she has to do is graduate high school.
That would be easier without her mother, freshly released from an asylum, acting overly protective and suspicious. And it would be much simpler if the mysterious Morpheus didn’t show up for school one day to tempt her with another dangerous quest in the dark, challenging Wonderland—where she (partly) belongs.
Could she leave Jeb and her parents behind again, for the sake of a man she knows has manipulated her before? Will her mother and Jeb trust her to do what’s right? Readers will swoon over the satisfying return to Howard’s bold, sensual reimagining of Carroll’s classic. 
–Publisher's Summary

Mother Daughter Me by Katie Hafner (2013)
A health and technology journalist documents the author's efforts to promote family bonds and healing during a haphazard year spent sharing a home in San Francisco with her complicated octogenarian mother and teenage daughter.   –NoveList

The Execution of Noa P. Singleton by Elizabeth L. Silver (2013)
Visited by a high-powered attorney who has initiated a clemency petition on her behalf and who is also the mother of her victim, death-row inmate Noa is slowly persuaded to share the events surrounding the murder in spite of her reluctance to reveal the whole story or have her life extended.   –NoveList

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers (2012)
His Fair Assassin #1
In the fifteenth-century kingdom of Brittany, seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where she learns that the god of Death has blessed her with dangerous gifts--and a violent destiny.  –NoveList

Rules of Entry

1. To enter the drawing, you must complete two tasks. 
First, you must leave a comment at the bottom of this post stating which ARCs you would like to receive. If you do not leave a comment at the bottom of the post, I will not know which prize(s) to give you if you win the drawing. You may choose up to five titles; you are not guaranteed to win your top choices, but I do my best. Second, you must log in to the Rafflecopter Widget with your e-mail address or Facebook account and Click "+1" and "Enter" on the widget only after you have posted your comment below. After completing the first task, you can also earn bonus entries by following the directions in the widget.

2.  All ARCs must be picked up at a Bullitt County Public Library location. Winners will be notified via e-mail and will be posted on this blog. Contest ends at 12:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 30, 2014.


Rafflecopter Widget: Enter the Giveaway Drawing Here
(Don't forget to leave your comment in the Comments section below!)
a Rafflecopter giveaway