The Challenge Part 2

Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia Wrede

I hated this book.  I’m not sure what it was that made me loath it, but over all I just didn’t like the writing style, the characters, or the pace. The book is set in 19^th century England, but with magic as an everyday thing.  One cousin was in the country and the other was in the city to find a husband.  The story goes back and forth in the form of letters between the two.  I really thought this book would fit the book club requirements because it has mystery and sorcery and intrigue, but it just did not work for me.  I will say that a coworker of mine loved the book and thought it was one of the best mysteries that she had read in a while.   

Shadowland by Meg Cabot

So the main character is 16 and moving from New York City to California to live with her mom and new Father-in-Law.  She has always been able to see ghosts and she is freaked out to be moving to a new place and maybe new ghosts.  She is right of course.  Soon there is a handsome ghost haunting her bedroom and a mean ghost haunting her school.  I liked this one and I would recommend it to younger teens.  Meg Cabot is always an easy and fun read.

The New Policeman by Kate Thompson

This one is more fantasy than mystery.  It has to do with a boy who discovers that time is leaking out of the human world and into the fairy world.  He investigates and finds out about a crime his grandfather has been accused of and a lot about his family history.  The book features lots of Irish music and is interesting.  I think it would be good for adults who like Irish music and for teens who are advanced readers.  (Some of the Irish terms might slow down already struggling readers.)

The Season by Sarah Maclean

This is a very girly read.  Lady Alexandra does not want to be part of the dinner parties and grand balls that a wealthy lady in the 1900s is supposed to attend.  She is soon able to find distraction when she helps the handsome Gavin try to figure out if his father’s death was an accident or murder.  The idea for the book seems great, but the reality is a lot more romance and a lot less mystery.  Some people might really like that, but not me.  The story was well written and the dialog was interesting, but I wanted a mystery not a regency romance. 

Through Her Eyes by Jennifer Archer

If I’m telling the truth I didn’t read this one.  Normally I would just not do the review, but because this book was on the list I feel like I have to say something.  It was recommended to me by someone who likes ghost stories (which I also like).  She loved the book and thought the twist on a ghost story was original and cool.  After reading the back of the book I decided that it was not really a mystery so I don’t have time to read it now, but I might come back to it at another time.

LuLu Dark Can See Through Walls by Madison Bennett

LuLu is a teen girl living in a big city.  She and her friends go out to a club to see a new band and her purse gets stolen, along with the phone number of the super cute band front man.  She tries to find the purse and figure out why people keep saying that they saw her acting crazy at the club hours after she was at home and in bed.  She and her friends get pulled into a mystery involving murder and identity theft.  It could have been a serious story, but it wasn’t.  I didn’t mind because I like imperfect even silly main characters, (think Stephanie Plum) but if you like your sleuths a little more serious this is not the book for you.  This was a fun teen read with just a little romance. 

Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

What’s a high school senior supposed to do when her best friend has been murdered by a white werewolf and a crazy extremist group has come to her town in order hunt down the killer? Well she tries to move on with her life, which is really hard because her friend is haunting her dreams. In the end she tries to figure out who really killed her best friend.  I liked this story because it’s a mystery, ghost story, werewolf story, and urban fantasy.  I would have liked it better if it was not going to be a trilogy, but you can’t always get what you want.  

Clarity by Kim Harrington

A family of psychics lives in a small tourist town.  They do readings for the tourists and make enough money during the tourist season to last them the winter.  Everything is going ok for the mom, sister, and brother until a girl turns up dead.  Clarity (Clare) is the main character and she soon finds herself trying to solve the murder because her brother is the prime suspect.  The book moved fast and the characters are all realistic.  Because the mystery moves fast it leaves little time for angsty teen romance.  (There is a little time but not so much that I wanted to throw the book.)  Overall I liked the book and would recommend it to teens looking for a fast read.

Dead is the New Black by Marlene Perez

Daisy’s mom and sisters all have some supernatural / psychic ability and the book starts out with Daisy worrying that she will never come into her powers.  The mystery comes from the fact that her mother helps the police solve crimes.  When a seemingly unsolvable case comes up Daisy wants to prove to her family that she can help even without powers.  I liked the realistic interaction between the characters.  The mystery itself is a little thin, but the book is enjoyable. 

At the end of the day I chose to skip the supernatural and go for The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley.  My book club is an adult book club, but we only read Teen fiction.  I thought for a change we would read and Adult book that features a Teen (12 years old) main character.  We will see how that goes. 

 

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Click here to put this book on hold at your library.

After the death of his grandfather, Jacob, starts seeing odd things and is convinced that he needs to travel to the island where his grandfather grew up in order to reconcile the things his grandfather told him and what everyone else tells him. He finds adventure and a reality that he was not expecting.

It seemed that everyone was reading this book so I resisted for a long time.  A book club that I’m a member of picked this book and I read it.  The book started out strong with an interesting premise and a realistic main character.  As the story went on I found myself predicting what would happen and being disappointed with the way the story was being told.  That said, it is a book for teens so maybe they would not see the ending coming from a mile away.  The pictures are very cool and it’s nice to have an mystery/adventure to give to teen guys. 

Guy Langman: Crime Scene Procrastinator by Josh Berk

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Guy (16) and his best friend Anoop join the forensics club at school soon after Guy’s father’s death.  It is a way to keep his mind off of his dad.  Right from the start Guy makes jokes, slacks off, and is generally a pain in the butt.  To spite his behavior he genuinely likes learning the science, so when a real body turns up Guy and Anoop are determined to solve the crime.

I liked the story but I think it would have been better without the real crime.  There is enough going on with Guy, his mom, the cute girl in forensics, and Anoop that solving the mystery of the body was not really necessary.  The book is funny and sweet.  I would recommend this for guys who like to read humorous realistic stories. 

Blood on My Hands by Todd Strasser

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Callie is at a party when she starts looking for her best frenemy. As she is walking by the dugout she trips over the body. What’s a sensible girl to do but feel for a pulse? No pulse but lots of blood all over Katherine and Callie. What’s that shiny object next to the body? Maybe Callie should pick it up…Oh it’s a knife (the murder weapon). Snap. Snap. Snap. Everyone from the party with a phone is taking pictures of Callie covered in Katherine’s blood and holding the murder weapon. Now Callie is on the run in her small town. She is trying to prove she is innocent by avoiding the cops and doing her own investigation.

The ending was a bit of a surprise, but this is my least favorite Todd Strasser book. His stories are usually a little tighter. The motive is a little shaky for my taste and some of the characters are a little one dimensional until the big reveal at the end of the story. I would read Wish You Were Dead by Strasser instead.

Blink and Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones

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Blink is a sixteen year old runaway who spends his time stealing rich kid’s clothes so he can sneak into hotels and eat left over room service before housekeeping cleans up the hallways. Caution is a runaway living with an abusive, drug dealing boyfriend. When Blink sees a not quite kidnapping, and Caution runs away with some serious drug money their lives are thrown into turmoil. Fortunately they find and try to help each other. Unfortunately they are facing double the trouble trying to solve the kidnapping mystery and stay alive.


Why is it that whenever I read a gritty and unusual urban fiction book it’s almost always set in Canada? Those Canadians know how to keep me interested, even without spells or the walking dead. This book is written in a fast and exciting way. Guys who don’t want to read will be sucked into Blink’s story. There’s no flowery prose here, but somehow the story gets told…and it’s told well. The blunt way the story is told mirrors the blunt and rough way these teens are living, without being to over the top.  There’s some cussing, and drugs, and a whole lot of violence, but what do you expect from a mystery book written about runaways. My advice is to Read It.

Virals by Kathy Reichs

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Tory moves to a remote island to live with her dad near the research facility where he works. There are other teens on the island and they become friends. After Tory saves a wild wolf dog from an experiment, she and her friends are infected with a virus that gives them heightened senses and reflexes. The virus turns them into Virals. Now they are similar to the wolf dogs that the infection came from; they are a pack. They use their new abilities to try and solve a murder.


This book never took off for me. I read it and kept waiting for the exciting part to happen, but it never did. The beginning was slow, and there was a lot of background and build up about the relationship of the group. Once they were infected and started to have the special abilities, it was still slow. On the front cover James Patterson gives the book an endorsement. I think the book is trying to appeal to fans of the Maximum Ride series, but the book lacks the fast action and believable friendship in the group of teens. It reads less like a teen book, and more like what an adult thinks being a teen is like. This was not the book for me, but it might be for you. Let me know what you thought.

The Agency: A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee

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In 1853 London, Mary is an orphan who is sentenced to be hanged for stealing. She is soon rescued and offered a place in a home for girls. She attends school and becomes a young lady. When she turns seventeen she is no longer satisfied with the life of a school teacher. She wants something more, so she talks to the headmistress of the school and is let in on a secret. The school is a front for an all-female agency that investigates crimes. Mary is soon the newest agent and gets her first assignment. She must find out information about a merchant by posing as a ladies companion to his daughter.


This was not the book for me. I’m not much of a historical fiction reader, and I like books with stories that unfold a little faster than this. That said the book is well written, and historically accurate. The manners, actions, and crimes are realistic for the time period. Mary is a strong and intelligent female character with a quick wit and the ability to fight. I would recommend this book to girls who like historical fiction.

You Killed Wesley Payne by Sean Beaudoin

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Dalton is a private dick. He's a teenaged detective for hire. The case; find out who in Salt River High killed Wesley Payne. Dalton works for the Wesley's sister to try and find out who killed her brother. Also at stake is a missing hundred thousand dollars. To solve the crime, and get paid, he has to outsmart an evil principal, dirty cops, and try not to get killed by one of the power hungry cliques trying to find the money.


Dalton is a funny and slick Sam Spade character. The book is great and really pulls you in. It reads like an old fashioned pulp fiction novel. Dalton tries to be a hardboiled detective and take care of his family while solving the crime. He faces bad guys, cliques, and slang that makes me thank god and the author for the glossary in the back. There are some mild curse words, most of them made up, some violence, and a little romance. Nothing that made me blush. I would recommend this for older readers who like a lot of action, and a good mystery.