The Abused Werewolf RescueGgroup by Catherine Jinks

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Toby wakes up in the hospital after being found in a Dingo pen at the local zoo. His mom and doctors are concerned, but he seems healthy and goes home. Soon strangers come to his door to tell him that he is a werewolf; all of this in modern Australia. Because Catherine Jinks is not Stephanie Meyer, Toby and his mom don't just believe and accept what the mysterious strangers tell them. They do the normal and responsible thing, which is to threaten to call the police and kick the strangers out of there house. As it turns out, that is not the best thing for Toby. Soon he has been kidnapped by bad guys, who like to hold werewolf fights. Toby and a cast of characters come up against the bad guys to disastrous results.


One thing I always like about the Catherine Jinks books is that the parents are never useless. They always play a part in the story. I also like the way that there are crossover characters from The Reformed Vampire Support Group in this book. I loved that book and I ‘m glad to know what’s going on with them. I liked this book, but the story seems to stagnate near the end. We spend so much time in the bad guy’s house it starts to feel like we are really there, and we are never getting out. Maybe that’s what she was going for, because I felt like I could sympathize with Toby. I wanted out too. Some readers may love this story, but it was a little slow for me. I’m not saying not to read it, but be prepared for it to be not as good as The Reformed Vampire Support Group.

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Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon

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Nick is a street wise teen, who goes to a a fancy private school his single mom can't afford.  When he gets involved in a mugging, and a mysterious stranger rescues him, Nick is caught up i a strange adventure.  He has to save himself, friends, his future, his mom, and all this while battling an angry swarm of zombies.

This is the first in a series called the Chronicles of Nick.  We find out about who he is and a little about his future.  I liked the story and the idea that future Nick is trying to help past Nick.  Percy Jackson fans will like the story because it features a greek goddess, and because it is a multilayered story featuring a regular kid forced into a series of unusual and dangerous events.  I would recommend this to teen guys who enjoy adventure and zombie stories.

Beastly by Alex Flinn

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Kyle is the perfect person. He is beautiful, smart, athletic, and goes to the most prestigious school in New York. His father is rich and famous so he has all of the material possessions a person could ever want. His life is perfect until the curse. Doomed by his own hurtful prank he is transformed into a beast. Now he has two years to find true love or remain a beast forever.

This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Set in modern times, and featuring a computer chat room for transformed people the story is fun and exciting. It gives new life to an old tale, while featuring some of the more classical elements of the story. I recommend this for people who like romance, and fairy tales. I can’t wait to see the movie that will be coming out in March 2011. From the movie previews I can see that Kyle is not a beast (with hair and fangs) but he is all scared up and pretty gross looking. I hope the movie is half as good as the book.

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

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Move over Harry Potter... Hogwarts has nothing on Hex Hall.  Sophie is a witch.  Her dad is a warlock and her mom is a regular person.  When her magic gets out of control she is sentenced to an education at Hecate Hall; a school for magical creatures.  Now that she is living in the magical world she starts to realize how much she has missed out by living in the regular world.  Her new school has mean witchy girls, vampires, fairies, shapeshifters, and someone who is attacking girls in the school.  Sophie is intent on figuring out her magic and finding out who is really to blame for the attacks on the girls at school.  

I loved the book.  I read it in one night because it is such a fun and fast read.  None of the characters are one dimensional (even the villains have layers).  I was surprised by the end of the book because there is more than one twist.  This is a must read if you ever wondered what it would be like to have powers.

The Turning Book 1: What Curiosity Kills by Helen Ellis

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“Don’t worry Kitty, There’s no such thing as vampires.”  This is a great opening line for a book...What follows is Mary’s story.  When the stray cat brushes her legs with his tail,, and she starts to sprout orange fur, she knows that something about her is different.  When Nick, the super hot guy from school, tries to explain everything to her, she is exposed to the dangerous world of stray cats and New York back alleys.  Twilight fans will like the undercurrent of romance, and girls will like the varied strong female characters.  Fans of the Erin Hunter Warriors Series and everyone who likes felines will like this take on cat fiction.  

This was an interesting book.  The end was fun and a little cute.  This book is a quick and interesting read.  I loved Ms. Whiskers and all of the librarians.  It seems like this will be a series, since this one is called “Book 1”.