Cinders & Sapphires

Cinders & Sapphiresby Leila Rasheed

From the publisher:
"One house, two worlds...

Rose Cliffe has never met a young lady like her new mistress. Clever, rich, and beautiful, Ada Averley treats Rose as an equal. And Rose could use a friend. Especially now that she, at barely sixteen, has risen to the position of ladies' maid. Rose knows she should be grateful to have a place at a house like Somerton. Still, she can't help but wonder what her life might have been had she been born a lady, like Ada.

For the first time in a decade, the Averleys have returned to Somerton, their majestic ancestral estate. But terrible scandal has followed Ada's beloved father all the way from India. Now Ada finds herself torn between her own happiness and her family's honor. Only she has the power to restore the Averley name-but it would mean giving up her one true love ... someone she could never persuade her father to accept.

Sumptuous and enticing, the first novel in the At Somerton series introduces two worlds, utterly different yet entangled, where ruthless ambition, forbidden attraction, and unspoken dreams are hidden behind dutiful smiles and glittering jewels. All those secrets are waiting ... at Somerton."

Take every plot point from Downton Abbey, make it incredibly stupid, and you have Cinders & Sapphires . The gay valet and master; the conniving, evil lady's maid; the sweet and loyal lady's maid; the foreign lover; the innocent valet being accused of murder; and the list goes on and on. It took every bit of will-power to not quit reading this. I really wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Suggested ages:
Publisher's Weekly - Ages 12+
School Library Journal - Grades 8+

Liesl & Po

Liesl & Poby Lauren Oliver

From the publisher:
"Liesl lives in a tiny attic bedroom, locked away by her cruel stepmother. Her only friends are the shadows and the mice,until one night a ghost appears from the darkness. It is Po, who comes from the Other Side. Both Liesl and Po are lonely, but together they are less alone.
That same night, an alchemist's apprentice, Will, bungles an important delivery. He accidentally switches a box containing the most powerful magic in the world with one containing something decidedly less remarkable.
Will's mistake has tremendous consequences for Liesl and Po, and it draws the three of them together on an extraordinary journey.
From New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver comes a luminous and magnificent novel that glows with rare magic, ghostly wonders, and a true friendship that lights even the darkest of places."

I wanted to love this book, and as a child I'm pretty sure I would have loved this book, but as a cynical adult I only liked it. I liked the fairy tale, magical feeling of the book. I liked the writing. I disliked that the adults in the story were all so evil, with the exception of Mo who was really just an adult child. Couldn't we have had SOME adults that were not pure evil? I found it distracting to have Po always referred to as "it". I understand the reason behind it, but it kind of thre...moreI wanted to love this book, and as a child I'm pretty sure I would have loved this book, but as a cynical adult I only liked it. I liked the fairy tale, magical feeling of the book. I liked the writing. I disliked that the adults in the story were all so evil, with the exception of Mo who was really just an adult child. Couldn't we have had SOME adults that were not pure evil? I found it distracting to have Po always referred to as "it". I understand the reason behind it, but it kind of threw me every time. I loved the illustrations in the book, they were beautiful and mystical and magical. However, I think my favorite thing about Liesl & Po was the author's note at the end. Particularly this paragraph: "... Liesl & Po is the embodiment of what writing has always been for me at its purest and most basic - not a paycheck, certainly; not an idea, even; and not an escape. Actually, it is the opposite of an escape; it is a way back in , a way to enter and make sense of a world that occasionally seems harsh and terrible and mystifying." I'm glad I have this book in our library and I hope many of our students read it. I'm sure they will love it Suggested Ages: Publisher's Weekly - Ages 8-12 School Library Journal - Grades 5-8

Etiquette and Espionage

Etiquette & Espionageby Gail Carriger

From the publisher:
"Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is the bane of her mother's existence. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper etiquette at tea--and god forbid anyone see her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. She enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But little do Sophronia or her mother know that this is a school where ingenious young girls learn to finish, all right--but it's a different kind of finishing. Mademoiselle Geraldine's certainly trains young ladies in the finer arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but also in the other kinds of finishing: the fine arts of death, diversion, deceit, espionage, and the modern weaponries. Sophronia and her friends are going to have a rousing first year at school."

I'm not a fan of the steampunk genre, but with a tag line from author Marie Lu saying it was "absolutely charming, comical and full of whimsy... It is the perfect steampunk version of Harry Potter.", I thought it had possibilities. It wasn't terrible, it just wasn't really up my alley. To me it was mildly enjoyable. And the end really seemed like it was building up to go somewhere exciting and then it just kind of fell flat. And the ridiculous names of the characters kind of threw me, as well. H...moreI'm not a fan of the steampunk genre, but with a tag line from author Marie Lu saying it was "absolutely charming, comical and full of whimsy... It is the perfect steampunk version of Harry Potter.", I thought it had possibilities. It wasn't terrible, it just wasn't really up my alley. To me it was mildly enjoyable. And the end really seemed like it was building up to go somewhere exciting and then it just kind of fell flat. And the ridiculous names of the characters kind of threw me, as well. However, it is a fun world to read about, it seems age appropriate for the intended audience (the main character is 14), and the characters, despite their weird names, were engaging. I hope my middle schoolers will give it a chance. Areas of concern: There might have been a handful of mild cuss words, but I don't really remember any. Hallelujah there was no love-triangle, in fact not really any romance at all. A very clean read.

Taken

Takenby Erin Bowman

From the publisher:
"There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends…and he’s gone.

They call it the Heist.

Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive.

Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?"

Two of my favorite clean YA authors highly recommended this book, so I ordered it for our library, but I disliked this book on so many levels I was glad when I finally finished it.  The main character was completely obnoxious and I really didn't care what happened to him. There was no chemistry whatsoever between the main character and his 2 love interests. There are some very disturbing parts about sleeping around to propagate the race, and I never really understood the world building.  Teenagers might possibly like this better than I did. Areas of concern: The above mentioned sleeping around, which they call "slatings".  I don't remember much bad language at all.  Really a pretty clean read without the whole slatings thing.  And that is just talked about as everyday life, but never anything detailed. There is violence as they are fighting a war (which is never really explained well).  An evil government head (obligatory in dystopian books) who experiments on people and has people executed. Suggested Ages: Kirkus Reviews - Ages 12-18 School Library Journal - Grades 8+

Dangerous

Dangerous
by Shannon Hale

From the publisher:
"Maisie Danger Brown just wanted to get away from home for a bit, see something new. She never intended to fall in love. And she never imagined stumbling into a frightening plot that kills her friends and just might kill her, too. A plot that is already changing life on Earth as we know it. There's no going back. She is the only thing standing between danger and annihilation.

From NY Times bestselling author Shannon Hale comes a novel that asks, How far would you go to save the ones you love? And how far would you go to save everyone else?"

Let me start by saying I'm not a Shannon Hale fan. I read and didn't like Austenland , I read The Princess Academy and The Goose Girl and only mildly liked them. So when I saw this one, I thought I would give it a try because I'm not really fond of princess-y books, so maybe this one would be more up my alley. It definitely was. So probably the intense Shannon Hale fans will like it less :). While there were definite flaws in the story - it starts out so quickly that it is hard to form relationships with Luther and with Maisie's parents because they were suddenly gone and we moved on to the next part of the book - I really enjoyed it once we got to the tokens. So here's how it fanned out for me: First part was kind of blah, after the tokens came into force I thought it was really exciting and good, then the whole alien thing came into force and I thought it was a little weird. However, on the whole I quite enjoyed the book. I really liked the characters, especially Maisie Danger Brown, and I appreciated that she had a really good relationship with her parents, although several of the other characters had lousy ones.

Areas of concern: There is quite a bit of kissing, a couple find themselves staying in a one room apartment sharing the same mattress on the floor. Nothing happens beyond kissing, although it is discussed and the male character assures the girl he has "protection". One of the male characters is a real player and hook-ups are mentioned.
Quite a bit of violence - several key characters are killed by other key characters, and there is a lot of bloodshed and tension about loved ones.
No bad language, although one character cusses alot, but the author uses bleepity-bleeps saying that the main character doesn't like the language.\

Suggested Ages:
Kirkus Reviews - Ages 12-18
Publisher's Weekly - Ages 12+

The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles

The Last of the Really
Great Whangdoodles
by Julie Andrews Edwards

From the publisher:
"Ben, Tom and Lindy Potter are ordinary children. They lead ordinary lives - until they meet the brilliant Professor Savant. He tells them all about the Whangdoodles, the wise and magical creatures who once lived on earth but then disappeared to another land, and were forgotten forever. Except by Professor Savant and the three children, who are determined to visit Whangdoodleland, where the last of the really great Whangdoodles rules over his kingdom of fantastic creatures. Getting there isn't easy. The children must look "beyond" the ordinary, and see things in a completely different way. It's hard and dangerous work, and sometimes it seems that they'll never reach the Whangdoodle's castle. But little by little the children learn that with a bit of imagination, "anything" is possible."

This book is meant to stir the imagination, and I think it will do that for middle schoolers.  However, as an adult reading it, I found it very hard to get into.  I had read so many good reviews of this book, and I absolutely loved the author's book Mandy , so I was very disappointed that this one couldn't hold my attention.  I guess I'm too old to appreciate it, or maybe I should have been wearing a "scrappy cap" while reading. Hopefully elementary and middle school kids can still appreciate it, although it is a little dated (1974, I think) and the word "gross" was way over-used.

Areas of concern:
Nothing. There were parts that were trying to build tension, but didn't really succeed, so it would be good for all ages. Even a read-aloud for younger elementary students.

The Testing

The Testing
by Joelle Charbonneau

From the publisher:
"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Isn’t that what they say? But how close is too close when they may be one in the same?

The Seven Stages War left much of the planet a charred wasteland. The future belongs to the next generation’s chosen few who must rebuild it. But to enter this elite group, candidates must first pass The Testing—their one chance at a college education and a rewarding career.

Cia Vale is honored to be chosen as a Testing candidate; eager to prove her worthiness as a University student and future leader of the United Commonwealth. But on the eve of her departure, her father’s advice hints at a darker side to her upcoming studies--trust no one.

But surely she can trust Tomas, her handsome childhood friend who offers an alliance? Tomas, who seems to care more about her with the passing of every grueling (and deadly) day of the Testing. To survive, Cia must choose: love without truth or life without trust."

I really enjoyed this book. The idea of the testing was intriguing, I felt very connected to the characters- even the secondary family members - and I thought the world building was really good. There was a lot of tension wondering who to trust and whether the main character was making the right decision. Is this book completely and totally original? No. But the dystopian genre is flooded with books that all resemble each other. There were similarities to other books in the genre, but there were...moreI really enjoyed this book. The idea of the testing was intriguing, I felt very connected to the characters- even the secondary family members - and I thought the world building was really good. There was a lot of tension wondering who to trust and whether the main character was making the right decision. Is this book completely and totally original? No. But the dystopian genre is flooded with books that all resemble each other. There were similarities to other books in the genre, but there were also some really original plot points, and the ending blew me away! How is everything going to work out? I'm very glad the next book in the trilogy is now out, and the last comes out in June. No waiting a whole year in between! I strongly recommend this one! Areas of concern: There is violence, but it wasn't as graphic or as intense as The Hunger Games or Divergent . There were a few kisses and a handful of cuss words.  Suggested Ages: Publisher's Weekly - Ages 12+ School Library Journal - Grades 7+