Teen Reading Challenge Update

I’ve read 38 juvenile & teen books since January 1st & I’m halfway to my goal for total pages read. We’ll see how close I get… These are the books I read this week.

The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman ~ Working as a library page for the New York Circulating Material Repository, a lending library of objects, is more exciting than Elizabeth thought. When items start disappearing from the Grimm Collection (which contains magical items from fairytales) she and her new friends must discover who is behind the thefts before it’s too late! I loved this! The library is soooo cool! A great read especially if you’ve ever worked or wanted to work in a library.

 

 

Little Women & Me by Lauren Baratz-Logsted ~ When Emily finds herself dropped in the middle of Little Women during a school english assignment, she decides to “fix” some of the things she doesn’t like. Complications follow. I enjoyed revisiting Little Women, but Emily was hard to like. Also, am I the only person in the entire universe who is ok with Laurie & Jo not ending up together? 
 

 
Saving Juliet by Suzanne Selfors ~ I usually hate reading about Juliet, but Mimi (who is playing Juliet in her family’s theatre production and wants to escape the family business to become a doctor) was such a fun character that I didn’t mind. I think I was supposed to care about Juliet though, which I really didn’t…

 
 

 Choke by Obert Skye ~ I had a hard time getting into this sequel to Pillage. I’m waiting for the final book to make my final judgement.

Review – The Dopple Ganger Chronicles by G. P. Taylor

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just discovered the Dopple Ganger Chronicles by british author G.P. Taylor. I’m not a huge graphic novel fan but these are AMAZING! They’re from Tyndale house (Yay them!) and they’re for ages 8-12. I’m going to have to buy them. They’re similar to The Invention of Hugo Cabret in style, and they’re called illustranovellas. (How awesome is that word?!) See Teenreads interview with Taylor here.

~Summary~
At Isambard Dunstan’s School for Wayward Children, life is trouble for 14-year-old identical twins Sadie and Saskia Dopple and their friend, former thief Erik Morrisey Ganger. But what starts out as a perfectly normal day of food fights, rioting classmates, fires, and (yawn) threats of expulsion goes suddenly and horribly wrong when a mysterious, wealthy woman appears at the school and adopts Saskia . . . without her sister.

On her own in a mansion full of dark secrets, Saskia stumbles upon a conspiracy that threatens her very life. Meanwhile, in a desperate attempt to find her, Sadie and Erik escape from the orphanage with a gang of enemies in hot pursuit. Faced with madmen, wild dogs, treasure seekers, and an otherworldly visitor with a secret message, the trio must decide who to trust—and what to believe—if they are to survive long enough to find each other again.

Coming in March!

Eeek!!! Kacy Barnett-Gramckow is writing again! I LOVED her Genesis Trilogy. She’s writing under a different name, R. J. Larson, way confusing, but the new series is teen and it’s about a girl prophet! Sweet!!!!!!! Check out her blog for more info.

Replication by Jill Williamson

Summary ~ Martyr—otherwise known as Jason 3:3—is one of hundreds of clones kept in a remote facility called Jason Farms. Told that he has been created to save humanity, Martyr has just one wish before he is scheduled to “expire” in less than a month. To see the sky. Abby Goyer may have just moved to Alaska, but she has a feeling something strange is going on at the farm where her father works. But even this smart, confident girl could never have imagined what lies beneath a simple barn. Or what would happen when a mysterious boy shows up at her door, asking about the stars.

Jill Williamson is the author of the Blood of Kings Trilogy which I really liked. She is also a two-time Christy award winner. I was really excited to hear that she was going to be writing for Zondervan. (Kudos to them for paying attention, their teen line-up is great.)

I loved Replication, but it needed to be longer! I wanted more dialogue between Abby & Martyr and more description of Alaska. (Hopefully a sequel is forthcoming) The interaction between Abby and her peers is the strongest part of this story. Abby immediately attracts the attention of JD, a rich, popular jock who is also smart. Oh no, triple threat! JD’s problem is that he can’t make up his mind whether to be a jerk or a likable guy. Abby doesn’t want to write him off without reason, but she is determined not to be taken advantage of. It’s refreshing to read about a girl who isn’t just another victim. The contrast between JD and Martyr and how they treat Abby is very well done. I hope I haven’t seen the last of the Jasons!

Find out more about Replication here.

Team Novel Teen is a group of bloggers dedicated to spreading the word about clean teen fiction. Check out other posts about Replication: The Jason Experiment by Jill Williamson by clicking on the links above, and check out www.NovelTeen.com for more information about Team Novel Teen.

Audacious Reader • The Book Fae • Books I Recommend • Book Nook 4 You • Bookworm Reading • Christian Bookshelf Reviews • Fiction Fire • Gillian Adams • Jill Williamson • Katie McCurdy • Kurly Katie’s Ruminations • My Story Shelf • The Pen and Parchment • Rachelle Rea • SLY Games • Terri Harr

Terrorists + Karate + Andrew Klaven = Awesome

 
If you or your teenage boy isn’t reading this series y’all are seriously deprived. The Last Thing I Remember was a 2011-2012 Truman Reader award nominee. I read these in less than two days.

the last thing Charlie West remembers when he wakes up in a torture chamber is going to bed after a normal day. Karate, girls, annoying history teachers, normal stuff. He escapes the terrorist torture chamber, but what was he doing there in the first place? Then the police want to arrest him! Who can Charlie trust? Is Charlie the good guy he thought he was? Knowing how to make the right choices, good vs. evil, and patriotism are major themes and Charlie (aside from almost unbelievably awesome karate skills) deals with them like any other kid. Amazing series from Andrew Klavan!

Up late. Again.

I don’t know how everyone else feels about the Tudor era, but I kind of think it’s been done to death. So when I saw To Die For by Sandra Byrd I was like, “Not another novel about Anne Boleyn!” I started it right before bedtime last night planning to read for about half an hour. Two hours later… I didn’t expect it to be good! Well it is. We all know how the story ends right? I still had to read the end before I could go to sleep. Ridiculous I know. Great historical detail, engaging characters, etc. Highly recommended, but only if you don’t mind staying up reading past your bedtime.

Human Trafficking Hits Home

I’m blogging for my real job today. See my post about human trafficking and the book Girls Like Us here.