Delcroix Academy: The Candidates (book 1)

Delcroix Academy: The Candidates by Inara Scott (ARC). Hyperion 08/2010.

Audience: Ages 13+, Grades 7-10

My Rating: 3*s of 5

Summary: Dancia Lewis' otherwise mediocrity is a welcome cover for her secret: whenever she sees a person threatening someone she cares about, things just...happen. Cars skid. Structures collapse. Usually someone gets hurt. When recruiters from the prestigious and mysterious Delcroix Academy show up in her living room to offer her a full scholarship, Dancia's days of living under the radar may be over.

Comments: A debut novel with a strong premise and love triangle (do I smell a "Team Cam" and "Team Jack" campaign!?) that keeps the sometimes sluggish pace afloat. My biggest stumbling block...the names. "Delcroix" and "Dancia" sound so awkward to me that they tripped up my eyeballs every time. There are some interesting developments at the end of book 1, but not a major cliffhanger as I anticipated.

Awards:

Read-alikes: Twilight, etc., Vampire Academy

Will Grayson, Will Grayson (collecting quotes while I listen)

Loved this book enough the first time to now experience the audio fabulousness (complete with singing!) and collect a few choice cuts this time. [owg=Green; wg=Levithan]

owg: "You like someone who can’t like you back because unrequited love can be survived in a way that once-requited love cannot."

wg: “...because Isaac has become the one the songs are about.”

owg: "i know it sucks, but in a way, it’s good....love and truth being tied together, i mean. they make each other possible, you know?

owg: “She kisses like a sweet devouring, and I don’t know where to touch her because I want all of her."

wg: "when things break, it's not the actual breaking that prevents them from getting back together again. it's because a little piece gets lost. the two remaining ends couldn't fit together even if they wanted to. the whole shape has changed."

owg: [discussing Schrödinger's cat with Jane] "It seems to me that all the things we keep in sealed boxes are both alive and dead until we open the box. That the unobserved is both there and not...I chose the closed box."
Jane: "They eventually figured out that keeping the box closed doesn't actually keep the cat alive and dead...keeping the box closed just keeps you in the dark, not the universe."

owg: "It's hard to believe in coincidence, but it's even harder to believe in anything else."

wg: "i just want to be myself and i wanna be with someone who's just himself, that's all. i want to see through all the performance and all the pretending and get right to the truth."

wg: "this is why we call people 'exes' i guess because the paths they cross in the middle end up separating at the end. it's too easy to see an ex/x as a crossout--it's not. because there is no way to cross out something like that. the ex/x is a diagram of two paths."

owg: "Since when is the person you want to screw the only person you get to love?"

Tiny: "Love is the most common miracle. Love is always a miracle...everywhere...every time."

[curtain]

Possessions: Unclean Getaway

Possessions: Unclean Getaway (bk. 1) by Ray Fawkes, 2010.

Meet Gurgazon the Unclean, the cuddliest little pit demon ever trapped in the Llewellyn-Vane House for Captured Spirits and Ghostly Curiosities! This pit demon may look just like a cute little 5-year-old girl, but it isn't interested in playing checkers with other ghosts. The Gurgazon is determined to escape! Will the house contain it? Or will the world of peace and friendly bunnies come to an end as the Gurgazon exacts its revenge?

BB: Fabulous, dark, demonic fun! Cute Pit Demon Gurgazon and Polly the Poltergeist had me giggling at the info desk! Great for graduates of Franny K. Stein, Series of Unfortunate..., or other sardonic stuff for tweens.

"Gurgazon is not entertainment! Gurgazon is your DOOM!"

Mwoo-ha-ha-ha!

The Books of Elsewhere: The Shadows

Reminiscent of Gaiman’s Coraline, Olive is a curious lonely girl that falls into a magical situation. Her parents decide to ditch dull generic apartment living for a kooky odd house. Sure enough the house has plenty of secrets mainly that it was formerly owned by accomplished witches that have figured out a way to remain immortal in order to keep their home. Their power has been stored in paintings, which Olive eventually figures out how to enter. There are helpful felines, long ago kidnapped characters now trapped in paintings and enchanted spectacles. All the supernatural elements blend well with reality and Olive is instantly likeable as the hero. The narrative is well written, evenly paced and fun. Jacqueline West has created an imaginative story filled with adventure and the main character never even leaves her house!

Turtle in Paradise

I am not usually a fan of kid's historical fiction. It is often trying so hard to illustrate life at that given point in time that it makes for tedious reading. This novel is nothing like that. This story loosely based on Jennifer L. Holm's own family history is quite entertaining. Turtle is 11 years old and living in New Jersey with her mom in 1935. She learns some things quick being the housekeeper's kid mainly that other kids can be really cruel. After her mother takes on work for a demanding woman who detests children, Turtle gets shipped down to her mom's home town in the Florida Keys to live with an aunt she has never even met. There she is surrounded by cousins-- all boys who due to their unique babysitting talents are known on the island as The Diaper Gang. She quickly experiences a completely different way of life and finds herself encountering people that know a lot about her even though she has never heard of them. The writing is excellent, detailed and interesting. Turtle seriousness is contrasted expertly with the island kids' wit and savvy. The ending is abrupt and a bit unbelievable, but the overall story is so strong that it is enjoyable just the same.

Falling In

Author: Frances O'Roark Dowell

Ages:9-12

On a scale of 1-5 this book is a 5

Eleven-year-old thrift-store-loving, dumpster-diving Isabelle Bean is different. The kind of different that makes other children avoid her and teachers suspect her of always being up to something. So, when she is again sent to the principal's office for inattention, she goes quite happily. Perhaps she will find the source of the mysterious buzzing coming through the floor of her classroom and up her feet, legs, and body to her ears. Reaching the principal's office she hears a squeak coming from the closet and upon opening the door falls in...to another world; a world of frightened villagers, dense, scary woods, and a child-eating witch. A world where Isabelle, in her favorite dumpster-rescued, pointy-toed, red boots is mistaken for the witch.

A fairy tale adventure that addresses universal themes of acceptance, fear of those who are different, and the destructive power of gossip and rumor.

Cicada Summer by Beaty

Cicada Summer by Andrea Beaty. 2008.
Audience: Grades 4-6
My Rating: 2*s of 5
Summary: Twelve-year-old Lily, believing she could have prevented the accident that caused her brother's death, has quit speaking leaving everyone to think that she is brain damaged, but in her silence she sees everything, and when sly newcomer Tinny comes to town, Lily suddenly has a lot to talk about--if only she can make herself speak the words.

Comments: A debut novel that has many of the right ingredients, but somehow the recipe is off. Lily's vow of silence is a strong concept, but it gets lost until the end of the book. The flashback chapters are unclear as is the unfolding timeline of the climax. Drama of Tinny's criminal ties seems forced.

Awards:
Read-alikes: