How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier

Jenn's Pick!

In New Avalon, most people have invisible fairies that provide them with some handy talent or skill. There are loose change fairies, which help their people find loose change. Her friend has a shopping fairy that helps people find great outfits (that are always on sale!) Charlie hates her fairy. She has a parking fairy. She's 14, she can't drive, but people always want her to ride along, so they get good parking spots. She's trying to drive her fairy away by never riding in cars or buses. She hopes if she can get rid of the parking fairy she'll get a new, better fairy. Avoiding cars is causing her some trouble. She keeps getting demerits for being late. Then, her arch-nemesis Fiorenze, who has a fairy that makes every boy her age fall in love with her, decides to help Charlie ditch her fairy. Why would Fiorenze be an expert? Who could possibly want to rid themselves of such a perfect fairy?

Graceling by Kristin Cashore was a fun adventuresome read. In the story are individuals with special abilities. They live in a country divided by seven kingdoms set in medieval times. Graced individuals are easy to identify; though one might not know their particular inborn skill. The skills can be useful or useless and run the gamut from climbing trees to weather forecasting. Kings acquire useful graced individuals for their courts to do their bidding. In this story, one King possesses the ultimate politician grace unbeknown to those around him. Unfortunately, he seems bent on taking over the entire land. He's eventually found out. Lady Katsa, an ultimate killing machine from one of the other courts confronts the evil king and nearly succumbs to his lies.

Kin : The Good Neighbors by Holly Black

Jenn's Pick!

Rue Silver's mother has disappeared, and her father has been arrested, suspected of killing both Rue's mother and another college age girl. As Rue attempts to get to the bottom of these mysteries, she learns that her mother was a faerie. Rue is half-faerie. Her mother has disappeared because of a broken promise and if Rue has any hope of getting her back she'll have to go to the faerie world. She must face her own identity and her true family and deal with a fate darker than she expected.

Emperors of the Ice by Richard Farr is a story within a story of the ill-fated Robert F. Scott expedition to the South Pole 1910-1912. It tells of gathering penguin eggs and other adventures in the face of gale force winds and extremely cold temperatures. The bounds of human endurance seem incredible. The fictionalized slant to very real accounts made for an authentic convincing read. Those early explorers were tough. It is told from the point of view of Apsley Cherry-Garrard. He was a wealthy Oxford graduate who showed real optimism in the face of adversity and seemed willing to take on any challenge. Inwardly, however, he was conflicted.

After the ordeal, Cherry (his nickname) wrote a memoir entitled, The Worst Journey in the World which may be downloaded at http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14363 .

Out of the Pocket by Bill Konigsberg is about a popular, talented senior high school quarterback in Southern California. Bobby realizes that he is gay and comes out of the closet sooner than he intends. Bobby’s story is about being honest with yourself – It is about breaking barriers. As Finch, a high school reporter who covertly records and publishes an interview in which the quarterback admits to being gay later says:”Bobby, everyone likes you. You think being gay will stop people …” Bobby gets the better of Finch in fine style. More than that, the story is about the reactions by everyone in Bobby's social sphere including his parents. I liked near the end when a news reporter asked Bobby how it felt to be an openly gay quarterback leading his team to the championship."I don't know, [Bobby replied] kinda like being an openly straight quarterback but with more media attention on me..."

Right Behind You by Gail Giles - 

Great book featuring a teenager who set a boy on fire causing his death. The teenager has just been released from a detention facility to the care of his father. Coming to grips with the past and hope for a brighter future are the focal points of this fine story.

Bog Child by Siobhan Down was a page turner, although a few of the Irish expressions slowed me down a bit. I knew next to nothing about the politics of Ireland especially in 1981 when this story is set. I got more of a grasp of the ordinariness of people involved in political conflicts by reading this book. I could easily imagine the characters involved. 16 year-old Fergus McCann is an athlete and a student. He finds the body of a girl in a peat bog – she’s met a violent end. Fergus dreams about her. Themes involving the final days of the AD 80 bog child Mel become intertwined with those of Fergus who becomes involved with the resistance. From the fly leaf, the story involves, “sacrifices made in the name of peace, and the unflinching strength of the human spirit.”