REVIEW: Invisible, by Carla Buckley

Invisible: A Novel
Published 2012

Growing up, Dana Carlson and her older sister, Julie, are inseparable-Dana the impulsive one, Julie calmer and more nurturing. But then a devastating secret compels Dana to flee from home, not to see or speak to her sister for sixteen years.

When she receives the news that Julie is seriously ill, Dana knows that she must return to their hometown of Black Bear, Minnesota, to try and save her sister. Yet she arrives too late, only to discover that Black Bear has changed, and so have the people in it.

Julie has left behind a shattered teenage daughter, Peyton, and a mystery-what killed Julie may be killing others, too. Why is no one talking about it? Dana struggles to uncover the truth, but no one wants to hear it, including Peyton, who can't forgive her aunt's years-long absence. Dana had left to protect her own secrets, but Black Bear has a secret of its own-one that could tear apart Dana's life, her family, and the whole town.

This is NOT a young adult book--hence, the "Adult for YA" label.

Two voices tell this story. Dana, a long-estranged sister who returns home just in time to discover that her sister has died, and she didn't even know she was ill. And Peyton, a teenager trying desperately to determine who she is while grieving the loss of her mother. Dana's is the strong, independent voice of a woman with regrets and determined to fix what she can of them. Peyton's "story" is told through her love of marine biology. She relates every life lesson to marine animals and how the environment for them works. It's just how she thinks.

Each starts on a quest for answers to just what happened to Peyton's mom/Dana's sister, and what is happening to people all through town. While each is on her own journey for an answer, they soon discover that the road is the same.

Okay..so that's the "Jodi Picoult-like" part about the book. Just a good, heart-wrenching read. But there's also a little science fiction/mystery to the story. Nanotechnology is still relatively new to the general public, so to read about ways and places and THINGS it's used in was shocking and a little scary.

As far as the story goes, it's excellently done. You get attached to the characters and need to feel closure for them more than for yourself as a reader. Everything about it is believable, though it was hard to believe that this could really happen--in the "I don't want to believe it could" kind of way.

What do you think??

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this ebook galley from Random House Publishing Group through the netGalley publisher/reader connection program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

National Gallery of Art-Online Tours

 

 

 

National Gallery of Art--Online Tours

I found this site the other day when one of my Facebook friends shared a link to the NGA's Children's Tour called "Time Travel" It's an online version of an audio tour you can take when you visit the NGA in person. But, realistically, how many of our students will have that opportunity while in school? It's really fascinating to look at the images in the "Time Travel" tour and learn specifically about the painting.

The other tours aren't "videos," but they do address a specific artist, piece, or theme. Really pretty neat to learn more about some of the paintings I've only seen in books or on television. Anytime I can put art in front of my students, I try. Even the ones who fight me on it. :)

 

What do you think??

REVIEW: iDrakula, by Bekka Black

iDrakula
Published 2010

18-year-old Jonathan Harker is diagnosed with a rare blood disorder after visiting a Romanian Count. His girlfriend Mina and a pre-med student named Van Helsing team up to investigate the source of the disease. The teenagers discover a horrifying truth: the Count is a vampire. The harrowing events unfold through emails, text messages, web pages, Twitter feeds, and instant messaging—the natural modernization of Bram Stoker’s original Dracula, which was written in letters, diary entries, and news clippings.

Much like when I read iFrankenstein a few weeks ago, I wasn't prepared to like a modernized version of Bram Stoker's classic. I'm particular, meaning, I'd rather you didn't futz with classics. But, I forgive Bekka Black, she does a great job.

This isn't intended to be Stoker's Dracula. It's not a perfect retelling/remastering. This is its own story. Simply the style Black opted for--the "literature" of teens today, if you will--doesn't lend itself to the classic.

There's no drawn out colorful prose. It's all quick, meant for easy digestion, not deep contemplation. The characters are about as deep as a text message. You have to spend more time dissecting the words themselves, not the characters intentions or hidden meanings. What is written is what is meant.

I think this is a masterful application of modern communication, to share a personalized version of Dracula. Bekka Black has done an awesome job.

I'm ready for her to tackle Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, my personal favorite horror story.

What do you think??

Disclosure of Material Connection: This ebook is from my personal collection. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

REVIEW: The Believing Game, by Eireann Corrigan

The Believing Game
Published 2012

A private academy. A cult leader. A girl caught in the middle.

After Greer Cannon discovers that shoplifting can be a sport and sex can be a superpower, her parents pack her up and send her off to McCracken Hill-a cloistered academy for troubled teens. At McCracken, Greer chafes under the elaborate systems and self-help lingo of therapeutic education. Then Greer meets Addison Bradley. A handsome, charismatic local, Addison seems almost as devoted to Greer as he is to the 12 steps. When he introduces Greer to his mentor Joshua, she finds herself captivated by the older man's calm wisdom. Finally, Greer feels understood.

But Greer starts to question: Where has Joshua come from? What does he want in return for his guidance? The more she digs, the more his lies are exposed. When Joshua's influence over Addison edges them all closer to danger, Greer decides to confront them both. Suddenly, she finds herself on the outside of Joshua's circle. And swiftly, she discovers it's not safe there.

Book Blurb Tour: Sykosa by Justin Ordonez

Author Justin Ordonez is GIVING away copies of his book Sykosa to 3--THREE--lucky commentors during this week's blog tour. Comment here, and comment on the other stops to catch as many chances to win as possible. Tour dates and stops can be found here. 

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Sykosa, Part I: Junior Year
Published 2012

Sykosa (that's "sy"-as-in-"my" ko-sa) is a sixteen-year-old girl trying to reclaim her identity after an act of violence shatters her life and the life of her friends. This process is complicated by her best friend, Niko, a hyper-ambitious, type-A personality who has started to war with other girls for social supremacy of their school, a prestigious preparatory academy in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. To compensate, Sykosa has decided to fall in love with her new boyfriend, Tom, who was involved in the act of violence. Propelled by survivor guilt, an anxiety disorder, and her hunger for Tom and his charms, Sykosa attends a weekend-long, unchaperoned party at Niko's posh vacation cottage, where she will finally confront Niko on their friendship, her indecision about her friends and their involvement in the act of violence, and she will make the biggest decision of her life—whether or not she wants to lose her virginity to Tom. YA fiction for the 18+ crowd.

Excerpt:


Everything is too complicated. It should not have to be. She goes behind the chapel. He goes behind the chapel. They make out. Simple, right? It’s not. Regardless, if even that must be complicated, then certainly 

the concept that she wants to go to Prom, thus he should ask her to Prom and then they should go to Prom is simple, right? It’s not. You see, he has this best friend, this confidante, this main focus, this everything—and her name is not Sykosa, but Mackenzie.

Or as you will soon find out: “M.” That’s what he calls her.

So, every day, she faces the fact that they are merely acquaintances. Two pigeons in a flock of nine hundred who dress the same, talk the same, and act the same. That’s okay. Pigeons are only pigeons because conformity is only conformity. It’s okay to be like everyone else so long as she is always herself. 

And that is the reason, because there is no other reason, why she makes out with this boy. Other than she likes it. Kissing is fun. She’s lying. There is another reason. Another trivial teenage doodad—when she talks to him, lame as it sounds, she feels like she is being herself.

Sykosa is also available FREE for your Kindle at Amazon this week. WOOHOO!

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What do you think??