Death of a Kleptomaniac, by Kristen Tracy

At sixteen, Molly is a girl who's just started living-at last she's popular. But for a girl who has everything, Molly feels like she never has enough. So she steals. At least there's plenty of time to fix this last little problem. Except Fate has other plans for Molly. Like death.

Suddenly dead and in denial, how can Molly move on when life was just looking up? Can she abandon her earthly ties or will she jeopardize her soul to stay close to her loved ones?

Odd little story. And really, it's predictable.

Molly suddenly dies at 16 (though the how of that was a little bit of a surprise), just when her life seems to be looking up and looking good. She's got the hottest guy interested in her, but she's also starting to realize that the "IT" guy isn't necessarily the one you want.

So when she suddenly dies and doesn't exactly take it well, well...you can imagine. She begs, pleads, bargains. And then accepts that nothing will change that particular fact, but she could change where her soul exists for eternity, couldn't she?

See? Predictable. While I can't immediately recall a name, I know I've read this story/seen this movie before. I knew going in what the gist would be, but really hoped that the "kleptomaniac" aspect would be better utilized and make the story...different. But frankly, the scenes after Molly dies in which it's addressed feel almost like they were added because "oh yeah, that title thing" or, the title was based on a secondary issue, not the primary one.

Overall, though, it's good quick read. Not too heavy, but not too fluffy. I can think of quite a few students I'd hand this to, who wouldn't agree with my review at all--and that's a good thing. 

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

Sites to See, October 25 edition

NIH Science Curriculum Supplement Series http://science.education.nih.gov/customers.nsf/highschool.htm Free Supplements, Teacher’s guides, and several have state standard correlations for the materials (biology studies)

Biology Resources from the Copernicus Project http://www.copernicusproject.ucr.edu/ssi/HSBiologyResources.htm Wow…video clips, powerpoints, a few project/lab guides. LOTS of neat stuff.

HyperHistory Online http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/History_n2/a.html Timelines, maps, and graphics for events in 300 years of world history. They aren’t “pretty” but they are functional.

Poll Everywhere http://www.polleverywhere.com/ Free text-in polls. Use this to do quick in class checks for understanding.

Critical Thinking Cheat Sheet http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1cx5y0Kug1r85eido1_500.jpg During inservice last week, we talked about how the STAAR tests require more critical thinking skills from our students than the TAKS tests ever have. Here’s an easy reference to help you as you structure discussion and lessons.

National Geographic Education http://education.nationalgeographic.com/?ar_a=1 I found this one through one of the interactive map links. Of course, it’s full of incredible images that you expect from NatGeo, but it’s also full of some pretty awesome resources—for history, politics, psychology, and sciences. I’m having too much fun exploring myself!

 

Dark Star, by Bethany Frenette

Audrey Whitticomb has nothing to fear. Her mother is the superhero Morning Star, the most deadly crime-fighter in the Twin Cities, so it's hard for Audrey not to feel safe. That is, until she's lured into the sweet night air by something human and not human-something with talons and teeth, and a wide, scarlet smile. 

Now Audrey knows the truth: her mom doesn't fight crime at night. She fights Harrowers-livid, merciless beings who were trapped Beneath eons ago. Yet some have managed to escape.  And they want Audrey dead, just because of who she is: one of the Kin.

To survive, Audrey will need to sharpen the powers she has always had. When she gets close to someone, dark corners of the person's memories become her own, and she sometimes even glimpses the future. If Audrey could only get close to Patrick Tigue, a powerful Harrower masquerading as human, she could use her Knowing to discover the Harrowers' next move. But Leon, her mother's bossy, infuriatingly attractive sidekick, has other ideas. Lately, he won't let Audrey out of his sight. 

When an unthinkable betrayal puts Minneapolis in terrible danger, Audrey discovers a wild, untamed power within herself. It may be the key to saving her herself, her family, and her city. Or it may be the force that destroys everything-and everyone-she loves.

Okay....WOW.

I know I say that a lot, or seem to, but seriously I don't take the time to review a lot of books that aren't "wow." To be honest, I have a hard time making myself even  finish books that aren't "wow."

Audrey is pure awesome. She's a teenager trying to figure herself who is suddenly thrown into "Guardian" world. She now has family that she never knew existed before (and who live in town!), and a whole lot more excitement than she ever imagined possible. Oh, the hot sidekick just moved in with them.

This is Frenette's debut novel and she's just what my nerdy-geeky-writer-girls want to read. She's into all things geeky and video games (and no, the 2 are not synonymous). Find out some more about her here. 

Dark Star is packed. It's a supernatural/paranormal story that's...wow. There's action without it being an "action story"---i.e. no gratuitous descriptions of bloody fights, just enough there to keep you interested. There's a lot of teenage cerebral-ness without it being overdoing or pedantic. This is a readable story. Honestly, it's really well done superhero-ish story that doesn't border on comic book. It's better.

I sent a tweet to Bethany at 7:00 am the morning I finished this in July. Not my usual m.o. to immediately seek out an author and gush a little, but I have to know if there's more to Audrey's story! I have to.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this ebook galley from Disney-Hyperion through the netGalley publisher/reader connection program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” 

Frozen, by Mary Casanova

Sixteen-year-old Sadie Rose hasn't said a word in eleven years-ever since the day she was found lying in a snowbank during a howling storm. Like her voice, her memories of her mother and what happened that night were frozen.

Set during the roaring 1920s in the beautiful, wild area on Rainy Lake where Minnesota meets Canada, Frozen tells the remarkable story of Sadie Rose, whose mother died under strange circumstances the same night that Sadie Rose was found, unable to speak, in a snowbank. Sadie Rose doesn't know her last name and has only fleeting memories of her mother-and the conflicting knowledge that her mother had worked in a brothel. Taken in as a foster child by a corrupt senator, Sadie Rose spends every summer along the shores of Rainy Lake, where her silence is both a prison and a sanctuary.

One day, Sadie Rose stumbles on a half dozen faded, scandalous photographs-pictures, she realizes, of her mother. They release a flood of puzzling memories, and these wisps of the past send her at last into the heart of her own life's great mystery: who was her mother, and how did she die? Why did her mother work in a brothel-did she have a choice? What really happened that night when a five-year-old girl was found shivering in a snowbank, her voice and identity abruptly shattered?

So very much not what I've been reading and reviewing lately (it's not in the least paranormal or sci-fi!), but I've absolutely adored Sadie Rose and her story in Frozen. She is the perfect example of a multi-faceted character and exceedingly well-developed character.

Starting as shy and timid, a personality largely created by her childhood as a mute (psychologically, not physically), Sadie blossoms into a very strong and independent young woman. I loved how so much of the story took place in Sadie's mind--so much of what moved the story line forward was her own observations and thoughts about what she was hearing, seeing, learning.

Frozen left me thinking. The story stuck with me and has continued to be on my mind several days later. Highly recommended for anyone who loves historical fiction, but also for anyone who loves a well-crafted coming of age story.





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

Beta, by Rachel Cohn

Elysia is created in a laboratory, born as a sixteen-year-old girl, an empty vessel with no life experience to draw from. She is a Beta, an experimental model of a teenage clone. She was replicated from another teenage girl, who had to die in order for Elysia to exist. 

Elysia's purpose is to serve the inhabitants of Demesne, an island paradise for the wealthiest people on earth. Everything about Demesne is bioengineered for perfection. Even the air induces a strange, euphoric high, which only the island's workers-soulless clones like Elysia-are immune to. 

At first, Elysia's life is idyllic and pampered. But she soon sees that Demesne's human residents, who should want for nothing, yearn. But for what, exactly? She also comes to realize that beneath the island's flawless exterior, there is an under­current of discontent among Demesne's worker clones. She knows she is soulless and cannot feel and should not care-so why are overpowering sensations cloud­ing Elysia's mind? 

If anyone discovers that Elysia isn't the unfeeling clone she must pretend to be, she will suffer a fate too terrible to imagine. When her one chance at happi­ness is ripped away with breathtaking cruelty, emotions she's always had but never understood are unleashed. As rage, terror, and desire threaten to overwhelm her, Elysia must find the will to survive.

You're going along, really getting involved in a story line, and BOOM...it ends. The book ends. Yeah...this was one of those books. Seriously, major cliff-hanger, worse than the cliffhangers from a TV show season finale. It was bad. I was angry...I was in a room full of students who are taking summer school. Oh, and a co-worker was in the room, too. One who already probably thinks I'm strange.

Elysia's life is, as the blurb describes, idyllic. For a clone, she IS rather pampered, and allowed to feel, at least to some extent, like a member of the family that bought her. A family whose children happen to run with the elite on the island.

Beta is a really rather unique dystopian/post-apocalyptic story line. You find out a little of what's happened to the earth in the future (water, lots of water, resulting in old "floody cities"), but not much because, really, what's important is the paradise called Demesne (I'd love it if someone gave me the correct pronunciation for that word). This first book not only sets the tone, provides all the necessary backstory for the main characters. I found myself emotionally invested in Elysia and utterly shocked by some of things she experienced.

I can say Beta has done what few other first books in a series have--I'm chomping at the bit for the next installment, which will be a while yet since it's currently June as I write this review from a galley and the book doesn't release until October. Perhaps, maybe, someone will tell Rachel Cohn that I'm waiting impatiently for the next 3 books.

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