The Seduction of Water by Carol Goodman

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The Seduction of Water 

by Carol Goodman

Iris Greenfeder is a self proclaimed ABD, all but dissertation.  She is adjunct professor at a local college, teaching mainly immigrant adults and also teaches English at a nearby prison.  She has never married, lives alone and has a very structured romance with an artist.  She seems at peace with her predictable life until the day she assigns the fairy tale lesson to all of her students.

Reflecting on the story that her mother told her, handed down from generation to generation of women, Iris shares the story of the Selkie's Daughter with her students. She reads her own essay on how the memory of her mother is wrapped up in the telling of that story.  Iris asks her students to retell their own fairy tale, informing their own family stories.

This assignment brings out memories of Iris' own childhood and the stories of her mother that bring about events that change Iris' world.  The Seduction of Water is a breathtakingly beautiful book about story, family and love.  The settings in this book are just as detailed and powerful as the characters.  Goodman's story development is superb and blossoms into a compelling tale that twists and turns.  I couldn't put it down, and was sad when it was over.  I'm rushing to the library to see what other of her books are available.  I think I might have found a new favorite author!

Blink by Sasha Dawn

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I received an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

Blink 

by Sasha Dawn

Joshua Michaels is stoked that he has been given some quality playing time as quarterback for his high school team.  And all he should be worrying about right now is hitting the weight room and keeping his grades up.  But Joshua Michaels isn't your ordinary high school athlete.  Joshua Michaels is also responsible for the care and safety of his twin four year old sisters when his mother is unavailable, and she's unavailable a lot!

One day, while on a beach trip with his sisters, he meets a beautiful, haunted girl, Chatham Claiborne.  She asks Josh to watch her bag while she swims.  She ends up hanging out and Josh is smitten; he can't stop thinking about her.

Fast forward to school, and who shows up?  Chatham  Claiborne, of course.  As smitten as Josh is with Chatham, he also knows that she has secrets.  Where did she come from?  Why is she here?  

Josh soon realizes that Chatham is in some way connected with the disappearance of a young girl, Rachel Bachton, a decade ago.  And he just might be as well.  Blink is the unfolding of the mystery of what happened to Rachel Bachton, and how these characters fit into the picture.

Dawn writes a very compelling story that kept me up way too late on several occasions!  This is definitely a high school - young adult book, there are detailed sex scenes, descriptions of child abuse and issues of domestic violence.  Parts of the story were also hard to believe, what high school quarterback puts his four year old twin sisters over his love interest?  But it was a pleasure to read!  I think this book will appeal to mystery lovers, but mystery lovers with thick skin!  

The Hanging Girl by Eileen Cook

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I have received an advanced reader's copy of this book 

in exchange for an honest review.

The Hanging Girl 

by Eileen Cook

Skye is close to her high school graduation.  She has a best friend, Drew, who has everything; big house, nice clothes, full refrigerator.   Skye does not have these things.  Skye lives in a grungy apartment with her mother and works part time at Burger Barn to have enough money to pay the bills and have enough food to eat.  She and Drew have always dreamed of moving to New York City, sharing an apartment and having adventures.  Drew can afford to have this dream, Skye can not.

Skye makes extra money at school using a deck of Tarot cards to read her classmates' fortunes.  Although she feels some guilt for scamming her peers, she needs the money.  However, when one of her classmates goes missing, Skye has to use her "gift" to help the police locate her.  

When the web of lies becomes too much for Skye to keep up with, her entire future seems to hang in jeopardy.  Can she continue to lie to Drew?  Can she trust her mother not to interfere with her own "psychic" abilities?   Will the police see what's really going on?

The Hanging Girl is a psychological thriller that will appeal to a wide variety of readers.  Although Skye is in high school, the content is mild enough for younger students.  There isn't any sexual content and the violence is not graphic.  I think this story is appropriate for middle to high school students, and most adults!

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

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The Hate U Give 

by Angie Thomas

I laughed, I cried, I sang out loud, I didn't twerk, but at times I wanted to!  I experienced such a wide range of emotions while reading The Hate U Give that I felt I was on a roller coaster!

Starr is a 16 year old teenager living in what some might call "the ghetto."  When she was ten, her best friend was killed in a drive-by.  After that, her parents sent her, and her brothers, to a private school 45 minutes away.

In the vein of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Starr has to navigate between her two worlds.  When in her neighborhood of Garden Heights, she can't be seen as being too "white" or too "good" for her friends.  When at Williamson, her school, she can't be seen as being too "hood"; she always uses complete sentences and says "yes ma'am and no ma'am."

But when tragedy hits again, Starr finds her worlds colliding and tries desperately to keep these worlds from falling apart.

The Hate U Give is a Tupac Shakur reference and is a theme throughout the story.  This book is such a passionate, real look at family, race, police relations, coming of age, gangs, community and so many more topics that I could go on forever.  I think this book will appeal to anyone over the age of 12, black, white or purple.  The violence, realistically portrayed, might not be suitable for some middle school students, although I think they would appreciate the story.

In light of current affairs and the charged political climate around police shootings of people of color, I feel this book should be required reading for all educators and most high school students.  The Hate U Give has made an impression on my heart that will not soon go away.  Thank you Angie Thomas for this gift!

As an addendum to this post - I MET ANGIE THOMAS!!!!!  Here is our picture!

Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody

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I have received an Advanced Reader's Copy
of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Daughter of the Burning City

 by Amanda Foody

Sorina lives in the travelling city of Gomorrah, a dark and stormy place home to freak shows, fortune tellers and magic.  She is an illusion worker, able to create people from her thoughts.  She was adopted at a young age by the Proprietor of Gomorrah, destined to take his place one day.

Sorina is the master of The Gomorrah Festival Freak Show, the show that she has created from her illusions.  There is tree, a lumbering, bark-covered being Sorina created when she was three.  Hawk, born as a little sister but with wings and talons.  Unu and Du, Siamese twins who play music and bicker continuously.  These and other of Sorina's imaginings make up her family.

But Gomorrah is not accepted in all parts of this land.  There is talk of war and rebellion.  And when Sorina's illusions start dying, she is left to figure out how in a world of magic, creatures that aren't supposed to be real, can die.

Daughter of the Burning City is an engaging story of magic and family.  I did have a hard time imagining the world that Foody has created.  This book is for fantasy lovers who are in high school.  I have ordered it for the library, but would warn those who check it out that the violence can be quite dark.

Nemesis by Brendan Reichs

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Nemesis 

by Brendan Reichs

Min Wilder has been murdered every day on her even day birthdays since she was eight.  This year, her sixteenth, was no different.  What is different is that the world seems to be falling apart.  Meteors, tsunamis, earthquakes, all threaten to destroy the earth.  Nothing makes sense, so when she finds out that she's not the only one with these same experiences, she's flooded with relief.

However, that relief is short-lived.  Min realizes that events she experienced as a child, weren't what she thought.  People that she trusted, weren't who they said they were.  And now she doesn't know who to trust.

I have to admit that I did not see the end of this book coming.  It took me totally by surprise.  This story is fast paced and the characters are deep and well developed.  I would not recommend it for middle school as the violence is pretty severe.  However, I would highly recommend it for high school students.

York (The Shadow Cipher) by Laura Ruby

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York (The Shadow Cipher) 

by Laura Ruby

In the early 1800's, twins Theresa and Theodore Morningstarr were behind the growth and creation of New York City.  From the "Underground" to the trash recycling "rollers", all inventions were their brainchildren.  But then one day they vanished, leaving the city to speculate about a cipher they passed on that was said to lead to treasure!  Skip forward several decades and we meet twins Tess and Theo, named for the Morningstarrs and residing in one of their greatest accomplishments, the Tower.

Tess and Theo have always been fascinated by the Morningstarrs and their York Cipher.  Their grandfather was part of a secret society who's sole purpose is to crack the code.  And although they had many people working on it for many years, no one ever came close to discovering the treasure.  

Then one day the twins learn that an evil developer has bought their beloved apartment building and has given the tenants 30 days to vacate.  Tess and Theo feel as if the York Cipher is the key to saving their building.  All of a sudden the clock has started ticking for them to do what no one has been able to do - find the treasure and get their building back.

Will they be too late?  Will the treasure save their building?  Can two kids with the help of some friends crack the Morningstarr code?  These questions will keep you racing through the book to the very last page.  And when you're done, you will be waiting anxiously for the next installment of this gripping series.  

Can you solve the code?  

I would recommend this book for upper elementary school students who love to read and to middle school students.  Even though the story is complicated and intriguing, the characters might be a little young to appeal to high school students; although not for this middle aged librarian!