Curse of the Blue Tattoo (Bloody Jack #2)

Curse of the Blue Tattoo is the second book in the Bloody Jack series by L.A. Meyer.

Jacky is taken to Boston and enrolled in a school to become a fine lady. Anyone who read the first book knows that it is going to be a difficult adjustment. Anyone going from life on a navy ship to that of a boarding school would have a hard time of it, but Jacky finds trouble even when she is not looking.

In between sneaking out to sing and dance at a local pub, Jacky is making an effort to follow the rules. But when she is arrested for lewd behavior, the head mistress will have all the ammunition she needs to bump Jacky down to a serving girl.

But don't count on Jacky Faber staying where anyone puts her. Before the tale is through she will please and annoy all levels of society in Boston.

Meyer, L.A. (2004). Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady. New York: Harcourt, Inc.

Messenger of Truth (Maisie Dobbs #4)

Messenger of Truth is the fourth Maisie Dobbs book by Jacqueline Winspear.

Maisie Dobbs has been hired to look into the death of the artist Nicholas Bassington-Hope, a well known artist who fell to his death off of scaffolding he was using to set up his latest exhibition.

His sister, Georgina, has hired Maisie to find out if he was murdered. Through her usual careful investigating, Maisie pieces together the last few weeks of Nick's life.

What she finds is a talented and troubled painter who final piece (that is currently missing) may have been his masterpiece and his view of the Great War - a piece that many would not want to be seen.

Maisie Dobbs' books will appeal to any mystery lovers or those who like Agatha Christie or Mrs. Pollifax. Winspear captures early 1900s England and create engaging stories that twist and turn to a satisfying ending.

Winspear, Jacqueline. (2006). Messenger of Truth. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

The Faithful Spy (John Wells #1)

The Faithful Spy by Alex Berenson is the first book in the John Wells series.

John Wells is the only CIA agent undercover in the ranks of al Qaeda. He rarely contacts his handler, Jennifer Exley.

After ten years of trying to prove his loyalty to Qaeda, he is headed back to the United States. He has been sent back to wait further instructions in the planning of an attack on US soil.

But the CIA heads are not convinced that John has not become a terrorist. He has converted to Islam and he did not contact them the second he reached the US.

Now he must fight two sides while stopping the biggest massacre of US civilians since 9/11.

Berenson, Alex. (2006). The Faithful Spy. New York: Jove Books.

The Second Horseman

The Second Horseman by Kyle Mills is a great heist book.

Brandon Vale is in prison for a jewel theft that he did not commit. He is not as upset as some wrongfully imprisoned people - after all, he did steal a lot of other stuff. But just about time he settles into a routine he is forced to escape.

He has no idea what is happening when a guard shoves him outside of the prison fence and puts a cell phone in his hand. He doesn't want to run but if he stands still too long he will be shot.

After following the directions from a voice on the cell phone, Brandon finds himself asked to help in a heist. The heist is great and includes everything a reader could want.

However, after the heist, the book continues on to a political plot that in its own right might be engaging but does not fit with the first half of the book. So if you want to read about a brilliant thief, read it but stop after they pull off the robbery.

Mills, Kyle. (2007). The Second Horseman. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Dead Until Dark (Southern Vampire Series #1)

Dead Until Dark is the first book in the Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris. It is the series that the television show True Blood is based on.

Sookie Stackhouse has a fairly routine existence. She lives in Bon Temps, Louisiana with her grandmother. She is a waitress at a bar. She wishes that a vampire would come to Bon Temps. She would love to meet one.

Vampires have recently been given citizen status and have come out of the coffin. They can exist off of synthetic blood but there are also groupies - fangbangers - who volunteer their blood as well. But most of the vampires seems to hang out in bigger cities not the small town where Sookie lives.

When a vampire does come to the bar, life begins to change for Sookie.

Harris, Charlaine. (2001). Dead Until Dark. New York: Ace Books.

The Singing (Pellinor #4)

The Singing is the final book in the Pellinor series by Alison Croggon.

Maerad and Hem are looking for each other. They both know that they must find each other before the Black Army destroys Annar, but Annar is a huge place and neither knows exactly where to look.

Maerad is destined to be the One who stands against the evil Nameless One, but the prophesy did not foretell what happens to her when she does. Will she survive the final battle between the Light and the Dark?

I would love to say more about this amazing series, but I am trying my hardest not to include any spoilers. Just read the books! I usually agree that the library is the way to go, but they are so good that you might as well buy the series.

Croggon, Alison. (2008). The Singing. Summerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

The Crow (Pellinor #3)

The Crow is the third book of Pellinor by Alison Croggon.

The third book takes a break from following Maerad on her quest to catch up with Hem in Turbansk. When the siblings split up for safety, Hem and his protector Saliman went south to the School of Turbansk.

Hem is having difficulty adjusting from a life of travel with the Pilanel to sitting still in class all day. The only subject he pays attention to is swordcraft. It has been hard for him to make friends because he does not speak the language of the region.

But soon his classes will be the least of his worries. The Nameless One is amassing soldiers for a great attack on the city. All children are to be sent to safety, but Hem fights to stay with Saliman.

Hem, like Maerad, may have a part to play in the fulfilment of the prophesy against the darkness... if he can live through the siege of the city.

Croggon has created an addictive series in a class with Garth Nix's Abhorsen Trilogy and Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

Croggon, Alison. (2006). The Crow. Cambridge: Candlewick Press.

The Riddle (Pellinor #2)

The Riddle is the second book in Alison Croggon's Pellinor series.

Maerad and Cadvan are on a quest to find the answers to the riddle - what is the Treesong? What little reference they can find tells them to go north to the icy land of the Winterking.

The battle between Light and Dark begins again and according to the foretelling, Maerad is the one who will help the Light triumph. But their journey will not be easy, nor do they have a clear vision of where to go. They must gather clues along the way.

Maerad is one of the strongest mages to live. She has the magic of the Bards and their Speech and she has the magic of the Elementals or Eldihu. In order to use her tremendous power justly she must first learn to control it. Her temper must never get the better of her or she is likely to destroy everyone around her.

Croggon obviously had a plan for the series before she began writing. The plot and depth of character development, along with whole new languages, puts this series in league with the Lord of the Rings. Anyone who like fantasy will devour this series.

Croggon, Alison. (2007). The Riddle. Cambridge: Candlewick Press.

Seeing Redd (Looking Glass Wars #2)

Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor is the second book in the Looking Glass Wars series - the real story that Lewis Carroll trivialized in his books.

Now that Alyss is on the thrown Wonderlanders are trying to get their lives back in order. There is much work to be done to fix what her evil aunt Redd destroyed.

Homberg Molly is Alyss's personal guard and Dodge is the head of the palace guard. They are all getting ready to have a sort of grand opening of the newly rebuilt palace when it seems that forces of Redd's army thought to be destroyed attack Wondertropolis.

Alyss must use all of her great imagination, in combination with the skills of Molly, Dodge, General Doppleganger, and Hatter Mattigan to secure the queendom once again from an enemy. But can the enemy really be Redd after she was defeated in the last battle?

Beddor, Frank. (2007). Seeing Redd. New York: Speak.

The Privilege of the Sword (Swords of Riverside)

The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner is the second book that takes place in Riverside. This book is listed as fantasy but reads more like historical fiction - it is set in a made-up city similar to old London.

Katherine Talbert has heard stories of her uncle the Mad Duke Tremontaine but has never met him. Now, at fifteen, she is summoned to his home in the city. If she agrees to go, her family's debt will be forgiven and their wealth restored.

But the Duke is not bringing her to the city for her coming out season - he means to train her as a swordsman. She will be forced to wear pants and train daily until she has the skills to defend the Duke's honor.

As strange as it sounds to Katherine when she leaves home to join the Duke, nothing could prepare her for the strange and queer happenings at his many homes in the city. Every notion she has about society and morality will be put to the test by the Mad Duke.

This is a swashbuckling novel with a twist. I cannot wait for the next volume featuring the dashing and dangerous Katherine Talbert.

Kushner, Ellen. (2006). The Privilege of the Sword. New York: Bantam.

Terminal Freeze

Terminal Freeze is the latest thriller by Lincoln Child.

A team of scientists is above the Arctic circle studying a melting glacier. They are being funded by a media conglomerate that has final say if they discover anything interesting. But so far, the melting ice, though interesting to the scientists studying it, is not documentary film material.

That all changes as a large piece of ice calves off of the face of the glacier and a cave is revealed. While exploring the cave the scientists discover the body of an animal frozen under the ice. By the eyes and what little can be seen without excavation it appears to be a sabre tooth tiger.

Now a whole film crew is on its way to capture the excitement of science at work. The plan is to defrost the beast and reveal it live on national television.

Before the beast can be melted the scientists start to believe that it is too big to be a sabre tooth tiger. It looks to be an undiscovered predator that, according to some theories of evolution, was created solely to kill - likely to thin a population of other creature that was too plentiful. And based on the type of ice and the speed with which it froze, there is possibility that the creature could be in a suspended state and not really dead...

Child, Lincoln. (2009). Terminal Freeze. New York: Doubleday Publishing.

The Naming (Pellinor #1)

The Naming by Alison Croggon is the first book of her Pellinor series.

Mearad is a slave. She barely remembers the time before she and her mother were brought to the rough place she now lives. Since her mother's death she has been alone. She wishes to escape but cannot see a safe way to get out.

While she is milking cows one morning she sees a strange man stumble into the barn. He is surprised she can see him because only those with the gift can see through his spell of invisibility. The man, Cadvan, helps Maerad escape.

Though they will have a difficult journey, Cadvan is taking Maerad to a school for those with the gift, or Bards as they are called. It is the right of anyone with the gift to be educated in one of the seven schools.

This first book in the series tells of a world where evil is rising and there is corruption in some of the Bards' schools. Maerad's life will be better than it was as a slave, but she may have to work just as hard to survive.

Croggon, Alison. (2002). The Naming. Cambridge: Candlewick Press.

Josephine Wants to Dance

Josephine Wants to Dance by the team of Jackie French and Bruce Whatley yet another of their excellent picture books about Australian animals.

Josephine loves to dance. She dances all day. Her brother, Joey, reminds her that kangaroos jump. She doesn't jump - she dances.

When the ballet comes to town she watches every rehearsal until she knows the parts. And she is ready to step in when the prima ballerina hurts her ankle.

By the end of the book everyone is dancing - including the Wombat.

French, Jackie and Bruce Whatley. (2007). Josephine Wants to Dance. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers.

White Jenna (Great Alta Saga #2)

White Jenna by Jane Yolen is the second book in the Great Alta Saga.

Jenna has almost accepted her destiny to become the Anna - the woman who the prophesy says will bring the end and a new beginning. She is out to warn the other Hames that an army is coming, but so far she and her friends have been too late.

The king who is raiding the Hames of the women of Alta stole the thrown from the rightful heirs. Now the heirs are fighting back and need Jeanna and the other women of Alta's help.

The destiny of the rightful king and that of the Anna are meant to merge into a new era. Jenna is to be the queen.

Yolen, Jane. (1989). White Jenna. New York: Tor.

Pardonable Lies (Maisie Dobbs #3)

Pardonable Lies is the third book featuring Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear.

Maisie has already proven herself as a detective who can find out what others fail to prove and she always does in ways that her clients can live with. She makes sure that her reports have as little negative impact as possible.

Now along with her role as a detective, she is helping out Scotland Yard with a case about a young girl who may have killed her uncle. Maise sees herself in the young girl and is determined that the girl will not spend the rest of life behind bars.

Her current detective case is to find out what happened to a pilot killed in the war (WWI). She has not been back to France since she was wounded during an attack on her medical center. Her trip is sure to drag up the past - a past she has tried to forget.

Winspear, Jacqueline. (2005). Pardonable Lies. New York: Henry Holt and Co.

Diary of a Wombat

Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French, illustrated by Bruce Whatley, is my new favorite picture book!

Wombats are cute little creatures who live in Australia. They are slow moving, often sleeping, creature who can have an attitude so people generally let them do as they please.

This wombat has decided that the everyday grass she has been eating is boring and look to her new human neighbors for new and exciting treats.

She discovers that humans are each to train and make good pets.

French, Jackie and Bruce Whatley. (2002). Diary of a Wombat. New York: Clarion Books.

Midnighters: The Secret Hour (Midnighters #1)

Midnighters: The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld is the first book in the Midnighter series.

Jessica Day just moved to Bixby, Oklahoma from Chicago. Since they moved she has been having strange dreams. Only they are not dreams.

There is an extra hour in the night but only for those who can see it. Most people do not notice any disturbance but they are frozen in time for 60 minutes each night. For those like Jessica, when in proximity to a special site - in this case Bixby - there is a blue hour at midnight.

Bixby already has some midnighters - those who can move around in the midnight hour - four students at her new school who have different powers at night. There is a Seer, a Mindcaster, an Acrobat, and a Polymath.

Now that Jessica has met them, they must find out what Jessica's power is and why the creatures who share the hour with them are following Jessica around town.

Westerfeld, Scott. (2004). Midnighters: The Secret Hour. New York: EOS.

The Looking Glass Wars (Looking Glass Wars #1)

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor tell the true story of "Alice in Wonderland."

The book that Lewis Carroll wrote was not at all what Alyss had told him. He even spelled her name incorrectly.

Alyss Heart is the princess on Wonderland. Her parents (her mother really) rule the Queendom. Her aunt Redd, the firstborn was sent into exile - unfit to rule based on her attachment to Black Imagination - but has returned to steal the thrown from Queen Genvieve.

During the battle, Alyss and Hatter Madigan, the head of an elite force of protectors to the royal family known as the Millinery, escape through the pool of tears. Alyss ends up on the streets of London 1859. Hatter Madigan ends up in Paris. He must find Alyss and protect her until they can return to Wonderland.

Beddor, Frank. (2006). The Looking Glass Wars. New York: SPEAK.

War is...

War Is… Soldiers, Survivors, and Storytellers Talk about War edited by Marc Aronson and Patty Campbell is a moving collection of war stories from every point of view.

Broken into three parts – Deciding about War, Experiencing War, and the Aftermath of War – this book is full of real-life experiences. Each one is moving and thought provoking.

Editor Patty Campbell states that her motivation for this book is too keep people from wanting to participate in war. Marc Aronson hopes that this book gives people who are thinking of enlisting the information they need to make an informed decision – something that military recruiters do not do. Included is the hard to find contract that must be signed to enlist: http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/19_03/military_enlistment.pdf

Aronson, Marc and Patty Campbell. (2008). War is… New York: Candlewick Press.

The Smoke Dragon (Drakon #1)

The Smoke Thief by Shana Abe is the first book in the Drakon series. Unlike the myth of the dragon, the actual race of drakon are sleek creatures who can turn to smoke. They spent centuries shape-shifting into human form before they could blend in.

But the drakon live away from humans. They all live in the same shire, no exceptions. It is too dangerous to live among humans. Clarissa Rue Hawthorne is half drakon and half human. Growing up in the shire she was not included in their society.

At 17 she faked her own death in order to escape. She now lives in London. She is a master of disguises and the most successful jewel thief who ever lived. But once stories start to circulate about a thief who can turn to smoke, the drakon must find the thief before their secrets can be exposed. Rue will never be allowed to live on her own in human society.

The alpha drakon, Christoff Langford, will hunt her down and bring her back to the shire.

Abe, Shana. (2005). The Smoke Thief. New York: Bantam.

Sister Light, Sister Dark (Great Alta Saga #1)

Sister Light, Sister Dark by Jane Yolen is the first book in the Great Alta Saga.

Jenna was born in a small village but her mother died during labor. The midwife took her to the mountains to find the women of the Alta who would take in girls. The midwife was killed on the way by a mountain cat. Two warriors of the Alta found her and took her home.

In her new home there are only women. Of all of the Hames of Alta, this is the smallest. In each one girls at the age of seven choose a path to study for seven years before taking their vows. Jenna has chosen to become a warrior.

Like all warriors, Jenna must spend one year visiting the other Hames. On her way to the first, she finds a boy running for his life. She immediately offers her help but that promise may change the lives of every woman in the Hame.

Yolen, Jane. (1998). Sister Light, Sister Dark. New York: Tor.

Bloody Jack (Bloody Jack #1)

Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy by L.A. Meyer is a story of adventure on the high seas.

When Mary's parents died she ended up on the streets of London. To survive she joined a group of other kids who helped each other from day to day. But when one of the boys in her gang died she took his clothes and decided to become a boy.

After dressing like a boy for about a week, Mary - now Jack - sees a ship that is choosing a few boys to join the crew. She quickly convinces them to pick her.

Now she is on a ship with hundreds of Royal Navy men and little place to hide. She did not think about the logistics of being female among men in such a confined space. Of course it is easier to hide when no one knows to look.

Jacky is a ship's boy on the HMS Dolphin in this first adventure in the Bloody Jack series.

Meyer, L.A. (2002). Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy. New York: Harcourt, Inc.

Y The Last Man: Whys and Wherefores (Y #10)

Y The Last Man: Whys and Wherefores by Brian Vaughan and Pia Guerra is the final book in the Y series about a plague that kills all males on the planet except one man and his pet monkey.

Now that the technology is available to save humans from becoming extinct, Yorick's only goal is to find the woman he plans to marry. He has not seen Beth in six years, since the plague began.

But something is holding Yorick back. Could it be that although he loves Beth he is in love with someone else? Someone he has spent the last six years with?

This finals volume looks into the future when the boys cloned by Dr. Allison Mann begin to take their place in a society dominated by women.

Vaughan, Brian and Pia Guerra. (2007). Y The Last Man: Whys and Wherefores. New York: D.C. Comics.