Description: A year ago, Cal Thompson was brand new to New York City and more interested in meeting girls than attending freshman biology. Then he spent the night with a mysterious woman named Morgan. Now, biology has become, literally, Cal's life.
Cal was infected by a parasite that has a horrifying effect on its host. When you're a parasite positive, a "peep," you start to hate sunlight. You develop superhuman strength and superhuman senses. You form a strange bond with rats. You crave blood - human blood.
Cal is not a full-blown peep, but a carrier, infected but still sane, still able to control his urges. His tragedy: He can never be with a girl again. Even one kiss could turn her into a peep. Instead, he spends his time and energy working for an underground organization that tracks down peeps in the dark places of the city. But when an investigation throws him together with a beautiful girl named Lace, Cal's resolve to live his life alone is put to the test.
Note: Description from the book jacket.
Review: "Peeps" is an intriguing new take on the vampire myth, turning it from mystic horror story to hard science fiction. Readers will be engrossed - and grossed out, as every other chapter is a look into the life of a different icky virus. The unique premise (hard to find when it comes to vampires) works well; the idea of an underground bureaucracy designed to monitor peeps is almost disturbingly believable. Cal is vampirey enough to be an exciting character, but human enough to be a relatable one, and Lace is a strong character who matches, if not surpasses, Cal in personality. Most of the plot moves at a good pace, but near the end the revelations come a bit too quickly for the reader to get a good grasp on one before the next is there to supercede it. Overall, however, the book is worth the read for the fresh take on the sometimes tired idea. Vampire afficionados and biology nerds alike will love "Peeps."
Description: Blay lives in a work camp for homeless children, where they dig through a garbage dump to retrieve valuable items such as paper. There is not much technology left after the recent technocaust, when scientists were blamed for environmental disasters and taken to concentration camps. Due to her love of reading, Blay is chosen to help Marella, the new bio-indicator, with her studies. In the past, these individuals, whose bodies react to poisons in the environment, served as warning mechanisms for others, but now, as the Earth heals and the danger lessens, they are expected to collect and interpret scientific data. As she helps Marella pass a series of tests, Blay discovers that she has a natural talent for science. As she starts to live a more normal life, she realizes how misled she has been by the people in charge of her society.
Note: Description taken from amazon.com
Review: "The Secret Under My Skin" is an excellent teen sci-fi that contains parallels to things that are happening today. The futuristic society (the book is set in the year 2368) is well-done and definitely believable, nicely avoiding the usual science fiction pitfall of being too over-the-top. Blay is a good character who reacts realistically to her environment and to the things she finds out. The other characters can be slightly distant and unsympathetic, however. I think that the book's romantic aspect feels off, and the book would have been just as good, if not better, without it. But the plot makes up for character/relationship shortcomings and ensures that the book is definitely worth reading. Readers will love Blay and will want to keep reading to find out more about her past and what her future will ultimately be.
Description: Max and her "flock" are the result of a scientific experiment involving the grafting of avian DNA onto a human. They have giant wings that can be used for flight, and some of them have strange psychic powers as well. For several years they have been living in a house in the mountains where a scientist took them after rescuing them from the "school", the lab where they were created and kept in dog cages. Jeb is gone now, and the responsibility of keeping her five-member flock out of trouble has fallen to Max. But trouble has found them. The Erasers were the school's other success, werewolf-like creatures who would like nothing better than to rip the flock to shreds. When they show up near the flock's home, none of them are prepared, and Angel, the flock's youngest member, is taken. The rest of the flock sets out on a rescue mission, but there will be plenty of bumps along the way. And Max will discover some things that will shake her worldview forever.
Review: There's not much about "Maximum Ride" that isn't enjoyable. The idea of mutant bird-children is a good one, and the actual characters are well-done. I found myself loving each and every member of the flock as I got to know their unique personality quirks. Max's character development as she explores the world is one of the best parts of the book. The plot is good, though the second half of the book gets a little confusing, and the ending, obviously leaving room for a sequel, is pretty unsatisfying. Still, the characters will win over readers and they'll want to keep turning pages to find out the fate of the children. "Maximum Ride" is well worth the read.
Description: Since her best friend was made pretty three months ago, Tally has been lonely, waiting for her sixteenth birthday and the surgery that will transform her into a pretty so she can join him in New Pretty Town. But then Tally meets Shay, who, shockingly, doesn't want to turn pretty. Shay talks of a secret place called the Smoke where no one is pretty. She tries to convince Tally to run away with her, but Tally can't understand Shay's desire to remain ugly for the rest of her life. Then Tally is given a choice: betray Shay or never turn pretty herself. Conflicted, Tally agrees to follow Shay's directions to the Smoke and activate a signal to let others know where the camp is. But when she arrives, Tally finds herself liking the Smoke and its teenage leader, David, who has lived there his whole life. Tally respects the people of the Smoke, but will she sacrifice her dream of becoming pretty just so that they can live as uglies?
Review: Westerfeld has yet another amazing novel in "Uglies". The idea of a futuristic society where major plastic surgery is the norm is interesting in this time when we are focusing more and more on looking like someone else's idea of perfect. The setting of the book is eerie and haunting, a not-so-distant future where everyone over sixteen is drop-dead gorgeous. Tally is a good main character for this novel, conflicted but good-hearted. The choices she makes are ones that readers can understand, and her journey (both physical and mental) is interesting to watch unfold. The other characters are distinctive and a good contrast to Tally. This book is entertaining and a definite page-turner, but it also makes you think. What is "pretty"? Readers will love Tally, Shay, and David, and the unique science fiction setting will make them really think about the established stereotypes of beauty.
Description: When Wendy finds a pair of sunglasses on the ground that seem to match her prescription exactly, she has no idea what she's in for. When she breaks her regular glasses the next day and is forced to wear the new sunglasses, Wendy can suddenly see things that no one else can see. Like dead people. And little blue mischief-makers. And that the most popular girl in school, Tiffanie, looks like she's been dead for thirty years. And then there's Julian. Wendy's always thought of him as a little geeky, but with the glasses on, he's really, really hot (if you can get past the pointy ears...). When Tiffanie and Julian start acting suspiciously interested in Wendy's new glasses, she runs away from them...right into another world. If Wendy's to survive her adventure, she'll have figure out who the bad guys really are, and then screw up some courage to rescue the good guys.
Review: The unique premise of this book makes it intriguing right off the bat. Magical glasses? Little blue guys? What? The book grabs your attention, and sucks you in. Wendy is a little bit of a boring main character, but I like the fact that she's not Supergirl. She's not superbrave or superstrong or even superintelligent; she's just your average girl. The interesting premise moves into a somewhat simplistic plot, but the story is still enjoyable enough. The ending seems a little open-ended (leaving room for a sequel, perhaps?), and is a little anticlimatic. Some of the magic in the book isn't really significant to the plot, like Wendy seeing dead people. Why do the glasses let her do that? It doesn't really fit with the purpose of the glasses, as stated towards the end of the book. Overall, "Now You See It..." is an excellent science fiction/fantasy novel for younger teens. For older teens, it may be a little lacking in excitement, but is still worth the read.
Description: "On Career Day Lily visited her dad's work with him and discovered he worked for a mad scientist who wanted to rule the earth through destruction and desolation." Lily Gefelty has always considered herself a little drab next to her friends Katie Mulligan and Jasper Dash, who each have their own adventure book series. But when Lily uncovers a plot to take over the world at her father's workplace in the clearly labeled Abandoned Warehouse, it's her turn to step into the limelight and save the planet. Cleverly masked as "a midsize company devoted to expanding cetacean pedestrian opportunities," the goings on in the Abandoned Warehouse are not what they seem (er, actually...). Lily and her friends discover that Mr. Gefelty's boss, Larry, is really a whale-human hybrid intent on destroying the world using whales, stilts, lazers, and mind control. And it's up to Lily to stop him.
Review: At first glance, you may think that "Whales on Stilts" is a silly, cheesy story geared towards ten-year-olds. You'd be right. However, "Whales on Stilts" goes so far beyond cheesy that it's positively hilarious for readers of any age, ten on up. If Douglas Adams had made a foray into juvenile fiction, this uproarious book may have been the result. Lily is so normal that she's the perfect main character to put into such a ridiculously overdone book. The other characters are uniquely strange in their own rights. The plot is straightforward and wouldn't be interesting at all in other circumstances, but the story is so stuffed with hilarity that the obvious and cliche plot is perfect. The best part of the book, in my opinion, actually occurs after the ending - an "educational" section written by one Ann Mowbray Dixon-Clarke, who seems to have a bit of trouble writing objectively ("1. How are Katie, Jasper, and Lily different? ... Do you have any friends who are different from you? What are they like? Why don't you think that Ann Mowbray Dixon-Clarke has any friends? She bought a big grill for her backyard, hoping that people would come to cook their ribs...."). "Whales on Stilts" is definitely a must read, because who knows when you'll need to know how to defeat an evil whale-human villain and his lazer-eyed whale minions?
Rating: 2
Description: Thirteen-year-old Alison is a very ordinary girl whose history has only one spot of darkness - the night her mother died in a terrible car crash, with Ali as a passenger. However, all that ordinariness is put into question when Ali's world-view is thrown into chaos with the entrance of several fantastical creatures including a dumb but lovable troll and a sly leprechaun, complete with green skin. Ali learns that there is another world parallel to hers, and that the beings that inhabit that world (elves, fairies, trolls, and leprechauns, to name a few) are preparing an invasion of the human world. Ali must become a hero, bringing her friends, both her old human friends and her new magical companions, along on a journey through a mountain that contains dangers that Ali must face with heretofore hidden magical powers. She must gain possession of an ancient magical relic that is the only thing that can close the portal between the two worlds and save Earth from destruction.
Review: The premise of this book is interesting enough, but its execution leaves much to be desired. The magical elements, while agonized over in the main character's mind, are not fully explained and are therefore unbelievable. Ali herself is an unsatisfying character who alternates between helplessness and arrogant bitchiness, and her discovery of who she really is is forced and unnatural, not at all fitting with the whiny teenager the book presents her as. Ali's companions on her journey are decently characterized but play only a very minimal role in the story and seem to serve as backdrop to Ali's adventures (the book would've lost very little, plot-wise, if they had been excluded altogether). The plot moves along, sometimes quickly and sometimes way too slowly, and it would be acceptable if the reader cared about the characters. However, without relateable and interesting characters, this book is severely lacking in much of anything. I would recommend this book to very young teens, as I feel that I would have enjoyed this book much more if I had read it when I was 12-13. It reminds me vaguely of T.A. Barron's "The Ancient One", so fans of that may think "Alosha" worth a look. Overall, however, "Alosha" is an unsatisfying book whose real world elements do not mesh with its fantasy elements well at all.
Rating: 4
Description: In Bixby, Oklahoma, there is a small group of teenaged outsiders who are able to access a "secret hour" that occurs at midnight. At midnight the whole world freezes and only these select few, born at exactly midnight, can walk around in the secret hour. But there are supernatural creatures (dubbed "slithers" by the teens) that also inhabit the secret hour, and they are trying to find their way out of their hour and into the other twenty-four. It is up to the "Midnighters" to use their individual unique supernatural powers to stop them from overrunning the "real world". Jessica Day is new in town, and she knows nothing about the secret hour and creatures that inhabit it, so when a nighttime rain shower ceases all of a sudden, raindrops suspended in air, Jessica believes it's a dream. But, as she soon discovers, it isn't a dream, and Jessica, for some unfathomable reason, is on the slither hit list. She'll have to learn fast in order to take her place as the one Midnighter who can save them all.
Review: It's hard to find a new science fiction concept these days, but Scott Westerfeld succeeds admirably in "The Secret Hour." The book is a little hard to get into, as the character that the book opens with is perhaps the hardest to relate to, but once Jessica and the other Midnighters take their turns as the focus, the book takes a definite upswing. The "powers" that each Midnighter possesses are interesting and unique. I particularly like that one of the powers is numbers, which you wouldn't normally think of as supernatural. I love that "uncontaminated" objects (things that haven't been touched by slithers) infused with the power of thirteen-letter words are the only weapons that can defeat the slithers. The plot is interesting, and the ending will leave the reader hungering for the next installment. "The Secret Hour" is a great read for the science fiction fan looking for something different.
Rating: 3.5
Description: Ron A.K.A. Wolfboy is back in this sequel to "Elsewhere", and he's out to find Leda, the elf who cursed him, and get her to reverse her spell. However, mysterious things are happening in Bordertown, and there's a hunt on for Florida, a little girl who just happens to be the lost heir to Faerie, and the people after her probably don't have her best interests at heart. It's up to Wolfboy and his friends to protect her, but in the end, she may be beyond anyone's help. Wolfboy meets up with Leda again, and she leads him on a wild ride into the magical forests of Nevernever, where many things will be revealed, including the ultimate fate of Florida and the cure for Ron's curse.
Review: I loved "Elsewhere", and this book is a semi-satisfying sequel to it. Bordertown is as interesting as ever, and the addition of more Elflands culture was welcome. I still loved Florida, and Ron wasn't quite so much of an idiot. However, the whole end part of the book, from the time Florida goes missing on, was very unsatisfying to me. The relationship between Florida and Leda fit in with the plot, but I didn't like it because while Florida is my favorite character, Leda is a bitch. I did like how the curse turned out, however. That part of the ending was unexpected and perfect in that it wasn't perfect. "Nevernever" is a nice sequel for fans of "Elsewhere", but shouldn't be read as a stand-alone.
Rating: 4.5
Description: When Ron runs away to Bordertown, the place between Earth and Faerie where magic works more often than technology, his stated goal is to find his brother, Tony, who disappeared several years ago. But Bordertown is even stranger than Ron expected, and he ends up sidetracked, living in a run-down house affectionately called Castle Pup along with many of Bordertown's misfits and working at a used bookstore called Elsewhere. He is befriended by several Bordertown denizens, including the cool, confident Mooner and his sister Wiseguy; Elsewhere's owner, the armless-but-not-crippled Mickey; and a little girl who calls herself Florida and might just be the lost heir to Faerie. And when disaster strikes and Ron loses everything he'd found in Bordertown, he loses himself too, and it will be up to him (and maybe a cruel spell) to find himself again. And when he does, he'll have to learn to live with the person he has become, for good or bad.
Review: My description doesn't do this book justice. It is fantastic, in every sense of the word. Bordertown is one of the best worlds I've ever read about (and for a fantasy freak like me, that is saying something), and the incredible host of characters who inhabit it are worthy of mention as well. Ron is a complete idiot, but what teenage boy isn't? And characters like Mickey and Florida more than make up for Ron's lack of greatness. The plot could use a little work - while it's fast-paced enough, it's a little too simplistic, and the whole Tony thing is unecessary and only detracts from Ron's other experiences. Overall, however, I'd recommend "Elsewhere" in a heartbeat.
Rating: 1
Description: From her window, Ann Stavely watches person after person disappear through the farm's gate -- and never come out again. Later, in the woods nearby, she meets a tormented sorcerer, who seems to have arisen from a centuries-long sleep. But Ann knows she saw him enter the farm just that morning. Meanwhile, time keeps shifting in the woods, where a small boy -- or perhaps a teenager -- has encountered a robot and a dragon. Long before the end of their adventure, the strangeness of Hexwood has spread from Earth right out to the center of the galaxy.
Note: This description is blatantly ripped off the back of the book. I was too lazy to write my own.
Review: This book is quite honestly one of the worst books I've ever read, right up there with "Pilgrim's Progress". The plot is impossible to figure out, from the beginning right up until the very end. At least once in every chapter I had to stop and go "What the hell?" because it makes absolutely no sense. Different parts of the book took place in different places on the timeline, only not in a flash-back way, but in a way that means they're all happening at once, or something like that. Most people must like being confused, though, because amazon.com users give this book five stars. I don't get it. Diana Wynne Jones has always been very hit-or-miss with me - I either love her books or loathe them. This book is definitely on the "loathe" list. Read at your own risk.
Rating: 4
Description: Fourteen-year-old Cosmo Hill is an orphan, unwanted from birth and sent to the Clarissa Frayne Institute for Parentally Challenged Boys. At Clarissa Frayne, the children engage in sometimes dangerous product testing, and Cosmo realizes that he'll be dead in a matter of years if he doesn't get out. So when the opportunity to escape presents itself, Cosmo leaps at the chance. Unfortunately, this leads to him being electrocuted and left for dead on a rooftop watching a glowing blue thing suck the life from him. Luckily, just before Cosmo gives himself up for dead, the Supernaturalists arrive. The Supernaturalists are a group of kids (except for Ditto, who is in his twenties but looks like a kindergartener due to an experiment gone wrong) who patrol Satellite City looking for the blue things, which they call Parasites. It seems that only a few people can see the Parasites, who are attracted to pain, and Cosmo is one of them. Having nothing better to do, Cosmo joins up and helps the Supernaturalists in their quest to rid the city of the life-sucking entities. But rather than disappearing, the Parasites seem to be increasing in number, faster than the Supernaturalists can blast them into oblivion. The kids get more and more desperate to wipe out the Parasites once and for all, but when they discover new information about their foes, they find that they may face an even greater challenge than they had imagined.
Review: "The Supernaturalist" is an amazing science fiction/fantasy story set in a semi-realistic, but still unique, future. The Parasites are well-imagined paranormal entities, and the Supernaturalists are wonderfully different with their own personalities and goals, but still a functional team. The plot is full of delightful twists that will leave the reader gasping, and the ending will leave them hungry for more. Here's hoping for a sequel.