Kingdom of Ash and Briars - Hannah West

Title: Kingdom of Ash and Briars
Author: Hannah West
Publisher: Holiday House, 2016 (Hardcover)
Length: 355 pages
Genre: Young Adult; Fantasy
Started: November 23, 2016
Finished: November 28, 2016

Summary:
From the inside cover:

Bristal, an orphaned kitchen maid, lands in a gritty fairy tale gone wrong when she discovers she is an elicromancer with a knack for shape-shifting. An ancient breed of immortal magic beings, elicromancers have been winnowed down to merely two-now three-after centuries of bloody conflict in the realm. Their gifts are fraught with responsibility, and sixteen-year-old Bristal is torn between two paths. Should she vow to seek the good of this world, to protect and serve mortals? Or should she follow the strength of her power, even if it leads to unknown terrors? Time is running out as an army of dark creatures grows closer and the realm faces a supernatural war. To save the kingdoms, Bristal must find the courage to show her true form.

Building on homages to Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Jane Austen's Emma, and the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, Hannah West makes a spectacular and wholly original debut.

Review:
The summary above doesn't do this story justice, save for the final paragraph that praises the book and lists the hints of other stories found within, all of which I wholeheartedly agree with.

Bristal is kidnapped from the manor home where she serves and is brought to the Water in the Forest of the West Fringe, a large body of water with the ability to discern and identify elicromancers, individuals with various magic abilities. When the two existing elicromancers, Brack and Tamarice, rescue her from captors who would use her newly gifted elicrin stone for harm, Bristal sees that she must choose between the morals of her two mentors. Brack believes elicromancers must stand at the sidelines and guide humanity without taking power themselves, while Tamarice believes that helping humans is a waste of their powers and that elicromancers should rise to their former glory. Bristal makes her choice when Tamarice turns to dark elicromancy and curses the newly born princess of Volarre and binds the other nobles in all of Nissera to the princess' fate. Using her unique shape-shifting abilities, Bristal disguises herself as an elderly woman and hides Princess Rosamund in Plum Valley, far from Tamarice and her spies. As the years pass, Bristal uses her powers to help unite the three kingdoms in Nissera that had always been quite combative, all while keeping Rosie (and in turn all Nisseran nobles) alive.

This book does borrow elements from classic tales, but when they're combined it creates a wholly unique tale. Rosie is cursed at birth by Tamarice just like Sleeping Beauty, and Bristal plays fairy godmother to Elinor ala Cinderella so she can meet and marry Prince Charles and unite their two respective kingdoms through marriage. Like in Mulan, Bristal takes on the form of a man so she can join the army with Anthony so she can get to know and influence him (and ultimately falls in love with him). The elicromancers and their magic are similar to other types from other stories we've seen before, but the depth of it makes the similarities merely superficial. Bristal as a character is likeable, she's determined and sticks to her morals, but she's not always confident and questions herself. There really wasn't a character I disliked, they're all nicely developed (even Tamarice) and no one really bugged me, which is rare.

Recommendation:
A well-written high fantasy that pulls from classic fairytales, so it feels familiar yet new and engaging at the same time.

Thoughts on the cover:
I like the colour scheme, and the image of Bristal where you can't quite see the details of her face is unsettling just enough to make it intriguing.

Beast - Brie Spangler

Title: Beast
Author: Brie Spangler
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf (Random House), 2016 (Hardcover)
Length: 328 pages
Genre: Young Adult; Realistic Fiction
Started: November 21, 2016
Finished: November 22, 2016

Summary:
From the inside cover:

Tall, meaty, muscle-bound, and hairier than most throw rugs, Dylan doesn't look like your average fifteen-year-old, so, naturally, high school has not been kind to him. His nickname, Beast, already announces his every step. And to make matters worse, on the day his school bans the two things that that let him hide, his hat and his long hair, Dylan goes up on his roof, only to fall and wake up in the hospital with a broken leg-and a sentence to attend group therapy for self-harmers.

Dylan vows to say nothing and zones out during therapy-until he meets Jamie. She's funny, smart, and so stunning, even his womanizing best friend, JP, would be jealous. She's also the first person to to ever call Dylan out on his superficiality. As Jamie's humanity and humour begin to rub off on Dylan, they become more than just friends. But there is something Dylan doesn't know about Jamie, something she shared with the group the day he was wallowing in self-pity and not listening. Something that shouldn't change a thing. She is who she's always been-an amazing photographer, a true romantic hidden inside a realist, and a devoted friend, who is also transgender. Will Dylan's hang-ups about himself cause him to lose the best girl he's ever known?

Review:
As soon as I read the summary for this book I knew I had to read it. It covers the relationship between a cisgender male and a girl who is trans, complete with all the questions such a relationship would raise. Ultimately, it is a sweet story about transgender teen romance, from Dylan's point of view, which makes it unique (I've read accounts from a trans character before, but not from the cisgender character).

Dylan is huge. He's already 6"4 at age fifteen and still growing. When you add that's he's insanely hairy, you can see why he earned the nickname "Beast", and he HATES it. When everyone expects Dylan to be a dumb football player, in reality he's studying for the Rhodes scholarship to go to Oxford to study cancer, what killed his father when Dylan was only three. Dylan survives school by hiding behind his hair and hat, and hanging around his friend JP. When his school bans long hair and hats, he lands in the hospital and is flagged as a self-harmer, which lands him in therapy. He meets Jamie and is awe-struck, but misses a key piece of information about her. As they get to know each other and Dylan and Jamie fall equally head over heels for the other, Jamie's trans identity is brought up and Dylan completely freezes, questioning whether this makes him gay or any of the other myriad of thoughts that would go through a teenage boy's head. Dylan even asks his dead father for a sign that he's making the right choice, until he realizes that he simply loves a girl named Jamie.

There's a lot of dimension to this book, at one end it's sweet and loving with Dylan and Jamie accepting each other fully, and on the other hand you've got kids bullying both of them when word gets out at Dylan's school that Jamie was born a boy. There's also a portion of the novel where Dylan is acting like a typical teenage boy and you want to smack him for being such an idiot, but he's a lovable idiot, so I forgave him. Jamie's not completely innocent either, the author really managed to make both protagonists very three-dimensional and flawed while still making readers root for them, except for JP though, he was just an ass. Dylan's narration is hilarious at times, it's very witty and cleverly written. The story is also equal parts realistic and positive: it's not a doom and gloom story, but it accepts Jamie's reality while still making her positive about her life.

Recommendation:
This is a must-read, not just for the subject matter, but Dylan as a character is equally intriguing.

Thoughts on the cover:
Simple yet effective, I like the blue and gold colour scheme.

A Shadow Bright and Burning - Jessica Cluess

Title: A Shadow Bright and Burning (Kingdom on Fire Book One)
Author: Jessica Cluess
Publisher: Random House, 2016 (Hardcover)
Length: 404 pages
Genre: Young Adult; Fantasy
Started: November 16 2016
Finished: November 18, 2016

Summary:
From the inside cover:

Henrietta can burst into flames.

Forced to reveal her power to save a friend, she's shocked when instead of being executed, she's named the first female sorcerer in hundreds of years and invited to train as one of Her Majesty's royal sorcerers.

Thrust into the glamour of Victorian London, Henrietta is declared the prophesied one, the girl who will defeat the Ancients, bloodthirsty demons terrorizing humanity. She also meets her fellow sorcerers, handsome young men eager to test her power and her heart. One will challenge her. One will fight for her. One will betray her.

But Henrietta is not the chosen one.

As she plays a dangerous game of deception, she discovers that the sorcerers have their own secrets to protect. With battle looming how much will she risk to save the city-and the one she loves?

Exhilarating and gripping, Jessica Cluess' spellbinding first book in the Kingdom on Fire series introduces a powerful, unforgettable heroine and a world filled with magic, romance, and betrayal.

Review:
I have a confession to make: I'm not a massive Harry Potter fan. I enjoy the books, movies and such (I'm going to see Fantastic Beasts this weekend and devoured Cursed Child over the summer), but I'm not a diehard fan like some people I know. I think part of this reason is because Harry is a boy and while I was growing up when the books were just becoming popular, I wanted nothing more than books with female protagonists that I could really identify with (they were in severe short supply at the time). The reason I'm even on this seemingly unrelated tangent is that I think I finally found "my" version of Harry Potter with this book, not to say that the books are in any way identical (they aren't), but that this is a fantasy book about a strong, intelligent girl with magical powers who discovers her origins and tries to figure out how she fits into this new world she's thrust into.

Henrietta lives in a world resembling Victorian England, where the emergence of nightmarish demons (Ancients) terrorizing the country was the work of a Pandora's box type of story surrounding a magician and a witch. As a result, magicians are viewed with suspicion as charlatans and witches are killed outright (stupid Victorian sexism). So Henrietta grows up in a charity school after her parents die, and she has this ability to set herself on fire, which she must keep secret if she wants to live. When her friend Rook is under attack by an Ancient's familiars, she is forced to reveal her power in the presence of a sorcerer to save him. She is identified as the chosen one from the prophecy, the first female sorcerer in centuries and is brought to a shielded area in London to train with other young sorcerers to fight to save England from the Ancients. Except she soon learns that she isn't, and must determine how to survive where she meets adversity everywhere.

Henrietta is feisty, intelligent, and doesn't hesitate to speak her mind, so of course I liked her. Rook doesn't really get a lot of development other than the fact that he loves Nettie, so hopefully he gets some more spotlight in subsequent books. Agrippa is lovely and conflicted, so I quite liked him, as with Blackwood and Magnus. The Victorian setting fits quite well with the world building, which is astoundingly detailed and immense. I have to give the author credit also for creating the Ancients, which are actually horrifying and creepy when described, I like being spooked while reading my stories. I also like how magic in this world has various levels and categories and wasn't just one-dimensional.

Recommendation:
Even though this book appears to use all the typical cliched ideas you find in fantasy books, the author turns the "chosen one" narrative on its head and the result is an engrossing, imaginative book that is gripping and fascinating. I'll definitely be impatiently awaiting the subsequent books.

Thoughts on the cover:
Stunning. I love the burning rose (makes sense when you read to the end), and the colour scheme is so beautiful.

The Other Boy - M.G. Hennessey

Title: The Other Boy
Author: M.G. Hennessey
Publisher: HarperCollins, 2016 (Hardcover)
Length: 234 pages
Genre: Children's Realistic Fiction
Started: November 15, 2016
Finished: November 15, 2016

Summary:
From the inside cover:

Twelve-year-old Shane Woods is just a regular boy. He loves pitching for his baseball team, working on his graphic novel, and hanging out with his best friend, Josh. But Shane is keeping something private, something that might make a difference to his teammates, to Josh, and to his new crush, Madeline. And when a classmate threatens to reveal his secret, Shane's whole world comes crashing down. It will take a lot of courage for Shane to ignore the ridicule and hates and show the world that's he's still the same boy he was before. But in the end, those who stand beside him may surprise everyone, including Shane.

M.G. Hennessey's timely story beautifully captures Shane's journey toward acceptance and empathy and speaks to all those who have struggled to remain true to themselves.

Review:
Thankfully there are more diverse children's and young adult books coming out in recent years, and I'm really thankful for this particular book after reading it, especially considering that aimed at middle grade readers.

Shane is in the sixth grade and is your average twelve-year-old boy. But there's one thing about Shane that isn't like all the other boys, Shane is transgender and was born biologically female. Shane's parents are divorced and he and his mom moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles a few years ago, at which point Shane transitioned and went on hormone blockers to delay female puberty. Shane faces a few key issues in this book: he has a strained relationship with his father, who isn't as accepting of his identity as his mother; he wants to begin taking testosterone so he can actually start looking like the boy he is, and a classmate discovers Shane's secret and reveals it to everyone at school.

I really liked the way Shane was presented in the book, you can tell the author did her homework and made sure to treat Shane and the issues he and his family face with the utmost respect. Shane's mother, Rebecca, is amazing and supportive, which is probably the reason why Shane is able to rise to the challenges that he faces. Most of the relationships Shane has are realistic in my opinion, except the portrayals might be a little too optimistic compared to those someone might face in a  rural/conservative area, and this is my only issue with the book, which is minor. Panels from Shane's graphic novel are illustrated as end pieces to some chapters, which is a really lovely addition to the book. The author also includes websites and phone numbers for trans support groups, which I always like to see for books like these.

Recommendation:
This is one of the first middle grade books with a main character who is trans (that I know of) that I've encountered, and it is wonderfully written and a sensitive portrayal of a transgender boy's experience. This is a book that should be in every classroom.

Thoughts on the cover:
Simple but effective.

The Female of the Species - Mindy McGinnis

Title: The Female of the Species
Author: Mindy McGinnis
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (HarperCollins), 2016 (Hardcover)
Length: 341 pages
Genre: Young Adult; Realistic Fiction
Started: November 9, 2016
Finished: November 14, 2016

Summary:
From the inside cover:

Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn't feel bad about it. When her older sister, Anna, was murdered three years ago and he killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best. The language of violence.

While her crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can't be trusted among other people, even in her small hometown. She relegates herself to the shadows, a girl who goes unseen in plain sight, unremarkable in the high school hallways.

But Jack Fisher sees her. He's the guy all other guys want to be: the star athlete gunning for valedictorian with the prom queen on his arm. Guilt over the role he played the night Anna's body was discovered hasn't let him forget Alex, and now her green eyes amend a constellation of freckles have his attention. He doesn't want to only see Alex Craft; he wants to know her.

So does Peekay, the preacher's kid, a girl whose identity is entangled with her dad's job, though that does not stop her from knowing the taste of beer or missing the touch of her ex-boyfriend. When Peekay and Alex start working together at the animal shelter, a friendship forms and Alex's protective nature extends to more than just the dogs and cats they care for.

Circumstances bring Alex, Jack, and Peekay together as their senior year unfolds. While partying one night, Alex's darker side breaks out, setting the teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever. Edgar Award-winning author Mindy McGinnis artfully crafts three alternating perspectives into a dark and riveting exploration of what it means to be the female of the species.

Review:
This book is positively brutal, harsh, and traumatizing...and I'm so glad it exists. It stands as an unapologetic examination of sexual assault and rape culture in general, delving deep into what insidious little jokes and "locker room talk" can turn into.

Alex Craft is in her senior year of high school in a small town. When she was a freshman, her older sister Anna was raped and murdered, and the killer walked on a technicality. So Alex took matters into her own hands and got away with her own crime. Years later, she lives on the outskirts of her peers to keep them safe from herself, until Peekay (from PK aka preacher's kid) sees beyond Alex's standoffish behaviour and sees a girl she'd like to know. Jack, the popular boy whose image of Alex from the night her sister's body was found haunts him, yearns to be closer to her. When both Peekay and Jack slowly become accepted by Alex into her limited circle, they believe they have an idea of who Alex is. One might when Peekay is nearly raped at a party and Alex intervenes in a horrific way, they realize that Alex is so much more than what they assumed, and wonder how to proceed with what they now know.

The novel alternates perspectives from Alex, Peekay, and Jack; and I have to give the author credit because giving three unique and distinctive viewpoints and voices isn't easy, especially when that includes a voice of the opposite gender. Jack's voice is authentic and very different from the girls', Peekay is your average teenage girl but with enough of a spin so that she's not boring to read, and Alex....Alex is just astounding in terms of what's inside her head....just trust me on this one.

I love the author's examination of rape culture; women reading this will stop dead in their tracks after reading certain lines and think, "holy crap, this is spot on," while men will hopefully gain some insight into their male privilege in this area. That being said, the book is quite graphic and violent, both in terms of the language used and that actual events that take place during the course of the book (so trigger warnings abound here, people). Granted, you can't sugarcoat rape culture, it's dirty and horrible by it's very nature. But even saying that, this is definitely for older readers (probably 16+), this isn't something I'd be recommending for an immature/innocent thirteen or fourteen year old kid.

I'm slightly conflicted about how the book ends, on one hand I think it's a bit of a cop-out, but on the other hand I think there really wasn't any other way for it to end, so I'm still undecided on how I feel about the ending.

Recommendation:
I truly think this is something all our teenagers need to read, both boys and girls alike. This will be one of those groundbreaking "issue" books that will stay with us for years.

Thoughts on the cover:
Quite clever in my opinion. I like how Alex is listed on the front under "Woman" and Branley is listed one the back cover under "Girl", this will make total sense after reading the book.

Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell

Title: Outliers
Author: Malcolm Gladwell
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 2008 (Hardcover)
Length: 296 pages
Genre: Adult; Nonfiction
Started: November 7, 2016
Finished: November 8, 2016

Summary:
From the inside cover:

Why do some people succeed far more than others?

There is a story that is usually told about extremely successful people, a story that focuses on intelligence and ambition. In Outliers Malcolm Gladwell argues that the true story of success is very different, and that if we want to understand how some people thrive, we should spend more time looking around them-at such things as their family, their birthplace, or even their birthdate. The story of success is more complex-and a lot more interesting-than it initially appears.

Outliers explains what he Beatles and Bill Gates have in common, he extraordinary success of Asians at math, the hidden advantages of star athletes, why all top New York lawyers have the same resume, and the reason you've never heard of the world's smartest man-all in terms of generation, family, culture, and class. It matters what year you were born if you want to be a Silicon Valley billionaire, Gladwell argues, and it matters where you were born if you want to be a successful pilot. The lives of outliers-those people whose achievements fall outside normal experience-follow a peculiar an unexpected logic, and in making that logic plain Gladwell presents a fascinating and provocative blueprint for making the most of human potential.

Review:
This book is touted so often in education, it's been on my to-read list for a while now. After reading it, I can see why it's talked about so often, but that there's really only one chapter that can be applied to the education field.

Though numerous examples, the author makes his claim that success isn't just about ambition and intelligence, that it has more to do with opportunities, which are more likely to be given to people who were lucky enough in certain circumstances. For example, Bill Gates was born in the mid 50s (meaning he was the right age in the 70s when the computer industry took off), and was also lucky enough to be born into a wealthier family that sent him to a school that could afford a computer in the late 60s that he was able to use to practice coding on. Without those, it could be argued that he wouldn't have been as successful as he is today. Same with the top hockey players, most of which have birthdays in the first few months of the calendar year versus the end. Because those with earlier birthdays tend to be bigger and stronger than those with later birthdays, they are the ones picked for the more intensive teams, benefitting from the extra practice and end up being more successful and go pro more often than their younger counterparts.

The education chapter wasn't anything ground-breaking for anyone who actually works in education, but I'm sure would be eye-opening for those that are not. He argues that a longer school year in a culture with an emphasis on hard work, diligence, and persistence ("grit" as we call it in our professional development talks), makes for students more likely to be accepted into better schools, making them more likely to be given opportunities that lead to success later in life. That children from lower income families tend to lose a large chunk of their learning over the long summer break, which cumulates over time, contributing to the achievement gap that we as educators so often try to fix to no avail.

In a way, this book is fascinating in that it destroys the common belief that success is entirely in a person's control, that all you need is a bootstraps mentality and if you don't succeed, then you just aren't working hard enough. It offers another story: that culture, class, and circumstance matters; and that if all people were awarded similar opportunities regardless of said factors, that we would have more successful people across all areas.

Recommendation:
A thought-provoking read that is well-known for a reason, I'm glad I finally got around to reading it.

Thoughts on the cover:
Simple yet effective.

What Light - Jay Asher

Title: What Light
Author: Jay Asher
Publisher: Razorbill (Penguin Random House), 2016 (Hardcover)
Length: 251 pages
Genre: Young Adult; Realistic Fiction
Started: November 4, 2016
Finished: November 7, 2016

Summary:
From the inside cover:

Sierra's family runs a Christmas tree farm in Oregon. It's a bucolic setting for a girl to grow up in, except that every year, they pack up and move to California to set up their Christmas tree lot for the season. So Sierra lives two lives: her life in Oregon and her life at Christmas. And leaving one always means missing the other.

Until this particular Christmas, when Sierra meets Caleb, and one life eclipses the other.

By reputation, Caleb is not your perfect guy: years ago, he made an enormous mistake and has been paying for it ever since. Sierra sees beyond Caleb's past and becomes determined to help him find forgiveness and, maybe, redemption. But as disapproval, misconceptions, and suspicions swirl around them, Caleb and Sierra can't help but wonder if love really is enough to overcome every obstacle.

Review:
If you know YA literature, you've read Thirteen Reasons Why. So when I found out the author was releasing a new book (his previous book was a collaboration with another author that I never read), I knew I had to pick it up. I think this is a case of simple disappointment: I was expecting another Thirteen Reasons Why and got...well, something not nearly as impressive.

Sierra lives with her mom and dad on a Christmas tree farm in Oregon. Every year, they pack up a trailer and drive to their family's tree lot in California where they live from Thanksgiving to Christmas selling their trees. Though Sierra misses her friends Rachel and Elizabeth back in Oregon, she has Heather and her family in California that she looks forward to seeing; however, this year might be their last in California since the lot is no longer as profitable as it has been in the past. Amidst her conflicting feelings about this, Sierra meets Caleb, an otherwise perfect boy with a smudge on his record. While Sierra immediately falls for him, everyone else tells her not to bother with Caleb due to the rumours about his past. Sierra is a big believer in forgiveness and second chances, so she manages to form her own opinions about Caleb, but between her parents not being too keen on her budding romance when they'll be leaving in a few weeks, and the locals being incredibly disapproving of their relationship, Sierra and Caleb need to determine if and how their love will survive.

This story started off promising with the set-up of Sierra's family and the Christmas tree farm and their annual move, but from the beginning I felt I didn't really connect with Sierra. She's certainly likeable and likes to show off her impressive vocabulary, but there really wasn't much to endear her to me. I felt once Caleb showed up, everything either became way too dramatic and/or cheesy, or just plain unrealistic. For example, regarding Caleb's past, in my opinion it really wasn't as shocking as you anticipate it being, and they milk it over the course of the book and I thought all these characters just needed to collectively let it go and move on with their lives. Sierra falls in love with Caleb waaaay too quickly, and Caleb is portrayed as too perfect with the exception of his "horrible" past. I did enjoy the Christmas setting, and the theme of forgiveness is a good addition to that backdrop, but the details of the story just didn't produce an overall satisfying read.

Recommendation:
This author is known for his first book, go read that one (I recommend it wholeheartedly). This one pales in comparison.

Thoughts on the cover:
I do like it, even though it falls under the "YA cover focusing on a portion of a girl's face" cliche. The twinkling lights and winter hat on Sierra do reinforce the Christmas atmosphere.

Like a River Glorious - Rae Carson

Title: Like a River Glorious (sequel to Walk on Earth a Stranger)
Author: Rae Carson
Publisher: Greenwillow Books (HarperCollins), 2016 (Hardcover)
Length: 406 pages
Genre: Young Adult; Historical Fiction, Fantasy
Started: November 1, 2016
Finished: November 3, 2016

Summary:
From the inside cover:

Lee Westfall survived the dangerous journey to California. She found a new family in the other outcasts of their wagon train, and Jefferson, her best friend, is beginning to woo her shamelessly. Now they have a real home-one rich in gold, thanks to Lee's magical ability to sense the precious metal in the world around her.

But Lee's Uncle Hiram has survived his own journey west. He's already murdered her parents, and he will do anything to have Lee and her talents under his control. No one is safe. When he kidnaps her, she sees firsthand the depths of his depravity.

Lee's magic is changing, though. It is growing. The gold no longer simply sings to her-it listens. It obeys her call. Will that alone be enough to destroy her uncle?

The second book of Rae Carson's acclaimed Gold Seer trilogy takes us deep into the heart of the gold fields and continues the epic story of an unforgettable heroine.

Review:
After reading The Girl of Fire and Thorns series years ago and loving it to pieces (and turning many a reader on to it), I had a feeling that this particular author was one of those rare ones that I would love anything they wrote. Her new series hasn't disappointed me so far. After reading Walk on Earth a Stranger last year, it proved to be just as engaging and lovely as her previous series. This book is the second in her newest series, more of an historical fiction than heavy fantasy. The best part of this book is that it doesn't suffer from second-book syndrome (or Bridge Book Syndrome as I have dubbed it), it is just as exciting as the first book with none of that awful lag that so many middle books in a trilogy suffer from.

Leah has survived the trip from Georgia to California with most of her original party intact, choosing to settle in an area they name Glory. As they stake out their claims and pan for gold, Lee tells everyone the truth about her talent and that her uncle Hiram will surely come after her, and subsequently, the others. When Hiram's men kidnap Leah and imprison Jefferson and Tom, the trio must work together with the Chinese and Indian workers to overthrow Hiram and his men and return home to their friends in Glory.

This instalment manages to refresh the reader's memory right from the start, and continues on with a brisk pace that doesn't lag. Leah is still a great female protagonist, trying to be as independent as a woman during the mid 1800s could possibly be. I have to give the author credit in doing her research on the historical period she's writing about, it's incredibly detailed. The accounts of Asian immigrants and Native Americans in California during this time period were incredibly interesting and is a historical aspect I don't often encounter in fiction.

Recommendation:
An excellent second book in a wonderful series by an incredible author. Need I say more?

Thoughts on the cover:
Oh so pretty. I like the continuation from the first cover to this one. Hopefully the third book continues this trend.

Red's Planet - Eddie Pittman

Title: Red's Planet
Author: Eddie Pittman
Publisher: Amulet Books, 2016 (Paperback)
Length: 192 pages
Genre: Children's Graphic Novel, Science Fiction
Started: November 1, 2016
Finished: November 1, 2016

Summary: 
From the inside cover:

Red, a quirky, headstrong ten-year-old, longs to live in her own perfect paradise far away from her annoying foster family. But when a UFO mistakenly kidnaps her, Red finds herself farther away than she could have possibly imagined - across the galaxy and aboard an enormous spaceship owned by the Aquilari, an ancient creature with a taste for rare and unusual treasures.

Before Red can be discovered as a stowaway, the great ship crashed on a small deserted planet, leaving her marooned with a menagerie of misfit aliens. With her newfound friend, a small fray alien named Tawee, Red must find a way to survive the hostile castaways, evade the ravenous wildlife, and contend with Goose, the planet's grumpy, felinoid custodian. Surely this can't be the paradise she's looking for.

Review:
There seems to be a slew of awesome middle-grade graphic novels coming out lately, which I won't complain about, especially since this one in particular will certainly appeal to many younger readers.

Red (which isn't her real name) is ten, and has been in and out of various foster homes because she keeps running away in search of the paradise she wants to live in. When the cops pick her up from the latest incident with the intent of taking her to an institution, she is momentarily saved by a UFO that steals the police cruiser while she is alone inside it. When said ship crash lands on a near-empty planet, Red and the other survivors must figure out a way to live until they are rescued, especially when the planet's guardian (who looks like a big blue version of Tony the Tiger) is rather reluctant to help them.

This is part of a series that'll be continuing in 2017, so I'm hoping that my only issue with this book will be resolved with more instalments. I like Red as a character, she's spunky and strong; but, along with the all the other characters, they're just not much to them even after a whole book. For younger readers that care more about the story than character development, this won't make or break their interest, but more sophisticated readers might take issue with it.

Recommendation:
A science-fiction story that will be sure to engage reluctant readers, complete with art that is aesthetically pleasing.

Thoughts on the cover:
A really dynamic and colourful choice of image, it really grabs your attention.