Category Archives: Blogger’s Favorites

Review: There You’ll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Clean Fiction, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

There You'll Find Me by Jenny B. JonesThere You’ll Find Me
Jenny B. Jones
Thomas Nelson
Published October 3, 2011

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Embattled by grief over her brother’s murder, eighteen year-old Finley Sinclaire embarks on a journey, hoping to encounter the God he so powerfully sensed in the beautiful Irish countryside. Though God seems to elude her, she can’t seem to escape the attentions of teen heart-throb and actor Beckett Rush. With mounting pressure to perfect her audition composition for the New York Conservatory, win over her assigned adopted grouch – er, grandmother – and avoid being caught in the web of girls falling for Beckett, Finley’s life spirals out of her control. Only an encounter with God can right her, but where is He?

Fans of Jones’ earlier novels will not be disappointed in her latest book. With equal parts wit, fun, and spiritual depth, There You’ll Find Me brings readers on a journey through the lonely chill of grief to the warmth of budding love and the power of forgiveness, all set against a gorgeous Irish backdrop.

At first I was a little worried that the whole teen heartthrob thing would be a bit cliche. I think Jones’s expert writing and sense of humor kept the story interesting. I loved Finley right away – she’s so easy to identify with, and her spiritual journey felt so authentic to me.

Readers who enjoy Sarah Dessen, Nicole Quigley, or Laura Weiss will want to add this one to their reading lists.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Finley is on a spiritual quest to follow her brother’s journal entries and revisit the places he wrote about in order to encounter God in those places and use the inspiration of the Irish countryside to finish a musical composition. She learns about forgiveness and about how sometimes grief, expectation, and busyness can distract and prevent us from hearing the voice of God in our times of need.

Violence
None.

Drug Content
None.

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Review: Legend by Marie Lu

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

Legend (Legend #1)
Marie Lu
G. P. Putnam’s Sons / Penguin Group
Published November 29, 2011

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Legend

Fifteen year-old Day’s life as a fugitive becomes complicated when his younger brother is diagnosed with a deadly plague. Instead of petty pranks for cash, he must use his skills as a thief to secure the heavily guarded, highly expensive cure that will save his brother’s life.

When word of her brother’s death reaches fifteen year-old June, she earns a promotion out of school and into action as a soldier and prodigy. The general expects immediate results, and June wants nothing less than to be responsible for the capture and demise of the rebel terrorist and murderer who calls himself Day.

Though at first June believes they have nothing at all in common, she soon learns there’s much more to the Republic of America’s most wanted criminal than the JumboTrons indicate. As June closes in on her target, the situation spirals out of her control, and she learns unexpected information about the Republic darkest and most terrible secrets. If she accept the information as truth, she can’t stand idly while innocent people die.

My Review

Right from the opening scenes, Legend launches readers deep into a world of secrets and danger. Day is exactly the outlaw with a hero’s heart that none can resist, and June proves herself worthy to be called a modern heroine, able to strategize and battle her way through the thickest mayhem.

I really enjoyed both their points of view, and I especially loved them as characters. I really liked the messages about questioning the information you’re told and learning to make judgments for yourself. Learning to take a stand for what you believe in, even if it’s unpopular.

This is a great start to what promises to be an excellent series. I think readers who enjoy dystopian fiction will find a lot to love in this book. I’m excited about reading the rest of the series.

Content Notes

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild word choice, mild frequency.

Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
June’s brother is killed, and she is asked to examine the crime scene and determine the identity of the attacker. She participates in a street fight against a girl a little older than she is. Soldiers shoot Day’s mother in front of her family. A terrible plague with gruesome side effects spreads among the poorer sectors. These scenes are brief.

Drug Content
None.

Review: The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, ,

The Mark of the Dragonfly
by Jaleigh Johnson
Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Published March 25, 2014

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Since her father’s death, Piper has lived by scavenging artifacts that fall from the sky in meteor showers. Nothing she’s found yet promises to be as valuable as Anna, the girl she stumbles upon who bears a tattoo of an intricate mechanical dragonfly. The tattoo indicates the girl is from the Dragonfly Territories and is protected by its king. If Piper can return the girl home, she will collect a reward that will buy her a new life away from the scrap towns forever.

With no memories to guide them, Anna depends on Piper to unearth clues about her past and her home. When a man threatens them, the girls’ only hope for escape is in hiding away on a train bound for the Dragonfly Territories. The train’s security chief isn’t easily fooled, and it’s up to Piper’s quick thinking and Anna’s charm to persuade him to let them stay. The three form an uneasy alliance, each with a secret that may destroy the others or save them.

The Mark of the Dragonfly is whimsical and fun. It is a story about bravery, sacrifice and the value of unexpected friendship. Quirky and inspiring characters populate a memorable story world. Readers who enjoy fantasy stories like Peggy Eddleman’s Sky Jumpers or Jennifer Nielsen’s The False Prince will likely fall in love with this story.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Sexual Content
Piper briefly glimpses a boy’s naked body but quickly turns away, embarrassed.

Spiritual Content
In Piper’s homeland, the people worship a goddess whom they believe sends artifacts from other lands to them via meteor showers. The girls visit a prophetess of sorts hoping to gather information about Anna’s past.

Violence
A dangerous man pursues Piper and Anna. He attacks and a band of slave traders attack them, though few graphic details appear in the text.

Drug Content
Slave traders attempt to capture the girls using a powdered substance that temporarily paralyzes those exposed to it. The train’s fire man uses his knowledge of chemistry to formulate a medicine to heal a poisoned passenger.

Disclaimer
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Review: Unwind by Neal Schusterman

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Dystopian or Post-Apocalyptic, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

Unwind
Neal Schusterman
Simon & Schuster BFYR
Published November 6, 2007

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

When Connor’s parents schedule to have him unwound, meaning all parts of his body would be redistributed to others, he flees. While on the run, he meets Risa, a girl scheduled to undergo the unwinding process and Lev, a young teen whose family raised him to be unwound as a tithe to God. Together the three evade police and government officials only to discover an entire underground network of runaway kids scheduled for unwinding. At first the community seems like a wonderful miracle. Then the stench of rumors, chaos and death threaten to destroy the delicate balance required to protect so many from death and discovery, and Connor, Risa and Lev are forced to take sides in a conflict that could cost their lives.

At first it was difficult to suspend disbelief enough to become immersed in a story-world that devalues its youth so completely as Schusterman’s fictitious society does. However, the detailed backstory about the political move toward the decision to legalize and promote the unwind procedure helped make the premise more believable. The dehumanizing of the youth scheduled for unwinding can easily be a metaphor for a number of other groups who, in real present-day life experience a devaluing of existence. Think of victims of genocide, for example.

Connor and Lev display the highest degrees of character development. At the beginning, Connor is a kid with a short fuse and unfocused, uncontrolled anger. As the story progresses and with Risa’s help, he begins to apply restraint to his emotions and strategy to his decisions. Lev initially believes that he is destined to be a living sacrifice to God, that he has no right to life as a human being. Though he is often led astray by feelings of betrayal and anger toward his family, his choices lead him to become a powerful humanizing force in understanding people often considered evil and inhumane.

Unwind is the first in a series of three novels that make up the Unwind Dystology. Schusterman is also author to the Skinjacker Trilogy.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild word choice, infrequent use.

Sexual Content
Someone comments to Connor that he should get Risa pregnant to keep her from getting unwound. He does not take this advice.

Spiritual Content
Lev comes from a very religious family and upstanding family. His parents believe firmly in giving, and this extends to giving their son Lev as a tithe to be unwound. Lev grew up believing that this was a holy calling, and the church supports this idea. In the course of the story, Lev’s pastor changes his mind about the morality of unwinding teens and leaves the church.

Violence
Connor has a history of getting into fights with other kids. In the story, he fights off a police officer who tries to arrest him. He fights with a boy who has antagonized him and Risa for months. Nothing over-the-top in these scenes. When a boy undergoes the unwind procedure, readers experience it from his point-of-view. Details are not gross or graphic, but it is a powerful scene showing how dehumanized children scheduled to be unwound have become in the eyes of other society members.

Drug Content
None.

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Cover Reveal: Golden Daughter by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

Blogger's Favorites, Christian World-View, Fantasy, News and Fun, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

As a long-time fan of the Tales of Goldstone Wood series, I’m excited to reveal the cover of the seventh novel in this whimsical series. Golden Daughter will hit shelves in November 2014. Here’s a look at the back cover copy, too:

BEYOND THE REALM OF DREAMS

IS A WORLD SHE NEVER IMAGINED

Masayi Sairu was raised to be dainty, delicate, demure . . . and deadly. She is one of the emperor’s Golden Daughters, as much a legend as she is a commodity. One day, Sairu will be contracted in marriage to a patron, whom she will secretly guard for the rest of her life.

But when she learns that a sacred Dream Walker of the temple seeks the protection of a Golden Daughter, Sairu forgoes marriage in favor of this role. Her skills are stretched to the limit, for assassins hunt in the shadows, and phantoms haunt in dreams. With only a mysterious Faerie cat and a handsome slave—possessed of his own strange abilities—to help her, can Sairu shield her new mistress from evils she can neither see nor touch?

For the Dragon is building an army of fire. And soon the heavens will burn.

BOOK COVER: The cover illustration was done by Julia Popova. Visit her website, http://www.forestgirl.ru/, to learn more about her and her fantastic work!

If you’d like to learn more about Golden Daughter, visit the book page for interesting articles, illustrations, and more!

AUTHOR BIO:

Anne Elisabeth Stengl is the author of the award-winning Tales of Goldstone Wood series, adventure fantasies told in the classic Fairy Tale style. Her books include Christy Award-winning Heartless and Veiled Rose, and Clive Staples Award-winning Starflower. She makes her home in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband, Rohan, a passel of cats, and one long-suffering dog. When she’s not writing, she enjoys Shakespeare, opera, and tea, and practices piano, painting, and pastry baking. She studied illustration and English literature at Grace College and Campbell University.

GIVEAWAY: Enter to win any two of the first six Goldstone Wood novels as a giveaway prize! Winner’s choice of: Heartless, Veiled Rose, Moonblood, Starflower, Dragonwitch, or Shadow Hand.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Review: Me Since You by Laura Weiss

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

Me Since You
Laura Weiss
MTV Books
Published February 18, 2014

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

It’s not easy being a police officer’s daughter. For Rowan, it means getting caught just about every time she tries have a little risky fun with her friends. Being busted yet again lands Rowan in her room, cornered by her father and his lectures about appropriate teen behavior. His being home means he is closest when a terrible call for help comes in. A call that changes everything.

Sadness. Cruelty. These are lessons Rowan learns. Grief and misery stalk her family, terrorizing them. The only upside to the whole mess is that it brings Eli into her life. But Eli’s no stranger to loss, either. Will his past draw them together or become an insurmountable wedge between them?

As Rowan tries to navigate the confusing wake of disaster, another loss rips through her family, and she crumbles under the weight of a crushing grief and emotions Rowan has no idea how to begin to manage. The road to healing isn’t something anyone can lead her through. If she’s going to survive, she’s going to have to find her way.

Rowan’s story packs a serious emotional punch. It is loss come to life. Weiss describes a gut-wrenching grief exacerbated by the (sometimes well-meaning) friends and family members of the grieved. The voices of wisdom and comfort come from those who’ve lost someone themselves. (How true to life is that?!) In addition, she forces readers to examine the fallout which come from people posting cruel comments to one another over the internet. Bravo, Ms. Weiss. Bravo.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme with moderate frequency.

Sexual Content
The opening scene contains a description of a thirteen year-old girl making out with a college boy. He lifts her shirt and bra, and she remains exposed for a moment when they are caught by a police officer. The rest of the book is pretty clean, however. There are a few kisses and a couple of oblique references to sleeping together.

Spiritual Content
After experiencing a tragic loss, Rowan wonders about life after death. Who is in Heaven? Is there a Heaven? Things like that. The focus is on the questions rather than the answers, and the narrator draws no real lasting conclusions other than a decision to communicate her thoughts with a loved one via a grief journal.

Violence
Rowan’s father is a police officer. In a short sequence from his point-of-view, he references some difficult situations he dealt with as a cop. One in particular involves a child beaten nearly to death. It’s a brief but gruesome recollection. Several characters witness a murder-suicide involving a baby.

Drug Content
Friends and peers invite Rowan to drink beer and smoke weed with them. More than once, Rowan drinks quite a few drinks. She also begins smoking cigarettes.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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