Bruised, by Sarah Skilton (fiction) - trained to defend, frozen when it counts most

She's a black belt.
She's practiced and sparred and competed.
She freezes when true danger strikes.

The journey to black belt in Tae Kwon Do or any martial art is long and rigorous, but under controlled conditions with traditions and rules to follow.

Imogen mentally punishes herself for not springing into action when the gunman attacks - can she fight through survivor's guilt to become a young woman of action and purpose again?

Just published this week, Bruised  follows Imo as she tries to rebuild her life to include Ricky's love and fill the void left by Shelley's departure for dance school and her own absence from Grandmaster Huan's dojang.

How would you react when a situation bursts into violence?
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Book info: Bruised / Sarah Skilton. Amulet Books, 2013. [author's website] [publisher site]

My Recommendation: As the youngest female to earn a black belt at the dojang, Imogen was sure she could handle any attack. But the gunman at the diner proved her wrong, undid her whole life’s work as a defender of the helpless. How can she get past the blood-drenched scene when her mind has built a wall around the robbery gone wrong?

Tae Kwon Do is what she does, what she is, but she just froze at the diner, didn’t stop the robber before he pistol-whipped the cashier. She can remember hiding under a table, can remember the teen guy crouching under the next table, his new white shoes that became gory red and were taken as evidence, just like her bloodstained jeans. Gretchen called 911 from the bathroom, was smart enough to stay put – but Imogen should have been able to stop the situation before the guy was shot when he wouldn’t surrender.

She just can’t process what went wrong there. Can’t talk to former best friend Shelley who decided to hook up with her big brother at Imogen’s own birthday party, can’t pay attention in school, except during counseling sessions with Ricky, the guy from the diner whose shoes became bloody evidence. Her heart seems to be a lump in her chest now.

Being teased leads to a fight at school, to being asked by Grandmaster Huan not to return to the dojang until she can regain her emotional balance by truly living the ‘child rules’ at the foundation of Tae Kwon Do – respecting her parents (including her dad who let his diabetes put him in a wheelchair) and doing all her homework without being asked.

Who is Imogen without her time revolving around learning and teaching at the dojang?

How can Ricky like her or respect her when she failed to stop a death?

Why can’t she remember what happened between crouching under the table and being blood-soaked in the police car?

A compelling story of expectations versus reality, Imogen’s heart and psyche are so Bruised that moving on with life will take more courage than any Tae Kwon Do belt test she ever tried.

(One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Dangerous Boy, by Mandy Hubbard (fiction) - good girl, daredevil boyfriend, dangerous twin

New guy in the small-town high school.
Handsome, rich, daring.
Falling for everyday girl Harper?
Swept off her feet, toward danger.

Logan wants a fresh start to his life after the difficulties he and his brother had in their hometown. Harper's life after her mom's death had gotten quieter and quieter. Boom! Romance like a whirlwind, eerie vandalism, brother Daemon mocking Harper's affection for Logan.

If you sense a whiff of Robert Louis Stevenson's novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (read it free at Project Gutenberg here), you've found one inspiration for author Mandy Hubbard's fast-moving story of Harper's hope for happiness and the too-real peril she faces.

Grab this one today at your local library or independent bookstore but do watch for strange happenings in your neighborhood, won't you?
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Book info: Dangerous Boy / Mandy Hubbard. Razorbill, 2012.  [author's website] [publisher site]

My Recommendation: When handsome Logan Townsend moves to her small town, Harper is intrigued. When he asks her out, she’s amazed and delighted. When his twin brother threatens her, she doesn’t know what to think.  But if she merely thinks instead of acting, it might just be too late.

Living in the old Carson mansion with their uncle way out on the river road must be boring for Daemon, who’s doing school online instead of at Enumclaw High with his twin brother. He never comes along with Logan and Harper as they go to a Halloween haunted corn maze with friends or riding four-wheelers. Logan says that Daemon messed up relationships for him at their old school, so it’s better that he doesn’t want to be with their group anyway.

Bloody cow bones showing up in rural mailboxes, red handprints on every car in the school parking lot, stop signs stolen – this new rash of vandalism is getting dangerous.

Harper has never really liked doing dangerous things, but after her mother’s death, her own father is like a ghost, going through the motions at their farm, without enough energy to warn her against trying reckless things that Logan loves to do. That four-wheeler rollover when a wheel fell off was just an accident, right?

Wondering what Daemon did at the twins’ former school to make them leave that town, Harper does some checking on Facebook and the newspaper, but comes up with more questions than answers.

Why isn’t Logan tagged in any pictures with his former classmates?

What did Daemon do that was hushed up so quickly in the media?

Why does his twin want Harper to stay away from the creaking house that he shares with Logan?

Echoes of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde drift through this spooky tale, with a young woman’s safety and sanity depending on her reactions to the dangers she uncovers.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Treachery of Beautiful Things, by Ruth Frances Long (fiction) - supernatural music, dark longings

The forest swallowed him.
Jenny watched it, couldn't stop it.
Now it wants her, too.

Hoping for closure, Jenny returns to the woods where her big brother disappeared seven years ago... seven long years of psychotherapy, anxiety medications, and anguish.

Who would think that the beings of fairy tales and legend still lived inside that wood? Shielding themselves from the eyes of city folk, preparing to take back their ancient sites overrun by technology?

Heartbreak and hope, legend and loss, king and queen, monster and lover - dare to enter the Realm and discover for yourself in this mesmerizing debut YA novel by Irish author Ruth Frances Long.
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Book info: The Treachery of Beautiful Things / Ruth Frances Long. Dial Books, 2012. [author's website]  [book Facebook page] [publisher site] [book trailer]  

My Recommendation: Tom was swallowed up by the woods when she was a young girl, her older brother snatched from her 7 years ago in front of her very eyes. Jenny returns to Burnam Copse for a final good-bye and hears his unmistakable flute music – and is drawn into the ancient Realm, in the midst of her modern British city!

Attacked by fairies, rescued by a leaf-clad man named Jack, going farther and farther into the green mossy wood that’s immensely larger than the small grove she entered, Jenny is bewildered and exhausted and lost. Will her parents think that she’s been kidnapped, too?

She asks again and again about the flute music she heard, learns that the Piper is in thrall to Queen Titania (once called Mab), meets a faun named Puck, and is nearly caught by the Wild Hunt.

Jenny travels with difficulty to the Palace where she discovers that Tom is the Piper – and that he has no memory of life outside the Realm. Her power to see through illusion makes the teen dangerous to many, coveted by others, and a threat to the power-hungry Queen.

Can Jenny find the key to restoring Tom’s memory in time?

Can she escape from the Realm?

Can she leave behind her feelings for Jack if she goes?

Soon Jenny’s resolve and skill will be tested to the limits as a power shift in the Realm threatens the outside world of mortals – and her actions will decide the fate of both worlds. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Cinders & Sapphires, by Leila Rasheed (fiction) - British high society & true goodness collide

England and India are so different,
Not even the green of the trees is the same,
But whispers and rumors are too close in both lands.

The objections to British rule over India have moved from prayers to violent demonstrations in 1910, especially following Lord Curzon's partition of the country to split off Muslim-majority Bengal.

This first book in the At Somerton series will appeal to both fans of Downton Abbey and lovers of historical fiction with its upstairs-downstairs intrigues and political unrest abroad in the time just preceding "The Great War" which we call World War I.

What's ahead for the Averley sisters and the others At Somerton as 1911 dawns?
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Book info: Cinders& Sapphires (At Somerton, book 1) / Leila Rasheed. Disney Hyperion, 2013. [author's website] [publisher site]

My Recommendation:  High society and propriety will encircle Ava’s life in 1910 once the ship reaches England, but an accidental (and unchaperoned) meeting on deck leaves her breathless, hopeful, and confused. People would be shocked if they discovered that she’d kissed a man before her debutante season, utterly appalled if they found out he was Indian!

How dreadful for her father to leave India under a cloud of suspicion after his distinguished career there! Now they are returning to their family estate with her sister Georgiana so that he can marry a wealthy and beautiful widow to keep it afloat for now. The suddenness of the wedding and so many guests descending on quiet Somerton has the servants running to and fro, especially housekeeper Mrs. Cliffe whose daughter is now a housemaid.

Suddenly, Lady Ava and Lady Georgiana will have brothers and another sister (so jealous of everyone), plus a fashionable stepmother who will steer Ava through the intricacies of the London Season to find a husband. Never mind that Ava wants to attend Oxford, wants to think for herself, wants to think at all! And Ravi is at Oxford, might even visit London…

When Rose Cliffe is promoted to ladies’ maid for Ava and Georgiana, she’s sad that her evenings at the piano in the friendly servants’ sitting room are over. Music just flows through her veins, but a country girl like her could never afford piano lessons. The ladies’ maid to the new Lady Westlake hints strongly that learning secrets is the best way to get ahead in this world. The clandestine letters between Ravi and Ava, hinting of violence against the British in India, go through Rose’s hands…

Is there any hope for Ravi and Ava to be together?

What other secrets glide through Somerton’s elegant halls?

Must Ava marry someone, just to keep the estate intact?

As upstairs murmurs and belowstairs whispers collide, more stories At Somerton will follow this debut tale of keeping up appearances, societal expectations, and scandalously delicious secrets. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Butterfly Clues, by Kate Ellison (fiction) - obsession, loss, mystery

If the arrangement is precise,
life will fall into place.
If the collection is balanced,
personalities will align again.
If manipulating objects could only heal people...

Lo isn't hoarding; she's trying to make sense of hurtful events that seem so random. Even if it puts her in danger, investigating in a bad part of town, compelled to steal things to add to the display of possible answers...to find a killer, to discover why her brother left, to find herself.

It's No Name-Calling Week, highlighting ways we can prevent bullying behavior, put-downs, and harassment, like Lo experienced with the acid-burned photos stuck on her school locker.

Just out in paperback (look for the blue cover with red butterfly), you'll also find The Butterfly Clues  in hardback at your local library or independent bookstore.

How much can we rearrange things and people?
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Book info: The Butterfly Clues / Kate Ellison. Egmont USA, hardback 2012, paperback 2013. [author's website] [publisher site] [book trailer]

My Recommendation:  Lo is guided to each object she takes, compelled to arrange them just-so, trying desperately to be unnoticed at school like she is at home, since her brother disappeared. She ignores those who call her Penelope, like Mom ignores the outside world now.

She taps significant patterns to keep her safe as she roams neighborhoods to stay out of the too-quiet house. A bang, shattering glass, a bullet in the brick wall nearby – Lo checks the news online later to discover that a young woman was killed at that moment, in that place, jewelry stolen.

At the flea market, a butterfly figurine calls to her to be taken (but-ter-fly, 3 perfect syllables). Lo recognizes it from the news article, stolen from the dead girl Sapphire, she just knows it. Seller says it was in a dumpster, but who’d stick around a murder scene to steal costume jewelry and knick-knacks, then dump them? Something is off-balance here, and Lo can’t stand for anything to be unbalanced, so she starts to investigate.

Visiting the gentlemen’s club where Sapphire worked, talking to homeless people, Lo can’t stop looking for things that will unmask the killer. Meeting Flynt the artist is an unexpected bonus, a joy, but can he be trusted not to tell what Lo is doing in this bad part of Cleveland on her own?

When the phone rings at home, telling her to mind her own business, Lo is a little worried. When acid-scorched photos appear on her school locker, telling her to back off, she gets anxious. When she sees Flynt’s tattoo and remembers a clue in Sapphire’s house, she gets frantic.

Will the killer come to her home?

Will Flynt deny the connection that Lo has discovered?

Will she be able to keep her counting compulsions under control long enough to convince the police to do something?

(One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy, by Bil Wright (fiction) - chase the dream, ignore the haters

We all want to be respected,
successful,
and fabulous.

Carlos is already completely fabulous, a fabulous makeup artist at sixteen. He just has to show the world that a Latino guy from the Lower East Side can do perfect makeup on anyone, anywhere - including the fanciest department store in New York City.

Be sure to meet this fabulous guy with a not-so-fabulous family life, the perfect touch with his own makeup, and his ever-positive attitude soon. Just thinking about Carlos and his drive to succeed makes me smile!

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Book info: Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy / Bil Wright. Simon & Schuster, 2011 hardback, 2012 paperback.  [author's website] [publisher site] [book trailer]

My Recommendation: Carlos wants one thing, and one thing only: to be the most-respected makeup artist anywhere.

Oh, and for the cute guy in his high school class to ask him out, and for Mama to have a decent job that doesn’t wear her down, and for his sister to stay away from that loser Danny at work.

When he hears that the FeatureFace cosmetics counter at Macy’s is hiring, Carlos goes into overdrive: hiring cute rocker Gleason to photograph the  models wearing his makeup designs, crafting the perfect job application, watching videos of interview tips, and sweet-talking Rosaria into coming to the interview to be his live model. Of course, the manager will want to see Carlos apply makeup in person – everyone knows that!

At school all day, working at the child care center till late evening, Carlos keeps his cellphone close by, waiting for the call from FeatureFace to set up his interview, to let him prove his fabulous makeup skills, to start on his way to the top!

Carlos proves how well he handles makeup, chatting his way through the demonstration to explain his techniques, so snooty manager Valentino just has to hire him – part-time, since he’s only 16 – and FeatureFace cosmetics has a new star.

Of course, there are still a few problems in life, like Mama’s precarious job situation, that rotten Danny trying to rough up Rosaria if she ever gets the guts to leave him, Soraya screening his calls (how could that problem with the borrowed boots really be his fault?), and the cute guy at school not flirting with him anymore.

Can Carlos really balance work, school, and family at 16?

As his schedule loads up, will his friends let him down?

Will Valentino’s disdain for his talents ever give way to respect?

Ready to take on the world, Carlos Duarte is fabulous indeed. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Wentworth Hall, by Abby Grahame (fiction) - country estate, family secrets uncovered

An upper-crust British country estate,
filled with portraits, servants, and secrets...
welcome to Wentworth Hall.

In the peaceful golden years before WWI,  new arrivals coincide with public whispers of old concerns that the Darlingtons would much rather keep silent.

Who's blabbing to the newspaper about the county's most-influential family - the new French nanny?
The teen cousins about to inherit a diamond mine fortune?
The stablemaster fearing Lord Darlington's cost-cutting plans?

A nice bit of mystery combined with historical fiction, Wentworth Hall  will please readers who enjoy stories about families and relationships, as well as those who adore the Downton Abbey television series. 

Did the butler do it? Where has Maggie's crazy independent streak gone? What's her little sister Lila up to?  Find out in hardback or eBook at your local library or independent bookstore.
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Book info: Wentworth Hall / Abby Grahame. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2012.  [publisher site] 


My Recommendation:

Maggie’s sojourn in France has calmed the impetuous teen, but her return to Wentworth Hall in 1912 is rattled by the arrival of Teddy and Jessica. The recently orphaned twins need to stay at the family estate for a few months, just until they turn 18, but their time in the English countryside promises to be anything but quiet.

Perhaps some of the vast fortune they’ll inherit soon will stay there, hopes Lord Darlington. Maintaining Wentworth Hall and its large staff is quite costly, and his investments haven’t done well at all. And now Lady Darlington’s new baby boy, the expensive nanny from France, a stable full of horses – where do the expenses end? Marrying his elder son to Jessica Fitzhugh, or Maggie to dashing Teddy, or both…hmm.

Keeping up appearances in British society is priceless, so when the local paper prints scandalous articles which can only refer to the Darlingtons, everyone at Wentworth Hall begins to look over their shoulders – someone inside the estate is writing the articles, hinting at secrets that have long been hidden.

What does the writer want from the family? How far will they go to stop the newspaper stories? Can any shared secret truly stay hidden?  How can Maggie repair the friendships that she broke off when she went abroad?

A treat for fans of genteel British nobility, family histories, and mystery, Wentworth Hall holds more than its share of secrets.(One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

The Wishing Spell, by Chris Colfer (fiction) - traveling fairy tale roads in search of a way home

Jack and the Beanstalk.
Rapunzel.
The Walking Fish?
Perhaps we haven't read all the world's fairy tales yet!

A family love of books may very well be the key to escaping from the Land of Stories for a brother and sister who are still mourning their father's death.

They'll also find out what happened "happily ever after" to Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, and other famous fairy tale subjects when they grew up!

When I picked up The Wishing Spell,  my first thought was "hey, this guy's book will be shelved next to Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series - should get lots of attention that way" - not realizing that author Chris Colfer was also television star Chris Colfer. He ably weaves new stories like the Curvy Tree and the Walking Fish into Conner and Alex's adventures and encounters with classic fairy tale characters.

This first book in The Land of Stories series will be published on July 17, 2012, so get on the reserve list at your local library or independent bookstore now.
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Book info: The Wishing Spell (The Land of Stories #1) / Chris Colfer. Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2012. [book series site] [publisher site] 

My Recommendation:  A dark dungeon or a middle school classroom – both can be prisons until the right fairy tale magic opens all the doors. One story sends a brother and sister questing through amazing lands where courage and cleverness may unlock the secrets to save a kingdom ...and their lives.

Conner and Alex loved Dad’s stories, like the legend of the Curvy Tree and the tale of the Walking Fish. Since he was killed last year in a car crash, it’s been rough for the twins and their mom. When Grandma gives them the family’s special storybook for their twelfth birthday, Alex reads herself right into the Land of Stories, and her brother has to jump in after her!

A talking frog who collects books, a gingerbread house in the woods, the three Charming brothers (formerly princes, now kings) – all the tales that the Baileys grew up hearing are real and true here! But now Goldilocks has grown up to be a swordswoman and wanted fugitive, the Big Bad Wolf’s family has vowed revenge on self-obsessed Queen Red Riding Hood, and Queen Cinderella is expecting a royal baby any day now.

If they ever want to see their mom or their world again, the twins will need the rare Wishing Spell. Luckily, Froggy had found a handwritten journal outlining the items needed to create the Spell, sending Conner and Alex through all the kingdoms of Happily Ever After to find them.

Alas, the Evil Queen has escaped from Queen Snow White’s dungeon with the magic mirror and will stop at nothing to have the Wishing Spell for herself!

Will the twins be able to acquire everything for the Wishing Spell? Can they escape troll caverns, goblin prisons, and over-talkative travel companions? Is the Big Bad Wolf Pack still on their trail? And what did the journal-writer wish for when he completed the first Wishing Spell?

First in a new series, this adventure story introduces new-to-us fairy tales along with intriguing what-happened-later versions of familiar classics. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

In Honor, by Jessi Kirby (fiction) - a last wish, a road trip, a journey of healing

Happy Fourth of July!

Remembering the freedoms that we cherish in the USA, the courage of the men and women who defend them, and the sacrifices made by their families while they're away from home.

Honor lost her parents while a toddler and now her only brother is coming home to Texas in a casket. Full military honors at a funeral can't ever replace his smile or his teasing or his plans for their futures.

Of course she must take the road trip to fulfill his last wish for her, even though she should be heading for the University of Texas (that's UT, Jessi) at that very moment.

Find Jessi's second novel at your local library or independent bookstore today and travel new highways with Honor as she and Rusty try to figure out a future that doesn't have Finn in it.
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Book info: In Honor / Jessi Kirby. Simon & Schuster, 2012. [author's website]    [publisher site]  

My Recommendation:  Honor still can’t believe that her big brother Finn has been killed in Iraq. When his last letter arrives afterwards with special concert tickets, she heads off in his vintage Impala on a cross-country adventure with a few more twists than either could have planned.

Orphaned as young children, Finn and Honor were raised by Aunt Gina to do the right thing, so his enlistment as a Marine rather than taking a football scholarship wasn’t that surprising. Somehow, he and best buddy got crosswise during their senior year, and Rusty stopped coming over to help rebuild the ‘Pala.

Surprising when Rusty shows up for the funeral and won’t let Honor drive alone from Texas to California, along for the journey while she misses university orientation to carry out her brother’s last wish - to tell their favorite singer about him at her final concert.

Off across the dry flats of West Texas, into New Mexico and an improbable scuba dive to look at the stars, trying to get cool as they drive the unairconditioned Impala across the Arizona desert, car troubles cause an unscheduled stop in Sedona to get parts. As they drive and as they wait, there’s more than enough time for Rusty to tell Honor about his argument with Finn, but he seems determined not to talk about it.

Are they going to get to California in time for the concert? Can Honor get to the university before classes start? Can they start to imagine a world without her smiling big brother in it?

This journey In Honor  of the plans that Finn made for their future will linger in memory long after the final page is turned. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

The Wicked and the Just, by J. Anderson Coats (fiction) - English overlords, Welsh rebels, dark times

In a conquered land, starvation fells the youngest and oldest,
memories and hunger gnaw at those who can still work,
who suffer under heavy taxes, hating their English overlords.

The Welsh nobles and working folk have been thrown out of their town, forced into damp stone huts, forbidden to gather in groups or carry weapons,  and the spark of rebellion still burns.

Caernarvon Castle in the late 13th century is a mighty stone structure overlooking the river and town, garrisoned by the King of England's soldiers for the past decade.

Torn away from the land where she was born, where people speak good English, not this "tongue-pull" sing-song Welsh, a young lady is aware of only what she wants to see in her new home, oblivious to the dangerous currents of local politics that may pull her under forever.

Jillian Anderson Coats' debut novel illuminates a small slice of history through two unforgettable voices, as Cecily and Gwenhwyfar wish their paths had never crossed, but must carry their own burdens through to the end. You'll find this May 2012 release now at your local library or independent bookstore.
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Book info: The Wicked and the Just / J. Anderson Coats. Harcourt, 2012. [author's website]   [publisher site]  [book overview video]  

My Recommendation:   Cecily isn’t happy about moving from the family estates to Wales. Nor are the Welsh happy to have their homes taken over by Englishmen sent by the King to subdue them. So many tensions and such oppression… a tinderbox just waiting for a spark of rebellion.

If only her uncle hadn’t returned from the Crusades, then Cecily would have inherited Edgeley Hall from her father, ever staying near the grave of her loving mother. But as the younger brother, her father has no land now and jumps at the chance to rise in the King’s service. As a burgess in Caernarvon, he’ll be free from forced military service and heavy taxes imposed on the conquered Welsh. Better yet, Cecily will become lady of the house and perhaps find a suitable husband someday among its English nobles.

Gwenhwyfar is Cecily’s age, working dawn to night for the Edgeleys to earn enough to keep her younger brother and crippled mother alive. Agonizing as Gruffydd falls in with men who whisper plans of rebellion, the Welsh girl despises Cecily’s snooty manners as much as she longs to take the crusts that the English girl casts aside.

How bitter to be a servant in the house which truly belongs to Daffydd, a Welsh nobleman reduced to hauling quarrystones, to see that brat Cecily sewing in the parlour where she should be as Daffydd’s wife, to know that Welsh children are dying daily from starvation as the English burgesses hoard grain in the King’s castle above Caernarvon city…

Ten years is a long time to be conquered and spat upon, long enough to make bitter plans for revenge, desperate enough to rebel despite overwhelming odds – 1293 may be the worst of times to be English in Wales.

Told from two very different points of view, The Wicked and the Just  takes readers to a little-noted historical era as the age-old struggle for power roars through town and castle. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Fated (Soul Seekers 1), by Alyson Noel (fiction) - spirit worlds, souls unbound, evil or good

She sees him in her dreams,
those visions that sent her over the edge of sanity,
leading her to an adobe house in the desert,
to the grandmother she's never known,
to the small town where she sees him, in the flesh.
Bound together by love or for evil?

Happy book birthday to Fated, hitting bookstore shelves today (May 22, 2012) in the USA - lucky UK readers have been devouring this first book in the Soul Seeker series for some time, and raving about it, too.

You may start to see its book trailer on TV or explore the Soul Seekers website or like its Facebook page, but you have to read the book for yourself to discover what Daine finds out about herself, her spirit animal guide, and twin brothers Cade and Dace.  Noel also has released a short story in which Ever from her popular The Immortals series meets Daire.
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Book info: Fated (Soul Seekers, book 1) / Alyson Noel. St. Martin's Griffin, 2012. [author's website]   [publisher site]   [UK book trailer]  [US book trailer]

My Recommendation:  Time’s flow restarts, and the glowing people observe Daine from shadowed nooks, as she traverses the Moroccan marketplace on the way to her 16^th birthday dinner. Not jet lag, no matter what her mother says – why can Daine alone move among the time-frozen people and animals? And why does she suddenly see severed heads on bloody spikes along the city walls, a murder of crows, the glowing ones attacking?

All her life, it’s been just Daine and her makeup-artist mom, traveling from movie set to movie set, her school classes done online, no other family, no problems. But now these visions and Daine’s uncontrollably violent reactions to them have changed all that.

Suddenly, her grandmother calls – for the first time in Daine’s life, she has another relative – and it’s decided that she must go to her rural New Mexico home and learn how to cope with her… abilities? For Paloma (mother of the father who died before Daine was born) is a seer and a healer who claims that these gifts are part of the teen’s heritage.

First time separated from her mother, first time to attend school, first time to ride a horse – Daine gradually shakes off her mental exhaustion to realize that whatever haunted her in Morocco is even stronger here. As she learns from grandmother Paloma about their family lineage as Soul Seekers, she also discovers that nearby vortexes lead to other worlds and that a strong family of ruthless soul-eaters will try to use them – and her – to bring more evil into this world.

A blind girl who sees auras, a vision quest for Daine’s spirit animal, twins separated at birth who mirror the light and the dark of this struggle – who could imagine that this small town of Enchantment would be the site of a soul-battle on Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead? First in the Soul Seekers trilogy, Daine strives to discover if she’s truly Fated to be part of all this. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Memories of Africa (reflective) - tales of travel, hope, survival

The idea of "getting lost in a good book" brought to mind several memorable stories that I've recommended on BooksYALove over the past year.  These books set in Africa are worth a second look; click on each title to read my no-spoilers recommendation in a new window/tab, then find them at your local library or independent bookstore.
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Now is the Time for Running, but not just to play soccer. Deo must help his disabled older brother escape guaranteed death in Zimbabwe and stay alive long enough to find sanctuary in South Africa. Wild animals, deceitful travel companions, and city gangs all pose unpredictable dangers to the young teen.

Author Michael Williams lives and teaches in South Africa, where he's seen  first-hand the prejudice of city folk against the flood of refugees caused by political instability, as well as dedicated street-soccer coaches who turn around lives today.

Fourteen-year-old Khosi wonders and worries about This Thing Called the Future, trying to balance her schoolwork with caring for her little sister and grandmother while Mama works away, wondering if she should pray only to God-in-the-sky instead of using traditional remedies, knowing that "the disease of these times" could end all her dreams of going to college.

Named to the ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults 2012 list, this novel examines life and love in the South Africa shantytowns where beliefs from the past collide with the modern reality of the AIDS virus.

Brought from unremarkable Ohio to exotic Liberia by his father's work in the 1980s, Linus decides to reinvent himself as a cool guy. Reading about Africa, he learns that the black mamba snake is secretive and rare. Yet the first thing Linus sees when the plane lands in Africa is a black mamba!

The U.S. Embassy residence area is called Mamba Point, but no one ever sees black mambas there...except Linus. An old man in the neighborhood tells him about connections with spirit animals - is the venomous snake truly his 'kaseng'?

(For all books, review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.)

Enchanted, by Alethea Kontis (fiction) - fairy tales with a twist

Seventh daughter of a seventh son and seventh daughter,
named for her birth-day, according to the traditional rhyme,
Sunday is accustomed to odd things in the Wood,
so a talking frog is rather expected.
But there's nothing everyday about falling in love with him.

You'll nod your head as you recognize the many fairy tales found in the early chapters of Enchanted, from the shape of the Woodcutter family home to the fate of sister Tuesday of the red shoes.

But there's more to this tale than just homage to nursery rhymes and fairy tales, as Sunday strives to find her own way in the world rather than what's been previously written, Rumbold tries to undo the actions of his impetuous younger days, and the King has his own sinister agenda.

Enchanted  was just published on May 8, 2012, so look for it at your local independent bookstore or library now. Kontis tells us that book two is in the works, giving readers a preview with a short story featuring one of its key characters, Ashes-in-the-Wind.
**kmm

Book info: Enchanted / Alethea Kontis. Harcourt, 2012. [author's website] [publisher site]

My Recommendation:

A talking frog, a cow traded for beans that grow a sky-high beanstalk, a house shaped like a shoe – for Sunday, it’s just life as usual in the Wood. But when her friend Grumble disappears and the King seeks a new wife, old tales of evil spells are remembered, and Sunday tries to change what has been foretold.

Seventh daughter Sunday writes that she’s “doomed to a happy life,” but would rather be interesting than good and boring. Of course, wishes made in an enchanted land usually lead to adventures, so life in the Woodcutter family’s odd-shaped house is often more chaotic than taciturn Mama would like, despite the curlicued brightness of Papa’s stories from the Wood.

The ten Woodcutter siblings are children no more, although adopted Trix looks just as he did at age 12, thanks to his fairy blood. Ever since oldest brother Jack Jr. disappeared while in the King’s service, their family has stayed well away from the Arrilard palace, its sole prince, and its rumored curses.

Meeting Grumble by the fairy well was certainly more interesting than doing her chores, doubly so because the frog liked to listen to her stories, appreciative in his praise. Of course, any talking frog in the Wood must have been human first, so Sunday hopes that someday Grumble will tell her how he became cursed into frog form. She’d have to be careful about writing down his tale, as anything that she wrote had a strong chance of coming true, but he left the well without even saying goodbye.

Released from the froggy spell suddenly, Prince Rumbold finds himself in the palace, weak and confused. Who are his friends and who is against him? Why does he hear spirit voices in the palace night asking for death? What was the name of the girl who kissed him beside the well? His cold and regal father does allow Rumbold to invite all the eligible women of the kingdom to a grand ball at the palace, staying in his tower throne room to invoke magic for himself alone.

Will Rumbold find Sunday among all the people at the ball? Will Sunday recognize Rumbold out of his froggy skin? Will the Prince or the King choose a bride at the ball?

This bright-and-dark story about family, loyalty, and love in an Enchanted  land reminds us that even the simplest fairy tales and nursery rhymes can carry the power of mighty words. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.