Huntress (fiction)

Years of rain,
Crops rotting overnight,
Monsters infiltrating villages near the Great Wood,
a sudden summons from the Fairy Queen to her hidden city.

The most talented sage-in-training for generations, Taisin has seen a vision with Kaede accompanying her on this quest, and the oracle stones have confirmed it. Kaede is an able enough scholar, but her years at the academy have merely proved that she has no ability as a sage, despite her noble father's hopes. He'd rather solidify a political alliance using her as a marriage pawn, but the King has faith in the oracles and in Taisin's vision - the two young women will indeed answer the Fairy Queen's call, along with Prince Con and his best warriors.

Whether you're saving Malinda Lo's Ash until you finish reading this prequel or you're returning to the sea islands and forests of ancient Cathair, you'll be transported to a far place and a far time as you anxiously accompany Kaede and Taisin on their journey, hoping for their political success and future happiness together.

Find Huntress today at your local library or independent bookseller, and beware the monsters of the Great Wood.
**kmm

Book info: Huntress / Malinda Lo. Little Brown, 2011. [author's website] [publisher site] [book trailer]

My Recommendation: No sunshine, no crops, no hope for their country unless two teens can learn what the Fairy Queen knows about the new monsters attacking under the never-ending clouds. From the sanctuary of their Academy, 17-year-old Kaede and Taisin must travel far – a daughter of the hunt and a sage just coming into her immense psychic powers against threats from… where?

Kaede thought that this quest would be much better than her noble father’s plan to marry her off as a political move, but as their small group encounters human babies born with writhing monster souls and villages scoured clean by ravening creatures of the fog, she’s not so sure. Is it coincidence that the Fairy Queen’s invitation came to the King’s court at this time of great troubles, when only Prince Con could be spared for the journey?

Traveling further into the Wood, whispering winds taunt with empty promises and Xi ghosts try to lure them off the trail. Taisin worries that her spell-knowledge is not enough to protect them. Warrior Shae opines that worry is useless; only action will see them through. Ceaseless rain leaches color from the world and hope from their spirits. The only warm spark in this dismal place is the growing attraction between Kaede and Taisin.

As they near the Fairy Queen’s city, Taisin’s sleeping- self travels to distant icy halls, the Xi ghosts circle closer, and the Huntsman of legend appears with a message. Can they indeed ford that vast river separating Fairy lands from those of humans? Will the Queen know why Cathair’s weather remains always winter? Can she help them bring springtime back to their world?

This evocative prequel to Ash takes readers into a world of menacing shadows trying to overrun a land like ancient China, where much depends on the hearts of two girls who should still be studying in school and falling in love instead of having to fight monsters in order to save their people. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

Unison Spark (fiction)

A perfect world made just for you,
optimized to provide everything that you want,
more realistic than real life.
What could go wrong with that?

Future Friday takes us to sprawling Eastern Seaboard City, where the Haves can access the ultimate social network - Unison - and the Have-Nots are relegated to the below-street slums, with its rampant crime among the scabbed-together shacks and cast-off technology bits.

Mistletoe can engineer and coax her hunk-of-junk scooter into maneuvers just beyond the maximum recommended for that old model - good thing, as gun-wielding topsider goons pursue her and lost Ambrose through Little Saigon's alleys and hidden passageways. Why would any sensible topsider come down here?

All good things do have their price, and some revolutionaries think that the price of Unison will far exceed its subscription costs. Can the teens trust the revolutionaries or UniCorp or anyone?

How far is UniCorp willing to go in its search for maximum profits? Can they truly predict every individual Unison user's ultimate needs through process-flow? When does the will of an individual become merely a consumable piece in a worldwide business plan?

This page-turning potential future is available now at libraries and bookstores - grab it!
**kmm

Book info: Unison Spark / Andy Marino. Henry Holt, 2011. [author's website] [publisher site]

My Recommendation: When Mistletoe saves a young topsider from uniformed non-police thugs, she wonders why this wealthy teen is in the grotty lower city. She certainly can’t go up into his world of real sunshine and Unison – the social network that knows you better than you know yourself.

Ah, Unison! Just shimmer in (for an appropriate fee) and enjoy limitless data flow, countless friends, your own custom-structured world for work and play. Everything is clearer, brighter, happier in Unison – as long as you keep paying your subscription. And UniCorp provides all the little things in the real world that make it less painful to be part of the “fleshbound parade” of humans during those so-long moments of being out of Unison.

No one can predict process-flow as well as teenaged Ambrose, who is chair of UniCorp’s profits division well ahead of his older brother Len. Ambrose will today move into Unison permanently, when surgery to his hypothalamus will eliminate his body’s need for sleep and give him 24 hours a day in Unison to maximize profits for their father’s corporation.

A rogue data-transfer message as he enters the UniCorp building tells Ambrose to go down into Little Saigon now, before the surgery, or his brain and dreams will be siphoned away by… who? Len? Their father? Revolutionaries? Contrary to best process-flow data, Ambrose flees for the subcanopy’s depths.

As Mistletoe and Ambrose escape through Little Saigon’s grimy alleys and tunnels on a puttering old roboscooter, they discover that both received the same rogue message “Carpe somnium” and wonder why they’ve been told to “seize the dream.”

Bombs in a world where explosives are illegal, closed off from the data of Unison and allies in the subcanopy, the teens must stay alive and free as they try to discover who’s trying to keep Ambrose out of Unison and why the data message brought them together.

Clever and suspenseful, Unison Spark is an adventure story of the future which threads questions of self and community through its action-filled pages. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

Reading beyond the box (reflective)

A new year and a new challenge: Read and thoughtfully comment on 5 blog posts a day for 21 days...

Since it takes about 3 weeks to solidly acquire a new habit, MotherReader and Lee Wind have once again teamed up to help book bloggers get into the good habit of reading what other book bloggers are reading and writing about and (most importantly) joining in the conversation about the kidlit that makes us all so happy with their Comment Challenge 2012.

And there will be prizes for folks who register their 100 comments in 21 days (with 1 day off, just in case), too! We'll be checking in with Lee on Wednesdays to update our totals and get a bit of encouragement along the way.

So, a new year, new blogs to read, new books to discover - onward...
**kmm

Payback (fiction)

There are laws against forced marriage in England.
But if Halima returns to Pakistan with the family for her brother's wedding...

On this World Wednesday, we see today's England through the eyes of a young teen girl who emigrates to London from rural Pakistan with her family.

There, dusty roads and the rules of village elders. Here, motorcars and subways, small enclaves of immigrants clustered together against the big city, speaking their native languages in neighborhood shops.

There, all marriages are arranged by family. Here, young men and women meet people outside their clan, outside their region, outside their religion.

Halima is not trying to rebel for the sake of rebellion, but she does want the opportunity to choose a Muslim husband on her own, not be promised to someone far away as mere repayment of a debt.

Rosemary Wells' excels at putting real-life situations at the heart of her books - grab Payback today at your local library or independent bookstore and read another story behind the headlines.
**kmm

Book info: Payback / Rosemary Hayes. Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2009. [author's website] [publisher site]

Recommendation: When Halima’s father whisks their family from rural Pakistan to London, she worries – will he truly allow her to finish school there before arranging a marriage? In the village, he’s an important landowner who has worked overseas for years to send money back home; in London, he’s just another immigrant laborer who speaks English poorly and clings to old customs.

It’s difficult, going to middle school understanding so little English - if only Ammi had allowed Halima and her older sister to watch the village leader’s satellite television to hear the language! Their brothers had moved to London earlier with Baba, so they know the language and the subway and everything.

Thankfully, there are other Pakistani girls at her school and teachers who patiently help all the immigrating students learn English. Meeting boisterous red-headed Kate at high school helps Halima bloom, as the friends join the debate society and try to understand each other’s world.

But things aren’t smooth at home, as Baba continues to control his sons’ lives, as Ammi counts on her daughters as translators, as the parents begin to arrange marriages as if the family was still in Pakistan.

When Halima finds out that she was promised in marriage years ago by Baba to settle a debt, she decides that her future belongs to her. Can she really leave her family? Can she run far enough away to escape their control? How far will her Baba’s sense of family honor push him to find her?

Halima’s struggle to honor her Muslim heritage while continuing her education is based on a true story of forced marriage and kidnapping in England today. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

Once a Witch (fiction)

Getting away from a bad situation always seems like a good idea... except when a bigger problem roars down from an unexpected quarter.

There's always someone, somewhere, who is taller or has a better free throw average or solves the crossword puzzle faster than you - usually we find something else to focus on and things seem better.

But Tam's birth prophecy said she would be "most powerful" and "a beacon to us all" - she's not imagining her family's disappointment as she grows up with no Talent at all. Her mom's arguments about Tam leaving home made the weather storm and moan; her grandmother's future-sight never shows whole pictures.

At least Gabriel is here now - his Talent for finding things might help Tam as she searches for the professor's long-lost family heirloom. And a little time-Traveling with a cute guy...

Followed by Always a Witch which extends and completes the story of Tamsin and the Greenes as they struggle to keep the Knight family from gaining control over humankind.
**kmm

Book info: Once a Witch / Carolyn MacCullough. Graphia HMH, 2009. [author's website] [book website] [publisher site] [book trailer]

Recommendation: Boarding school is a better place for Tamsin, unTalented among her family of powerful witches. There, she can almost forget the words of her seer grandmother – that Tamsin will be most powerful of them all. Ha!

At least her childhood pal Gabriel and his mother have moved back to Hedgerow, where the extended Greene family has lived quietly for many decades, more than content to stay out of public notice. He doesn’t yet know that Tam’s Talent never manifested, but someone will surely tell him soon.

When a professor visits the family bookstore and asks her help in tracing an heirloom, mistaking Tam for her very Talented sister, she agrees. A bit odd that McCallum finds them both in New York City soon after, as Rowena shops for her wedding dress…

Tam’s search for the missing clock takes her and Gabriel much further than she had imagined – back to 1899, in fact, thanks to Gabriel’s time-traveling Talent. But finding the clock triggers a new quest as Tam learns more about her family’s history and their past battles with another group of witches who’d rather rule over unTalented humans than avoid their notice.

Can Tam keep the clock away from the professor long enough to discover its secrets? Have she and Gabriel altered the path of time? How can she do anything to help her family when she has no Talent?

Tam tries to balance her personal world with the larger questions of good versus evil in this first book of a duet which is followed by Always a Witch. Surely Rowena will decide on a wedding dress before it’s all over… (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

Cinder (fiction)

As a plague rumbles across the Earth,
the Lunars' queen plans conquest.
Can one teenage cyborg-human make a difference?

On this Future Friday, we get a new look at an old story as Marissa Meyer takes Cinderella's tale into the celebrations commemorating the 124th anniversary of the end of World War IV (yep, more World Wars). Damaged body parts can be replaced with cybernetic-mechanical ones - although most full humans consider cyborgs to be lesser-class citizens. Across the earth, letumosis plague fells rich and poor, young and old, as scientists race to find a cure for the Blue Fever.

Those humans who colonized the Moon centuries ago are Lunars now and have developed mysterious powers. The Lunar queen wants to expand her kingdom, but needs an heir related by blood. Her relentless messages asking for an alliance with Prince Kai's realm escalate into a personal visit to New Beijing's palace. Can the Earthers resist her mind powers?

Hurry to your local indie bookstore to get the first book in The Lunar Chronicles series - Cinder will be published on January 3, 2012. In the meantime, you can listen to chapter one of the audiobook version free, and read the prequel story "Glitches" on Tor Books' website now.

We'll have to wait for the sequels, of course: Scarlet in 2013 (based on Red Riding Hood), Cress in 2014 (Rapunzel), and Winter (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs).
**kmm

Book info: Cinder (Book One of The Lunar Chronicles)/ Marissa Meyer. Feiwel and Friends, 2012. [author's website] [author's blog] [publisher site] [fan-made book trailer]

Recommendation:When the prince brings his android for repair, Cinder wonders if he suspects that she’s a cyborg. She’s the best mechanic in New Beijing, but must avoid public notice so she can keep her job. Otherwise, her stepmother Adri will sell her to doctors testing plague cures on cyborg teen girls.

Up on the Moon, the Lunars under Queen Levana’s mind control never catch the fatal letumosis. The ruthless Queen continues to hammer at the Eastern Commonwealth for an alliance by marriage, even as its King suffers with the plague’s agonies. Peony also falls ill with letumosis, and Adri blames Cinder for her stepsister’s illness.

If Prince Kai chooses an Earthen bride at the Spring Festival Ball - that would stop the Queen’s plans of conquest. Every young woman in the city prepares her gown for the ball – except Cinder. Her stepmother removes her mechanical foot and turns her over to the research lab; no cyborg has ever come back out.

Queen Levana is coming to New Beijing – in person! Will she be able to control every Earther mind? Can Prince Kai find a way to keep their kingdom free? Will Cinder escape the research lab? Why can’t she remember anything before the accident that led to her body being repaired with mechanical cyborg parts?

This fascinating retelling of the Cinderella tale is the first book of the Lunar Chronicles series, with many secrets underlying the familiar story. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

Nowhere Girl, by A.J. Paquette (fiction) - born in Thai prison, American girl seeks home

Far, far from anyone who knows her.
Far from the crowded streets of Bangkok.
A single twisted tree visible through the prison bars.

Luchi's mother refused to contact anyone in the USA when she was transferred to Khon Meung prison in northern Thailand, so the sweet blond baby born to her there was raised by the women who shared their cell.

Imagine being 14 years old and riding in a car for the first time! Windows with glass and computers are equally new technologies for Luchi, as she travels away from the only place she's ever lived, following the wishes of her mother who died just before she could give her daughter any concrete information about their family in the States.

Beautifully written and satisfyingly original, you'll remember Luchi's difficult journey long after you finish reading Nowhere Girl. Find it today at your local library or independent bookseller.
**kmm

Book info: Nowhere Girl / A. J. Paquette. Walker & Company, 2011. [author's website] [author interview] [publisher site]

Recommendation: Luchi Ann must leave the prison where she was born. As her American mother died, she told the blond teenager to “go home”, leaving scraps of information. Questions about her father always sent Mama into bleak depression – Mama, who was so glad to be relocated to this remote women’s prison in rural Thailand before Luchi’s birth, who warned her to stay safe from danger outside the prison. Oh, the inmates educated Luchi with every book they could find so she knows math and literature in three languages, but very little about the current world outside the prison walls.

So now she’s headed for Bangkok with an old list of phone numbers, a discarded letter, and her mother’s US passport. First time to ride in a car, first time to eat with strangers, first time to see buildings reaching to the sky… Trying to find answers to her mother’s past, to her own identity – this is no easy task for someone who has never before traveled wherever she wanted, never touched a computer.

Can Luchi discover the location of her mother’s home in America? How can she travel half-way around the world with no money and no passport? What is the danger outside the prison walls that her mother always warned her about?

A stirring tale of self-discovery and unexpected adventures, readers will be enthralled with Luchi’s reflections on life in Thailand as they root for her to succeed in her quest to fulfill her mother’s final wish. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.