Spray by Harry Edge

Imagine a game of assassins using water pistols with the last man (or woman) standing being the winner...

Spray has been published by Feiwel and Friends, an imprint of MacMillan, and they sent me a copy of the trade paperback for review (thank you). This book is now available at your local bookstore. 

The author lives in the UK and there is taste of "Englishness" in the writing.  The story has a bit of British spy intrigue in it.  It fits well and is an enjoyable read!

The characters are a varied group of teens who didn't know each other all that well when they joined in the competition.  Some of those eliminated early in the game, team up with their assassin and work with them.  Some are distractions, some are fact finders, and some some use skills to aid to them while others use their brain to find the best place to catch their victim outside.  There are rules.  The ploys they use are amazing.  I'm not sure I could be that creative. 

There is also another underlying plot that is part of the game, but not directly.  It adds some spice to the story.

This is written for ages 11 and up.  Any young reader who loves action movies or games should enjoy reading this story.  Visit your local bookstore and pick up a copy, it's a good read.

Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton

In today's novels for young adults, it's not unusual to run across vampires and warlocks.  But gods?

Simon Pulse provided me with an eGalley of this book for review (thank you).  It will be published in hardcover in February.

I found this read very entertaining, in a horrific kind of way.  The main portion of the story is set in New Orleans, a city I love, and that's a city of legend in the real world.  It was very easy for me to believe that other worldly beings live there.  After all, they have voodoo, don't they?

All Ari wants to know is know who her mother was and why she gave her up for adoption.  What she finds out is that women in her family all die or kill themselves right around age 21.  Her mother isn't alive, she also died at that age - by suicide.  Since Ari is 17, she needs to find out why.

Trying to dig deeper into the story of her family, she goes to New Orleans to find more answers.  What she finds is more danger than she can handle alone.

When a complete stranger saves her, she finds herself attracted to him.  But she knows there's something different about him and can't figure out what it is.  She soon discovers there's more to her than she realized also...

Ms. Keaton keeps the action going, introduces many interesting characters and will keep young adults glued to this story to see how it turns out.  I highly recommend this story.  I wasn't sure if I would like it, and I love it.  Give a try and see what you think.

Also, it ended in a manner that leads me to believe there will be a sequel.  And I'm looking forward to seeing where she takes the tale next.

Choker by Elizabeth Woods

Zoe was Cara's best friend.  When her family moved, Cara really missed her.  She was very happy to see her return - at first...

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers sent me an eGalley to review (thank you).  This book will be published in hardcover in January.  It's for ages 14 and up.

This book chilled me.  I couldn't have stopped reading it if I wanted to - it was too gripping, the story too frantic.  I had to know how it was going to end.

Cara is in high school and is facing the usual bantering and bullying of school days.  She's not happy about, but she's dealing with it.  The author does an excellent job of drawing you into the story.  It's just a normal tale about a young girl growing up and maturing into a young lady.  Until Zoe shows up...

Zoe has run away from home, won't talk about where she came from or what happened, and lives in Cara's bedroom.  Cara is happy to see her, but Zoe is different.  She finds out how different as time goes on.

When girls in Cara's class suddenly show up dead or missing, the plot gets even more interesting.

I won't give away the ending, but I can highly recommend this book.  I never suspected the murderer.  I had to wait for a while to write this review because the story touched me.  It's a good read - get a copy for your young adult or feel free to read it yourself.  I'm going to watch for a copy for my own personal library.  It's well worth reading again.

Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances O'Roark Dowell

It's your first year of high school and you just want to be like everyone else.  You know, be normal.  But that's hard to do with goat poop on your shoe...

Atheneum, a division of Simon & Schuster, allowed me to download a e-galley for review (thank you).  This book will be published at the end of March, 2011.  It's a young adult novel.

I struggled to make the transition from St. Joseph's parochial school to a public high school, and it was hard for me.  So I can understand Janie's fear of being "different" and how hard it can be to be accepted by the other students who already know each other and have friends.  And poor Janie has another problem besides going to a new school and not having any previous classmates in any of her classes but one; she has farm chores before she comes to school...

As with any teen, she's growing and experiencing different emotions.  She's not sure if she's weird or if the others are.  And she doesn't want to lose the one good friend she already has. 

Ms. Dowell does a very good of making her characters' emotions honest.  The challenges they face are normal life challenges and how they handle them depends on their personalities.  She also introduces the reader (and her characters) to the older generation in town and you learn a bit about the Freedom School they started.

Janie even meets a guy she likes.  His name is Monster.  No, really, it is!

Young adults should really enjoy reading this book and watching Janie trying to be normal.  There is plenty to hold their interest and it's an enjoyable read.

Add it to your "TBR" list and check for it at the end of March.  Ms. Dowell has other books out in the market now if you'd like to grab one and taste her writing style while waiting.  Just visit your local bookstore.

Happy reading!

Dragon, Dragon by John Gardner

Like reading fairy tales?  Here are four non-traditional tales to amuse you.

I downloaded this ebook from Net Galley.  Open Road published it the first part of November as an Adobe Reader edition.  I like fantasy, so thought I'd check out this children's middle school book.  Michael Sporn is the illustrator.  It was first published in 1975, this is the most recent edition.

Mr. Gardner does not write charming, simple tales.  He offers his characters more challenges, gives them human character faults, and offers you a fresh way to look at fairy tales.

There's a meddlesome dragon, a fearful tailor, a mule who's too smart for his own good, and a brave little chimney sweep.  The stories are short, but entertaining.

Why not download a copy and share it with your child.  Maybe they can come up with some fantasy stories of their own to share with you!

Happy reading.

The Coming of the Dragon by Rebecca Barnhouse

Rune washed ashore in a boat as a baby with only a sword and a pendant in the boat with him.  The warriors want to send him back out in the boat or kill him, but the King tells them no.  Who is he and why did he end up on this shore?

Random House Books for Young Readers sent a hardcover of this book to me for review (thank you).  The author wrote this story based on the legend of Beowolf.  I found this book much more "user-friendly" than the old classic tale.

Rune is named after the runes on the pendant that arrived with him.  He's given to a lone woman in the village who lives on a farm with a farmer and his sons.  She does the housework and cooks, Rune works for the farmer to help pay for their stay.

Amma won't let him train to be a warrior.  She only lets him visit the palace in the winter (when farm duties are less) and that's minimal training.  She does educate him at home with her knowledge from the past and her vision of the future.  She doesn't share her vision of the future with him, but he's content with that.  Amma has always been a bit different...

Then everyone's worst nightmare comes to pass.  Someone awakens a dragon, who has no love for humans.  Rune sees the dragon and tries to warn the king - but he's too late.  And when he goes back to the farm, he finds he's too late there, too.

The death of the only mother he's ever known inspires him to pick up the sword that accompanied him in the boat and to begin his quest to kill the ravaging dragon...

This is a much better read than Beowolf.  Rune is a young untried warrior and he has no home or family to care about him.  His quest does not start out well.  Ms. Barnhouse's characters are solid and they all show hidden secrets as time goes on.

I really enjoyed reading this one even if I wasn't sure I would when I started the book.  Ms. Barnhouse also has written The Book of the Maidservant.

Visit your local bookstore and check out The Coming of the Dragon.  It's a good read about medieval times and it has lots of action to keep you reading.

Happy reading!

Third Degree by Maggie Barbieri

Maggie stops at coffee shop and witnesses a brawl where one participant dies.  But when his car blows up next, it doesn't seem like his death was so accidental after all...

I won this book in a drawing done by Minotaur Books.  It's a Murder 101 Mystery and Ms. Barbieri has four earlier books in this series.  This one read fine as a stand alone.

Maggie's boyfriend is trying to get her to accept his proposal of marriage.  She's been burned before and is hesitant.  And she's pretty sure the other brawler was not the killer.  So now she's snooping about to see who might have a had a reason to kill Carter.  The list isn't short.  He's a food blogger who had nothing nice to say about anyone in town.

The plot in this mystery has an unusual killer, which made it even more interesting to read.  It's a cozy type mystery and an enjoyable read.

Visit your local bookstore and check this book out.  Look over the others in the series, too.  You might want to start at the beginning.

Happy reading!